April 14, 2016 VOLUME 15 | ISSUE 13
LoneTreeVoice.net D O U G L A S C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
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Retreat at RidgeGate plan moves forward Council OKs preliminary development proposal By Rick Gustafson Special to Colorado Community Media
Deb Nabb, of Castle Rock, casts an adoring eye toward her foster dog, Canello. Nabb continues to pull porcupine quills from the boxer mix’s face and shoulder. Photos by Chris Michlewicz
Sherlocks bring animals home Missing Mutt Detectives come together to locate pets By Chris Michlewicz Special to Colorado Community Media While Deb Nabb explains her ways of rehabilitating neglected dogs, Canello sneakily applies a few affectionate licks to her cheek. The boxer mix’s face says so much when he looks at his foster mom, namely that he’s grateful to have found someone he can finally trust. Canello achieved a measure of notoriety when he went missing from a different foster parent’s home on Christmas Eve, only to show up on a doorstep miles away two weeks later with a face and shoulder full of porcupine quills. Canello quickly became known in media reports as “the porcupine dog.” Since his brush with both the agitated porcupine and fleeting fame, things have been a bit calmer. Missing continues on Page 5
In a unanimous vote, the Lone Tree City Council conditionally approved a preliminary plan that will allow Century Communities to move forward with development of the Retreat at RidgeGate, also referred to as tract GG. The vote at the April 5 council meeting paves the way for Century to begin preparing the area south of Cabela’s for a 50-house development this fall, with sales projected to begin in the spring of 2017. Century began the application process last October with a plan for 70 homes on the site, but a 3-3 split from the planning commission sent the proposal to the city council without a recommendation. After the council raised concerns during meetings in December and again in January regarding the number of homes, the height of retaining walls and the “intensity of the development relative to overall massing,” Century withdrew its application before the council took any action. At the April 5 meeting, Lisa Albers of Century Communities presented the council with a significantly revised plan, this time with the unanimous blessing of the planning commission. “We have worked very hard since our January withdrawal to work with staff, Retreat continues on Page 5
LOCAL SPORTS Find out how area teams fared in our weekly roundup. PAGE 25
Three core members of the Missing Mutt Detectives, a community group that helps find lost dogs, take Canello for a walk at O’Brien Park.
How will Colorado meet workforce demand? A special report by Colorado Community Media Staff report With the fourth-lowest unemployment rate in the nation, 3 percent, Colorado has made mountainous gains when it comes to economic development following the recession that struck in December 2007 and lingered for years. Businesses are flocking to the Centennial State, and Coloradans are finding work. But employers increasingly are finding it difficult to find the right workers to fill their jobs. Metro North Chamber of Commerce
President Angela Habben said, at least in her organization’s part of the Denver area, the workforce isn’t meeting the market demand. “Either employers can’t find workers willing to do the job or they can’t find prospects with the training required to meet position qualifications,” she said. Simon Fox, deputy director of Business and Funding Initiatives for the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, said the demand is great for wokers in the fields of information technology and skilled trades. “There aren’t enough welders or carpenters,” he said. Democratic and Repbulican state
lawmakers are working together to address this. The 10 bills comprising a bipartisan package called Colorado Ready to Work are making their way through the Legislature. The overriding theme is creating partnerships between the business and education communities, with the goal of developing a workforce that can meet Colorado’s growing and changing demands. For many business leaders, measures like these can’t be passed soon enough, given the massive growth the Denver metro area figures to see in coming years. “That’s a real supply-and-demand dilemma if we don’t act soon,” Habben said.
INSIDE
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
On pages 6 and 7, we take a look at the Colorado Ready to Work package, and at what is being done now to train the workforce in the face of growing and changing demand.