Castle Pines approves wildfire plan and awards Deer Creek Forestry contract for 255 acres

Castle Pines City Council adopted the Community Wildfire Protection Implementation Plan (CWPIP) and approved a professional services agreement with Deer Creek Forestry Lehi to mechanically mitigate 255 acres of overgrown oak and other flammable fuels.

Staff presented the plan and the contract recommendation. McKenna Shaw, assistant to the city manager, told the council the full project cost for the 255 acres is $510,000; a Colorado State Forest Service grant of $99,000 would lower the city’s net cost to about $411,000 and the contractor quoted roughly $2,000 per acre because much of the work requires hand labor on steep slopes. Shaw said the contract is written over three years but that Deer Creek has the capacity to complete all 255 acres this year.

The plan’s technical work prioritized open‑space parcels using critical‑infrastructure maps, fuel types, topography and CARA wildfire risk data; the CWPIP identifies priority levels 1–4, with priority 1 reserved for critical infrastructure such as sewer lift stations. Shaw said the project follows the Colorado State Forest Service grant philosophy and that South Metro Fire Rescue and Douglas County Open Space reviewed and support the plan. She singled out Happy Creek as a high‑priority area that will require additional stream‑restoration funding and design from partners such as the Mile Lehi Flood District.

Public commenters at the meeting urged the council to change priorities for specific parcels. Bob Kaser, a former volunteer arson investigator and past HOA president, asked the council to "amend resolutions 24, 42, and 43 to include Compartment D 180 as a priority 1 or 2," saying D‑180 (10.5 acres in Elk Park) includes uphill terrain and light flashy fuels that raise ignition risk. Shaw acknowledged the request but did not report an immediate change to the priority list at the meeting.

Council members questioned costs, program uptake and mitigation methods. Several members and residents contrasted mechanical mitigation with the use of goats: staff said goats help maintenance and community engagement but do not reliably create the 30‑foot fire breaks that mechanical methods and selective hand labor can achieve; staff noted goats typically require repeated visits over multiple years to be effective on the same parcel. Shaw summarized the homeowner and HOA grant program numbers: initial rounds awarded roughly $28,000 in 2023 and about $31,000 in 2024 to a combination of HOA and homeowner projects.

Council moved and approved resolution 24‑43 to enter the professional services agreement with Deer Creek Forestry. Later during debate council made and passed a separate motion to amend the contract term so the work would terminate on or before 12/31/2024 — effectively directing staff and the contractor to complete the 255 acres in one year. Council and staff discussed funding; city staff said the appropriation to cover the city’s share would be brought forward in a subsequent budget amendment (finance staff indicated the Metro District fund transfer is a likely source and that a formal appropriation would be presented in third quarter).

The CWPIP and the contract award aim to break up continuous oak canopy to create oak‑mosaic fire breaks, improve firefighter access and reduce the likelihood that a wildfire would produce the rapid, severe spread seen in other regional events. Implementation steps cited at the meeting included prioritizing critical infrastructure in phase 1, coordinating with HOAs for adjacent private property work, seeking additional grants for projects with added restoration needs, and combining selective community‑engagement uses of goats on smaller parcels with mechanical approaches on steeper slopes.

Council approved the consent agenda earlier in the meeting, which included resolution 24‑42 adopting the CWPIP. The council directed staff to return with any appropriation needed to fund the city’s portion of the mitigation contract.