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September 25, 2014
Lanterns Metro District plan approved
Pipeline
Projections aim for 1,200 new homes by 2021
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By Mike DiFerdinando
mdiferdinando @coloradocommunitymedia.com After a few changes, Castle Rock’s Lanterns Metro District appears ready to take the next step. The Lanterns, located south of Crystal Valley Parkway and east of the frontage road, was zoned in 1987 for approximately 1,700 dwelling units, including both single and multi-family units, as well as 190,000 square feet of commercial uses on 528 acres. The property was assembled with additional parcels and annexed to the Town of Castle Rock in the early 2000s. The town approved an initial financial and development plan in 2002. The area is yet to be developed, but developers are now ready to make the community a reality and took a redesigned finance plan to town council on Sept. 16, which was approved by a 5-0 vote. Councilmembers Brett Ford and Chip Wilson were not present at the meeting. The new plan provides for three separate districts, Lanterns Metropolitan Districts Nos. 1-3, with the construction of 1,200 residential units projected to commence in late 2015 and full build-out by 2021. District 1 encompasses approximately 78 acres and will be expanded to coincide with development phasing. Districts 2 and 3 are initially only 400 square feet in area. District 2 may be utilized to encompass development phases similar to District 1, but if not, District 2 will be dissolved. District 3 will contract for and manage infrastructure development and then dissolve. All residents/taxpayers will pay the same
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poured myself a drink. If something bad happens you drink in an attempt to forget; if something good happens you drink in order to celebrate; and if nothing happens you drink to make something happen.” If you have a writer in the family, or a friend who is a writer, encourage them. It is constructive, and it is a way out. And it is a way on a day like this, when there is bad news coming out of Florida, to improve the day and to renew yourself, to upgrade your seat assignment. Humor helps too. I have a sense of humor,
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We all hear about the fracking fluid being “just sand and water; only 5 percent of the fluid are chemicals such as sodium (harmless salt).” What they don’t tell you is that hydrochloric acid, benzene, ethyl-benzene, xylene, strontium and many others present in that fluid are toxic and carcinogenic, and strontium is radioactive. When you mix millions of gallons of water, which Colorado cannot afford to spare, 5 percent is thousands of gallons of toxic fluids. There are two choices as to what
amount in property tax. Each service plan includes the identical service area and capital and financial plans. Castle Rock would be at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to development without a metro district because of the financial benefits they present, said Bob Slentz, town attorney. Slentz said metro districts allow for development advantages such as tax-exempt bonds to finance infrastructure, deferring development costs from lot costs to property tax and mill levy caps that mitigate taxpayer risk. A mill levy is the assessed property tax rate used by local governments and other jurisdictions to raise revenue in order to cover annual expenses. The mill levy is calculated by determining how much revenue each taxing jurisdiction will need for the upcoming year, then dividing that projection by the total value of the property within the area, and adding up the rate from each jurisdiction to get the mill levy for the entire area. The financial plan approved in 2002 was deemed out of date and needed to be amended after the project sat dormant for years. The delay in building may have been a blessing in disguise, however, as builders missed the brunt of the recent recession. The new financial plan projects issuance of 30-year term general obligation bonds in three series: $19.4 million in 2018, 18.67 million in 2021 and $3.7 million in 2034. In addition, $5.2 million in subordinate bonds will be issued in 2018, the refunding of which is the purpose of the 2034 general obligation series. The approximate total indebtedness of $45 million constitutes a debt load of approximately $37,500 per residential unit. A builder for the project is expected to be named soon and construction is projected to begin in 2015.
