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Longmont City Council voted unanimously during its July 29 meeting to table the Distel Tull land exchange proposal due to an “ongoing legal negotiation with Holcim’s property interest.” Mayor Joan Peck made the motion and said the issue will be brought back to the council on a future date when the negotiations are settled.
According to a press release from the City of Longmont on July 30, the council had been scheduled to consider the exchange on August 12, deciding whether to move the Distel property’s ownership from the open space fund to the utilities fund, and vice versa for the Tull property. Both properties have been the site of Holcim gravel operations, but the international company recently spun off its North American branch into a new business known as Amrize.
On July 22, the council held a closed door executive session to discuss the potential land exchange that could make way for a controversial composting facility on an industrial gravel mining site. Following that meeting, Mayor Peck called for the special meeting on July 29 to hold this vote. After the unanimous vote to table the land exchange proposal, there were nearly three hours of public comments about the proposal, the potential for a composting facility on the Distel site, and comments regarding the health effects of smart meters and the city’s opt out program.
Residents have expressed concerns about developing land that was purchased with open space funds. Others have brought more attention to the potential composting facility that is being considered for the Distel site if the land exchange does occur. A Terracon geotechnical engineering report from 2024 reveals the site has a high water table and expansive soil. The previous consideration was for a warehouse to be built upon the property and the Terracon report concluded that the land was suitable for the warehouse project, but careful planning would be needed.
Longmont Sustainability Advisory Board member Ethan Augreen shared the findings of this report in a Substack post and said these results indicate a strong potential for the composting facility to contaminate the groundwater.
One resident suggested there was “dirty stuff” happening because the reasons for the land exchange are not “crystal clear.” Mayor Peck responded, “There’s no dirty stuff going on here. We have a large contingency of residents saying they want a composting center. It isn't something that we as a council thought, ‘Oh, that is a good idea.’ It came to us.”
“There is nothing nefarious here,” she added. “There are legal negotiations going on and we are under attorney client privilege.”
The council was originally scheduled to vote on the land exchange on August 12, but now the proposal is tabled until negotiations with Holcim are settled. If the proposal moves forward, there will need to be two separate votes by the city council. The first vote will be for the land exchange, and the second vote would be regarding the proposed composting facility.
Daniel Wolford, who served as Longmont’s open space manager for more than 22 years, wrote a letter to the editor and said the land exchange proposal should be rejected. “Open Space advocates support sustainability projects like composting, but not if it means sacrificing designated Open Space,” Wolford wrote. “Our community’s green spaces are finite and precious. We must ensure that the total amount and quality of protected open space never diminishes. This is about honoring our commitments and protecting the qualities of life that make Longmont unique. It’s about making clear choices that safeguard our community’s environment for generations to come.”
