Transcript Golden
November 22, 2012
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourgoldennews.com
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 146, Issue 51
Hawthorn development proceeding
Neighbors question drainage and circulation
By Glenn Wallace
gwallace@ourcoloradonews. com
A new housing development planned for just north of Golden had its final plat approved by Jefferson County’s Board of County Commissioners last week. The 199-single-family unit plat for the Hawthorn Subdivision (formerly Golden Peaks), 58th Avenue and State Highway 93, was approved 3-0. The commissioners’
approval vote was made over the protest of some of the residents of the neighboring North Table Mountain Village home owners association, who had asked for a delay to the decision while they negotiated with the Hawthorn developers about potential construction, storm water and traffic impacts. Robert Hatch, a lawyer representing North Table Mountain Village HOA, said items of significant concerns remained to be sorted
out. There has not been an easement agreement — a county condition of approval — with North Table Mountain Village to extend the current cul-de-sac on West 60th Lane. Without that secondary access point for the Hawthorn houses, the developers would have to come back to the county with an alternative circulation plan. The HOA also has concerns about drainage impacts along Van Biber Creek, he said. Hatch said some of his client HOA residents were not opposed to the land being developed, but
they did worry about how the construction would be handled. Some residents were already unhappy with blowing wind and dust impacts that they were already experiencing, just from preliminary mounds of grading dirt that have been put on the land recently. “I’ve got photos of mounds of dust that accumulate inside a home in just one day,” Hatch said, requesting a delay to the plat vote for a few weeks to allow the two parties to continue discussions. A county staff representative said county health was already in-
Davies honored for service Fallen officer remembered for humor, dedication By Clarke Reader
creader@ourcoloradonews.com Police work is a serious business, but the friends of officer James Davies remembered his dry British wit and sense of humor at his funeral on Nov. 15. Friends from the Lakewood Police Department remembered a man who was as focused on stopping crime in the city as he was in convincing a friend that eating 50 chicken McNuggets at one time was a good idea, or having a contest to see could round up the most fugitives — or “dirties” as Davies called them — in one day. Davies, of course, won the contest. “He was a practical jokester to the 10th-degree. He did impersonations and had nicknames for everybody.” said agent Justin Mains in his eulogy, who served on the Lakewood Special Enforcement Team (SET) with Davies. “He was a smart man, an intelligent man, and for him it was not about the quantity of work, but the quality.” Representatives of police departments from all over the state turned up in their blue, green and gray uniforms on Nov. 15 to pay their respects to a fallen brother, who lost his life in the line of duty. The Denver First
Church of the Nazarene was full of more than 2,000 people gathered to mourn and honor the memory of Davies, who was shot and killed on Nov. 9 after a fellow officer mistakenly thought he was an armed threat. Davies was born in Darlington, England, on May 10, 1977, and moved to America after meeting his wife, Tami, while she was studying abroad. According to his friend Reese Ervin’s eulogy, Davies would joke with fellow officers that Tami had to come to England to find a husband because none of the “American blokes” were right for her. Several of the officers who worked with him remembered the man who sarcastically called the fourth of July “all traitor’s day,” and was fiercely proud of his Welsh heritage. Many of Davies’ family from England, as well as British police officers, were in attendance at the service. Lakewood Mayor Bob Murphy also spoke, telling the crowd how grateful the city was for the work Davies, and all officers do, and how much his special contributions will be missed. Davies started at the Lakewood Police Department in April 2006, and eventually joined SET, so he could focus on finding and prosecuting sex offenders. POSTAL ADDRESS
vestigating the impact of blowing dust, and that the developers may have more construction mitigation requirements as a result. Commission Chair Don Rosier said it looked to him that the development plan “will actually improve the entire Van Biber drainage,” and should proceed. His two fellow commissioners agreed. Hawthorn developers will have to meet the county’s list of conditions, including the West 60th Lane easement, before they can proceed towards actual construction.
Tighe in front Commissioner’s race results flip as provisional ballots are counted By Glenn Wallace
gwallace@ourcoloradonews.com
Mourners made a procession from Denver First Church of the Nazarene to Jefferson County Fairgrounds in honor of Lakewood police officer James Davies on Thursday, Nov. 15. Davies was killed by a fellow patrolman’s gunfire Nov. 9. Photo by Emily Mehring Before he died, he had received approval to start a new sex offender unit, which the department will start in 2013. Police chief Kevin Paletta told the crowd
that as much as everyone heard about who Davies was, it was only a snapshot of the man. “You’re not seeing the whole panorama of who he was,” he said. “He lost his life doing what he loved with people he admired.” After his speech, Paletta presented Tami and their children, Chloe, 6, and Ethan, 2, with two medals: the Police Service Award, for his work on creating the sex offender unit, and the Police Cross, for families of officers
who died in the line. He also added that in May Davies will receive the department’s hall of fame award. After the service, a procession drove through the city, with children from several schools standing along the road to pay tribute to the man. “Citizens of Lakewood, you lost a great man that night,” Mains said. “He showed up every day and worked as hard as he could — that’s what the great ones do.”
The race for Jefferson County’s District 2 County Commissioner seat is very close. Election night ended with appointed incumbent Republican John Odom holding on to a 133-vote lead over Democrat Casey Tighe. Military, overseas and unsigned ballots were all processed last week. Those ballots equaled around 3,500 votes, and when counted up they did not just narrow the results, they switched them. As of the end of ballot counting last week, it was Tighe Tighe with a 215-vote lead — less Dave Neligh than one-hundredth of a percent Photography advantage. There is one more batch of ballots left to count — which was done on Tuesday of this week — an estimated 7,500 provisional ballots. “If for any case the validity of a voter at the ballot box can’t be verified, they can be given a provisional ballot,” said Jeffco Deputy of Election Josh Liss. “I’ve heard as high as 90-percent of the provisional ballots could be accepted, provided that they are an eligible voter who didn’t already vote somewhere else,” said Jefferson County Democratic Party Chair Chris Kennedy. Odom Liss said with such a narrow margin between the candidates, and so many votes still to be counted, the race remained too close to call. Kennedy admitted to surprise that the Democratic candidate Tighe had actually pulled ahead in the count. “We’re just such a big county. It just shows that anything can happen when you still have more than 10,000 votes left to count,” Kennedy said. The Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder’s office will certify the final vote count this week. County sources and Kennedy said they expect the vote to still be close enough to trigger an automatic recount — vote totals being within onehalf of one percent of each other. Liss said either candidate could also request a recount, but at their own expense. A county recount could be completed by the end of November, though the state deadline to complete it is Dec. 13.
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