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JULY 3, 2014 VOLU M E 1 3 | I SS UE 24
LoneTreeVoice.net
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D O U G L A S C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
A publication of
Beauprez chooses Repella for ticket Commissioner tabbed as Republican lieutenant governor candidate Staff report
Construction crews work June 30 on a pedestrian bridge that will span the west side of the Quebec/C-470 overpass, matching the one already in place on the east side. Photo by Jane Reuter
Pedestrian bridge work underway Quebec Street overpass project to extend into fall Staff report Construction on a new pedestrian crossing on the west side of Quebec Street over C-470 has begun and will continue through Nov. 24. The bridge will mirror one constructed a few years ago on the east side, allowing safe passage for walkers and cyclists on both sides of the busy overpass.
“Now people won’t have to cross over to the east side if they want to cross 470,” project engineer Dennis Lobberding said. The $1.6 million Douglas County Government project is partially funded by a $500,000 grant from the Denver Regional Council of Governments. Lawrence Construction was awarded the contract for the six-month project. Intermittent lane closures will occur throughout construction on Quebec as well as the westbound on-ramp and eastbound off-ramp. The bridge near the borders of Lone
Tree, Highlands Ranch and Centennial will benefit drivers as well as cyclists and pedestrians by easing demand for the “walk” crossing button. Future plans also call for creating a new crossing for the C-470 bicycle trail underneath Quebec, but that project has been delayed while the C-470 Corridor Coalition studies future expansion plans for the highway. The east side Quebec Street/C-470 bridge was constructed in 2008.
Lone Tree fireworks should be good to go Wet weather may break streak of cancellations By Jane Reuter
jreuter@colorado communitymedia.com Lone Tree Mayor Jim Gunning hopes area residents won’t be disappointed this Labor Day. Given the early summer rains, chances are good that Sweetwater Park’s Fourth of July fireworks will move forward on Independence Day. And that means that unlike the last two years — when drought and the threat of wildland fires canceled the show — the city likely won’t host a second community party and fireworks display on Labor Day. “The Labor Day show has been very popular,” Gunning said. “Every time we’ve had it, people have said, `We ought to do this every year.’” Fun as the Labor Day event has been, it won’t be a regularly sched-
uled celebration. “Our primary duty is not as an event organizer,” the mayor said. “It’s to provide infrastructure for the city. I don’t think we’re going to be adding another event.” The biggest threat to this year’s fireworks isn’t arid conditions, but wind and a rainstorm. The city’s biggest annual event has been either diminished or canceled for six years in a row by almost every conceivable element, including grass fires, thunderstorms, mortar box ignitions and drought. Gunning is optimistic this year will be a flawless exception to those that preceded it. “I think it looks very good this year,” he said. “I’m very confident it’s going to work as planned.” Problems aside, the event consistently fills the park to capacity. About 10,000 people are expected for the festivities, which begin with Fireworks continues on Page 9
Abba cover band AbbaFab will perform at Sweetwater Park just before the fireworks on July 4. Courtesy photo
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez has tabbed Douglas County Commissioner Jill Repella as his running mate. Repella was elected to her first term as commissioner in November 2008 and reelected in 2012 to a second four-year term. She is a fifth-generation Colorado native and has been a resident of Highlands Ranch since 1994. “With the selection of Commissioner Jill Repella as Bob’s running mate, Colorado Republicans are celebrating one of the strongest and most unitRepella ed tickets we have seen in years,” said the state’s GOP chairman Ryan Call in a statement released July 1. “Jill is an effective and pragmatic policymaker with deep roots in Colorado, and is a terrific mother of three. She knows firsthand the challenges facing Coloradans from all walks of life, and, as lieutenant governor, Jill will be a tireless advocate for policies that will help grow our economy, create opportunity, and improve the lives of each and every one of us.” Under Repella’s leadership on the three-person board of commissioners, Douglas County has celebrated the second- and third-highest employment gains in the country in 2012 and 2013 respectively, according to data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “I am honored to be chosen as Bob Beauprez’s running mate,” said Repella in a statement released by the county. “I also want the citizens and taxpayers of Douglas County to know that I can and will also continue to proudly serve them in my role as a Douglas County Commissioner. To have the opportunity to take Douglas County’s success story to a state level is an opportunity I embrace.” Beauprez called Repella “a rising star in local government leadership” and said that he and his wife, Claudia, were “honored” to have her join the team. “We’re impressed with her record as a community leader, a dedicated public servant, an economic development leader and mother, along with her in-depth knowledge of the issues that are impacting families across Colorado. She is the type of strong leader that every Coloradan will be proud to have as their lieutenant governor,” he said. Repella, who received her bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University and her master’s in executive leadership from the University of Denver, previously served on the Douglas County School District Board of Education. “Coloradans are ready for a true leader, one who will listen to us and fight for what is right,” she said in a statement released by the Beauprez campaign. “Bob Beauprez is that leader...” Beauprez and Repella planned to join former Republican gubernatorial candidates Tom Tancredo, Mike Kopp and Secretary of State Scott Gessler on a Unity Tour of the Front Range on July 2.