Current Partnerships

Currently, these three organizations work in partnership on more than 35 collaborative efforts. Partnerships can take the form of formal resolutions or agreements, or they can simply involve representatives from the city, county and school district working together on smaller projects.

For example, the City, County and School District are all Climate Wise partners and work to incorporate energy efficiency and green building into the community. We actually share some employees, such as project managers for energy efficiency and construction.

With funding support from the Bohemian Foundation, youth ride free on Transfort buses and several routes serve local schools based on the time of day and year.

School resource officers keep our high school and middle school students safe.

The City, County and PSD collaborate on road projects and facilities planning. City parks and recreation facilities are used for both student athletics and city programs. Since many schools are next to city parks, the School District and City share grounds maintenance responsibilities and costs.

The City and the County have an intergovernmental agreement for cable television services; both provide programming on Cable 14 and share equipment and staff resources.

All three organizations partner in emergency preparedness and hold regular planning and liaison meetings to prepare for upcoming issues.

Finding More Efficiency

As each entity struggles with difficult choices about how to spend limited resources, exploring new partnerships is becoming even more important. As such, leadership from the City of Fort Collins, Larimer County, and Poudre School District have already begun a formal dialogue to identify additional efficiencies and partnership opportunities. Over the next few months we will work together to examine the details and actual cost-savings of these ideas to determine which are most valuable to pursue.

2010-2011 Budget

This conversation is particularly important as the City progresses through our 2010-2011 Budget process. We welcome your ideas about how the City of Fort Collins can collaborate with other public agencies to provide better, more efficient service to our community. Visit fcgov.com/budget to offer your suggestions and follow the 2010-2011 Budget process online.

Emergency Notification for All Events

Our advanced emergency notification system allows residents in Larimer County to sign up to receive emergency notifications on their cell phones, business phones, via text messages, and e-mails in addition to receiving phone calls on their traditional home phones. This system will notify you about emergencies such as wildfire, flood, or critical police activity.

You must sign up at leta911.org to take advantage of this free service. If you don’t sign up, you will still receive emergency notifications on your traditional home phone, but nowhere else.

The enhanced system provides residents with choices. You choose how you’re contacted: cell phone call, text message, e-mail, home phone, etc. Plus, you also have the ability to choose the locations you want to be contacted about. That means you could receive notifications on your cell phone about your home AND your child’s school.

Floods and Weather Alerts: Radio and TV

Listening to the radio or watching local TV stations is still one of the best ways to learn about current weather conditions and emergencies – do not call 911 for information. The best weather updates come from the National Weather Service via NOAA weather radios that can be purchased at electronics and appliance stores.

It’s important to know the difference between the following terms:

• Watch: severe weather conditions are possible – be alert
• Warning: severe weather has been reported or is imminent – take precautions immediately

New Online Flood Maps

Fort Collins Utilities has an early flood warning system that includes streamflow and precipitation gauges throughout the city so that you can view real-time data. When gauges exceed a set level, Utilities and Office of Emergency Management personnel are notified automatically. This information, combined with enhanced weather data, allows for greater lead time to respond to a flood.

For more information, visit fcgov.com/stormwater, call 221-6700 or TDD (970) 224-6003.

Flood Awareness Week July 13-19

Information will be available throughout the month. Visit fcgov.com/stormwater for related videos and more information.