Centenial citizen 0906

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Citizen Centennial 9-6-2013

Centennial

Arapahoe County, Colorado • Volume 12, Issue 42

Enjoying summer while it lasts

September 6, 2013

A Colorado Community Media Publication

ourcentennialnews.com

Monitors installed by airport Arapahoe, Douglas counties each get six noise gauges By Ryan Boldrey

rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com

There’s no better way to beat the heat than a spin around the lake. As the Labor Day weekend came to a close, sun worshipers packed Cherry Creek Reservoir for one last fond farewell to summer. Labor Day always seems to signal the end of summer and that one last chance to live it up before cooler weather arrives. The extended three-day weekend filled Cherry Creek Reservoir with a variety of boats and other water toys. Photo by Deborah Grigsby

School bond issue heads for ballot LPS board votes 4-0 for move that wouldn’t hike taxes

In a continued effort to keep the noise level down for people living and working in the flight path of Centennial Airport, the Arapahoe County Public Airport Authority is in the process of installing noise monitors in Arapahoe and Douglas counties. The authority began site selection in 2009, selecting six locations in each county. The airport has already put up five monitors, all of which are solar, two on airport property, one in Cherry Creek State Park, and one each in Lone Tree and Castle Rock. With the Aug. 27 approval by the Douglas County commissioners to allow for construction of a 22-foot tall monitor, similar in stature to a telephone pole, on public land along Fifth Street in Parker’s Grandview’s Estates, the airport authority now has clearance for all 12 monitors, the last of which will be installed this September. “It will give us the capability to measure the actual noise of aircraft departing from and arriving at the airport,” said Michael Fronapfel, deputy director of planning and development with Centennial Airport. “Having a noise system is not necessarily a requirement; however it’s one of the things the FAA is willing to fund to assist airports with addressing some of the noise impacts on the community.” Fronapfel said the sites were selected to give a wide representation of flight paths into the airport as planes head over local communities, in addition in areas where the airport has received complaints of too much noise in the past.

Monitors continues on Page 11

By Jennifer Smith

jsmith@ourcoloradonews.com In a move that surprised no one, the Littleton Public Schools Board of Education voted unanimously and enthusiastically Aug. 29 to place an $80 million bond issue on the November ballot. “It’s not like we’re asking for fluff,” said Bob Colwell, board president. “It’s things that need to be done for safety and the kids.” The vote was 4-0, with board member Mary Nichols absent. Anticipating the outcome, Citizens for Littleton Public Schools registered with the state as an issue committee on July 18. Before the board’s vote, parents Heather Kelly and Amy Kurtz stepped up to lead the charge in the campaign. “We understand the urgency of the work that needs to be done,” said Kelly, adding that they were representing a very supportive group of parents. Mary McGlone, former board president and current president of the Littleton Public Schools Foundation, said LPSF’s board voted unanimously to endorse the bond issue. “There’s a lot of historical support for the work that you’re doing,” she said. “You’re very prudent and efficient with our dollars, and we appreciate that.” Superintendent Scott Murphy’s position is that the time is right to take advantage of low interest rates for what amounts to refinancing a mortgage — not a tax increase, he

After passing a resolution that sends a bond issue to the voters, members of the Littleton Public Schools Board of Education donned construction hats in anticipation of the capital projects it will fund if passed. Photo by Jennifer Smith stresses. If voters pass the proposed measure, it will keep the amount of property tax they pay at about a total of 57 mills. If not, it will drop to about 55.5 mills — a difference of about $1 a month for each $100,000 of the actual value of the property. “I haven’t met anyone who didn’t think this was the right thing to do,” said Murphy, counting among them politicians from both parties and the South Metro Realtors Association. John Brackney, president of the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce, voiced the chamber’s strong support for the measure on his Facebook page shortly after the vote. “It isn’t a political issue, it’s an issue of

taking care of our community,” said Murphy. “It’s not something to argue about.” The last time LPS went to the voters was in 2010, when they passed a $12 million mill-levy override, or property-tax increase. That money has maintained the district’s current level of service, despite decreases in state and federal funding. Bond revenue can legally only be used for capital improvements like building maintenance and infrastructure. The district estimates the actual need at about $102 million, but asking for more than $80 Ballot continues on Page 11

One of 12 noise monitors to be installed by Centennial Airport in Arapahoe and Douglas counties, this one at the west edge of the Family Sports Golf Course, is one of two that sits on airport property. It is also one of five solar noise monitors being used to track and record noise by incoming and outgoing planes. Courtesy photo

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