Originally published in the February 1 issue of The Mountain-Ear.

Kim Habicht, Black Hawk.

Black Hawk City Council members voted unanimously to approve new plans for the Canyon Parking Garage at the bimonthly city council meeting on January 24, 2018. The proposed garage will be three stories and will be located at 131 Main Street in Black Hawk.

The council approved several different variances from regulations for the new building, including a shortened landscape area between the city sidewalk and the garage and parking lot.

Cynthia Linker, Community Planning and Development Administrator, and Ethan Watel of Baseline Engineering Consulting, presented the plans.

The proposed site is vulnerable to flooding, due to its proximity to North Clear Creek. Jacobs Entertainment, the constructor of the new garage, will have to make various restorations to the channel, like the removal of sediment deposits and reshaping of the channel. The company has said that they are committed to making these changes.

David Grunenwald, Vice President of Development for Jacobs Investment, which is based out of Ohio, thanked the mayor and aldermen for their approval. “It’s been a long road,” he said.

Negotiations between the Council and Jacobs Entertainment have been ongoing. At a City Council meeting in December 2017, Mayor David Spellman recommended to Grunenwald that he redraw the designs for the garage so that they resemble the historic character of the existing buildings in downtown Black Hawk.

The plans presented for the garage reflected these changes. The garage will have masonry arches that will resemble Black Hawk’s historic buildings. The appearance of the new garage was described as being “harmonious with the streetscape.”

The council also unanimously approved three motions to make changes to the lighting on the Golden Gates Casino, the Mardi Gras Casino and the KMM Parking Garage. “Go light it up,” said Mayor David Spellman.

Plans for the installation and maintenance of a Verizon Wireless cell tower on the Hidden Valley Water Plant property were also approved unanimously. The lot on which the tower will be placed is currently undeveloped and covered with native vegetation. Alderman Linda Armbright said of the plan, “This sounds like a good deal to me.”

A motion to allot money for the removal, restoration and reassembly of holiday decorations was passed unanimously. The decorations include the red bows on the streetlights and the Main Street Bridge.

The council also unanimously approved the 2018 fireworks production contract between the city and Western Enterprises, Inc. The price of the fireworks increased almost 7 percent from the previous year; however, this is the first price increase since 2015. The fireworks will be used in the annual Fourth of July celebration.

The council meeting closed with the Board unanimously approving a motion to release $200,000 for City marketing and the Business Improvement District (BID). Spellman said the casinos did not meet benchmarks for funding, so the Council needs to release those funds.