although you wouldn’t know it by reading the first 400 words. Humorists need mentors, plump ones. Mine were. Some who were not include Lucille Ball. Not funny. I’ll take Dorothy Parker. Some who are not include Jay Leno, Craig Ferguson, and Conan O’Brien. The writers of “Two and a Half Men” should not be millionaires. The show reminded me of a bowl of used toothpicks. Give me Ogden Nash. “I don’t mind eels, except as meals, and the way they feels.” Bukowski had a face that looked like a large potato that had been left on the forest floor. When I met him, I was very self-conscious about my own appearance. It’s quite amazing what bumps on your chin can do to your self-esteem, especially if there are more
to do with the fracking fluid, once it has been used — drill it back into the ground to possibly permeate into our aquifers over the long term or store it on the surface in impoundment ponds, to allow the chemicals to evaporate into the atmosphere. These unpleasant facts go with noise, overburdened roads (890-1,350 truck trips 24/7 to complete each well). As for permanent good-paying jobs, ask the folks in Grand Junction and the Western Slope where all their jobs have gone recently. Fracking is the greatest threat to our air and quality of life. Setbacks are now at 500 feet. Stay tuned. Gary Weaver Franktown
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Taxi Continued from Page 1
The Public Works Department’s 2014 operating budget contained $25,000 for the taxi voucher program. During the first seven months of 2014, approximately 80 percent of the program’s budget has been expended, and without the increase in funding, the program would have had to be discontinued by the end of September. Alternatives, such as limiting service on certain days and times and changing rates, were explored by town staff, but it was determined that the transportation department would likely be able to account for the additional $10,000 in unused funds from other on your nose. And forehead. I looked down back then, not up, and never into someone’s eyes. Now I will look directly at you. And in my mind, I am saying, “Let’s talk.” Let’s make sense together, or let’s make nonsense together. Both require language skills. I appreciate someone with language skills even if I don’t agree with them. I also know that language skills can brainwash. Praise the Lord, and send me your Visa
programs in the budget. Watts said Castle Rock’s increasingly large senior population has played a role in the demand for the service. He estimates that the program provides transportation for between 30 and 40 people per month. The service operates every day, except for certain holidays, from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Over the past three and a half years, the program has provided a total of 8,763 rides. “Some people use it every day, some people only use it once a month,” Watts said. Though the program is now safe for the rest of 2014, council indicated that it would revisit the program when examining the 2015 budget. For more information on the program, go to www.crgov.com and click on the town services tab, or call 720-295-TRIP (8747). card number. I am safely out of Florida now. I have had to look up words and to correctly quote Charles Bukowski, which took me back to a beige 1965 Volkswagen. Driving out in the middle of the night to pick up the LA Free Press, to find his column. Craig Marshall Smith is an artist, educator and Highlands Ranch resident. He can be reached at craigmarshallsmith@comcast.net.
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Supply Authority. Nine of those water providers — Centennial, Cottonwood, Dominion, Inverness, Meridian, Parker, Pinery, Stonegate Village and Castle Rock — are located in Douglas County. The 10th, Rangeview Metropolitan District, is located in Aurora. The WISE project began in 2008 as a way for members to identify processes, cost, distribution, timing, storage and legal issues relating to distributing treated reusable water return flows from Denver and Aurora for use by SMWSA water users. The group tasked with utilizing this water is the South Metro WISE Authority. The primary purpose of the authority is to reduce members’ dependence on nonrenewable Denver Basin wells and provide a reliable, long-term water supply for residents. The WISE members are funding the new infrastructure that will move the wa-
The News-Press 9 ter from Aurora’s Binney Water Purification Facility to its end locations, beginning in 2016. Water purchased by Douglas County entities, as well as by some of the other providers, will be stored at the Rueter-Hess Reservoir south of Parker. “The most important thing to know about this is that even though Denver will own 15 percent of the pipeline, they can only use the pipeline consistent with the terms of the water delivery agreement,” Marlowe said. “What this does in effect is protect the WISE members and ensures when WISE water is available for delivery, we can get that water.” Castle Rock also included a provision in the agreement saying that Denver cannot fully use the pipeline in the summer months. This ensures that Castle Rock would be able to use the pipeline to move its own water from Box Elder and other wells — an important part of the town’s long-term water plan. “Hopefully we’ll get water delivered to the town that’s WISE water by 2017,” Marlowe said.
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