Douglas County is working closely with CPN community leadership to help ensure a smooth transition of services and governance for the citizens of CPN.

Leadership

Members of the Castle Pines North (CPN) Master Association and the CPN Preservation Committee have agreed to help the community with key issues during this interim period. CPN is working with the CPN Preservation Committee, Douglas County, the State of Colorado, and other local representatives to ensure services continue as usual for CPN.

The City of CPN will need to elect officers – a mayor, six councilmembers (two from each of three wards), a treasurer and a clerk. Statutorily, the election will be conducted in accordance with the Municipal Election Code of 1965 (Section 31-10-101, et seq.) and is scheduled to be held on Feb. 12, 2008 by mail ballot. The Election Commission that was appointed to oversee the incorporation vote will organize and conduct the election of officers. The fi rst ordinances of the new city will go into effect no sooner than 30 days after passage and publication. According to Section 31-2-105, incorporation is complete when officers are elected and qualified.

Residents who are interested in running for mayor or for city council will need to gather 25 signatures on a petition that must be completed 30 days prior to the election. The date of the election, as well as other details, are still being worked out by the Election Commission.

Continued County Services to Castle Pines North

The County will continue to apply all zoning, subdivision and other regulations within the new city for 90 days after the election of offi cers, unless superseded by an ordinance. Any currently pending applications regarding zoning, subdivision and other regulations will continue to be processed by the County. There will be no authority able to bind the new city until officers are elected and can meet and vote. If an election doesn’t take place until February, the County is bound to process applications, approvals, etc. until that time.

Once the new city council is on board, the County can consider a Memorandum of Understanding or an Intergovernmental Agreement that deals with any pending applications or approvals. Any applicants within the new city of the incorporation will be notified that approvals taking approximately six months or longer may have to start the process over with the City of CPN.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office will continue to provide services to CPN and once incorporation is complete (February 2008), CPN can contract law enforcement services from the Sheriff’s Office, if they so choose.

All other Douglas County services will continue to be available to CPN for one year, or until the new city receives its fi rst ad valorem taxes, whichever is fi rst. The only ad valorem tax being collected by CPN is 4.5 mills to replace the Law Enforcement tax, currently paid to the County. There is a provision allowing the new city to accelerate collection of taxes so proceeds can be received in the current year. This process can’t begin until the new council is elected.

The Douglas County Road & Bridge Division will provide the following services on an as needed basis throughout the year:

Snow removal
Pavement repairs
Asphalt overlays
Concrete pavement replacement
Sidewalk repairs/chase drain installations
Storm drainage repairs/cleaning
Roadway sweeping
Placement of larvacide briquettes (performed in early spring for control of mosquito larvae)

Other Services

The Metro District will continue to provide water, sewer, storm drain and parks and open space maintenance to CPN. Any major decisions regarding the Metro District will be made by the future elected representatives of CPN.

The Master Association will continue in its current role until elected representatives make any necessary decisions. It is anticipated that most of the Master Association responsibilities will eventually be merged into the new city.

What about Home Rule?

The Home Rule process (Section 31-2-201) requires a series of elections to form a charter commission, approve a charter and elect officers. Although the deadlines for things such as publication, notice, formation, and reporting, adopting and setting new elections under the Home Rule process vary, it is unlikely that this process will be complete in less than six to eight months. The process for this will not begin until after the completion of the incorporation, which is February 2008. If the City of CPN moves towards Home Rule, it will not occur until after any County responsibility for services has ended.

Name, Address and Zip Codes

The designation of Castle Pines “North” was kept for a few reasons. First, there is historic claim to the name. Second, Castle Pines Village filed their petition to incorporate under the name “Castle Pines.” If CPN had filed for the same name, it would have resulted in a costly court battle. In the future, any name change for CPN could be considered by the new city council and must be voted on by residents of CPN.

The decision on whether CPN will have a Post Office will be made by the U.S. Postal Service. Until a decision is communicated to all CPN residents, please continue to use the Castle Rock address. The zip code will not change.