Herald
Englewood 10-18-2013
Englewood
October 18, 2013
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourenglewoodnews.com
Arapahoe County, Colorado • Volume 93, Issue 35
Englewood wants to use RTD funds The city asks for money that had been booked for projects no longer planned By Tom Munds
tmunds@ourcoloradonews.com
Englewood firefighter Marissa Gettman accepts a little girl’s donation during the Fill the Boot fundraiser over the Labor Day weekend. Englewood was honored for the fire department’s fundraising efforts for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Courtesy photo
‘Fill the Boot’ collects $22,000 Englewood Fire Department honored for fundraising effort By Tom Munds
tmunds@ourcoloradonews.com Englewood received two plaques for the work done by Englewood Fire Department volunteers, who raised $22,000 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association during the Labor Day weekend’s annual “Fill the Boot” campaign. Sabrina Allen, director of the Denver office of MDA, said she was glad Englewood is working on the project. “It takes an army to make Fill the Boot work,” she said during the Oct. 7 city coun-
cil meeting. “Englewood firefighters worked hard and did an amazing job.” She was at the meeting to present plaques recognizing the firefighter’s efforts. One plaque was presented to the city and accepted by Mayor Randy Penn. The second plaque was presented to the fire department and was accepted by Fire Chief Andy Marsh. The presentations drew applause from the audience and a comment from Councilmember Rick Gillit. “It is amazing what the firefighters do to help raise the funds that will mean so much to someone else,” he said. “The firefighters did a great job and I appreciate the effort of all those who took part in the project.” Dan Ally, Englewood firefighter/engi-
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neer, spearheads the local “Fill the Boot” project. “This was a total department effort,” Ally told the city council. “We had all 55 firefighters helping out at some time during the project. We had firefighters on duty but we also had firefighters who volunteered their time to help with the fund-raiser.” He said Englewood began the most recent Fill the Boot project participation in 2010, when they raised about $2,000. “We have raised more each year and this year, we set the goal at $2,001,” he said with a smile. “The extra dollar on the goal was so we would collect more than Cunningham Fire Department.” He said everyone worked hard and even went to the University of Colorado-Colorado State University football game to help Denver Fire Department cover the event. Ally said it was a plus that Marsh took part in the project. “It was great to have him working with us,” the firefighter said. The total collected in the three-day effort was $21,990. Allen said she put in the final $10 to raise the total to $22,000. Planning is already underway for next year’s Fill the Boot project, and Ally said the goal will be to raise $22,001.
Englewood is seeking promised funds for Regional Transportation District projects that are no longer scheduled to be built. The proposal is to use RTD funds for city projects. Mike Flaherty, deputy city manager, told the Englewood City Council at the Oct. 7 study session that the RTD FasTracks plan included creating an additional 440 parking spaces at the Englewood Light Rail Station and building a light rail station on the former General Iron Works property. “A parking structure was discussed at a cost of about $5 million. But it was considered impractical because of cost and the disruption construction would cause to existing parking in the lot north of the Englewood Light Rail Station,” Flaherty said. “Also, RTD has moved away from providing parking at the light rail stations. All the parking garages on the west line are privately owned.” He said the once-planned Bates Station is a different issue. He said the agreement was that RTD would pay a third of the cost of the station while the city would pay a third and the developer would pay a third. However, costs have increased dramatically since the proposal was introduced and the current estimate for the project is $22 million. Additionally, the current owner of the former General Iron Works site isn’t interested having a light rail station on the property and doesn’t want to pay a third of the cost of a light rail station in that location. The estimated cost of the projects that won’t be built is about $12.9 million. The city would like all or at least part of that money to be made available to the city. “Since the additional parking and Bates Station are not planned, staff has explored the possibility of RTD providing funding for transit-related projects we want to see built in Englewood,” Flaherty said. “We had a meeting with an RTD official who suggested we prepare the request for funding and a prioritized list of the transit-related projects we would build with the RTD funds.” He said probably the top project on the list would be the rail-trail work suggested in the Englewood Light Rail Corridor Area Master Plan. The project to enhance bike and pedestrian traffic would stretch from Big Dry Creek to the former General Iron Works site and would include bike-pedestrian bridges spanning Dartmouth, Hampden and Oxford avenues. Estimates are the rail-trail projects would cost about $8 million. Other projects on the list include construction of a protected bike loop and a canopy and windbreak shelter at the Englewood Light Rail Station and expanding the Art Shuttle route and hours of operation. Mayor Pro Tem Jim Woodward said the canopy and windbreak at the Englewood station shouldn’t be on the list but should be done as a maintenance project, and Councilmember Joe Jefferson said he doesn’t think concrete barrierprotected bike lanes all over the city are a good idea. However, when the discussion concluded, the councilmembers gave consensus approval for staff to continue meeting and working with RTD to officially request the transfer of funding for the plans the city wants to build.