Council to vote on new ward boundaries

'2023 State of the City' video will debut at Tuesday’s meeting

After several months of drafting and deliberation, Loveland City Council will take its first vote on new ward boundaries for the city at Tuesday’s special meeting.

Last week, City Council made its final selection of new maps from the five options prepared by City Clerk Delynn Coldiron. A sixth option was submitted by a Loveland resident for consideration.

The winning map, referred to as Option 3 by Coldiron, is the “least disruptive” of the potential scenarios, moving just 13,145 residents to new wards. Other options considered by council could have displaced more than 25,000 residents.

The city was divided into four wards in 1966, roughly equal in population. In the six decades since, the boundaries have been updated six times, to rebalance after population growth.

The seventh update has proved a challenge for Coldiron and her team, due to several constraints. Most notably, the city’s wards have to align with Larimer County’s election precincts in order for the two entities to coordinate elections. After an update in 2021, the county precincts are now much larger than before.

The new maps also have to be contiguous and can’t displace a current city councilor from the ward he or she was elected to represent.

The option selected last week by City Council checks all of those boxes, as well as a few more. In addition to the low displacement rate, the new map also keeps the “old Hewlett-packard” neighborhoods near Taft Avenue and 14th Street Southwest in the same ward, a request from Councilors Fogle and Olson, who both currently represent that area.

Coldiron told council that the new map also will accommodate further growth in the city, which is expected to concentrate in the north and east quadrants of Loveland. This map will allow that without triggering another redistricting effort in the near future.

Council will take its first vote on the updated ward boundaries on Tuesday, with the second vote scheduled for April 4. After that, Coldiron’s office will begin preparations for the 2023 City Council and mayoral elections.

City Council will also be treated to the debut of the annual “State of the City” presentation on Tuesday. Each year, the Office of Communication and Engagement produces a 15-minute video that highlights the city’s accomplishments over the past 12 months.

According to the agenda, the theme for the 2023 edition is “Our Story, Our Community,” and it will focus on “quality of life and what it takes as a fullservice city to meet the needs of our community.”

To see the 2022 State of the

City address, visit bit.ly/3jeucjn.

How to participate

The council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers at the Municipal Building, 500 E. Third St.

Comments from members of the public will be accepted in person as well as over Zoom.

Those wishing to join by Zoom can use the ID 975 3779 6504 with a passcode of 829866, according to the meeting agenda.

The meeting will be broadcast on Comcast Channel 16/880, Pulse TV channel 16 and streamed through the city’s website at lovgov.org/tv.

Tuesday’s agenda packet can be found through the Loveland City Council’s website at lovgov. org or at cilovelandco.civicweb. net.