City of Boulder

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2005 SECURITY DEPOSIT INTEREST RATE SET AT 1.85%
City officials have set the interest rate to be paid on apartment security deposits, on leases signed in 2005, at 1.85 percent. The rate represents the average rate for one-year certificates of deposit at three major Boulder banks on December 15. City Council switched to an annually adjusted rate last year from a fixed 5.5 percent that was in place since 1985.

COUNCIL APPROVES WATER BUDGET PROPOSAL
It won’t happen immediately, but by 2007 each home and business in Boulder will have its own water budget determined by the size of a (residential) lot and/or the type of business use. The budget will become that increment that is priced the lowest per 1000 gallons, constituting the amount of water priced at the block 1 rate. Use above block one will have steep rate increases designed to encourage conservation. The individualized budgets will change monthly over the 12-month billing cycle to reflect changes in water demand relative to seasonal changes. Sound complicated? It is. So much so that the City will have to spend over $1.75 million just for the software to implement the system. The new system will eliminate the current distinction between indoor and outdoor water use. A change that city officials say gives more flexibility in how water is used. Critics of the system change say it is unnecessary. Boulder citizens already go beyond the call in water conservation, the water utility has plenty of water, even at buildout, so additional conservation is largely symbolic, and the water utility is fiscally sound, suggesting that residents and business provide adequate financial support under the current tiered three block billing system. The new system is much more than a simple upgrade in software, it is a radical change in the City’s control of water use on each individual property and within every individual business in the city.

HIGH DENSITY PROJECT APPROVED AT 33RD AND ARAPAHOE SITE
City Council approved a rezoning on December 21, 2004 that will allow developers to construct up to 390 townhomes and condominiums at 33rd and Arapahoe. The 5-2 vote changed the zoning from Industrial General-Developing to High Density Residential 1- Redeveloping and changed the land use designation from Industrial Light to High Density Residential. California based Bancroft Capital LLC plans to construct the 33rd Street Lofts on the site of the 122,500 square foot building that was previously owned and occupied by Exabyte. Drawings of the proposed development show four buildings reaching up to 55 feet in height. Planning Board approved the rezoning and land use designation change on December 9, 2004. Construction will begin in Spring 2005.