December 23, 2021
FREE
DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
HighlandsRanchHerald.net
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 22
Metro district pays off debt
A time for kindness Specially-made Christmas trees given to healthcare workers
$185 million paid back 4 years early.
BY THELMA GRIMES TGRIMES@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Taking what started as a hobby and turning it into a way to give back to the community, a Highlands Ranch resident has worked over the last three years to donate homemade Christmas trees to public safety responders and local healthcare workers. Bill Givan said three years ago he signed up for a pottery class at the Highland Ranch South Ridge Recreation Center. After making several items, Givan said he just took to making small Christmas trees. “I really don’t know why these just spoke to me,” he said. “It started as something for me to do and for whatever reason I just started making them and kept making them.” In 2019, Givan said he was getting compliments for his work and
BY THELMA GRIMES TGRIMES@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
ter, which means more ER visits with people who have slipped and fallen on icy, slippery surfaces. While the Front Range has not had a lot of snowfall and cold weather so far this autumn, Hall said as more snowstorms and cold weather come in early 2022, doctors always anticipate an uptick in urgent care visits. Besides cold weather bringing winter injuries, holiday-related
Pointing to strong leadership and planning since Highlands Ranch was founded in 1981, the Metro District board recently announced that it met its goal of early debt retirement. “We’re very proud of the metro district’s strong financial foundation, which has served the community well over the last four decades,” said Metro District Board Chair Mark Dickerson. “Thanks to the vision of the metro district’s previous and current board members, leaders with our community’s developers — Mission Viejo Company and Shea Homes, and the late Bruce Lebsack, who was the metro district’s director of finance and administration for many years, we are able to celebrate this accomplishment and share this good news today.” According to the press release announcing the official mark of debt payoff, at the district’s inception, a facility plan was created to provide a detailed cost estimate of the entire “base” infrastructure necessary to serve Highlands Ranch throughout its build-out. The $185 million plan included construction of arterial roadways and parkway landscaping, trails, parks, traffic signals, stormwater channels, and two fire stations. The primary funding source for the infrastructure was system development fees paid by the developer at the time of construction of new residential and commercial properties. The metro district first issued debt
SEE INJURIES, P20
SEE RESOLVED, P23
Bill Gavin, of Highlands Ranch, and others create ceramic Christmas trees.
people were telling him he should do something with the pieces. Rather than sell them, Givan said he wanted to make someone feel happy, which led to him donating them to Children’s Hospital Colorado. In 2020, Givan said, the country was going through tough times
COURTESY PHOTO
with the COVID-19 pandemic, leading him to donate the trees to emergency responders and healthcare workers. “I really just want to bring a smile to someone’s face,” Givan said. “It’s been a rough few years. SEE KINDNESS, P9
’Tis the season for injuries Local ERs see increase in holiday-related cases BY THELMA GRIMES TGRIMES@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Dr. Ben Usatch said while the holidays are all about joy and bringing good cheer, no member of the family is immune to accidents that can result in an unplanned
VOLUME 35 | ISSUE 3
visit to the local ER. Usatch, an emergency medicine physician and medical director for UCHealth Hospital Highlands Ranch, said holiday injuries start early with the cold weather and continue with holiday decoration hanging through to Christmas, when presents are opened and can cause unexpected injuries. Dr. Eric Hill, a HealthOne emergency room physician at the Medical Center of Aurora, said the holiday season is the start of win-
THUNDERRIDGE HOOPS Winning ways continue
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DIGITAL DETOX
Stepping away from social media
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