Spring Regional Workshops with the SDA.

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1 COLLINS COCKREL & COLE May 2015 SHAREHOLDERS: James P. Collins Paul R. Cockrel Robert G. Cole Timothy J. Flynn Evan D. Ela Linda M. Glesne David A. Greher ASSOCIATES: Kathryn G. Winn Christopher M. Price Joseph W. Norris OF COUNSEL: Eric C. Jorgenson Joan M. Fritsche PARALEGALS: Micki Wadhams Peggy Rupp Sarah Luetjen Attorneys at Law 390 Union Boulevard, Suite 400 Denver, Colorado Telephone: (303) Toll Free: (800) Fax: (303) We value the opportunity to keep our clients updated on issues pertinent to local governments. Spring Regional Workshops with the SDA. CCC will be joining the SDA again this June to bring you the Spring Regional Workshops. Jim, Bob, Linda and Kathryn SPRING WORKSHOPS will be traveling around the State to present these workshops, titled: Law & Order: Special Districts... Investigating the Legal (and Practical) Obligations of District Directors and Managers through Real World Examples. This year's format is different from last year's, with more of an emphasis on real-life examples, which we hope will set you up to deal with similar issues when they arise in your District. Even if you attended last year's workshops, we think you will learn something new and hope to see many of you at the workshops. Registration is through the SDA:

2 Updated Open Records Policy. We have updated our template Open Records policy to incorporate recent changes to the Colorado Open Records Act and case law interpretations of the Act. The new policy more clearly sets out what fees can be charged. Please let us know if you would like a copy of the new policy. The policy will need to be adopted by Board Resolution and then posted on your website in order to charge the fees. Cell Tower Leases. Local government property is often a popular location for cell towers. The rent from such leases can be a nice financial bonus, but the terms of these leases are almost always one-sided in favor of the lessee. The typical lease length is 25 to 50 years, but is usually drafted with language presenting 5-year renewable terms so that the lease appears shorter. However, these 5-year terms automatically renew with no way for the landowner to terminate the lease, leaving you stuck with the tower for decades. Cell phone companies will also present a rental rate that is usually 15%-20% below the market rate of $2,000 and $4,000+ per month, depending on location. Some of the other terms you need to watch out for include: rights of first refusal; liability and insurance; colocation rights; annual rent escalations vs. term escalations; and noninterference, which is particularly important for emergency service providers. The cell companies will often try to push the lease through quickly, threatening to find another property if you don't sign the standard lease. These are usually vacant threats as cell tower locations are engineerdriven and once the company has contacted you, they have already determined that your property is the best

3 location in the area for their tower. If there is already an existing tower on your property and the company wants to renegotiate or extend the lease, you are even more in control of the situation as the cost for the company to locate and construct a new cell tower is around $250,000. Cell tower leases are complicated and in order to get a favorable deal, you will have to stand up for your rights and insist on changes to the lease. Please contact us if you receive a request to locate a new cell tower on your property, amend an existing lease, or renew a lease. In addition to addressing the issues discussed above, we can often draft the lease so that your legal fees are reimbursed by the lessee. Colorado Open Meetings Law - Limited Use of Secret Ballots. A recent decision by the Colorado Court of Appeals (Weisfield v. City of Arvada 2015C0A43, April 9, 2015) serves as a reminder that local governments are limited in the use of secret ballots during a meeting. Under C.R.S (2)(d)(IV), secret ballots are only permitted to elect leadership of the local government body or to elect members of that body to a search committee. Any other use of secret ballots is prohibited and any formal action taken in such manner is invalid. In addition, the Colorado Open Meetings Law confers a legally protected interest upon "citizens in having public bodies conduct public business openly in conformity with its provisions." A citizen can sue to enforce the Open Meetings Law by alleging that he or she has been deprived of a legally protected right to have action taken in an open meeting. With respect to secret ballots, a citizen will have standing if he can show that he had no knowledge about how board members voted during the meeting due to the secret nature of the vote. A successful citizen lawsuit can invalidate the action that was voted on and the citizen

4 who brings the claim is entitled by statute to payment of costs and reasonable attorney fees. Use of an Owner's Representative for Construction Contracts. As construction season begins, you may want to consider using an owner's representative instead of staff or an outside architect or OWNER OWNER'S REF PRIHER MANAGER engineer to assist with the project. Using an owner's representative may be useful if you have small staff or are undertaking a complex project. An owner's representative is a skilled construction management professional who stands in for the local government through final acceptance. The duties of an owner's representative can vary depending on the project and the level of involvement the owner desires. In general, the owner's representative may be responsible for the overall coordination and supervision of the project between the engineer, architect and contractor. An owner's representative can also assist the owner with space planning; project scope; due diligence review; overseeing land planning and other governmental approvals; selection of design professionals; identifying construction contracting methods and processes; overseeing construction; establishing budgets and schedules; facilitating public meetings and staff meetings; or assisting with the determination of financing means and methods. If you are interested in using an owner's representative or need assistance with construction contracting issues, please let us know. Firefighter Duty to Report Child Abuse & Neglect.

