Resident urges Arapahoe County to honor OSTAB recommendation on Jackass Hill Park grant

Mark Flink, a Littleton resident, told the Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners on July 8 that the county should honor the Open Space and Trails Advisory Board(OSTAB) recommendation and not approve Littleton's Jackass Hill Park grant application until Littleton submits a modified application and OSTAB reviews it.

Flink said OSTAB voted "5-2-1" not to recommend Littleton's request and that OSTAB members and citizens objected to the amount of concrete proposed for the project. He told commissioners that a previous group project grant for the Jackass Gulch spur trail was recommended and approved in July 2023 based on Littleton's application statements that there was community support and no opposition; he said later community reaction showed that was not the case.

"Littleton cannot be in and should not be trusted when it comes to concrete and open space," Flink said. He told the board that Littletonfailed to disclose a January 2022 focus group preference for a dual-surface trail and that, by letter dated Jan. 31, 2025, Littleton said it would request an extension because the project would be completed outside the two-year grant timeline.

Flink said staff in the countyOpen Spaces office had told him that requests for a one-year extension would be handled administratively by open space staff and granted. He said that, in his view, any extension request "needs to be considered by OSTAB with public notice" and should not be granted administratively without OSTAB review and a board decision. He also referred to "resolution 21-2-63" and OSTAB bylaws as the basis for OSTAB's advisory role.

No county action on the Jackass Hill Park application was recorded during the public comment period; the remarks were received as public comment, and the board did not respond during that agenda section.