Council agrees to provide letters of support for local housing and Enterprise Zone; will request delay on air‑quality rulemaking

City Manager Mike Bennett asked council on July 7 to consider timely requests for letters of support from development and regional partners; council signaled support to provide the letters after staff prepares standard drafts for mayoral signature. Bennett said the city had received three immediate requests: a letter backing Liberty Apartments (a proposed 192‑unit derestricted/affordable project) for CHFA/Prop 123 funding; support for the Mesa County Enterprise Zone continuing to be administered by the Business Incubator Center; and a letter to request a procedural continuance of an Air Quality Control Commission rulemaking related to landfill methane regulations, at Bruin' Waste’s request. The landfill letter request asked the state commission to move an August hearing to later in the year to allow more technical review and stakeholder engagement; staff said the request for the methane‑rule continuance required a response by the end of the coming week. Bennett and staff recommended drafting brief letters of support that the mayor would sign. Council members asked for the draft for the Liberty Apartments letter to be included in an upcoming packet if the project needs a letter in August; they otherwise expressed support for signing the Enterprise Zone letter and for sending a procedural continuance request on the methane rule while staff gathers more technical information. Council asked staff to proceed, and the mayor indicated willingness to sign the Enterprise Zone and methane‑rule continuance letters. No formal resolution or vote was taken; staff indicated they would return a draft Liberty Apartments letter in the next packet if required and would prepare the other two letters for signature with council’s consensus.