Chaffee County conditionally approves Cleora metropolitan district service plan

The Chaffee County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday voted to approve, subject to final review by the county attorney, a service plan that would allow formation of the Cleora Metropolitan District to fund roads, water treatment and stormwater infrastructure for a planned residential development near Salida.

The commissioners' conditional approval follows a presentation from Jeffrey Herb, an attorney for the developer, who said the district would use tax‑exempt bond proceeds to pay for public improvements estimated at about $4.685 million and that the plan includes a debt cap of $7,050,000. The service plan sets a maximum mill levy cap of 60 mills, of which up to 50 mills would be available for debt, but Herb and the district's financial adviser said the actual levy would be set at whatever level is necessary to repay bonds — likely…