{"id":173290,"date":"2026-04-22T22:55:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T22:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/173290\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T22:55:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T22:55:08","slug":"erie-leaders-split-on-what-mineral-rights-negotiation-could-mean-for-draco-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/173290\/","title":{"rendered":"Erie leaders split on what mineral rights negotiation could mean for Draco project"},"content":{"rendered":"

At a special meeting Tuesday night, members of the Erie Town Council were divided over what a potential deal for the town\u2019s mineral rights tied to the planned Draco Pad<\/a> could mean for the project.<\/p>\n

Some of the town\u2019s leaders say the Draco project will inevitably move forward, while others aren\u2019t so sure.\n<\/p>\n

Details of the mineral negotiations remain undisclosed, and the council has talked in private to discuss legal matters. The informational Tuesday meeting was called after members of the Erie community raised concerns<\/a> about what they say is a lack of transparency about a potential deal.<\/p>\n

David Frank, Erie\u2019s director of environmental services, said during his Tuesday presentation that the town was first contacted in \u201cspring 2025\u201d by the Draco project applicant, Civitas Resources \u2014 which has since merged with SM Energy Company \u2014 about acquiring Erie\u2019s mineral rights within the planned drilling area.\n<\/p>\n

Mineral rights allow their owner to access and extract underground resources, or to lease or sell that access.<\/p>\n

No agreement has been reached yet, Frank said, but potential details under discussion could include additional safety measures tied to the Draco project, such as increased local oversight and on-site inspections, as well as compensation including property owned by SM Energy along East County Line Road or payments for the town\u2019s mineral assets.\n<\/p>\n

Frank said Erie\u2019s mineral holdings account for \u201csomething like 3.5%\u201d of the total drilling area for the Draco project.<\/p>\n

That differs slightly from a figure shared by Mayor Andrew Moore on social media days earlier.<\/p>\n

\u201cA bit about the Draco operation for context. It is ~3,692 acres. Erie has ~79 acres of leased mineral rights and ~103 acres of unleased mineral rights. Erie\u2019s (unleased) mineral rights account for roughly 2.8% of the Draco operation,\u201d Moore said in a Saturday post.<\/p>\n

Town Attorney Breena Meng said that the discrepancy stems from ongoing efforts to determine exactly what mineral interests the town owns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in the process of identifying the minerals that we do own,\u201d Meng said. \u201cThat\u2019s why you\u2019re hearing different numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Under no delusions\u2019<\/p>\n

Regardless of the percentage, if Erie declines to lease or sell its mineral rights, the operator would be required to avoid those subsurface areas.<\/p>\n

That is due to state Senate Bill 24-185, which took effect in January 2025 and prohibits local government-owned minerals from being force pooled. Force pooling allows operators to combine mineral interests within a drilling area with approval from the state, even if the owners of those minerals object.<\/p>\n

Under the law, local governments can reject lease offers, and the state cannot compel them to participate.\n<\/p>\n

What avoiding those minerals would look like, in the case of Draco, remains unclear, according to Frank.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in somewhat uncharted territory,\u201d Frank said. \u201cThis provision \u2026 is a bit untested.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frank said he expects the Draco project to proceed regardless. The state commission approved the Draco Pad proposal in March 2025 despite pushback from the Erie community. The project\u00a0includes 26 wells in unincorporated Weld County, with drilling extending west beneath Erie and into Boulder County.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would fully expect, no matter what action the town takes, that 26 wells will be drilled at Draco,\u201d he said. \u201cI am under no delusions that Draco will not go forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Hoback said he\u2019s done research that shows the town\u2019s position could still significantly affect the project.<\/p>\n

\u2018We can impact Draco\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be a bit of a voice in the wilderness and say, yeah, we can impact Draco,\u201d Hoback said.<\/p>\n

Hoback added that the inability to drill through areas tied to Erie\u2019s mineral rights could create a \u201cmajor impediment\u201d to accessing other parts of the drilling area and would raise \u201csub-surface trespassing\u201d concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis renders the 2.8% or 3.5% figure as rather pointless,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not enough just to tally up the town\u2019s numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without a comprehensive map, it is unclear where Erie\u2019s mineral rights sit within the Draco drilling area.<\/p>\n

