USS Colorado memorial opens

County celebrates new Veterans Memorial in Riverdale Park

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e near life-size replica of the USS Colorado at Riverdale Regional Park opened May 29 with a ribboncutting ceremony and an F-16 yover by the 120th wing from Buckley Space Force base.

County Commission Chair Steve O’Dorisio said the new memorial will honor the men and women that served to protect our nation, according to the news release. It’s a reminder of the extraordinary sacri ces those who serve made in the past and continue to make.

“It ignites a ame of valor and patriotism in the hearts of future generations. And it will be a beacon of hope, reminding us of our responsibility to uphold the principles and freedoms upon which this great nation was built,” O’Dorisio said. “And by incorporating public art elements into the project, we can enrich the experience and pride of our constituents who use these amenities.” e USS Colorado was built with marble monuments for each military branch. e entrance to the memorial features plaques of presidential quotes sandblasted into its structure and a story wall built from Adams County residents’ contributions and recollections about a soldier’s life. A concrete map in the entryway lists directions to all veteran’s memorials within Adams County.

Adams County Commissioners, Congresswoman Yadira Caraveo, U.S. Navy Veteran Ken Jones – who served on the USS Colorado during World War II – joined active-duty personnel, family and friends of veterans and community members for the ceremony.

“ e veterans memorial stands as a testament to the unwavering commitment of our community, a labor of love that has brought us together,” said County Commissioner Charles “Chaz” Tedesco. “From the initial stages of fundraising to the meticulous planning and construction, our journey has been one of collaboration and dedication. e completion of this memorial is a testament to the resilience and unwavering support of our community.” e USS Colorado sits on the pond at Riverdale Regional Park at 9755 Henderson Road, Brighton.

“When McWhinney owns the land, the rights to develop it, and the right to charge Coloradans whatever the company would like to nance the project via bonds, can you call it anything but self-dealing?” Sorensen asked Colorado lawmakers in February.

Like other homeowners in Colorado, Sorensen wants greater transparency and responsiveness from his metropolitan district’s governing board. For example, Sorensen said he and his neighbors don’t know if McWhinney is charging them a fair price for their development services.

He added that they also have no say in whether McWhinney raises the district’s mill levy in the future. is could e ectively price Sorensen, and other homeowners, out of the neighborhood if they are unable to keep up with property tax increases, he said. “ ese practices should be far more heavily regulated than they are,” Sorensen added.

Metro districts and homebuilding ese districts were created in the 1980s to help solve a very practical problem. Colorado’s economy was under signi cant pressure as employment nosedived in government, retail, and hospitality due to enormous speculation in the state’s housing market. As a result, local government tax receipts declined and caused them to be nancially unable to support new infrastructure and community development projects even as the state’s population increased.

Metropolitan districts have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years as Colorado’s challenges with housing a ordability continue to fester.

Metro districts o ered tax-hobbled jurisdictions an alternative nancing model for infrastructure projects.

Instead of only using tax subsidies, metro districts can raise debt from private investors by selling bonds and use those proceeds to fund construction. ese districts then collect property taxes from homeowners to pay for their maintenance expenses.

In 2000, there were about 200 metro districts in Colorado. Today, there are more than 2,300 metro districts in Colorado, according to the Special District Association of the Division of Local Government. Groups like the Colorado Association of Home Builders say metro districts can improve housing a ordability by reducing the per unit infrastructure costs by between $30,000 and $40,000. But homeowners like Sorensen think there need to be more safeguards in place to limit the amount of debt that metro districts can issue.

For example, the more than $760 million in bonds that the Baseline Metropolitan District can issue is about 72% greater than the city and county of Broom eld’s total outstanding debt, according to Broom eld’s latest comprehensive nancial statement. Collectively, the 2,300 metro districts in Colorado hold more than $1 trillion in debt, which dwarfs the state of Colorado’s more than $37 billion of total debt.

“Unchecked, some of these nancial structures could easily lead down a road of mass foreclosures or whole communities defaulting,” Sorensen said.

Metro districts also don’t seem to be helping to make Colorado homes more a ordable. Colorado’s median home price has skyrocketed by more than 93% over the last decade from about $288,000 to more than $558,000 as of March 2023.

Rents for a two-bedroom apartment in major cities like Denver and Boulder have also increased signi cantly. In Denver, rents have increased by 120% from about $830 in 2013 to about $1,967 today, according to data from RentCafe. Boulder’s average rent has increased by 137% over the same time period, from about $1,060 to more than $2,300, according to RentCafe.

Recent reform e orts

Despite some glaring issues with metro districts, legislative reform e orts have been hard to come by in part because of the strong lobbying e orts from developers.

Colorado lawmakers introduced multiple bills during the 2023 legislative session aimed at metro districts. One bill, House Bill 23-1090, sought to prohibit the directors of metro districts from purchasing the bonds that they issue through another entity. It was introduced by Democrat Rep. Mike Weisman of Aurora and Sen. Robert Rodriguez of Denver.

Weisman told the House Finance Committee that the bill is designed to create “higher restraint” on the part of metro district directors before they issue debt on behalf of the homeowners they represent.

“I want to be clear that there is a role for government debt. e state has it for school and re districts,” Weisman told the committee. “But in just about every other case, those who purchase the debt do so at an arm’s length from those who issue it.”

