Pueblo County

Proximity Green served as the 1A Program Manager for Pueblo County, enacting the measure approved by voters in November 2016. As Program Manager staring in December 2016 for a 30 month period, Proximity Green directed the effort to enact projects, reporting directly to the County Commissioners. The 2016 1A program includes a series of community focused projects including parks, open space, trails, roadways, downtown revitalization, and expanding the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo (HARP), also known as the Pueblo Riverwalk.

The estimated $66M in future 1A revenues were not approved with a debt mechanism by the voters, and a substantial portion of the initial effort included working alongside the County’s financial advisor and bond counsel as the County issued Certificates of Participation to advance funding for Phase 1 of the projects.

Proximity Green enabled the County to engage quickly into project negotiations and planning, simultaneously working side by side with the County internal teams on finance, communications, transportation, and facilities. Proximity Green’s experience with project planning and implementation, coupled with land development expertise, enabled a smooth transition for the County, retaining the relationship for over 30 months, then allowing the County to hire full time staff internally once the project planning phase was completed.

An exciting part of the Pueblo County PM assignment included negotiations with a minor-league baseball owner, to relocate the Pioneer-league Orem Owlz, an affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels, to Pueblo. While the minor-league stadium opportunity was not fully supported in the community, the overall outcome is good for Colorado, as the Owlz will be relocating to Windsor through a public-private partnership the team’s owner and the Windsor sports complex.

All images for the stadium and 1A program courtesy of Pueblo County as released to the public and media in 2018. Image credits to Gary Anzuini and Populous.