Conifer library analysis continues

Library board plans community-feedback meetings in May

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e Je erson County Public Library board is moving forward with deciding whether Conifer will get a free-standing library.

After completing one-on-one interviews with 16 stakeholders, library o cials now are opening the discussion to the community. It is conducting two meetings in May –one in-person and the other virtual – to gain feedback. In addition, an online survey will be available later this month.

e in-person meeting will be at 10 a.m. May 13 at Conifer library, which is in Conifer High School, and a virtual meeting will be at 7 p.m. May 15 on Zoom. e Zoom link will be available at https://je colibrary.org/ conifer-opportunity/.

“ e (library) board loves to understand the community,” Donna Walker, the library district’s executive director, said. “ ere is a lot of opportunity (in Conifer).” e Conifer Area Council has been advocating for a free-standing library for several years based on feedback from community surveys it conducts.

Conifer’s library has been in Conifer High School since the school opened in 1996. e 8,900-squarefoot library space is open to the public when school is not in session. With the change in start and end times at Conifer High School starting in August, the library will be open fewer hours each week. Currently, school ends at CHS at 3 p.m.; next year, school will end at 3:45 p.m. Walker said the changing school times precipitated the library board to look at other options for Conifer library.

Gathering feedback

Walker said the May community meetings will allow the library district to move to the next level by getting additional input, so it can develop a program of service for the Conifer area. She said it was too soon to know whether the library district wold move toward a free-standing library or some other library con guration.

“We are looking for what the community wants, needs and expects in their library,” Walker said. “ at will allow us to determine how much space we will need, so we can move forward.” e library board put $2.5 million in its 2023 budget for the Conifer library, Walker said. e library board will hear a report at its July 20 meeting about the results of the community meetings and survey, Walker said, and the library board should hear recommendations in August.

Stakeholder comments e stakeholders in their interviews discussed the pros and cons of having a library in Conifer High School, according to a report provided to the library board in April. ey said the current hours of operation were not ideal, and daytime hours would allow more programs for young families such as story times. ey said parking and access to the library were di cult because of stairs into the building and remote parking. e stakeholders advocated for a free-standing library, though they disagreed on what that should look like: a new building, renting space in a retail center, combining a library and recreation center, or making changes to Conifer High School to keep the library there.

However, stakeholders agreed that maintaining a relationship between the library and the high school was a bene t.

According to data presented to the library board, the library service area for Conifer has about 5,000 households with about a third of them using the Conifer library.

Conifer Area Council survey e Conifer Area Council conducts a survey every four years, and the 2022 survey results showed that out of 650 responses, 53% said they found the library in Conifer High School inconvenient, and 66% said they would more likely use the Conifer library if it were open from 9 a.m.-8 p.m. in its own location.

In addition, 43% said the shortened hours at Conifer library starting in August would limit their use of the library, and 76% said they would like to see the library district create a free-standing, full-service library in the Conifer area, perhaps by leasing or purchasing vacant retail space.

EVERGREEN PARK & RECREATION BRIEFS

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

New equipment for rec district fitness rooms e tness rooms at Evergreen’s two recreation centers will get upgrades. e Evergreen Park & Recreation District board of directors on April 25 approved spending about $70,000 to replace and add to the cardio and weight equipment o erings. e expenditure will exceed the $40,000 originally budgeted for equipment. e Buchanan Park Recreation Center, which received upgrades a few years ago, will get six pieces of equipment. e Wulf Recreation Center will get 10 pieces of equipment, with other changes planned for the weight room including the removal of a glass partition. e rec district sta had planned to put arti cial turf on the patio area outside the Buchanan Park pool, but that has been scrapped until the district nishes its strategic plan.

Brian Tucker, the rec district’s recreation manager, said some of the treadmills and other cardio equipment are at the end of their life, needing major upgrades, so it made sense to replace them. Other equipment has been requested by patrons, he said.

