A representative of Magpie Operating, Inc. confirmed Monday that the drilling planned to take place in southeast Loveland in 2019 will include “hydraulic stimulation,” a process commonly referred to as fracking.

And, he said, the company is trying to move fast to get the well’s permitting completed before a ballot issue for statewide oil and gas setbacks reaches voters in November.

Most mineral rights owners in southeast Loveland will have financial options when it comes to receiving compensation for the extraction that will take place below several neighborhoods, said Ed Doka, a consultant for Magpie Operating Inc. and a self-described “lawyer-lite.”

Doka is charged with dealing with land-use topics for Magpie, including mineral ownership. With the exception of Boise Village and the estates on Nature Run, the surface owners should also own the mineral rights below their properties, so all of their financial options are “on the table,” Doka said.

To receive compensation for a mineral right in Colorado, there are generally three options: lease your mineral right and take a percentage in royalties, usually around 12.5 percent; consent to a working interest, which is pooling your mineral interest with others and participating in ownership of the lease itself with a share in both the costs of drilling and the profits of those wells; or decline the leasing offer and become a non-consenting owner. Non-consenting owners can be ” force-pooled” by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

A mineral owner’s financial options were not included in the certified letter of notice sent out in early September because it was essentially a form letter from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, Doka said.

“We’re not trying to screw anybody out of their money,” he said.

Doka said he has been talking constantly with Lovelanders about the drilling, and said he apologizes frequently about how the plans “came out of nowhere.” He said he sympathized with residents who received a certified letter in the mail and were confused or surprised about it.

He added that Magpie is hoping to move at pace in order to get permitting for the site accomplished before the November election, in case Proposition 112 passes.

Proposition 112, which would require 2,500-foot setbacks for new oil and gas drilling operations from occupied buildings and other areas like playgrounds, sports fields and reservoirs, would be bad news for Magpie, he said. Based in Loveland at 2707 S. County Road 11, Magpie is a “mom-and-pop” kind of company, Doka said.

“They’re local Loveland folk, not Anadarko,” he said. “This legislation would cripple them.”

Doka said he is hoping the proposition, if passed, would grandfather in their ability to drill.

He does not yet know what the facility will look like, but it will be “down in a hole,” and residents will notice “absolutely nothing” while it produces, Doka said. The vertical drilling site is within setback requirements and purposefully located away from homes, he said.

Per a list of answers to frequently asked questions about oil and gas drilling prepared by the city of Greeley, noise can be associated with drilling, with some periodical and some constant. Vehicle traffic from large trucks, often at night, can also be a side effect of oil and gas drilling, the fact sheet states.

However, the city of Greeley was not aware of any documentation that these side effects of drilling impact home prices or insurance costs, the fact sheet states.

Doka said Magpie Operating Inc. intends to hold a town hall-style meeting about the drilling in the coming months. He is currently looking for a venue.

Julia Rentsch: 970-699-5404, jrentsch@reporter-herald.com