Arvada City Council Holds Two-Day Retreat in Fort Collins

Members of the Arvada City Council participated in a two-day, off-site governance and team-building retreat in Fort Collins in January. City officials and council members described the retreat as a structured, professionally facilitated workshop focused on governance and collaboration rather than policy decisions.

Key facts

• Retreat classification: The session was formally classified as a City Council retreat focused on governance, communication, and collaboration, not policy-setting or votes.

• Peer-city learning: Fort Collins was selected to share lessons on cost-effective infrastructure maintenance and a homelessness response centered on nonprofit partnerships rather than City-run facilities.

• Cost: The City spent $23,987, including up to $20,000 for facilitation and about $4,000 for travel, lodging, and meals, paid from the Council’s training budget.

Purpose of the retreat

In a written response to Arvada Voices, Deputy City Manager Allison Scheck said City Council requested a professionally facilitated retreat in November 2025, led primarily by Mayor Lauren Simpson, to strengthen internal working relationships and improve Council’s effectiveness as an elected body.

According to the City’s contract with Trebuchet Group International, LLC, the retreat was intended to support improved governance outcomes, including clearer decision-making, stronger communication, and shared accountability. The contract describes the goal as building a “high-performing council culture” that supports open debate while still leading to “clarity, commitment, and follow-through.”

The scope of work included pre-work interviews and assessments, a two-day facilitated retreat, and a follow-up integration session to reinforce commitments made during the sessions. Fort Collins was selected as a learning partner to provide peer-city context on infrastructure investment and homelessness response.

Retreat schedule, locations, and agenda

The retreat took place Jan. 16–17, 2026, in Fort Collins and included facilitated governance sessions and peer-city briefings.

The first day focused on team-building and governance, including:

• shared expectations and working norms,

• facilitated discussions on trust, communication, and conflict management, and

• briefings from Fort Collins officials on homelessness and infrastructure.

Council members also attended a group dinner Friday evening, which City officials confirmed was personally funded.

The second day continued with facilitated sessions centered on:

• long-term vision and shared commitments, and

• accountability, follow-through, and results.

City officials confirmed that council members stayed overnight in Fort Collins, while City staff did not. No formal policy decisions or votes were taken during the retreat. Any meals or activities not facilitated by the City—including a bowling group activity—were personally funded by council members.

Cost summary

• Professional facilitation (Trebuchet Group International): not to exceed $20,000

• Travel, lodging, and meals: $3,987

• Total cost: $23,987

According to the City, the costs were paid from existing City Council training and events funds and include preparation, facilitation, post-retreat integration, and a follow-up session planned later in the year.

Council member perspectives

Council member Bob Fifer

Council member Bob Fifer described the Fort Collins sessions as a governance-focused workshop aimed at improving how council members work together, rather than advancing specific policy outcomes.

He said the facilitation emphasized commitment to process over unanimity. “We don’t have to agree,” Fifer said. “We just have to commit that we’re going to move forward.” Fifer described the experience as substantive, noting it helped reduce stalemates by encouraging council members to slow down, clarify underlying issues, and avoid prescribing solutions too early.

Fifer, who has served on council for more than a decade, also noted that Council rarely uses its full training budget and viewed the workshop as a constructive use of those funds.

Council member Mike Griffith

Council member Mike Griffith similarly characterized the sessions as an effort to strengthen Council’s professional culture as the City confronts increasingly complex and high-stakes decisions.

In further discussions, Griffith also emphasized that the goal was not unanimity, but professionalism—creating space for disagreement while maintaining respect, clarity, and forward momentum. He said that focus is particularly important as Council navigates major fiscal and infrastructure issues that involve long timelines, large capital investments, and competing priorities.

Griffith described the retreat as an opportunity to improve how Council deliberates and makes decisions in regular public meetings, rather than a forum for resolving specific policy questions.

Infrastructure: lessons from Fort Collins

A portion of the retreat focused on infrastructure planning and funding, with presentations from Fort Collins streets and engineering staff presenting data showing how deferred maintenance accelerates pavement deterioration and increases long-term costs.

