I dug in and, yes, what Yellow Scene reported is true. The Erie Town Council has been in active negotiations for over 6 months to:\n<\/p>\n
Annex Draco Pad and future \u2018hydrocarbon production properties\u2019 into the Town of Erie
\nSell Erie-owned mineral rights to Civitas and\/or other oil and gas companies
\nPay the former Civitas COO $4.5 million to help Erie in this process<\/p>\n
A Civitas Offer Brings Erie\u2019s Mineral Rights Into the Spotlight<\/a><\/p>\n Erie Mineral Rights Deal Advances Largely Out of Public View, Raising Concerns Over Transparency and Conflicts<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0\n<\/p>\n What the heck!\u00a0 Why have Erie families not heard about this? Why have there not been any meetings or information provided by Mayor Moore and the Town Council on this?\u00a0\n<\/p>\n So we have two BIG issues today. One is the financial, health, and environmental impact that fracking expansion would have on Erie homeowners and mineral rights holders. The second is the fact that Mayor Moore and certain members of the Town Council have chosen to withhold all details from Erie families.\n<\/p>\n The good thing is that this decision has yet to be made. The bad thing for Erie families is that the Town Council stated that they will bring a binding contract to vote \u2026 but have chosen not to provide a timeline in addition to not holding meetings to solicit feedback from Erie families, and in addition to holding ALL information around these discussions in Executive Sessions out of the public view.\n<\/p>\n Why are Mayor Moore and Town Council members doing this? Great question, and it\u2019s one that you really need to ask Mayor Moore and certain Town Council Members.\n<\/p>\n Why have Mayor Moore and certain Town Council members withheld non-confidential information from Erie families about this deal? Why have they not held informational meetings when this could have a major impact on home values and more? Another good question for this group.\n<\/p>\n Why did the Town Council hire the former Chief Operating Officer for Civitas for $4.5 million to represent Erie in negotiations with Civitas? This was the same executive who presided over Draco Pad \u2013 does he still have financial interests with Civitas or affiliates? Again \u2026 questions that only Mayor Moore and certain Town Council Members can answer. But they have chosen not to answer.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Here are the Town Council Members who voted \u2018yes\u2019 to hire this Civitas executive for $4.5 million. Best to reach out to them for your many questions:\n<\/p>\n Brian O\u2019Connor, Council Member \u2013 District 3 This group of four from the Town Council has stated that they cannot provide information due to Executive Session confidentiality. That\u2019s a process where the Town Council is allowed to keep confidential information related to things such as negotiations from the public. The issue is that the Town Council is also keeping non-confidential information from us, Erie families, as well. They have chosen not to provide their intent, plan, updates, timeline, and to not include input from Erie citizens.\n<\/p>\n They have also stated that Draco Pad is a done deal, so Erie might as well make money off of the situation. That raises many more red flags and questions. If Erie held onto these rights, could it block some of the Draco Pad fracking process and protect those homeowners? Would it allow Civitas to force-pool Erie families that own mineral rights? Would this be an expansion of future fracking, leading to more Draco Pads and more of Erie impacted?\n<\/p>\n Mayor Moore and the Town Council have not responded to these questions, citing confidentiality. Goodness, that\u2019s a heap of red flags for any Erie citizen.\n<\/p>\n Does all of this feel a little odd? It did to me, so I spoke about this to the Town Council on March 14th, and several of our Erie neighbors spoke up on March 24th. That is the only venue that this Town Council group has provided for public input.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n We asked the Town Council to slow down and set up public meetings. To share non-confidential information about their plans and to solicit feedback from Erie homeowners, families, business interests, mineral rights holders, and more. To address our concerns.\n<\/p>\n I asked each individual Council Member to commit to holding these sessions and follow-ups before bringing any contract to a vote. We have yet to hear back.\n<\/p>\n We also asked the Town Council to end the rolling process of hiding information from Erie families through Executive Session. These Executive Sessions are not meant to be used to withhold non-confidential information from the public. To stop this process, we only need three brave Town Council members to stand up against four.