Council tables Broncos sale money options

A “joke” and a “fiasco.” Those were just two of the many words used by the Longmont City Council to describe the process of awarding the $980,481 the city received thanks to the sale of the Denver Broncos.

“I just would like for somebody to own the fiasco, and it isn’t me,” Councilwoman Marcia Martin said during Tuesday’s regular City Council meeting. “But, I’m embarrassed.”

The council was scheduled to discuss how to spend the funding Tuesday but voted 6-1 to table the conversation until the city receives clarity on how the money from the stadium district must be spent.

Councilman Tim Waters voted against the motion and was visibly frustrated by the entire process.

“What’s transpired … has been so confusing, so unclear,” Waters said. “This thing has become a joke in terms of the process.”

In a letter dated Sept. 19, the Metropolitan Football Stadium District informed the city that it would receive nearly $1 million thanks to the $4.6 billion sale of the Denver Broncos.

Taxpayers in the seven-county stadium district, which includes Longmont, funded 75% of Empower Field at Mile High’s cost.

The letter from nearly five months ago stated that the monetary refund the city received from the stadium district must be spent on “youth activity programs,” which has caused confusion. Members of city staff and Longmont Mayor Joan Peck are scheduled to meet with a stadium district official Wednesday to discuss what, exactly, the money can and cannot be allocated toward. Until that conversation occurs, the council does not want to make any decisions.

The council previously discussed possibly allocating $50,000 to the nonprofit Longmont Latinx Voices for league registration fees and sporting equipment for underprivileged youths.

There was not a formal process for nonprofits to be considered for the stadium district money, Longmont spokeswoman Rachel Moyer confirmed in an email Tuesday.

Councilmembers Shiquita Yarbrough and Susie Hidalgo-fahring previously proposed allocating $700,000 toward a multipurpose dome, possibly in Clark Centennial Park.

City staff is still in the process of researching how much a dome

might cost to construct and maintain in Longmont and did not provide any estimates during Tuesday’s council meeting.

Councilman Waters has also proposed allocating $500,000 toward the expansion of the Longmont Museum’s Children’s Gallery.

“All of us have really good intentions, right, for our community and for our youth, especially our underserved youth and we want to bring more opportunities for them,” Yarbrough said.

“This is going beyond what our intentions were and are.”