A proclamation honoring Peter Baertlein for 35 Years of service to the people of Denver.
New Council member Cashman and seen no other hands raised. We're going to go ahead and move along in our agenda. There are no presentations this evening. There are no communications. We have two proclamations being read this evening. Councilmember Flynn, would you please read Proclamation 20 2-011 for please? Certainly. Thank you, Madam President. Proclamation 20 2-011 for honoring Peter Bart line for 35 years of service to the people of Denver. Whereas the city and county of Denver and its Department of Transportation and Infrastructure have been privileged to have the leadership and dedication of principal project manager Peter Bartley, who is also known as the city's walking history book. For more than 35 years. Whereas Peter Bart Line has been a dedicated steward of the city's vertical and horizontal infrastructure, including planning, design and building. And. WHEREAS, Peter Bart line has celebrated the completion of dozens of critical infrastructure projects that have improved safety, travel, safety and reliability, increased mobility, reduced flood risks, and made Denver more sustainable and resilient. And. Whereas, Peter Bart Line has been dedicated to mentoring staff and coworkers. And. WHEREAS, some of the highlights of Peter Bart Line's career include managing city activities related to the construction of Coors Field, being a key member of the negotiation team charged with the redevelopment of the 4000 acre former Stapleton Airport site, spearheading interdepartmental initiatives and obtaining a $1 million technology loan to create the city's geographic information system. And being a key member of the negotiation team that created the tax increment finance district, metropolitan district and Development Agreement for a $200 million redevelopment of the Gates site. And. WHEREAS, Peter Bart Line served as city liaison to the Regional Transportation District Leadership, representing the city's interest in the implementation of the $2.1 billion fast tracked commuter rail expansion within the city's corporate boundary. And. Whereas, Peter Bart line provided direction and oversight as the city lead on the project management team for the $500 million redevelopment of the Denver Union Station Transit Terminal now therefore be proclaimed by the Council of the City and County of Denver's Section one. But the Council of the City and County of Denver hereby recognizes and honors Peter Bart line for his over 35 years of outstanding service to the people of Denver, his coworkers and his community. Section two that the clerk of the city and county of Denver shall affix the seal of the city and county of Denver to this proclamation, and that a copy be transmitted to Peter Bart line. And Q Councilmember Flynn, your motion to adopt. Thank you. I move the proclamation 20 2-0114 be adopted. Okay. Thank you. We've got the motion. And I believe Councilmember Hines had the second there comments by members of Council Councilmember Flynn. Thank you, Madam President. I think the rush to second that just shows how respected Peter is or actually more respects the the continuing competition between Katzmann and earned in the second things. Some of us on the Zoom call can see Peter waiting after the adoption, after the vote on this to make remarks. And I think you can see that he's obviously much too young to retire. He probably started with the city when he was ten years old, it looks like. Madam President and colleagues, I had the honor of getting I got to know Peter when I was working at RTD. After the newspaper closed and I had covered the fast track initiatives, I was hired on at RTD to be the communications manager for the Eagle Project, which built the $2.1 billion commuter rail project. That's the line that goes out to the airport, which we now call the A-line. It's the G line that goes out to Arvada, West Road, Wheat Ridge, and the the B line that goes up to Westminster. All three of those originate at Union Station. And I got to know Peter up in the fast track project office, the Eagle Project Office. And I can tell you from personal experience, having been on the other side and representing Artie's interests, that Peter was a very effective and knowledgeable and strident representative for Denver City and County's interest in all of those projects, much to our chagrin at times, I'm sure. But he and he's also, by the way, a very valued constituent in that council district, too. I believe he's still living down here. I haven't I haven't visited him lately, but I've been over to his house a few years ago. But such dedication, Madam President, and colleagues, really does need to be recognized as people have spent their careers doing fantastic work for the city. And you can see you can see Peter's work every time you go around through the Central Park neighborhood, the infrastructure there at Denver Union Station, the transit project there, and the A-line out to the airport, the G and the B lines up through North Denver. It's very evident that Peter gave his heart and soul to this city, and I'm very happy to sponsor this and very sorry to say goodbye to a valued city employee. I see that there are other BART lines in our attendees and he obviously has some family members here to wish him well. Madam President, I ask about my colleagues all unanimously join me in congratulating and honoring Peter. