Wheat Ridge honors butterflies, rec center to get a roof and other news briefs

BY JO DAVIS JDAVIS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Wheat Ridge Mayor Bud Starker said there’s a need to preserve habitat for monarch butter ies amid declines in their populations in recent years. For the second year in a row, Starker pledged to “support and celebrate” monarch conservation, according to a proclamation to the city. is means the city is o cially encouraging residents to grow native nectar plants and milkweed that support the insects.

It was one of several issues raised at the July 10 City Council meeting. A decision was made to move forward with a roof for the Wheat Ridge Recreation Center. e center’s 47,000-squarefoot roof is 22 years old and “overdue for replacement,” according to the city. e council approved a contract with Independent Roo ng Specialists of Commerce City for more than $973,000.

e contract calls for the removal and complete replacement of the old roof. Independent Roo ng Specialists was one of eight companies that bid on the job about a month ago.

e plan comes in about $118,800 under the roof repair budget.

For more information on this project, see Item 4 on WheatRidgeSpeaks.org.

Other happenings during the meeting:

• A $95,000 was approved for two projects: A couple of projects rolled into one are now moving forward. e Ward Transit Oriented Development Multimodal Project, which includes a series of bridges, plazas and trail improvements, and the 52nd Avenue Pedestrian Connection Project will be restarted. See Item 3 on WheatRidgeSpeaks.org for more information.

• Additional $148,800 for the Improve Wadsworth Project: e contract for HDR Engineering on the Improve Wadsworth Project required further work and that will hit the budget, the council was told. e rm has worked on the project since the beginning, through repackagings for changes and additional phases. e council approved an additional $148, 827 for the rm’s work. For more information, see Item 2 in WheatRidgeSpeaks.org.

Christopher Randall was reappointed to a twoyear term. His previous term expired on June 30. e judge also requested, and was awarded, a pay increase, from $98.97 per hour to $102.83 per hour, the rst change in the pay rate since 2017.