Tuesday night Fort Collins City Council introduced ideas to become more involved in the discussion of CSU’s on-campus stadium.

Councilmember Wade Troxell brought the stadium to the council’s attention because of its potential impacts of the  on the Fort Collins community.

“I would like to sit down with CSU to learn about the impacts (of the stadium), both positive and negative,” Troxell said. “The city is a big player in this.”

Troxell proposed the council meet with CSU’s Board of Governors, possibly look to other cities with similar stadiums and involve the community in discussions on the stadium.

Regardless of these initial ideas, Councilmember Gerry Horak had doubts about the stadium reaching completion due to the lack of funds raised so far from donors.

“If they don’t raise the money by this time next year, it (won’t) happen,” Horak said.

Councilmember Ross Cunniff had reservations as well.

“I don’t want to commit the city to spending taxpayer’s money on CSU’s project,” Cunniff said.

City Manager Darin Atteberry stated that President Tony Frank will address each of the councilmembers’ concerns.

“My feeling is that Dr. Frank is open to every one of these issues,” Atteberry said.

Fort Collins police eye-level video cameras raise concerns

The stadium was not the only thing addressed at the city council meeting. Another hot topic for residents at the meeting was the new eye-level video cameras that are becoming more available to Fort Collins police officers.

Councilmember Bob Overbeck commented on the ‘Big Brother’ aspect of these new cameras.

“Anytime we move forward with these kinds of technologies, it takes away our civil liberties…we live in an era of increased surveillance and decreased privacy,” Overbeck said.

Overbeck believes that the need for civil liberty is paired with a need for liability.

“We need to look at a balance of privacy and accountability,” Overbeck said. “The City of Fort Collins is thinking forward.”

Overbeck suggests that these new video cameras are a win-win solution to this balance.

Reimbursement loan for the Summit on College

The Urban Renewal Authority received mixed reactions when they requested that The City of Fort Collins reimburse them for $5 million for the recently completed Summit apartment project.

The project included 676 beds and 8,000 sq. feet of street level retail.

Councilmember Cunniff was displeased with the Summit project in general, primarily due to financial losses and the negative community reaction.

“This is just a bad idea in more ways than I can count,” Cunniff said. “(Summit) is fairly universally disliked.”

Overbeck agreed with Cunniff’s concerns, but Horak did not agree with Cunniff’s criticism of the project because he felt it was not relevant to the voting process.

“(This ordinance) has nothing to do with the project,” Horak said.

The council voted to approve the first reading of the ordinance.

Collegian City Beat Reporter Caitlin Curley can be reached at news@collegian.com.