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December 26, 2013 Elbert County, Colorado | Volume 118, Issue 48 A publication of
elbertcountynews.net
Hearing addresses complaint Commissioners, attorneys attend Dec. 13 administrative hearing By George Lurie
glurie@coloradocommunitymedia. com
times over the years, will be torn down in late May or early June to make room for a larger school parking lot. With 21 preschool through 12th-grade classrooms as well as a cafeteria, library, gymnasium and auxiliary gym, the new facility should provide more than enough room for the 200 students currently enrolled in the town of Elbert school district. Construction of the new school was
An administrative hearing was held Dec. 13 after a complaint was filed with the state alleging county funds were spent illegally to support passage of November’s proposed mill levy increase. The complaint, filed by county resident and former BOCC candidate Jill Duvall, accused the board of county commissioners of improperly spending money to hire local consultant Tim Buchanan to help promote passage of the mill levy — which was voted down by county residents by an 8-to-1 margin. In a contract executed Sept. 4 between the BOCC and Buchanan, the BOCC agreed to pay the Elbert-based consultant $15,000 for a range of services that included: “Coaching and training for BOCC in organizational leadership and effective team strategies; Assistance in formulating BOCC communications strategies in relation to the town hall meetings in regards to the state of the county
School continues on Page 11
Complaint continues on Page 11
Elbert School District business manager Bev McGuire dons a hard hat Dec. 17 at the construction site of the new $20.6 million Elbert school. McGuire said the project remains on track to open in the fall of 2014. Photo by George Lurie
New school construction speeds ahead Facility remains on track to open for 2014-15 school year By George Lurie
glurie@coloradocommunitymedia.com Construction crews recently topped off the superstructure of the town of Elbert’s new $20.6 million school and the project remains on track to welcome students in the fall of 2014.
“It’s really going up quickly,” said Bev McGuire, the district’s business manager. “Architecturally, it’s going to be one of the most attractive and innovative schools around.” The new Elbert school, which has been under construction for six months, will encompass about 73,000 square feet and also will include a separate 3,000-square-foot maintenance building and bus garage. McGuire said the old school, which was built in the 1930s and added on to seven
The top 13 of 2013 A look back at the biggest stories in the south metro area Staff report The south metro Denver area saw no shortage of news — or controversy — in 2013, making it a tough task to come up with our stories-of-the-year package. Some of the stories on our list had a farreaching impact across a particular county or even the entire region. Others, in one way or another, had such a strong impact on a particular community that they couldn’t be ignored. The story of the year came late in 2013 and it horrified us all. The newsroom staff of Colorado Community Media has whittled the list down to a baker’s dozen. The stories are listed in no particular order, aside from our No. 1 pick, the Dec. 13 shootings at Arapahoe High School in Centennial. We’ll let you decide how the other 12 should be ranked.
School shooting at Arapahoe High An 18-year-old student entered Arapahoe High School around 12:30 p.m. Dec. 13, shot a fellow student in the head, then killed himself. Authorities believe the gunman, Arapahoe senior Karl Pierson, was tarPOSTAL ADDRESS
geting a faculty member, but was prepared to cause mass casualties. Claire Davis, a senior at the school, was left in critical condition, in a coma at Littleton Adventist Hospital. In the days following the shooting, community support poured in for Davis in the form of prayers, vigils and a tribute outside a fence at the school that included gifts, flowers and cards from people from around the area. Since the shooting, classes have been canceled at Arapahoe High School, home of the Warriors, but it was clear the students have remained close. “Warriors always take care of one another,” was a motto seen on signs and painted on cars. The investigation into why Pierson did what he did continues and this is a story that will cross over into 2014. — Chris Rotar
C-470 project around the bend Following two years of outreach and research, this February, the C-470 Corridor Coalition Steering Committee — made up of representatives from Douglas, Arapahoe and Jefferson counties, the Highlands Ranch Metro District and cities of Littleton, Lone Tree and Centennial — unanimously approved funding a $230 million widening project of C-470 through the construction
A girl is comforted by a friend outside Shepherd of the Hills Church, after the shootings at Arapahoe High School on Dec. 13. Tearful reunions were a common sight at the church, where parents were instructed to pick up their kids. Photo by Chris Michlewicz
of 13.1 miles worth of managed toll lanes in both directions between Kipling and I-25. While construction on the C-470 project — which was awarded $100 million in RAMP funding on behalf of the Colorado Department of Transportation this fall — won’t get underway until 2015, road work dotted the south metro landscape in 2013. Two major projects wound to a close in the latter months of the year, including the widening of US 85 between HighPrinted on recycled lands Ranch and Louviers, as well as the newsprint. Please Broadway/C-470 intersection project, recycle this copy. which took over a year to complete. Douglas County spent almost as much money on road maintenance in Highlands Ranch in 2013, $18.3 million, as it did in the previous seven years combined, $21.6 million. A similar amount of work, mostly con-
crete maintenance, is slated for 2014. The C-470 widening project is expected to be 100 percent complete by January 2018. — Ryan Boldrey
The first civil unions In a year that saw the Defense of Marriage Act deemed unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court, Colorado became the sixth state in the union to approve civil unions for same-sex couples this March, joining 10 other states where gay marriage is legal. Receiving unanimous support from Senate and House Democrats, SB-11 also picked up three Republican votes along the way, including one from Carole Murray Top 13 continues on Page 4