\n<\/p>\n What a mess. And it\u2019s one that is ongoing as long as Mayor Moore and the Town Council continue to patronize Erie families. \u201cWe hope to find a time.\u201d\u2019 and \u201cthere are certain things that we will be able to discuss in the future comments.\u201d It\u2019s four members of the Town Council who have chosen not to share a thing with us for over 6 months.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Can this Town Council and the Mayor share Executive Session \u2018confidential\u2019 information? Absolutely. Mayor Moore chose to take \u2018confidential\u2019 information out of Executive Session on December 16th and to make it public to help bolster the reason to hire our $4.5 million Civitas executive. This was a selective release of Executive Session \u2018confidential\u2019 information that shows how holding information from Erie families is a choice. Not a rule or the law.\n<\/p>\n Please step in with questions directed to Brian O\u2019Connor, John Mortellaro, Brandon Bell, and Mayor Andrew Moore. Do not accept any deflection \u2013 these are supposed to be your representatives. Feel free to get angry about this. Please be sure your voice is heard. You can email them at: [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\n<\/p>\n Steve Drew & Family\n<\/p>\n Erie Resident and Homeowner\n<\/p>\n Erie Town Council Meeting Analysis \u2013 Tuesday, March 24th\n<\/p>\n Steve Drew, Erie Homeowner\n<\/p>\n NOTE: The following was an attempt to sort out financials and to provide estimates of impacts based on the limited information Erie Town Council has provided to-date about this potential mineral rights sale. These figures are indicative and not meant to be a professional analysis.\n<\/p>\n The key here is that this is the type of data that the Erie Town Council has chosen to withhold from Erie families. Statements such as \u2018this is not correct\u2019 from Council Members should be interpreted as \u2018we have withheld the correct information and continue to withhold that information by choice.\u2019\n<\/p>\n Please send your questions to the Erie Town Council members who are voting to hold information from Erie families, homeowners and more. Ask for the facts if they claim that any estimates and analyses are not correct. Demand third-party, independent studies and transparency.\n<\/p>\n All comments, views and assumptions are from a business perspective and do not contain a legal opinion or guidance. Assumptions have been made from publicly available information.\n<\/p>\n What are some quick summary statements about this potential transaction and vote \u2013 from publicly available information?\u00a0\n<\/p>\n It appears that the Town Council is conducting a process that would expand fracking and oil and gas interests throughout the Town of Erie. This plan should involve another set of studies and public meetings.\n<\/p>\n It also appears that the Town Council may be on track to potentially vote for a binding contract to sell Town-own mineral assets prior to holding dedicated meetings with Erie homeowners, families and businesses.<\/p>\n What is the flow of money and value if Council Members voted \u2018yes\u2019 to sell Erie mineral rights to Civitas and\/or other oil and gas interests?\u00a0\n<\/p>\n It appears that Town Council is working on a deal where Civitas would receive mineral rights and other real estate interests. In exchange, the Town of Erie would receive payments and potential real estate interests. The former COO of Civitas, who is working as the Town Council Consultant during this process, would receive $4.5 million.<\/p>\n Civitas wins, the Town government wins and the former Civitas executive hired by the Town Council wins.\n<\/p>\n This potential deal would cause total losses to Erie homeowners of $1.2 billion. Per publicly available information, a \u2018yes\u2019 vote would be a personal loss of $80,000 per homeowner.\n<\/p>\n Civitas could receive value in the range of $750,000,000 to $1 billion+ due to the transfer of Town-owned mineral rights<\/p>\n A study by a neutral, third-party should provide a much more accurate assessment of the value of this potential deal to Civitas.\n<\/p>\n Town of Erie government would receive unknown financial and value compensation. Assume $500 Million based on value provided to Civitas?\u00a0<\/p>\n Any Town Council deal with Civitas and\/or other gas and oil interest should be balanced based on the value that company receives.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Consultant and former COO of Civitas receives $4.5 Million paid by Town of Erie.<\/p>\n The contract is structured so that the Consultant gets paid irrespective of results.