City Council approves IGA with Jefferson County for Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport taxiway project

Broomfield City Council voted unanimously July 8 to approve a resolution authorizing an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with Jefferson County to guarantee completion of utility relocations needed for the construction of Taxiway K at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport.

The agreement lets Jefferson County provide a performance guarantee in lieu of a letter of credit or cash escrow for lowering existing Broomfield water and sanitary lines near the taxiway alignment, staff said. Deputy Director of Development and City and County engineering Matthew Deaver told council the work requires lowering city utilities to meet airport geometry and standards.

Jennifer Rosato, city attorney, explained that a performance guarantee is a contractual promise from another governmental entity and that a letter of credit is a bank-backed instrument used where there is less confidence in a private party’s ability to complete work. “When you’re dealing with an entity that you have faith in, a performance guarantee is acceptable,” Rosato said.

Representatives from Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (RMMA) described the project as a mix of maintenance and access improvements. Ben Miller of RMMA said part of the work reconstructs an existing taxiway to address pavement condition, while another portion—Taxiway K—will open developable parcels in the airport’s southwest development area. Miller said consultants modeled a worst-case conceptual development that could add up to about 33,895 annual aircraft operations, a theoretical maximum if the entire area were built out with aeronautical uses.

Council members pressed airport staff on noise, flight-school operations and whether the airport influence area would change. RMMA staff said an FAA-funded Part 150 noise study is underway and that a full master plan scheduled for 2027 would revisit airport influence area boundaries. Miller said it’s hard to predict exact operations from future development and that proposals would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Several council members urged airport leadership to consider the surrounding communities when soliciting development proposals for the southwest area and to discourage uses that would spur frequent touch-and-go training flights. Council member Devin Schaff asked airport staff to continue engaging the community through the noise roundtable and the Part 150 process.

The council approved Resolution No. 2025-105, approving the IGA with Jefferson County for Taxiway K, by a 9-0 vote. Council members who spoke during the item included Matthew Deaver (staff), Jennifer Rosato (city attorney), Ben Miller (RMMA), Mayor Pro Tem Schaff and council members Lim, Cohen and Ward.

The IGA approval is limited to the performance-guarantee approach; Jefferson County and the airport will still proceed with development using other compliance tools if the IGA had not been approved, staff said. RMMA representatives said they will solicit development proposals and evaluate them for “highest and best use,” with consideration of surrounding land uses and noise impacts.