Backers of new projects could be losing ground to Denver’s backlog of repairs in the push-and-pull over hundreds of millions of dollars the city will borrow based on future property taxes over the next decade.

But advocates for new parks, transportation and building projects will have another shot in coming weeks, as decision-making over Denver’s $749 million city bond list shifts from a collection of community committees to the power centers of Mayor Michael Hancock’s office and the City Council. That dollar amount is expected to reach $800 million to $900 million by the time the initiative goes to voters in November.

On June 2, the 2017 GO Bond executive committee that culled through recommendations by five subcommittees hammered out the current list. Their voting concluded a three-month process that several participants described as exhausting and full of difficult calls that elated some project advocates while disappointing others.

As it stands, the recommended list includes 46 items that are a mix of specific projects and citywide improvements that largely are geared toward streets, sidewalks, neighborhood parks, recreation centers and city buildings, including several library branches.

The largest single project, at $75 million, would cover about half the cost of the Denver Health and Hospital Authority’s planned Ambulatory Care Center, an outpatient facility.

Other big tickets include $55 million to kick off a Colfax Avenue bus rapid transit project, $37.5 million for a new recreation center in Westwood, $35.5 million toward the Denver Art Museum’s North Building renovation and $31 million for a renovation of the Central Library.

What will happen to the project list when the mayor and the council weigh in? It’s anybody’s guess.

“It is an ever-evolving list,” said Jenna Espinoza, a mayoral spokeswoman. “But as (Hancock) has alluded to, this year is the year of transportation and mobility as far as the priorities and values of the administration.”

The goal is for the council in August to approve a final general obligation bond package to send to city voters in the Nov. 7 election.

Panel left room for pet projects

Executive committee members speculated that Hancock and the council will have their own favorites, and they anticipated that by leaving $50 million of room for pet projects. Another $50 million or so will likely be added by the administration as a project contingency, said executive committee chair Roxane White.

The executive committee also tailored the list to Hancock’s stated preference for mobility by allotting about half — $370 million — for transportation-related projects.

That has left less money to split between the four other project categories — city-owned building projects ($139.5 million), safety facilities ($46.8 million), parks and recreation ($80.5 million), and arts and culture facilities ($112.4 million).

The administration has identified $900 million as the bond package maximum in part because that could be done without a property tax hike, instead making use of the same rate that has repaid a 2007 package of city bond projects. But that figure is possible in part because property values have increased sharply across the city in recent years.

As it stands, there is a heavy focus on projects in some low-income neighborhoods that have lost out on city funding in the past, including Westwood, Sun Valley and Elyria-Swansea. The latter would get a pedestrian bridge over a railroad crossing near 47th Avenue and York Street, along with money for other pedestrian improvements and an indoor pool in the Swansea Recreation Center.

But outlying areas of the city have few projects on the current list, and that will be a point of contention for some elected officials.

Political realities likely will come into play in the next phases — including figuring out which mix of projects will appeal to enough voters to win passage.

Espinoza says the mayor’s office is aiming to send the council a new version of the recommended bond list by the end of July, though she added: “I definitely think there will be some collaboration there before he just gives them the list.”

Several council members could take advantage of that opportunity.

Councilman Jolon Clark says he’s hoping to revive a bond proposal to begin work on the replacement of the crumbling Alameda Avenue underpass beneath railroad tracks east of Santa Fe Drive. His colleague Kendra Black, from far-southeast Denver, hopes to see money for pedestrian crossing improvements along Hampden Avenue east of Interstate 25.

Kevin Flynn, who represents southwest Denver, is hoping for a tennis courts replacement project at Bear Valley Park, while Paul Kashmann in southeast Denver is angling for the restoration of intersection and bikeway improvements for Buchtel Boulevard between University and Colorado boulevards.

Kashmann and Flynn bear the distinction of having no standalone projects slated in their districts on the current list.

“I’m not pleased right now, but I’m also not panicking because we’ve got quite a bit more room in the process,” Kashmann said.

Money increased for repair backlog

The executive committee’s recommendations include $101 million for deferred road maintenance, including repaving, fixing curbs and gutters, and major bridge rehabilitation. That repair backlog has been the subject of controversy, with disagreement over how much to include in the bond package at the expense of new projects and calls for the city to find a way to expand its annual maintenance funding.

Ultimately, the executive committee doubled the low-balled $50 million recommendation for deferred maintenance that was sent by the Transportation and Mobility Subcommittee, while declining to raise it as nearly as high as the Department of Public Works had sought.

Other changes included reductions to several projects to keep them viable — including cutting $12 million from a nearly $42 million program that would begin filling sidewalk gaps; $12 million from a $30 million rollout of more protected bike lanes citywide; $10 million from a $22 million plan to expand bike and transit lane upgrades on Broadway; and $19 million combined from six projects sought by museums, the Denver Zoo and other cultural facilities.

Some of those cuts left a sting, including for Kashmann, who has lobbied for the city to take a more active role in building sidewalks, and among bike advocates.

“Transportation projects are for everyone, and biking and walking projects are cheap,” said Piep Van Heuven, the Denver director for Bicycle Colorado. “They can reach people in every neighborhood, age, income and ability level, and improve safety and access. That’s why it’s so important that citywide biking and walking projects aren’t cut back.”

The mayor’s office says residents who want to weigh in on the project list with Hancock’s advisers and the council can send an email to 2017gobond@denvergov.org.

This file was updated at 02:03 p.m. on June 12, 2017, to correct the spelling of the name of Bicycle Colorado’s Denver director, Piep Van Heuven.