Presenters showed data illustrating how pavement condition declines when maintenance is deferred, emphasizing that early investment reduces long-term costs. One slide showed that spending $1 on road preservation early can avoid $11–$16 in reconstruction costs later, highlighting the financial tradeoffs of delayed maintenance.

Source: City of Fort Collins Transportation Department, Street Maintenance Program (SMP) presentation, obtained via public records request.

Fort Collins officials also discussed their Street Maintenance Program (SMP), funded in part by a dedicated quarter-cent sales tax. During the 2023–2024 budget cycle, the City temporarily redirected about $2 million in SMP funds to address critical bridge and traffic needs, reflecting a more integrated infrastructure management approach.

City engineers presented long-term projections showing how funding levels affect pavement conditions over time. Officials said the presentations were intended to share context and lessons learned, not necessarily to recommend a specific funding or tax strategy for Arvada.

Homelessness: Fort Collins’ approach

Fort Collins officials outlined a homelessness response system centered on coordinated outreach, nonprofit partnerships, and a planned Homeless Resolution Center being developed by the Fort Collins Rescue Mission.

The City’s current approach emphasizes early engagement, case management, and cross-department coordination through its Homeless Outreach and Prevention (HOPE) Team. The multidisciplinary unit includes police officers, mental health clinicians, and case managers and functions very similar to Arvada’s CORE team by focusing on outreach and stabilization rather than enforcement.

Officials and public reporting also described plans for the $27.5 million Homeless Resolution Center, funded primarily through private donations and nonprofit fundraising, with the City contributing $1 million in one-time ARPA funding. The facility is planned to include an overnight shelter for up to 250 people, a day shelter, and space for intake and case management, with an anticipated opening in late fall 2026.

City officials emphasized that Fort Collins’ strategy relies on nonprofit-led services and partnerships, with the City playing a coordinating and limited funding role. The system is currently operating under interim arrangements following the closure of its downtown shelter after a kitchen fire in 2025.

City-to-city context

While City officials described Fort Collins as a peer municipality for learning purposes, the two cities differ in geography, governance, and regional context.

Fort Collins has an estimated population of 170,924 (2024) and is viewed as a “college town”, home to Colorado State University. It operates its own transit system and publishes city-level homelessness data through municipal dashboards.

Arvada, with an estimated population of 121,873 (2024), is part of the Denver metropolitan area and spans Jefferson and Adams counties. The City is directly connected to the Denver-region transit network through the Regional Transportation District (RTD), with several stations in Arvada. The City relies on county-level Point-in-Time counts and City estimates informed by multiple data sources. According to the City’s homelessness FAQ, Arvada estimates approximately 200-300 people were experiencing homelessness in the city in 2024, while Fort Collins’ most recent city-level count reported 368 people.

City officials emphasized that Fort Collins was selected as a learning partner due to similarities in municipal structure and shared policy challenges, rather than identical demographics, homelessness conditions, or revenue models. The comparison below illustrates how the two cities align in certain areas while differing in scale and regional context.

What happens next

City officials said the retreat concluded with shared commitments around communication, accountability, and follow-through, but emphasized that its effectiveness will be measured over time through Council’s public work. A follow-up integration session with the facilitator is planned later in 2026, consistent with the contract scope.

Any changes in Council dynamics, governance practices, or decision-making processes are expected to occur during regular public meetings, where future infrastructure funding decisions, homelessness strategy development, and other major policy matters will continue to be debated and voted on in open session.

Arvada Voices will continue monitoring Council actions to assess how the retreat’s stated goals are reflected in practice.

Disclosures: Karen DeAguero, an Arvada Voices founder and board member who is currently a candidate for Adams County Commissioner, was not involved in the reporting, writing, or editing of this story.

Arvada Voices submitted a Colorado Open Records Act request seeking documentation, including lodging records, the facilitator’s scope of work, and materials provided by Fort Collins officials. Information was provided, although some was redacted: Request #2026-24 and PRR-40-2026.