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April 10, 2014
75 cents Douglas County, Colorado | Volume 122, Issue 23 A publication of
douglascountynewspress.net
Incumbents retain council seats Castle Rock to swear in two new faces, two familiar ones April 15 By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@coloradocommunitymedia.com Both incumbents handily retained their seats in the April 1 Castle Rock Town Council election, which also brought two newcomers to the board. Incumbents Jennifer Green and Renee Valentine kept their seats in District 3 and
5, respectively, while Brett J. Ford beat out Max Brooks to replace term-limited Joe Procopio in District 7, and George Teal emerged from a field of four in District 6 to take over for Clark Hammelman, who resigned from his seat earlier this Ford year. Valentine, Green and Ford will serve four-year terms, expiring in April 2018. Teal will serve a partial, two-year term, expiring in April 2016. All four will be sworn in at the April 15 council meeting, when both a mayor and mayor pro tem will be
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districts, representing a voter turnout of about 25 percent, according to a news release from the town. Green amassed 57.7 percent of the vote in District 3, defeating three opponents, the closest of whom, Jennifer Bennett, checked in with 22.2 percent. Green said she was “pleased to see so many voters who found the issues (she) found important, liberty and freedom, as something they wanted to continue.” “When I was campaigning, numerous residents explained to me that they wanted government to mind their own business
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appointed by the council to serve in those capacities for the next two years. Paul Donahue, who remains on council, has served as mayor since 2011. In total, 4,605 people voted in the four
Council continues on Page 33
Buzz builds for Parker’s cU campus Classes to be offered at The Wildlife Experience beginning this fall By Chris Michlewicz
cmichlewicz @coloradocommunitymedia.com Anticipation is building for the fall opening of a University of Colorado campus at The Wildlife Experience. A well-attended welcoming reception at the Parker museum April 3 kicked off the beginning of what’s being billed as a symbiotic partnership. Business professionals will have a place close to home to continue their education, and employers will gain
The first phase of the North Meadows Extension, which includes the completion of this bridge just west of Castle View High School, is due to be complete by the end of April. The project broke ground in October 2013 and is expected to be finished by the end of 2015. Photo by Ryan Boldrey
Campus continues on Page 9
North Meadows extension moving along Town’s largest road project to date on target, under budget By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@coloradocommunitymedia.com The first phase of four on Castle Rock’s largest transportation project in town history is nearing completion, and town officials anticipate being under budget on construction costs and on target to wrap up on schedule. The North Meadows Extension, which broke ground near Castle View High School in October, once complete, will provide north and southbound interchange access to U.S. 85 and I-25, giving residents of the Meadows a second northern access point to I-25 and alleviating traffic on Meadows Parkway. The extension includes the construction of the two interchanges, one of which will be built over U.S. 85 at Castlegate Drive — as well as two bridges, one over Plum POSTAL ADDRESS
Creek and Union Pacific Railroad, and the other, which is almost complete, over the Burlington Northern/Santa Fe railroad tracks that run behind Castle View. “Our overall goal is to open the full project to use as close to the end of 2015 as we can,” said project manager Dan Sailer, assistant director of public works for the town. “We are making every effort we can to hit that target.” Sailer said that in addition to the construction, the town still needs to clear a couple hurdles, including the acquisition of a few parcels of private land east of U.S. 85 and west of I-25. Once they have those land acquisitions finalized, the town also needs to enter into some intergovernmental agreements with the Colorado Department of Transportation related to the maintenance of the new interchanges. Everything west of the pacific railroad is cleared for construction, and underway, Sailer said. The project, with a budget of $67.85
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million, is being paid for by $22.7 million in bond money voted for in 2005, along with an additional $29.2 million from the Town of Castle Rock, $853,000 from Castle Rock Development Co. (the developer of The Meadows), $10.5 million from Douglas County and $4.6 million from C-DOT. To date, Sailer said, the town is close to $3 million under its approved construction budget, with three phases left to go. The road, once complete, is expected to stretch nearly two miles, one lane in each direction, with turn lanes added near the I-25 access points. Once east of U.S. 85, the road will run south of Castle Pines Village, north of the Outlets at Castle Rock and just to the east of the Pines Apartment Complex off U.S. 85. For more information on the project, visit www.crgov.com/nme. The general contractor for the project is Wisconsinbased firm Edward Kraemer and Sons. The firm has a regional office in Castle Rock and is also currently involved in the I-70 twin tunnel project.
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Bruce Benson, president of the university of Colorado, speaks to those who gathered for a reception celebrating Cu’s arrival at The Wildlife Experience. The satellite campus will open this fall and offer six areas of study. Photo by Chris Michlewicz
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