Golden Transcript 031413

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Transcript Golden

GOLDEN 3.14.13

March 14, 2013

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A Colorado Community Media Publication

ourgoldennews.com

Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 147, Issue 15

More money more planning Golden council continues debate over $4 million windfall By Glenn Wallace

gwallace@ourcoloradonews.com

Golden High School siblings Katie, 15, and Matthew Connally, 18, pose with their Red Cross Youth Lifesaver Award, at the 11th annual Red Cross Breakfast of Champions event last week. After their father suffered a heart attack on Thanksgiving Day in 2011, the duo performed CPR until paramedics could arrive, saving his life. Photo by Glenn Wallace

Lifesavers quick in action Teens recognized for saving their father By Glenn Wallace

gwallace@ourcoloradonews.com Some teenagers give their parents proverbial heart attacks. Matthew and Katie Connolly gave their father CPR. For their life-saving efforts, the Golden High School siblings were awarded The American Red Cross Youth Lifesaver Award at the 11th annual Breakfast of Champions in Denver on March 8. The father, Jody Connolly, says he feels pride for his two children “like you couldn’t believe.” “They kept me alive for 21 minutes until the ambulance arrived. I’m really lucky to be here,” he said. It was Thanksgiving Day 2011, and Jody was helping his 17-year-old son Matthew change the oil in his first car. Jody was under the car, when he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest.

“At first it sounded like he was sleeping on the couch, making snoring noises like he does,” Matthew recalled. Unable to wake Jody up, Matthew yelled for his mother to call 911. “He needed help, and I was going to do the very best to help him,” Matthew said. Katie, 14, came into the garage and saw her father turning purple. “It was tough seeing my dad like that,” she said. Katie stayed calm enough to remember what she had learned in a Red Cross CPR certification course for babysitters. With her brother’s help, they began CPR. Slowly, Jody’s color improved, while the children waited for the ambulance to reach their Mount Vernon area home. When she couldn’t push on her father’s chest any longer, Katie said she resorted to punching instead, to keep compressions going. “Honestly, it felt like forever,” Katie said. Jody says he does not remember anything about that day. “When I woke up four days later all my hairs were cinders,” where the paramedics had used defibrillator paddles to keep his

heart going. A year later on Thanksgiving, Matthew and Katie said there was some light teasing of their dad. “But it did make us very thankful, this Thanksgiving,” Katie said. Jody is especially thankful the heart attack occurred when and where it did. The day before the 49-year-old had been doing roofing work, two stories off the ground, not laying down, in close proximity to CPR-trained loved ones. “Somebody was looking out for me,” Jody said. Katie’s lifesaving days may just be beginning. She was recently hired as a lifeguard at the Golden Community Center pool. She concedes that saving her father’s life probably helped her resume. “If anybody was in that situation, they would probably do what me and my brother did,” Katie said. She added that by becoming CPR certified gave her the tools to help. “It doesn’t matter how young you are — if you know what to do, you can save a life,” Katie added.

Jeffco schools alter district boundaries By Glenn Wallace

gwallace@ourcoloradonews.com By 3-2 vote, the Jefferson County School District’s Board of Education changed district lines. Board members Laura Boggs and Paula Noonan voted against the redistricting, saying they did not approve with how the new lines bisected some school articulation areas. The vote came during the board’s March 7 meeting, and alters the board district lines that were established in 2003. State law requires school districts to update district lines at least every four years. The state statute reads: Director disPOSTAL ADDRESS

tricts shall be contiguous, compact, and as nearly equal in population as possible. Board members are elected by all members of the school district, but represent a specific section of the district. The version of the new boundaries was reviewed at the board’s Feb. 28 meeting. Among the larger changes, District 5 now extends west to take in Morrison in exchange for more of Littleton to go to District 2, along the western side of C-470. District 3 also gained the Pleasant View and Denver West neighborhoods near Golden. In the new population distribution, District 5 would have the least population,105,656; while the smallest geograph-

ic district, District 4, would represent the most people, 109,434.

New districts

District One: Treasurer Robin Johnson, representing Westminster and Broomfield. District Two: Second Vice President Laura Boggs, representing Evergreen and Conifer. District Three: Secretary Jill Fellman, representing Arvada and Wheat Ridge. District Four: Board President Lesley Dahlkemper, representing Lakewood. District Five: First Vice President Paula Noonan representing the Morrison and Littleton area. Population of 105,656.

It was the kind of news most municipalities have not heard in years: There is more money in the city coffers than staff knows what to do with. But that is exactly the situation that the Golden City Council is dealing with, to the sum of $4 million. The money, mostly from a court decision which forced IBM to pay past-due sales and use tax to the city, has few restrictions, particularly if used for capital improvement projects. At its March 7 council meeting, the board of seven decided on two pedestrian projects ($400,000) but little else. It scratched a few possibilities off the list, and asked for city staff to further research just how much could be accomplished with the funds. The items still being considered: Updating at least a few of the city’s playgrounds, rebuilding an updated skate park, improvements or expansion for the community center, and possible study of a Clear Creek Civic Center. In trying to sum up the majority of the council’s wishes, Mayor Marjorie Sloan asked city staff to research some options in greater detail, while ruling out previously mentioned ideas such as using the funds for paying off city debt, a rooftop solar program or the purchase of open space parkland. “Not because we think they are bad ideas, but because we think they can be done in different ways,” Sloan said. The concept of a Civic Center would possibly consolidate Golden City Hall in a new building, along with space for cultural resources like the library, Golden History Museums as well as art and theater space. The idea was brought up at a previous meeting by Ward 4 Councilman Bill Fisher, who suggested the city use the windfall to make a lasting impact on the city. “Is there an opportunity to take this $4 million and do something real special?” Fisher said. “It would be a really interesting concept. No, it wouldn’t be cheap,” Bestor said. According to preliminary staff estimates, the minimum cost for a facility of that size would be around $25 million. The debt on such a facility would require the city to pay $2 million annually, over 20 years. Bestor said a four-tenths of a percent sales tax increase could cover that cost. Fisher suggested a portion of the $4 million be used to begin preliminary exploration of a Civic Center’s feasibility. For now, the only certain use of the money will be two pedestrian projects — installation of sidewalks along portions of Colfax Avenue, and the underpass pedestrian and bicycle pathway at Tucker Gulch and Highway 93. Both projects had been on the city’s to-do list for 2014, but were moved up due to community demand.

GOLDEN TRANSCRIPT (ISSN 0746-6382)

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