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Flynn. Next up, we have Councilmember Ortega. Thank you, Madam President. I want to thank Councilman Flint for bringing this forward, and I don't want to repeat what he has already stated, but I want to share that I had the pleasure of working and interfacing with Peter on a number of those projects that were spelled out in the proclamation. He was always the ultimate professional in the way that he worked with all of us on council and with community as well. And, you know, as Councilman Flynn said, those projects will will live on. And I just really appreciate his dedication to our city. And I want to thank him and his family because, you know, they they always sort of play that back seat when they have to attend evening meetings and and just always be on when, you know, they're expected to do this work for the city. So, Peter, I just want to say thank you for all your years of dedication to the city of Denver. And I wish you the best of luck. Sorry to see you leaving. Whoever steps into your position has some very big shoes to fill. So, again, I'm happy to support the proclamation tonight and and really appreciate all your hard work over these years. Thank you. Councilmember Ortega, we have Councilmember Cashman. You're up next. Yeah, thank you, Madam President. I will be brief. I'm pleased to support this proclamation. I'm pleased for Peter that he's taking the opportunity to perhaps walk into a little bit easier time of life. But I'm never pleased watching someone retire that I've enjoyed working with and have so much respect for I. The main issue that I ran into Peter about was the Water Waterways study a couple of years ago that was looking at the Platte River Weir Gulch and Harvard Gulch. And we had a a public meeting over at the Harvard Gulch Rec Center. And you had, you know, dozens of families worried that their home might be taken or their property disturbed. And I was just couldn't have been more impressed at the way Peter handled the situation and explain was able to explain what was going on, calm some ruffled feathers and just present the city appropriately with compassion for the homeowners . So congratulations on retirement. Okay, have a great time. And yeah, there'll be big shoes to fill. Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Councilmember Cashman. And not seen in the other hands raised. I'll go ahead and chime in here. Thank you, Councilman Flynn, for reaching out about this proclamation. In District 11, we have a lot of metro districts and we've got a lot of those agreements. And Peter has really been the person in the city that has been responsible for making sure that what needed to get done got implemented. And I'm proud that we worked together. Peter, on the District 11 medians all the way from the Montebello community out to the edge of Picadilly Road, and that that's an ongoing project. But really appreciate your partnership and making sure that we have the safety measures in as well. And so happy to support this proclamation this evening. Madam Secretary, roll call, please. Flynn. I. Herndon. I have. I cannot. I can. I. Ortega. I. Sandoval, I swear, I. Torres, I. Black I. CdeBaca, I. Clarke. All right. Madam President. I. And I'm secretary. Close the voting and announce the results. 13 Eyes. 13 Eyes. Proclamation 20 2-0114 has been adopted and Councilmember Flynn will start the five minute timer. But do you want to go ahead and introduce Peter for us this evening or we can just 11 and let him say his remarks. Certainly, Peter is here and I know some of his families and in the Zoom meeting as well and but it's my pleasure to call on him. Peter, the only thing I can say is that I wish that we were meeting in person in the chamber so that I could shake your hand and others could congratulate you in person. But congratulations on a career well done and accomplished. And we look forward to to your remarks and any advice you could give us. Thank you. Go ahead. Madam President and members of council. I can't believe this day has come. Well, Denver has just been you know, being with you all has just been part of what I've been doing for 37 years. And it's like a hand-in-glove fit and a celebration to celebrate my career. Like, this is really a capstone on my career and I just can't thank you enough for gone words tonight. And Councilman Flynn, any time you're out pounding the pavement, knocking on door, you can stop by for a coke up. You're always welcome. I really miss being there in person. If. If we were there tonight, I would be pointing to my beautiful wife, Ann, and my children, Brandi, Sarah and Phillip. And I know they're on the call tonight. I know some of my brothers are on the call and friends and my sister and just everyone. You're all amazing. And I'm truly blessed, you know, to to have a career at the city, to have such a loving family around me. For those of you who know me, I am a German engineer and a builder. So no need to set the five minute timer. I can I can certainly cut that by at least 3 minutes. What makes my time so memorable is that I'm not only doing what I love to do, but I'm doing it in the city . I love to live it and to do it well. I may be leaving the building behind, but an and I will be Denver residents for many years to come. Denver will always be our home. I tell folks, if you need any advice, I will dispense it gladly for free. So, you know, just look me up and I'll provide a phone number. I do want to do a shout out to Dottie. I mean, I've been a public works guy and a Dottie for my entire career. We've undergone so many changes. I mean, what the city was 37 years ago, in 1985 and what it is now, it's just day and night, the level of complexity of everything and and how we look to our citizens and listen and have concern for them. It makes us all better. And so thank you to you. Thank you to our citizens. Thank you to the to the folks at Dottie for giving me a home and a family to be a part of for all these years. So thank you very much. God bless you all. APPLAUSE for you, Peter. We really appreciate that. And you have been a stellar city employee, so dedicated, and we look forward to you getting to spend some of that important quality time with your family as you move into retirement. And so thank you very much for a job well done, sir. Thank you, Madam President. Thank you. Thank you again, Councilman Flynn, for bringing that proclamation forward. We're going to go ahead and move on here, our second proclamation this evening. Councilmember Ortega, will you please read Proclamation 20 2-0115, please allow me to do so.