Bob Volpe
The Woodland Park Downtown Development Authority (DDA) held a special meeting last week to work on some issues regarding agenda notifications and other issues, aimed at making them more transparent with the public.
This follows some complaints TMJ has received from former board members and from residents regarding proper notification of meetings and key agenda items.
DDA Chairperson Tony Perry announced the city has piggy-backed the DDA on their civics- plus program, which will allow the DDA to post documents and notices with greater ease.
Before this change the old DDA website had been notoriously unreliable, often times not showing the DDA agendas and other DDA business information.
The major business part of this special meeting was to ratify the expenditures for December 2022. It passed unanimously with no discussion.
Perry stated that the regular meeting in February will be a full agenda including modernizing the DDA bylaws and a guide for the public to make CORA (freedom of information) requests.
Perhaps the biggest item scheduled for the February meeting will be the contract with the Tava investment group for purchasing Woodland Station. Should the DDA approve the purchase contract with the TAVA group, it then goes to city council for approval or denial.
The Tava plans call for a tap house restaurant, event center, culinary school, retail, housing and more. They have advance more than previous pursuits. However, a few legal hurdles remain before project proponents can reach the end zone.
Reaching a final deal at Woodland Station has been a struggle for more than two decades due largely to infrastructure challenges at the property and development economics regarding this site. The property once served as the beacon of the town’s cowboy culture, housing the Bergstrom Arena and serving as the home of the Saddle Club. It has mostly sat idle for the last 20 years, a far cry from the original vision for this area, which touted this spot as the prime commercial anchor of Woodland Park.