Zak Wood / Colorado Daily

Disc golf enthusiast Corey Waxman finishes up the second round of nine holes at Harlow Platts Park Monday afternoon. The City of Boulder is looking into constructing a new disc golf course at Valmont Park.

It won’t happen this summer, but local off-road cyclists or disc golfers might gain some serious new recreational opportunities in the near-term future at Valmont City Park.

Boulder’s City Council and city staff will hold a discussion during Tuesday’s council meeting about the concept plan and development planning strategies for the park. The city owns about 132 acres of Valmont Park land, with parcels on the north and south sides of Valmont Road, but development has been limited to date.

This could change over the next several years, depending on funding and other variables.

Alice Guthrie, Parks and Planning Superintendent for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, said on Monday that the council could approve a Valmont concept plan update by “July at the earliest.” Engineering and site planning efforts would follow approval, and starting dates for the various physical projects could depend on the various variables.

But Perry Brooks, Parks Planner, said off-road riders might have reason to start thinking about a new bike park, which could include features such as a cyclocross course, singletrack trails, a terrain park and a children’s mountain biking learning area.

“The best-case scenario, specific to the bike park, is that we could break ground next summer if we got all of our ducks in a row,” said Brooks.

Also, the local off-road riding community has been working with the city on making a Valmont bike park a reality.

For example, the Boulder Mountain Bike Alliance (BMBA) and the city are exploring the possibility of submitting a $200,000 competitive grant to Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) for bike park construction. GOCO uses Colorado Lottery money to fund various projects or purchases, such as projects for open space protection or recreation.

“We worked really closely with them (BMBA) on the conceptual design for the park, and as we get into actually designing it and laying out trails, we’ll still be working really closely with them,” said Guthrie.

The city is also considering moving the historic Platt Farmhouse, which sits in the middle of where the bike park might be. Tuesday’s agenda packet said the farmhouse’s foundation is in poor shape, and said moving the house to a nearby site on Airport Road could “maximize construction cost efficiencies” for foundation construction and allow greater flexibility in bike park design.

Valmont Park might also eventually include an 18-hole disc golf course, but there are variables to consider.

The course might be located on the south side of the park, but the city is also considering other forms of development in the general area. Guthrie said amenities such as an outdoor amphitheater, an indoor tennis facility, an ice rink, or a gymnasium could be possible – but the city might need partnerships or new forms of funding to get the structures up and running.

So, the city might shoot for building a temporary disc golf course at first, and move the course as necessary in the future if the permanent structures are built at Valmont.

The cost of building a course, or other amenities where the course could be located, could include the cost of prairie dog relocation and mitigation.

Tuesday’s agenda packet said the cost of trapping prairie dogs, along with either relocating or euthanizing them, runs roughly $200 per animal. Brooks said the city does not have current prairie dog census numbers for the area.

Also, building a metal barrier to keep prairie dogs from nearby colonies from inhabiting the park could run about $30 per linear foot, so the city might spend about $45,000 if it builds 1,500 linear feet.

But Brooks said building the rest of the disc golf course would only cost about $50,000 “tops.” The expenses would include concrete tee pads, baskets and signage, and Guthrie said it is unlikely that the city would charge money for casual use of the course.

“If at some point a course was designed and we could use it for tournaments, that would be a different story, but we’re not looking at that, at least in this initial aspect of a temporary disc golf course,” said Guthrie.

After Tuesday’s council meeting, the concept plan will go to the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board in June, with a Planning Board hearing on June 19. Council could approve a final plan as soon as July 8.

FYI

Tuesday’s City Council meeting begins at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers, 1777 Broadway, and it will be televised live on Municipal (Cable) Channel 8. For Tuesday’s agenda packet, visit the City of Boulder Web site www.bouldercolorado.gov and click “Council General Info and Agendas” on the home page.

For more about Valmont City Park, visit the city Web site, click “Departments,” then “Parks and Recreation,” then “Parks and Recreation A-Z,” and select Valmont City Park Plan Update.