Herald HRH 11-14-2013
Highlands Ranch
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 26, Issue 52
November 14, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourhighlandsranchnews.com
Board VP looks ahead Larsen has goal of united community By Jane Reuter
jreuter@ourcoloradonews.com
Bear Canyon Elementary School Principal Allison Olson moves in to kiss Freightliner, a 1,000-pound black cross pig, as a reward to the students for raising $32,000 at this year’s fun run. Olson kissed the pig eight times over the course of the day Nov. 8 as Freightliner was too big to fit through the doors of the school and students had to come out to the playground in waves to see her kiss him. Photos by Ryan Boldrey
Putting lipstick (marks) on a pig Bear Canyon principal stages show for students By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com Bear Canyon Elementary School Principal Allison Olson thought she had found the man of her dreams already, that is until a 1,000-pound, 6-year-old black cross pig named Freightliner walked into her life.
Freightliner, who spent his first five and a half years living the farm life as a working show pig at Pig Pimpin’ in Brighton, is since retired and living out his days outside of town, but on Nov. 8 he made the trek to Highlands Ranch in the hopes of finding love. Olson, who had promised the kids at the school that if they met their goal of raising $32,000 at this year’s Fun Run she would kiss a pig, spent the bulk of the day getting up close and personal with
Freightliner. At 1,000 pounds, Freightliner was too big to fit through the doors of the school, so instead of a single smack-a-roo at an all-school assembly, Olson got down on her knees eight different times throughout the day to give the pig some love, putting on a special show each for grades 1-6, and the morning and afternoon kindergartners as the kids enjoyed their recess Pig continues on Page 7
Still no timeline for RTD extension Lucent Station plan remains up in air By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com A telephone town hall hosted by RTD this past week provided no answers as to when the Southwest Line of light rail would be extended into Highlands Ranch — just more questions. The hourlong call-in with district officials and RTD District H Director Kent Bagley on Nov. 7 brought participants up to date on many of the happenings within the Regional Transit District, including timelines for Denver Union Station, the East rail line to the airport and the likely winning bidder to construct the North Metro line, but there was still no concrete timeline for the proposed Lucent Station. Graham, Balfour Beatty, Harmon Constructors, the Canadian firm expected to be formally selected to complete the North Metro line later this month, did include in its proposal, as requested by RTD, the cost to complete the Southwest Line into Highlands Ranch as well as the southeast line from Lincoln Station in Lone Tree south to Ridgegate; however, funding for those projects is yet to be identified. “As additional funds become available, RTD can exercise an option of the contractor to build out the extensions,” Bagley said. “The question over the issue of funding should be answered over the next six to nine months.” The bids that GBBH put in for the southern extensions are good for two
Passengers board RTD light rail in Littleton. A Nov. 7 telephone town hall with RTD representatives provided no answers on the timeline for the completion of the southwest extension to Highlands Ranch. Photo by Ryan Boldrey years, Bagley said, adding that the district may negotiate to extend those bids further out. As far as an actual timeline for any construction, the director said he simply did not know. Bagley said he was unable to disclose the actual costs of either southern extension as the contract is yet to be signed, but RTD has disclosed that the cost of the North Metro extension to GBBH is $343 million and that project — which will connect Denver Union Station to 124th Avenue in Thornton — should be complete by 2018. When it is to be built, or funded, con-
tinues to be a mystery, but Bagley did offer a few callers answers in regard to what appears to be some growing discontent over the location of the future Lucent Station in Highlands Ranch — which is west of Lucent Boulevard and north of Plaza Drive, across from Benjamin Franklin Academy. At an October station planning meeting, a straw poll showed that 90 percent of residents in attendance were in favor of relocating the station. The majority of the opposition stemmed from concerns surrounding parking spillover RTD continues on Page 7
Kevin Larsen, likely the next Douglas County School Board president, said he hopes to help mend the rift in the community created during the recent election. Now vice president of the board, Larsen is expected to fill the lead position vacated by term-limited president John Carson. A believer in the board’s education reform policies, Larsen said he’s pleased the candidates who share those beliefs won the Nov. 5 elecLarsen tion. But he also recognizes that not everyone feels the same way. “Part of my belief is I’m in the right place at the right time for what Douglas County needs,” he said. “I’m going to offer everything I can as a leader to get this community together, and to make education deliver what we need to for these kids.” Larsen said the quantity of votes the losing candidates received exceeds that of any other school board candidates in any previous race. “So I’m respectful and know there were many people who supported the other candidates,” he said. “I think what we got was approval from the majority of voters to say, ‘Continue the strategic plan, more of us are supporting it than don’t.’ “I think we’ve articulated what we believe. Equally, or maybe at this moment, more importantly, how we say it is going to make the difference of getting unity in the community.” While the board hasn’t voted on any changes to meetings, Larsen has ideas he believes will improve interactions between the board, community members and teachers. Those include holding regular working session meetings as well as board meetings and limiting public comment during board meetings to agenda items to ensure meetings stay productive. Separate community forums would then serve as an opportunity for parents and others to express separate concerns. He also hopes to address the concern many have about the amount of time the board spends in executive session. “I don’t know if it means fewer, but I want to increase the perception and the reality of having a lot more things done out in the open where people feel they can observe it, see it, know what’s going on,” he said. “Executive sessions are still necessary for certain things.” Larsen also said he wants to meet with principals and teachers and solicit feedback from them on the district policies. “We’re going to need to listen and understand the questions they have,” he said. Despite the campaign’s divisiveness, Board continues on Page 7
Printed on recycled newsprint. Please recycle this copy.