The governance structure for a Denver P3 office hasn’t been determined. In fact, whether the office will in fact be created hasn’t been determined. Right now, city officials are $475,000 deep into a contract with Arup Advisory Inc. to develop the program, and they’ve asked City Council to approve an additional $480,000 in consulting work (for a total of $955,000) to get the program up and running by year’s end. The actual creation and staffing of the office would be part of the 2018 budget process.

But City Council members — even those that like the idea of the office — are concerned about the process that Arup has suggested for future deals. Instead of City Council getting an up or down vote on the final contract, as is the case now, council would approve a “parameters ordinance” or “framework ordinance” that lays out what they’d like to see in the deal. The city’s P3 office would then go out looking for a partner willing to work with the city under those conditions. As long as the final contract complied with the framework ordinance, it could be approved administratively.