April 22, 2015 VOLU M E 5 4 | I S S UE 1 6 | 7 5 ¢
PikesPeakCourier.net T E L L E R C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
A publication of
Council reacts to demographic trends
Police department targets red-light runners, cameras might be next By Norma Engelberg
Contributing Writer
Population and traffic dominated the April 16 Woodland Park City Council meeting. The city’s workforce and senior housing needs have been topics for consideration for years but State Demographer Elizabeth Garner’s population trends presentation on April 15 gave those considerations more urgency. Traffic issues also took on more urgency after a driver ran a red light and caused a fatal accident on April 6 at the U.S. 24 intersection at Wal-Mart.
Time for another housing assessment?
The last Woodland Park and Teller County housing assessment was conducted in 2005. Councilmember John Schafer says it’s time for another assessment, especially since the current population is aging and the area isn’t attracting young families and the 30- to 40-year-olds that provide most of the workforce. Councilmember Noel Sawyer
asked what a new assessment would tell council that it doesn’t already know. Schafer said it would show what the city has and what it needs now and Councilmember Phil Mella said an updated assessment would increase the profit margins and provide guidance to the construction market City Manager David Buttery said the new data will allow the city to look for more housing help.
Funding the assessment
The last assessment cost $50,000 and involved state grants, local funding and three contractors. Schafer said he hopes this assessment would cost about $25,000 for only one contractor. He proposed that council ask City Manager David Buttery to find $5,000 in this year’s budget for seed money. “I will be going to the city managers of Cripple Creek and Victor for funding and it would be nice if I could tell them that Woodland Park has already chipped in $5,000,” he said. Buttery said he is sure he can find the money for this investment in the city’s future.
Council moves on to traffic
Reacting to the fatal accident, the Woodland Park Police Department has beefed up signal light enforcement. Deputy Chief Miles
DeYoung said officers have been writing tickets and the department has reached out to the Colorado State Patrol and the Teller County Sheriff’s Office to increase their enforcement as well. Buttery said that since the accident the Colorado Department of Transportation has increased the lag time at the Walmart signal. Lag time is the time when all the signals at an intersection are red. Sawyer asked about traffic-light cameras and Buttery said he could look into the cameras but all of the city’s signals are on state-owned highways.
Emphasis on educating drivers
Buttery said drivers need to be educated about traffic light safety. “We don’t want to be known as a speed trap but we do want to be known as a place where people can’t run red lights,” he said. “We need to increase driver awareness but the second part of that is making sure drivers don’t enter intersections until everyone stops. If you’re dead, it doesn’t matter that you were right.” Mella asked DeYoung to tell officers to write fewer warnings and more tickets and not just for running lights but also for going too fast. Buttery said he has been trying to get the state to lower speed limits through the city for 18 years but he hasn’t given up.
Reacting to the fatal accident, the Woodland Park Police Department has beefed up signal light enforcement. Friday morning’s snow (April 17) complicated the safety calculus even more. Photo by Rob Carrigan
Other council actions Patrick Pine and Bill Sinclair were reappointed to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and 18-year advisory board volunteer Donna Engle, who is retiring, was recognized for her service. Plaques were presented to six Bear Aware Contest winners from Gateway Elementary School. Council approved a $53,329 contract with Corner Stone Paving for seal coating the Meadow Wood Sports Complex parking lot and other projects. Council approved on first reading an ordinance authorizing the city to refund the city’s outstand-
ing 1999 certificates of participation and reissue COPs to fund improvements to Memorial Park. If the paperwork for this ordinance are completed quickly, council could call a special meeting to approve it before the May 7 meeting. Council approved a conditional use permit for a larger mix of uses for Cort Wahl’s property on Boundary Street. Teller County Relay for Life officials received permission to use the Midland Pavilion and the Green from 4 p.m.-midnight on June 12 for the annual American Cancer Society fundraising and cancer awareness event.
POSTAL ADDRESS
PIKES PEAK COURIER (USPS 654-460)
OFFICE: 1200 E. Highway 24 Woodland Park, CO 80863 PHONE: 719-687-3006 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Teller County, Colorado, the Pikes Peak Courier is published weekly on Wednesday by Colorado Community Media, 1200 E. Highway 24, Woodland Park, CO 80863. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT WOODLAND PARK, COLORADO and additional mailing offices.
The Woodland Park Police Department has set up an area for children whose parents have been arrested or detained. Photo by Pat Hill
Cozy corner dulls sense of trauma
POSTMASTER: Send address change to: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210 Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 DEADLINES: Display: Thurs. 11 a.m. Legal: Thurs. 11 a.m. | Classified: Mon. 10 a.m. GE T SOCI AL WITH US
By Pat Hill
phill@coloradocommunitymedia.com
P LE A S E R ECYC L E T H I S C O PY
A parent is pulled over by law enforcement for driving under the influence and hauled off to jail. But a child is also in the car at the time. Or a parent is required to check in with a parole officer. While the child is cared for and protected by the officer at the Woodland Park Police Department, a new Care Cen-
ter is designed to help soften the blow for what can be a traumatic occurrence. Today, the department has set aside a cozy corner in the office with a couch, toys, books, games and stuffed animals, each a result of a donation. Wayne Stewart, of the Lock Shop, donated the couch. “Chief Larson has been trying to find a solution to accommodating children and non-offending adults in a more comfortable setting,” said Jan McKamy, Teller County’s Victim Advocate, whose office is in the department.