5 As of July 1, 2014, Z\06 firefighters now have a Qdk mandatory duty to report " F ix child abuse or neglect. LNG c%' Officers or members of any fire protection district or other fire department who have reasonable cause to know or suspect that a child has been subjected to abuse or neglect must immediately report the information to the county department of social services, local law enforcement, or through the child abuse reporting hotline. C.R.S Suspicion of abuse is all that is necessary to trigger the reporting requirements. Any person making a report in good faith is immune from any civil or criminal liability for making such a report; however, knowingly making a false report is punishable under law as a class 3 misdemeanor. C.R.S , -304(4). For more information on the new state-wide hotline system and how to get the firefighters in your District trained to respond properly to child abuse and neglect situations, we recommend visiting the Colorado Office of Children, Youth & Families, Division of Child Welfare webpage. Free online training and certification, specifically tailored to first responders, can be accessed at the following address: November 3, 2015 TABOR Election. The next opportunity for conducting a TABOR ballot issue election will be Tuesday, November 3, Special districts have the option of either conducting their own independent mail ballot election

6 or coordinating the election with the County Clerk and Recorder. If you plan to conduct a TABOR election this November, there are some upcoming dates that you need to keep in mind. Special districts that expect to conduct an election in November must notify the County Clerk and Recorder in writing no later than July 24th. Special districts are required to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the County Clerk for the conduct of the election and/or for the mailing of the TABOR Notice by August 25th. The ballot content must then be certified by September 4th. If you opt to conduct your own mail ballot election, a plan for the election must be on file at the District's principal office no later than September 9th. However, prior to these deadlines, the Board must have adopted an Election Resolution. Therefore, the Board should begin considering whether to conduct an election this November for increased tax, debt, spending or revenue issues, or multi-fiscal year obligations. If an election will be conducted, the Board must decide whether to coordinate with the County Clerk or conduct an independent mail ballot election. Please let us know at your earliest convenience if the Board is considering conducting a TABOR election this November so that we can assist in meeting the upcoming deadlines. Legislative Issues. The following is a summary of some of the pertinent Bills for special districts that have been signed by the Governor during the current general session: Senate Bill This Act increases the cap on the total revenues or expenditures for any fiscal year, commencing on or after January 1, 2015, to not more than $750,000 for local governments to be eligible to

7 apply for approval of an audit exemption from the State Auditor. House Bill This Act covers a variety of statutory compliance issues for special districts, including: 1. At the time the annual budget is filed with the Division of Local Government ("DLG"), the special district must also file its Resolution(s) adopting the budget, setting the mill levy rate (if any), and appropriating the expenditures. 2. No change in the name of the special district shall be effective until a certified copy of the Court decree or order changing such name is recorded by the County Clerk and Recorder of each county in which the special district is located. The recorded decree or order shall also be filed with the County Assessor of each county in which the special district is located and with the DLG. 3. Special districts are no longer required to separately file their contact information and name of the Chairman of the Board with the DLG and several county and municipal agencies. Instead, this information must now be included in the special district's Transparency Notice required by C.R.S (1). House Bill requires the Transparency Notice be filed with the Board of County Commissioners, County Assessor, County Treasurer and County Clerk and Recorder of each county in which the special district is located, and with the governing body of any municipality in which the special district is located, in addition to filing it with the DLG. Remember that, in addition to filing requirements above, special districts are required by C.R.S (2) to make the Transparency Notice publicly available to all eligible electors. The deadline for filing the Transparency Notice is still anytime between

8 November 16th and January 15th. 4. For any subdistrict that is established pursuant to C.R.S (1)(f)(1), the name of the subdistrict must include the name of the special district that established the subdistrict. 5. For any special improvement district established pursuant to C.R.S , the name of the special improvement district must include the name of the special district that established the special improvement district. House Bill will take effect the day following the expiration of the 90 day period after final adjournment of the general assembly (August 5, 2015, if adjournment is on May 6, 2015). If you no longer wish to receive these s, please reply to this message with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line or simply click on the following link: Unsubscribe Collins Cockrel & Cole 390 Union Boulevard Suite 400 Denver, Colorado US Read the VerticalResponse marketing policy. Vertical DELIVERN onse Try- E k Free MEIN!