Lakewood sentinel 0327

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March 27, 2014 Jefferson County, Colorado | Volume 90, Issue 32 A publication of

lakewoodsentinel.com

School board to end lawsuit Staff Report

Mayor Bob Murphy and Ward 5 councilman Tom Quinn and others break ground on the Mountair Park Community Farm on March 18. Photos by Clarke Reader

The seeds of a great thing Sprout City and Lakewood break ground on Mountair Park farm By Clarke Reader

creader@ coloradocommunitymedia.com Spring is here, and that means it’s time to get planting for summer and fall, and the Mountair Park Community Farm will soon be ready for the season after its groundbreaking on March 18. Sprout City Farms was on hand along with Mayor Bob Murphy, Ward 5 councilman Tom Quinn, city staff and residents to dig into the soil of the one acre park. “We talk a lot about community gardens and the healthy food and educational opportunities they provide,” Murphy said. “We’re really, really excited about this, and we knot it’s just the start.” The garden is part of the 20-minute neighborhood initiative, which is funded by the Denver Regional Council of Governments and focuses on enhancing the neighborhood around the Sheridan transportation hub and aims to make the community safer. Sprout City, a nonprofit that is committed to creating community farms that provide both food and education, has set up one similar garden at the Denver Green School and will run this second farm at Mountair. “We’re really looking forward to getting the community out here, and we will be having regular volunteer days so people can get involved,” said Allison Hatch, director of development and outreach with Sprout City. “We want the community to help us and give ideas on how they want the farm run.” The food grown at Mountair will be distributed through a Community Supported Agriculture program. Sprout City will also operate a farm stand with produce from the farm beginning in August. In addition to the food, residents will have a chance to participate in workshops, schools programs and cooking demonstrations at the new garden.

On Thursday, March 20, the Jeffco School Board seemed to finally put to rest the issue of the 2090 Wright Street property. During a special meeting, the board voted to end the lawsuit concerning the ownership of the property, with newlyelected Jeffco School Board members Ken Witt, Julie Williams and John Newkirk voting against continuing the suit. “Every person who believes in responsive government should rejoice,” 2090 Coalition Co-Chair Heather Wenger said in a statement. “The newly-elected members of the Jeffco School Board have shown that they put students and the public ahead of special interests.” The lawsuit started in 2012 and in January of this year, Judge Enquist ruled the property was Lakewood Open Space. The cost of the lawsuit so far is around $250,000 for Jeffco Schools. “The three new Jeffco School Board members have repaired the trust that the previous school board had broken with Jeffco residents,” Wenger said in her statement. “Now it is time for the City of Lakewood to apologize to neighbors for spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to try to get rid of this parkland.”

Lutheran expands Senior ER

Features new services, training By Clarke Reader

creader@ coloradocommunitymedia.com

Allison Hatch, Meg Caley, and Jordan Gorrell, all of Sprout City Farms, at the groundbreaking for the Mountair Park Community Farm. Hatch, Meg Caley, director of farming operations and education with Sprout City, and Jordan Gorrell, Sprout City’s gardener for Mountair were all on-site to field questions about the next step for the farm. According to information provided by Allison Scheck, marketing and community relations manager with the city, activities and events at the farm will be guided by a Community Advisory Group. This group will be formed of local residents, individuals from partner agencies such as Molholm Elementary School, 11th Avenue Head Start, Metro West Housing Solutions, as well as others. Initial construction costs to the City of Lakewood are projected to fall between $11,200 and $14,000. Funding has been allocated out of the Department of Com-

munity Resources Conservation Trust funds. Ongoing costs to the city associated with this partnership include water and electrical utilities, one port-o-let and trash pickup. Those costs are projected to fall between $2,122 and $2,436 per year. Hatch said when seeds will actually be planted will depend on weather and soil, but will hopefully begin mid to late April. “We at the city really support these kinds of efforts, and our other community gardens around the city have been very popular,” Quinn said. “It’s great that so many of these projects are driven by the citizens, and that they would like to get to the root of sustainability.” For more information on the park and to donate to its Kickstarter campaign, visit www.sproutcityfarms.org.

Senior populations all over Jefferson County are increasing exponentially, and Arvada, Lakewood and Wheat Ridge are just a few cities where the elderly population is expected to continue this trend. In an effort to provide an emergency department that cateers specifically to this group of patients, Lutheran Medical Center started a Senior Emergency Room in Oct. 2011. According to Jan Dionne, clinical nurse specialist and program manager for the Senior ER, the department featured only eight beds and wasn’t in the best condition. “It used to be a pediatric after hours emergency care space, and we thought what could we do with it,” she said. “We ended up starting the state’s first Senior ER, and soon had more patients than beds.” Last week the Senior ER reopened with more beds and increased space. “The need for this service has been Senior continues on Page 18

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