But in a follow-up email, Hoback told the Daily Camera he is \u201ctrying to highlight the fact that SM Energy cannot just drill through town mineral rights or rock formation to reach other properties where they have the rights. It\u2019s trespassing to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the law is relatively new \u2026 but likely results in difficulty reaching certain properties if SM cannot easily bore through to them,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u2018Draco is happening\u2019<\/p>\n

Mayor Pro Tem Brandon Bell pushed back on the idea that the town could alter the project\u2019s outcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy job is to tell you the truth,\u201d Bell said during Tuesday\u2019s meeting. \u201cWhat you heard about this impacting Draco is 100% false.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councilmember John Mortellaro agreed, saying it is \u201chighly unlikely\u201d the town could significantly change a project already approved by the state.<\/p>\n

In a follow-up email, Bell told the Camera: \u201cBased on everything we have been advised, Draco is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councilmembers Anil Pesaramelli and Emily Baer joined Hoback in opposing a deal. The council did not take a vote on the matter at this meeting.<\/p>\n

Pesaramelli questioned whether delaying negotiations could affect the project timeline, noting that all wells must be operational by May 2028 under the state\u2019s approval of Draco.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a lot of urgency and a lot of pushing \u2026 that has happened in this deal. Which makes me think, why\u2019s it being so rushed?\u201d Pesaramelli asked. \u201cIs there a reason for them to rush it, so the Draco project wouldn\u2019t be affected?\u201d<\/p>\n

Frank said he was unsure of SM Energy\u2019s internal timeline but acknowledged the schedule is a \u201ctight window to drill 26 wells.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can do my own math on how long I think it takes to drill and frack, and would say it\u2019s probably soon. It\u2019s got to be, if not this spring, this summer, where they\u2019re going to have to make a decision on whether they move forward with our minerals or without,\u201d Frank said.<\/p>\n

Erie has \u201cvery unique leverage right now,\u201d Frank added.\u2029\u201dSince our mineral interests that are unleased can\u2019t be pooled, the only way to acquire them is through direct negotiations with us. However, at some point, the company will need to move forward and then we\u2019ll have no leverage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Repeated requests for a map\u2019<\/p>\n

During about an hour of public comment Tuesday evening, most speakers urged the council not to pursue a deal, with many calling for more information to be made available.<\/p>\n

Several residents said they want to see a map showing where the town\u2019s mineral rights apply.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve heard repeated requests for a map, and I am also very interested in a map. I feel like we don\u2019t know, really, what we\u2019re talking about, to Councilmember Hoback\u2019s point, about where these minerals are located,\u201d Baer said.<\/p>\n

Other speakers\u00a0opposed selling public assets tied to a controversial oil\/gas project, while some criticized the process itself, including the town\u2019s use of a consultant, Matt Owens of Alameda Mineral Advisors, who previously worked for Civitas.\n<\/p>\n

In closing remarks, Moore acknowledged residents\u2019 frustration.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause we can\u2019t share everything, it\u2019s really hard for us to explain the scope of what we\u2019re negotiating,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m trying to understand the trade-offs on a project that is going to go forward anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

The town\u2019s legal team is expected to continue negotiations. If an agreement is reached, the council would consider it at a future public meeting, with documents available for public review in advance.\n<\/p>\n

After Tuesday night\u2019s meeting, the Camera reached out to the state commission and Erie town staff for additional clarity on topics including the Draco project timeline, sub-surface trespassing rules and enforcement, and any methods drilling operators can use to avoid unleased mineral rights while still going forward with a project.<\/p>\n

In information tied to the topic of the Draco Pad, it has been unclear whether the town is specifically considering leasing or selling its mineral rights, or both. The Camera has asked an Erie spokesperson whether the town is considering leasing or selling.<\/p>\n

The Camera will continue coverage of the Draco Pad proposal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At a special meeting Tuesday night, members of the Erie Town Council were divided over what a potential…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[1675,1676,6838,136,138,137,1677,241,139,50,1680],"class_list":{"0":"post-173290","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-erie","8":"tag-boulder-county","9":"tag-colorado","10":"tag-east-county","11":"tag-erie","12":"tag-erie-headlines","13":"tag-erie-news","14":"tag-front-range","15":"tag-latest-headlines","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-weld-county"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}