\n<\/p>\n Erie homeowners and families lose $1.2 billion in home values Why so many assumptions?\n<\/p>\n The Town Council has both the authority and choice to discuss with Erie families all non-confidential information related to the potential sale of Town-owned mineral rights. This can be done through dedicated meetings and regular communication.\n<\/p>\n Since the start of this process in 2025, the Town Council has chosen to not set up any dedicated public meetings designed to explain the Council\u2019s plan, intent, timelines, checks-and-balances or to solicit feedback. All of this is non-confidential information.\n<\/p>\n The Town Council has used rolling Executive Sessions since Civitas provided an offer to acquire Town of Erie mineral rights in mid-2025. These Executive Sessions have been used to shield both non-confidential information and confidential dealings from Erie families and citizens.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Has the Town Council hired neutral, third-party consultants who can provide more accurate assessments of value? When will the Town Council share this information? Any additional considerations for a $1.2 billion loss in Erie in home values?\n<\/p>\n Does the Town Council have a plan in place to compensate Erie homeowners for losses incurred due to this potential Town Council decision?\n<\/p>\n Does the Town Council have a strategy where revenues received from this transaction are greater than projected individual home value losses? A plan in place to compensate Erie homeowners for the difference?<\/p>\n Would the Town of Erie, Weld County and\/or Boulder County need to raise property taxes based lower property values from this Town Council decision?\n<\/p>\n Has the Town Council calculated the net impact that these home value losses would have on the portion of Town budget based on property values?\u00a0 What can the Council do to provide an update to the public and to provide appropriate commitments?\n<\/p>\n As noted above, the Town Council has had the power to open up discussions with Erie families since mid-2025. Erie families and homeowners could use some commitments from the Council around timing, processes and transparency:\n<\/p>\n Would the Council commit to ending the Executive Session cycle starting this evening?\u00a0 Is there anything the Council should not do in this process?\n<\/p>\n The Council should not push to vote prior to appropriate studies, dedicated meetings, solicitation of feedback and more.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n If this rush somehow does occur, Council Members should vote \u2018no\u2019 to sell Erie mineral rights to Civitas and\/or other oil and gas interests.\n<\/p>\n What value is there if Erie were to hold onto mineral rights?\n<\/p>\n It appears that there may be existing Town-owned mineral rights that may impede the current Draco Pad project. Mayor Moore spoke about Civitas providing the Town of Erie with an offer to acquire mineral rights and\/or real estate interests in 2025. Around the same time, the State placed limits on the duration of Draco Pad fracking operations through October 2027. The timing of this offer indicates that Erie may hold mineral rights and\/or real estate that could impede the Draco Pad footprint, cost and\/or timing.\n<\/p>\n The Town of Erie hired the Consultant to review the location of all Town-owned mineral rights. By now, the Council should have a non-confidential map of all rights and what those would mean from a Town of Erie perspective.\n<\/p>\n If any of these could potentially block some of the Draco Pad fracking operations, the Town would be able to save some neighborhoods and homes from home value losses.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Will the Town Council share the non-confidential location of Town of Erie mineral rights and related real estate interests?\u00a0<\/p>\n This should help Erie property owners understand the potential impact to their homes and properties from this potential deal.\n<\/p>\n Has the Town Council developed a study from a neutral, third-party to assess the value of Erie mineral rights to block current and future impacts to home values? Specific impacts related to the Draco Pad operations? Additionally, the value of Erie mineral rights will only go up over time. There is no logical reason for the Town of Erie to rush a sale at this moment when overall valuations will be higher in 2027 and beyond.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Will the Town Council provide studies and reasons as to why it appears that this potential sale appears to be happening today rather than a future date when values will be higher?<\/p>\n What is your business assessment of the Consultant contract and scope of work?