Denver’s voter-approved sidewalk program just got a $15 million shot in the arm after the city council voted 11 to 1 on Monday to approve a resolution to get the project rolling.

Under terms of the deal, the city will enter into a 3-year contract with infrastructure giant HNTB for “on-call professional services to support the administration and implementation” of the program.

The scope of work includes public communication and outreach and delivery of the city’s ordinance-required Sidewalk Master Plan.

Denver voters approved the Denver Deserves Sidewalks initiative in 2022, which shifted responsibility for building and repairing sidewalks from private property owners to the city. 

It also established a fund for the buildout and maintenance of those sidewalks and levied an annual property fee on property owners.

The council delayed the project start in June 2024 to give the committee members six additional months to work out details, including the fee structure.

District 10 Councilmember Chris Hinds, who did not support the vote, criticized “the lack of specificity in both the contract and the presentation materials we received.”

Hinds said the materials have been vague and failed to provide clear deliverables and timelines for accountability for the $15 million that will be spent.

“Green Lighting a $15 million contract to an on-call vendor with limited direction in a three year timeline is not the answer,” Hinds argued. “We need a real plan, not a blank check.”

City officials pushed back, saying that the on-call concept provided the city with greater flexibility to use the contractor.

“This is not just the master plan, this is not just program management. This is everything up to, including designing, starting to design those sidewalks as a result of that master plan,” explained DOTI Deputy Manager of Internal and External Affairs Nick Williams.

Williams added that on-call contracts are “not an uncommon contracting method amongst municipalities.”

Hinds said he offered the city a compromise of a 12-month, $5 million contract to get the program started while still reserving oversight and flexibility.

“Unfortunately, DOTI did not implement that idea,” he said. “So because of these concerns, process oversight and respecting the voters, I cannot support a $15 million on-call contract tonight.

The city could opt to adopt the proposal made by Hinds, but it would require a new contract to be written and brought back before the council, delaying the project’s start.

“The reason why we would advise not shortening this contract to one year and limiting it to $5 million is that it would significantly set the program back and delay our ability to deliver, and as the voters voted,” Director of the Sidewalk Enterprise Program Geneva Hooten said. “This was is a huge program with $90 million over the next three years to spend and to make sure that we are delivering sidewalks for Denver.”