{"id":254120,"date":"2026-07-28T22:54:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T22:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/254120\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T22:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T22:54:08","slug":"erie-residents-are-petitioning-to-bring-towns-sm-energy-deal-to-ballot-what-happens-if-they-succeed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/254120\/","title":{"rendered":"Erie residents are petitioning to bring town’s SM Energy deal to ballot. What happens if they succeed?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A group in Erie is gathering signatures to force a resident vote on the Town Council\u2019s controversial agreement to sell underground minerals to SM Energy, the oil and gas company behind a plan to drill new wells just outside town limits.<\/p>\n

But even if the petition succeeds, town officials say it would not stop the company\u2019s planned Draco well pad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Petition organizers have until Aug. 7 \u2014 45 days after the council approved the SM Energy deal<\/a> \u2014 to gather roughly 1,400 signatures to place a measure in front of Erie voters.<\/p>\n

Voters could then either uphold the council\u2019s decision or reject the mineral rights sale entirely, likely through a special election in December.<\/p>\n

Town officials say an election would determine only whether Erie moves forward with selling its mineral rights to SM Energy, not whether the company can move forward with the Draco Pad.<\/p>\n

The Draco project, planned to sit just outside Erie\u2019s boundaries in Weld County, received approval from the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission last year.\u00a0If Erie voters were to ultimately reject the mineral rights sale, SM Energy would only need to amend its drilling plan\u00a0to avoid the town\u2019s minerals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe petition really would stop the sale of the mineral rights. It really will do nothing to stop Draco,\u201d said Erie Mayor Pro Tem Brandon Bell, who voted in favor of the deal.<\/p>\n

Bell said his concern, if the petition does gather enough signatures, is that SM Energy would walk away from the deal before an election happens. The company faces a deadline from the state commission that Draco\u2019s pre-production phase, including construction and drilling, be completed by May 2028.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a little worried that if they gather enough signatures this won\u2019t even make it to a vote, or at least the vote will be a moot point,\u201d Bell said. \u201cWe have a timeline we have to follow based on the contract. If the petition prevents that, then SM could back out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Town officials say it is unlikely the measure could meet the timeline to appear on the November ballot.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a very, very slim possibility all of the pieces and parts could be completed in time to sit on the regular election,\u201d town spokesperson Gabi Rae said.\n<\/p>\n

Petition organizer points to transparency concern<\/p>\n

Petition organizer Emily Brecht did not disclose her estimate for how many signatures the petition has gathered so far, but said she is \u201cvery optimistic\u201d that the issue will make it to a ballot.<\/p>\n

For some residents, opposition to the SM Energy deal has appeared<\/a> driven by a general animosity toward oil and gas, with concerns about how drilling might impact a community\u2019s health and safety. Others have taken issue with how the mineral rights deal came about, including more than one discussion held in executive session, a type of meeting closed to the public.<\/p>\n

\"ProtestersProtesters and signs outside the Erie Town Hall in April. (Joel Solis\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew many people did not feel heard when the town council passed the ordinance, but I did not know just how popular this issue would be with the public before we started gathering signatures,\u201d Brecht told the Daily Camera in an email.<\/p>\n

\u201cResidents have repeatedly brought up the feeling that the deal was put together under a cloak of secrecy,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Councilmember Emily Baer, who in June opposed the deal, said a vote would give residents a chance to \u201ctake some of the power back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf enough signatures are gathered and a vote is held on whether or not to sell the town\u2019s mineral rights, then voters will have a meaningful say in the decision,\u201d Baer said in an email. \u201cI think that is the most important part. I heard repeatedly from residents that they felt the sale of the mineral rights was unclear, questionable, secretive even.\u201d<\/p>\n

SM Energy on a deadline<\/p>\n

Erie Mayor Andrew Moore said some negotiations \u201cby definition have to have a level of secrecy around them until the deal is done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI get that people wanted to be a part of the negotiations. But that\u2019s just not the way life works, not to get the best deal,\u201d Moore told the Camera.<\/p>\n

The Town Council voted 4-3 in June to approve the agreement with SM Energy, which would sell about 180 acres of mineral rights \u2014 roughly 4.9% of the total Draco drilling area, according to the town.<\/p>\n

Without Erie agreeing to sell its mineral rights, SM Energy could still move forward with a drilling plan showing how it would avoid the town-owned minerals. Moore said he wanted to negotiate a deal before SM Energy chose that option.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bottom line is we could get nothing from Draco, or we could get something,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n

Under the agreement approved in June, Erie could receive more than $23 million in cash and future revenue, including a $4.5 million upfront payment and a 3% ongoing royalty for the Draco project, according to town information. The town has estimated that royalty payments could exceed $19 million over time.\n<\/p>\n

The agreement also would transfer roughly 160 acres\u00a0of land along County Line Road to the town and allow Erie staff to conduct inspections at the Draco well pad.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you make the best of a situation that you cannot change?\u201d Moore said. \u201cIn this case, we cannot change the fact that Draco is going to be drilled. The risk is, if for whatever reason the deal is off the table, Erie will have to live with Draco and get nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

ECMC spokesperson John Brown said a hearing scheduled for Sept. 24 and Sept. 25 with the state commission would review SM Energy\u2019s drilling plan. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A group in Erie is gathering signatures to force a resident vote on the Town Council\u2019s controversial agreement…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254121,"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":["post-254120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-boulder-county","tag-colorado","tag-east-county","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news","tag-front-range","tag-latest-headlines","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-weld-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254120","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=254120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}