\n<\/p>\n The Erie Town Council voted 4-3 during the December 16th Town Council Meeting to hire Matthew Owens of Alameda Mineral Advisors. Just 18 months prior, Matthew Owens was the Chief Operating Officer of Civitas, the owner of the Draco Pad project.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u2018Yes\u2019 votes to hire the former Civitas executive and advance the sale of Erie mineral rights: Council Member Brian O\u2019Connell (District 3), Council Member John Mortellaro (District 1), Mayor Pro Tem Brandon Bell (District 2), and Mayor Andrew Moore<\/p>\n Civitas provided an offer to Erie? And Erie hired the former Civitas COO to represent Erie in valuing Erie assets and negotiations with Civitas\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Will the Town Council provide assurances that the Consultant did not have financial connections to Civitas, SM Energy and\/or any affiliates at the time of signing? Ongoing or future financial or value-based connections? Two documents were provided during that meeting. A scoping document from Alameda Mineral Advisors<\/a> that indicates someone from Staff or the Town Council reached out to him first. And a contract to hire him as Consultant<\/a>.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Mr. Owens provided the Town Council with an offer to cover the valuation of Town-owned mineral rights and to be paid 7.5% of all value in any potential sale of those rights. This offer stated that he would not be paid unless there was a sale or transaction.\n<\/p>\n The contract expanded his scope to include running a solicitation process that would result in a binding bid for the Erie mineral rights. In exchange, he would be paid up to $4.5 million and he would be paid irrespective of a sale.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Will the Town Council provide an explanation as to how an offer to \u2018work for free if no sale\u2019 shifted to several ways in which the Consultant would get paid $4.5 million from the Town of Erie?<\/p>\n This includes payment upon termination of the agreement, payment for transactions in the future where the Consultant may or may not be involved, payment for a range of future real estate deals, and more.\n<\/p>\n What is going on with the Town Council\u2019s plan to annex the Draco Pad and\/or additional hydrocarbon-producing properties into the Town of Erie?\n<\/p>\n Part of the Town Council\u2019s agreement pays the Consultant based on:\n<\/p>\n Sum of total any future ad-valorem taxes received by the Town as a result of hydrocarbon production occurring on or from the property in the Draco Plan Area that is annexed into the Town, as part of transactions or agreements negotiated by Consultant\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Per the terms of this contract, the Town Council has directed the Consultant to negotiate on Erie\u2019s behalf the annexation of the Draco Pad and\/or additional oil and gas properties.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n These negotiations are underway, and Erie families have yet to hear from the Town Council about this annexation.\n<\/p>\n What are the Town Council\u2019s plans and timeline related to the planned annexation of the Draco Pad property into the Town of Erie? Any additional concerns around the Consultant contract and scope of work?\n<\/p>\n SOLICITATION TRANSPARENCY\n<\/p>\n I was unable to find any public postings, RFIs, and\/or solicitation materials related to this process.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Was the solicitation of other offers run as an open and transparent process or was it run at the discretion of the Consultant? SOLICITATION CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AND TAXPAYER EXPOSURE\n<\/p>\n The issue here is that any solicitation process should involve the major US oil and gas companies \u2013 all competitors to Civitas and SM Energy. There may be legal exposure to Town of Erie taxpayers if Civitas competitors were excluded from this Town Council-sponsored solicitation process. That legal exposure may be greater if the former COO of Civitas selects Civitas or an affiliate as the winning bid.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Has the Town Council conducted a review of this solicitation process and potential impacts on the Town of Erie taxpayers? Any concluding comments?\n<\/p>\n Most of these issues could have been resolved through openness and transparency. Through solicitation of guidance from unbiased experts and from Erie constituents.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n My hope is that the Town Council sees this the same way and chooses to \u2018hit the reset button\u2019 on this potential sale of Erie mineral rights, the potential annexation of fracking properties, and more. Slow your roll and perform fiduciary duty for all parties involved. This is a game of $ Billions and should be treated as such.