The drive to designate Falcon a city is still progressing, albeit slow. Thomas Cline, the Falcon Incorporation Committee moderator, said the group is not ready for a community-wide election until there is more information released to the public.”The next major project is to raise $5,000 to $8,000 to cover the cost of surveying the boundaries and the cost of the election,” Cline said.He said the preliminary city boundaries and the budget are completed. The budget was developed with 2004 actual figures from the county.The FIC is currently working on the city charter, which the group designated as a home-rule charter as opposed to a statutory town. Home-rule decisions are handled at the town level rather than the state, he said.”Anything we do won’t matter if we don’t raise enough funds to bring it to an election,” Cline said. “We would like to have the vote by this summer, but we just don’t know.”Cline said the FIC has tried to find a town comparable to Falcon – one that already incorporated. “It’s really difficult to find. It’s like looking for your identical twin,” he said.Russell Corona, the city of Watkins mayor (Watkins is on the eastern edge of Aurora, Colo.), knows the road to incorporation is not smooth. He said several attempts and eight to nine years passed before the community voted to incorporate in 2004.”Citizens ask, ‘What’s in it for me?’ If you trust what the future is going to be and you trust the county commissioners to do the right thing for your area, then don’t incorporate. If, however, you don’t and you want a larger voice, then incorporate,” Corona said.”I look at it as I have one voice in 1,700 to 1,900 in the city and only one voice in 385,000 in the county.”Corona’s advice is to hire a municipal attorney who is familiar with incorporation and hire someone familiar with government finance to put together a preliminary budget.He also said to encourage people to get involved, and advised open meetings to allow for all residents’ perspectives.”The biggest obstacle is the fear of another level of government,” he said. “Watkins is faced with growth … but a lot of people refuse to accept growth. Watkins is sitting in the pathway of growth.”Cline said community members that comprise the FIC would like to meet with people in Falcon to see if they are interested. They hope to accomplish that goal by sending mailers, visiting neighborhoods door-to-door and holding public meetings.”Most people have the opinion, ‘You get it ready for me and present it to me and then I’ll say yes or no.'”Eric Bergman, director of the office of Smart Growth at the Colorado Department of Local Affairs said, “The same issues will resonate whether it’s a town of 1,000 or 100,000. It’s a great dialogue for the community to have. You need to look at what you are truly trying to achieve as a community. Take a look at what you would be giving and what you would be gaining.”Bergman recommends developing an incorporation study and hiring a consultant, which would provide a detailed analysis of the services needed in the community and the cost of those services.Corona said Watkins utilized graduate students from Metro State College, who were majoring in urban design and development, to help with the initial proposal. A selection committee comprised of citizens, large landowners, stakeholders and board members then hired consultants to help finalize the incorporation specifics.”One thing I’ve learned through this process is government does not move fast. There are so many things you have to go through,” Corona said.The biggest benefit of incorporation, he said, is the development of a comprehensive plan, which they will adopt in April.Corona said the plan includes a vision statement, city goals and objectives and a land-use plan for residential and multi-use property.”The comprehensive plan really tells a story of the potential development of the area, so we can ask developers how their project is going to fit into the town. It helps to be in charge of where and how growth happens, so we’re not scrambling around when growth does come.”
