DENVER -- There's new sense of urgency surrounding the fight to save trees at Denver's City Park Golf Course.
Denver City Council is set to vote on contracts related to a controversial drainage project at the golf course. The work involves a stormwater drainage project and course redesign.
The proposed contracts are on the agenda for Monday, August 14, after the vote was delayed by a week. Councilman Rafael Espinoza requested the delay and sent a letter to Mayor Michael Hancock Friday morning asking him to deny the contracts.
"It doesn't make any sense to contract with someone for tree removal when the question of is this an appropriate use of park land remains," said Espinoza.
His concerns are echoed by a group of concerned residents. They want council to leave the trees alone and hold off on approving the contracts until a pending legal battle is sorted out.
"I think it’s wrong that they need to stop, they need to wait and they need to continue to listen. Whether that’s going to happen or not I don’t know, but that’s what I think is the right thing to do," said Nancy Francis, a Denver resident.
An email addressed to council members and obtained by Denver7 said the project is on a "very tight schedule." It goes on to list the number of trees being removed as well as the size of the trees being removed. The email states 263 trees will be removed from the course as part of the project.
"We are concerned that the city will go ahead and begin to remove trees and we don’t want to see that happen," said Francis.
The case is set to go to trial on August 21.