\n<\/p>\n It feels like the Town Council is on a path to make Erie: The Capitol of Colorado Fracking at the expense of what Erie families, business and homeowners love about the town. Both a financial expense to Erie citizens as well as to the future of Erie itself.\n<\/p>\n APPENDIX \u2013 DETAILS AND ASSUMPTIONS\n<\/p>\n This information was gathered from publicly available documents and Town Council meetings. This review is from a business perspective and is not a legal review.\n<\/p>\n Links for references:\n<\/p>\n NOTE: Everything in this document is from publicly available information and is meant as an informative, business-level review. This is not legal guidance and makes no legal claims. The use of \u2018Civitas\u2019 is per Mayor Moore\u2019s disclosure that the company made an offer to buy Erie mineral rights in 2025. Civitas merged with SM Energy in early 2026 and the company owns the Draco Pad project.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n What is a quick update on the Draco Pad and fracking impact on Erie?\n<\/p>\n Draco Pad fracking operations are moving ahead and it does not appear as if holding onto Erie mineral rights can stop this process.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Can holding onto Erie mineral rights potentially help some Erie families?\n<\/p>\n Yes. The State of Colorado provided approvals for this project, but also provided operational timelines that need to be met by Civitas.\n<\/p>\n
\nJohn Mortellaro, Council Member \u2013 District 1
\nBrandon Bell, Mayor Pro Tem
\nAndrew Moore, Mayor<\/p>\n
\nThe impact of a \u2018yes\u2019 vote would be $1.2 billion in total homeowner losses and $80,000 in personal losses per homeowner.
\nIt appears that the Town Council has excluded this financial impact to Erie families from the potential sale of Town-owned mineral rights.
\nIf Erie were to hold onto mineral rights, the Town may be able to help homeowners in the footprint of the Draco Pad plan.
\nThere are a number of conflict concerns related to the Consultant hired by the Town Council to represent Erie in this potential sale.
\nThe Town Council is working with the Consultant to annex the Draco Pad and\/or additional hydrocarbon producing properties into the Town of Erie.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Erie-Mineral-Rights-graph.png\")
\n<\/p>\n
\n15,000 Erie homes * $800,000 average value = $12 Billion\u00a0
\n10% impact to home value based on independent studies = $1.2 Billion<\/p>\n
\nHas the Town Council solicitation process incorporated a wide range of interest from the top US oil and gas companies? Competitors of Civitas \/ SM Energy? When will the basics of this process be shared so that Erie citizens know the assets have been property valued?
\nHas the Town Council conducted a full study on the impact to Erie homeowners? Business owners, families and other property owners? When will this study be shared?
\nWhat additional information can the Town Council provide to help Erie citizens understand this potential deal better?<\/p>\n
\nWhat would be the impact to property values in Weld County and Boulder County budgets that may cause the Counties to raise taxes on Erie homeowners?<\/p>\n
\nWould the Council commit to holding off any potential vote on this issue until after a series of dedicated meetings to provide intent, plans, timelines, studies and the solicitation of feedback from Erie citizens?
\nWould the Council commit to bring in neutral, third-party specialists to assess the impact of this potential decision on Eire property owners?<\/p>\n
\nWill the Town Council commit to share these results and value this impact in any potential sale decision?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Town-fo-Erie-Council-scaled.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
\nWas this Consultant required to keep all confidential information from Civitas during this process that may impact the potential deal?<\/p>\n
\nWhat studies has the Council conducted related to the financial, reputational, and environmental impacts and\/or liabilities to the Town as well as Erie citizens?
\nWill the Town Council commit to dedicated meetings with Erie residents to explain the Council\u2019s plans, timeline and to solicit feedback?<\/p>\n
\nWill the Town Council report a complete list of companies contacted and companies engaged in this solicitation?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nIs there an agreement in place where the Consultant will take legal responsibility for how the Consultant runs the valuation, solicitation and award of a binding bid?<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Draco-Pad.png\")
\n<\/p>\n