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Silver Plume trustees hear county Multi‑Jurisdictional Housing Authority presentation and review draft IGA
Summary
Clear Creek County staff presented the Clear Path Home project and a draft intergovernmental agreement to form a Multi‑Jurisdictional Housing Authority; Silver Plume would pay a $2,000 annual minimum with its variable fee waived for the first three‑year term while the Board considers participation at a future meeting.
Amy Saxon, Clear Creek County’s Strategic and Community Planning Division Director, presented the Clear Path Home project and a draft intergovernmental agreement (IGA) for a Multi‑Jurisdictional Housing Authority (MJHA) at the Silver Plume Board of Trustees meeting on Aug. 26.
Saxon said the effort grew from the county’s 2022 housing strategy and subsequent consultant work that recommended pooling local resources. “Pooling our resources could make it so each entity in the county wasn't losing 1/5th of a person or 1/8th of a person or 1/10th of a person on housing, and we could pool our resources and have a more concentrated resource as a community,” she said.
Under the draft IGA Saxon summarized, the MJHA would begin with a three‑year term. Each participating jurisdiction would pay a $2,000 annual minimum; Silver Plume’s variable fee would be waived for the initial three‑year period so the town can assess value. After that term, variable fees would be recalculated based on measures such as residents served, projects started and services delivered.
Saxon outlined several programs a regional authority could support, including a rental registry with annual inspections and coordinated short‑term rental policy work. She said a rental registry could provide “a little bit more accountability for landlords, and protection for tenants who don't get a lot of protection, and don't have a lot of recourses.”
Trustee Marty Gitlin expressed concern about inspections. “This concept seems ‘big brother‑y,’” he said; Saxon responded that inspection and registration concepts are intended to protect tenants rather than punish homeowners or renters.
Saxon also described the governance and staffing model: each jurisdiction would have two representatives on the MJHA governing board regardless of variable fee contributions, and an Executive Director and staff would be employed by the MJHA rather than the county. She said three of five jurisdictions — Empire, Idaho Springs and the county — have already adopted resolutions supporting the project.
Mayor Lee Berenato and other trustees said Silver Plume wanted to keep jurisdictional control over dimensional standards and preservation goals; Berenato emphasized the town is not committing to membership immediately. The trustees agreed to continue discussion and make the MJHA IGA a topic for the Sept. 9 Board of Trustees meeting, when the town could consider a resolution of support.
What happens next: the Board scheduled further discussion of the Draft IGA at its Sept. 9 meeting; no formal vote on Silver Plume’s membership was taken on Aug. 26.
