If you go What: Boulder County commissioners’ public hearing on Gross Reservoir expansion When: 4:30 p.m. March 14 Where: Boulder County Courthouse, 1325 Pearl St., Third Floor, Boulder More info: Online speaker sign-ups start at noon Feb. 14. To sign-up or for more information, go to bit.ly/GrossDamExpansion. In-person speaker sign-ups will be taken beginning an hour in advance of the hearing start time.

Community members wanting to comment next month at a Boulder County commissioners hearing on whether Denver Water can move forward with an expansion of Gross Reservoir can start signing up next week.

The last time the $380 million Gross Reservoir project came before commissioners in 2014, it drew a standing room-only crowd.

County officials expect a big crowd again this time.

Online sign-ups for the March 14 hearing start Feb. 14, while in-person sign-ups will start an hour before the hearing.

Commissioners plan to continue to take public testimony until all speakers have had an opportunity to comment, according to a news release.

After the public hearing, commissioners will hear Denver Water’s appeal of a decision by the county’s Land Use Department that Denver Water must run the project through what is known as a “1041” review process before construction can begin.

Named for the bill number by which it was enacted in 1974, the 1041 legislation gives local governments the right to control development by agencies beyond their boundaries through a local permitting process.

Denver Water argues the Gross Reservoir expansion is exempt from 1041 requirements. Boulder County claims it is not.

The public hearing will focus on the limited scope of the determination and is not a hearing or decision on the perceived impacts or merits of the reservoir expansion project, according to a news release.

The Gross Reservoir expansion would be the largest construction project in Boulder County history.

Denver Water, which serves about 1.4 million customers in the Denver metro area, but none in Boulder County, had hoped to start construction this year.

It proposes to raise the Gross Reservoir Dam in southwestern Boulder County by 131 feet to a height of 471 feet, expand its capacity by 77,000 acre-feet, and take down as many as 650,000 trees around the reservoir’s 12.5-mile shoreline — although some estimates have put that number lower.

Along with a public hearing, commissioners are accepting written comments on Denver Water’s appeal.

Written comments can be submitted through an online comment form available at bit.ly/GrossDamExpansion. Comments also can be mailed to the Boulder County Commissioners’ Office, P.O. Box 471, Boulder, 80306. Comments need to be received by noon March 12.

Amy Bounds: 303-473-1341, boundsa@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/boundsa