However, HB23-1090 attracted signi cant pushback from groups like the Associated Builders and Contractors Rocky Mountain Chapter, the International Council of Shopping Centers, and the Colorado Chamber of Commerce to name a few. e Senate Local Government & Housing Committee voted to postpone the bill inde nitely by a 4-3 margin at the end of March.

Instead, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 23-110, a bipartisan bill that explicitly allows metro district directors to purchase this kind of debt. SB23110 also requires additional transparency from metro districts regarding the debt issued and requires the entity to get the opinion of a registered municipal advisor regarding the market fairness of the debt incurred.

SB23-110 also gained the support of many lobbyists who did not support HB23-1090 such as the Adams County Regional Economic Partnership, the Colorado Infrastructure Council, and the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.

Supporters of the bill like Maryann McGeady, an attorney with McGeady Becher P.C., a law rm that represents special districts, told lawmakers that SB23-110 ensures there is a standard set of best practices for all metro districts to follow. is includes clarifying information that needs to be included in a metro district’s service plan and which entities will be responsible for maintaining the district after it is complete.

But Colorado residents like Alex Plotkin, who lives in Boulder, told lawmakers that SB23-110 would simply add to the nancial problems that homeowners in metro districts face.

“Statewide, this is becoming a multibillion dollar issue with no signs of abating,” Plotkin told lawmakers in March. “So as the citizens of Colorado are struggling nancially, representatives at all levels are further exacerbating the issue by enabling additional nancial burden on countless citizens who have no say in the matter.” is Yellow Scene Magazine story via e Associated Press’ Storyshare, of which Colorado Community Media is a member.

Governor Jared Polis signed SB23110 into law on April 3.

Thu 6/08

Teen Weight Lifting

@ 1am

Jun 8th - Jun 28th

Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-2893760

Ultimate Warriors JR

@ 1pm

Jun 8th - Jun 9th

Offsite, 6060 E Parkway Drive, Commerce City. 303-289-3760

Sean Patrick McDermott: Sean and Nicolai Live with the Howling Coyote Tour @ 6pm

Something Brewery, 117 N Main St unit A, Brighton

Ice Cream Social & Community

Input: Carroll Butts Park @ 5pm Carroll Butts Park, 4201 West 94th Avenue, Westminster. k�owers@ hylandhills.org, 303-650-7500

Six Pack Summer Series

Westminster- 1 mile & 5k @ 6:30pm / $27-$27

9750 W 97th Ave, Westbrook Park, West‐minster

Remy Le Boeuf: Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra | Parsons Theater @ 7:30pm

Parsons Theatre, 1 E Mem Pkwy, Northglenn

Sat 6/10

Outdoor Theater Series: Pride Of The Farm @ 7pm / $25

Metzger Farm Open Space, 12080 Lowell Boulevard, Broom�eld. lkrumpho@CityofWestminster.us, 303-658-2208

Fri 6/09

Tim Ostdiek @ 8pm

Oskar Blues Homemade Liquids and Solids, 1555 Hover St, Longmont

Bebe Rexha @ 7pm

Adams County FairgroundsBrighton, 9755 Henderson Road, Brighton

King's X @ 7pm

Armory Performing Arts Center, 300 Strong St, Brighton

Sun 6/11

Tue 6/13

Birding for All - June @ 10am / Free Barr Lake State Park, 13401 Picadilly Rd, Brighton. 303-659-4348 ext. 53

Bubbly Education Class w/ Sommelier Montana Rae @ 11am

Salt & Acres, 9490 County Road 25, Fort Lupton

Bloody Bananas @ 6pm Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St, Denver

Mon 6/12

Extreme Ice Cream @ 2pm Irving Street Library, 7392 Irving Street, Westminster. wpl-intouch@ cityofwestminster.us, 303-6582306

Bally's Casino Trip @ 2:15pm Fort Lupton Recreation & Parks De‐partment, 203 S Harrison, Fort Lupton. 303-857-4200

Thu 6/15

The Big Week @ 9am / $275

Jun 12th - Jun 16th

Bird Conservancy's Environmental Learning Center, 14500 Lark Bunting Lane, Brighton. 303-6594348 ext. 53

Teens: Elitch Gardens : June 12 @ 3pm Fort Lupton Community / Recreation Cen‐ter, 203 S. Harrison Avenue, Fort Lupton. 303-857-4200

I can put the drama in “dramatic play” @ 2pm

Anythink Brighton, 327 East Bridge Street, Brighton. rbowman @anythinklibraries.org, 303-4053230

Monthly Birthday Celebration (6/15) @ 7pm Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Parkway Dr., Commerce City. 303-2893760

LOCAL

Design of downtown center park is out of sequence e stminster City Council has approved a major contract of $310,660 with DTJ Design, Inc. to design and produce construction documents for the main park area in the New Downtown development. at part is the “good e “bad news” is they got the cart in front of the horse. is amount is on top of $280,566 already spent with this rm on preliminary work. e council is yet to come to grips with lowering the density and/or reducing the number of apartment buildings in the New

Downtown plan. Until they make any decisions on eliminating any future buildings or rearranging the layout, it seems premature to spend a lot of money on designing this park.minster owns all of the remaining vacant land in the New Downtown Plan. Plus, less apartments means less water resources needed. It should be a “no-brainer.”