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February 28, 2014 North Jefferson County, Colorado | Volume 13, Issue 7 A publication of
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northjeffcowestsider.com
Highway project advances
One fOr One
By Ashley Reimers
areimers@ coloradocommunitymedia.com
Martin Jaderko, a bartender at Kachina Southwestern Grill in Westminster prepares a margarita during National Margarita Day on Feb. 22. For the national celebration, anyone who bought a margarita on Saturday at Kachina’s would receive a margarita on-the-house during their next visit to the restaurant. Photo by Ashley Reimers
Chili luncheon serves up handmade bowls By Ashley Reimers
areimers@ coloradocommunitymedia.com The city of Westminster’s annual Chili Bowl Luncheon was Friday, Feb. 21, supporting the city pottery program and the Westminster Food Bank. The lunch offered a chili meal with dessert as well as the opportunity to take home a handcrafted bowl created by a pottery student. Art program recreation specialist Melinda Fiscus said about 100 to 150 people attended the luncheon this year helping to cover the costs of the pottery program, which the offers children and adult pottery classes to all levels of expertise. “We have a full-service studio at the City Park Recreation Center and we welcome anyone who wants to learn more about pottery to take a class,” she said. “We have daytime and evening classes and two pottery sales a year, one in the spring and the other in the fall.” During the luncheon, attendees were encouraged to bring a canned food to be donated to the Westminster Food Bank as part of their admission. Fiscus said having a food drive during the luncheon is good timing for the food bank because around this time the shelves tend to be pretty empty after the holidays. “Not only is the luncheon good exposure for our pottery program, but it also really helps out our local food bank,” Fiscus said. “It’s a good reminder to people that the food bank still needs help, even after the holiday season.” Katie Morrowson attended the luncheon for the first time this year. She said the food was delicious, but her favorite part was the pottery. “I love that we can take a bowl home,” she said. “All of the bowls are really nice. I know I’ll be using mine at home.”
The U.S. 36 public-private partnership concessionaire agreement is moving forward after two approvals, one from the High Performance Transportation Enterprise, HPTE Board on Feb. 19 and the other from the Colorado Department of Transportation, CDOT, Transportation Commission on Feb. 20. Before the approval, the 600-page agreement among CDOT, HPTE and Plenary Roads Denver was released to the public after community members were dissatisfied with the ins and outs of the contract. The three entities have been working on the public-private partnership and the contract for almost a year and Plenary was chosen last April as the concessionaire for the project after a twophase competitive bid process. This is the first public-private partnership in Colorado. Amy Ford, director of communications for CDOT, said CDOT entered into the agreement simply to make improvements on U.S. 36 through the U.S. 36 Express Lanes Project. The project is a $312 million, multimodule project between Federal Boulevard and 88th Avenue Street in Louisville/Superior. The project is building an express lane in each direction of U.S. 36. The lanes will accommodate high-occupancy vehicles, bus rapid transit and tolled single-occupancy vehicles. The project is split into two phases, the first to be complete by spring 2015. Phase II of the project will be executed through a public-private partnership. “Through the public-private partnership we are able to accelerate the project by 20 years,” Ford said. “We had initially released the 80-page contract summary to answer the public’s questions. Once we got all the financial moving parts in place, we were able to release the entire contract.” Ford said there were some major misconceptions concerning the U.S. 36 Express Lanes project, like the belief that all lanes of the highway would have a toll, when in reality the plan calls for just one toll lane, which according to Ford, will significantly reduce the overall impact of congestion on the corridor. The toll lane will also be used for the new Bus Rapid Transit system provided by RTD. “We recognize that we needed to do a better job in our communication with the public on the financial solution for the corridor,” Ford said. “That’s why a private public partnership is necessary and we want people to understand what that means and what steps are needed to get the project complete. According to CDOT’s website, as the first public private partnership for the state of Colorado, the arrangement will accelerate construction through the investment of the private sector while transferring the risk of construction and maintenance costs, as well as toll revenues to the concessionaire.
Highway continues on Page 16
Women browse the bowls during the annual city of Westminster Chili Bowl Luncheon on Feb. 21 at City Park Recreation Center. All attendees went home with a handcrafted bowl made by a pottery student, which was included in their admission. Photo by Ashley Reimers
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