“We are taking into consideration said, adding that the rec district has competition from area athletic clubs

Vander Veen reminded the board that this expenditure was only a short-term x for the rec district’s tness rooms.

No donation to mural fundraising campaign

e Evergreen Park & Recreation District will not contribute to an effort to raise money to put a mural on the CenturyLink building in downtown Evergreen.

Leadership Evergreen, which is spearheading the fundraising e ort, asked the rec district to contribute $5,000 to the project, and the district’s name along with other contributors’ names would be on a plaque near the mural.

While a vote was not taken on the expenditure at the April 25 EPRD board meeting, two board members expressed support for the donation, saying it was important for the rec district to work collaboratively with other organizations. ree board members said it wasn’t right to spend taxpayer dollars on something outside the rec district’s scope of service.

Board member Peter Eggers said supporting the arts was part of the rec district’s past master plans. Eggers and board member Betsy Hays agreed that the donation would make a statement that EPRD sup- ports the arts and Leadership Evergreen.

“If we don’t donate the money,” Eggers said, “it sends a (negative) message to those who think EPRD’s mission is broader than sweat. It raises a ag … to our community on what we truly support.”

Board members Monty Estis, Don Rosenthal and Mary McGhee said the district should not spend the money.

“As much as I love public art, I don’t think it’s an appropriate use of our funds,” Rosenthal said. “We don’t have a broad mandate. We’re a special district with a focus on recreation. I think (the donation would) go outside our mission.”

McGhee added: “EPRD’s mission is to provide a wide range of excellent, nancially responsible park and recreation facilities. It says parks and rec, not arts and rec. Our mission is not to prop up other nonprofits.” e board will meet at 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 9, at the Buchanan Park Recreation Center in a work session to hear the results of a statisti- cally signi cant survey about what constituents want the rec center to provide. e board will meet again at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 23, at the Buchanan Park Rec Center to begin prioritizing projects for the district to undertake in the next three to ve years, looking at project cost, community wants and what the district can a ord. e public is invited to attend both meetings to hear the discussion, though it will be up to the board whether to allow public input since that will not be on the agenda.

Estis’ idea to donate a token amount to the fundraising e ort and McGhee’s idea for board members to individually donate $1,000 to the e ort on EPRD’s behalf did not gain traction.

Strategic planning meetings May will be strategic plan month for the Evergreen Park & Recreation District board.

Board members have been discussing whether to ask voters for a bond increase in November to pay for projects and/or to ask voters to continue paying the same amount of property taxes after a bond is paid o in 2025.

In 2022, the board decided to undertake creating a strategic plan, with the rst step determining what constituents want and need from the district. It began with listening sessions and followed up with a survey.

All households in the rec district were mailed postcards with codes to access to the survey. ose living outside the district or a second person in the household could answer the survey through evergreenrecreation.com.

Mobile recreation trailer

A mobile recreation trailer may be coming to an Evergreen Park & Recreation District park near you.

e district has partnered with the

Wilmot Elementary School PTA to stock a 15-foot trailer with carnival games, a bounce house, a projector that can be used for movies in the park and more. e rec district is providing the enclosed trailer, and the PTA is buying the rst round of games.

Cory Vander Veen, the rec district’s executive director, hopes that each year, organizations will add to the trailer o erings.

“ e intention is for it to be used by the entire community,” Vander Veen said. “We’re going to start small and focus on partners and events we already have. We can expand it to whatever we want it to be.”

Sta housing Plans are moving forward for the Evergreen Park & Recreation District to turn the ve houses it owns in Buchanan Park into housing for district employees in an e ort to retain and attract them.

Executive Director Cory Vander Veen has said creating employee housing stems from the district having di culty lling some positions and not retaining employees because they can’t a ord to live in the foothills.

Vander Veen said at the April 25 board meeting that sta are working on creating an application and lottery system to determine who will get the housing. He said there’s been a lot of sta interest in having units that they can a ord in the community.