Two and a half months into the process, Barb Halpin, Gross Reservoir Community Impact Mitigation Fund coordinator reassured those impacted by the Gross Reservoir Expansion Project that claims and processing payments are on the way.
Halpin said the process is taking longer than expected due a big rush of claims that came in roughly six weeks after the award letter was sent.
In July 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permitted Denver Water to begin the expansion project on the reservoir. The permission permitted Denver Water to claim that FERC had “complete authority” over the project which allowed the project to bypass county review. To complicate matters, Denver Water sued Boulder County “to make sure the county’s local land use authority was preempted by federal regulation,” according to Boulder County’s website.
As the largest construction project in the county’s history, Boulder County struck an agreement with Denver Water in Nov. 2021. The agreement stated that Denver Water was to pay $12.5 million to Boulder County to mitigate the impacts of the dam expansion. It was to pay an additional $5 million that would be distributed to residents in the area. The additional funds are to be used to mitigate the noise, light and air impacts to households near the project.
Thus far over half of the payments to residents have been processed, Halpin stated in a newsletter.
“The good news is, we're nearly through the bulk of the rush of claims and are on track for being able to reduce the waiting times on claims going forward,” she said.
Those who have yet to submit a claim and would like to receive payment in the 2023 tax cycle are encouraged to submit by Nov. 15. All claims have a final deadline of April 30.
