JUNE 19, 2014 VOLU M E 6 9 | I S S UE 32 | 5 0 ¢
WestminsterWindow.com
A D A M S C O U N T Y A N D J E F F E R S O N C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
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Contest makes a splash Annual belly flop event brings the pain By Ashley Reimers
areimers@colorado communitymedia.com Forty-four college students sacrificed their bellies during the annual Belly Flop Splashdown on June 12 at Water World in Federal Heights. The risk of belly injury all came in the name of scholarship money offered by Water World and other partners. The top three men and three women earned prizes for their style of flopping. The first place winners took home $1,000 scholarships, a laptop and concert tickets. Coming in first on the men’s side was Ryan Nguyen from Colorado State University, who admits he had some previous belly flopping experience during football in high school. He said he decided to take on the challenge with a friend, but never thought he’d actually win. “I thought another Ryan had it in the bag,” he said. “So I was really surprised I won. I’m definitely going to use part of the money for some fun at the bars, and also towards my rent.” As for the women, Otero Junior College student Kendra Tanner took home the top prize, which wasn’t as easy as it looked. She relied on the crowd’s support to get her over the edge. She said it was very nerve-racking and scary to take the plunge, but is happy she did, because the $1,000 is going straight towards tuition. “I felt an adrenaline rush, but really had to work up to actually do it,” she said. “I told myself, `you just have to do it for the money’ so I finally jumped.” The students were judged by four people on height, splash and sound. Denver Broncos cheerleader Sam also took into account attitude and creativity. This was her first time judging and Sam hopes to come back next year. “This event was so much fun,” she said. “All the student who came out to participate actually made me want to do it too, but I never would. They are definitely brave.” Hyland Hills communications director Joann Cortez said the Belly Flop Splashdown featured students from more than 20 colleges across the state, each bringing their own unique twist to their flop. “There were outrageous jumps and a lot of creativity,” she said.
By Ashley Reimers
areimers@colorado communitymedia.com
Kendra Tanner gets pumped up before making the plunge during the Belly Flop Splashdown on June 12 at Water World in Federal Heights. Tanner was the top female competitor taking home a $1,000 scholarship, a laptop and concert tickets. Photo by Ashley Reimers
Pipeline project to provide redundancy By Ashley Reimers areimers@colorado communitymedia.com Last month Westminster city council approved a contract to begin the process of constructing the Standley Lake Bypass Project. The approval came during the May 19 meeting and the contract went to low bidder T. Lowell Construction in the amount of $4,363,440 for construction on the project with a contingency of $436,344. Council also approved a design contract with Hatch Mott MacDonald LLC, which also includes engiPOSTAL ADDRESS
City asking for public input on 20152016 budget
neering services, in the amount of $607,155 plus a contingency of $60,716. According to Mike Happe, utilities planning and engineering manager, the city’s water supply system diverts raw water from various sources including Clear Creek, through conveyance systems to Standley Lake, which is then distributed through pipelines to the city’s water treatment facilities. The Standley Lake Bypass project will construct a bypass pipeline to create additional redundancy in order to maintain reliable services. “It’s been a goal for the city to add another bypass pipeline for a long time,” Happe said. “It allows is to have an alternate route to get water from the
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treatment plants in case of failure or maintenance or any other problems. We really like to have that kind of redundancy in the city.” Happe said the main work on the project includes installing a four-foot diameter water pipeline approximately 3,000 feet long with water communications systems improvements at six locations in the city. He said city staff looked at other alternatives in providing redundancy, but determined the construction of the bypass pipeline as the best option for the least amount of dollars. “This pipeline gives us reliability to be able to get water from our water sources in our canals directly to our treatments plants,” he said, “We are really excited to have this project proceed.” During the May 19 meeting, councilman Bob Briggs mirrored Happe’s excitement. “This is something we’ve talked about working on for a long time,” Briggs said. “People need to know how important this is. It’s happening and we need to celebrate it.” Construction on the project is set to begin this summer and will continue into next spring. Happe said eventually there will be a website created dedicated to the project so residents can keep track of the progress.
Work has begun on the Westminster 2015-2106 city budget. And a big part of the preparations is gaining input from the community. During the June 9 council meeting, the city hosted the first of two public meetings in an effort to hear the needs and wants of Westminster residents. Instead of waiting until budget work is complete, city manager Brent McFall said the city will involve the public throughout the budget process. “Through the public meetings, people will have the opportunity to give comments while we are developing the budget, rather than waiting until all of the work is done,” he said “It’s very difficult to go back and makes changes after the budget is complete.” Residents will have two more opportunities to address the council regarding the budget during a second public meeting on July 28 and during the public hearing on Sept. 8. Outside of meetings, the public can speak with staff and council members during outreach events this summer, such as mayor/council desserts and the Westy Fest in August. Written comments can also be submitted through email at westycmo@ cityofwestminster.us or through traditional mail sent to the city manager’s office at 4800 W. 92nd Ave. in Westminster. “We encourage people to participate in the budget process by contacting city council or my office,” McFall said. “We want to have as much input as possible in developing a budget that is responsive to the city council’s direction.” This will be the seventh time city council will be adopting a two-year budget. Throughout the budget process, McFall said the finance department will provide city council with monthly financial reports and budget staff will provide budget presentations and an overview at a budget review in September. There are three areas of service that may change for 2015 and 2016: enhanced mobility and connectively in the master plan, an additional animal management officer and an open space maintenance crew. McFalls said staff is evaluating the development of a master plan in 2015 for the city to enhance mobility for citizens, businesses and visitors and improve the connectivity in the city. The plan would implements pilot projects concurrent with the preparation of the master plan to test concepts, illustrate solutions and provide tangible results for residents seeking enhanced mobility and connectivity throughout the city, he added. Staff is also evaluating hiring a fulltime animal management officer after an increase in animal management calls and animal investigation calls. In 2010 the Animal Management Unit was reduced by one officer due to budget reductions. “At the time of the staff reduction, public events were also discontinued and animal management service hours were reduced,” McFall said. “As the calls steadily increase, we are looking into hiring an additional full time employee to improve services to the community.” The third service area under evaluation Budget continues on Page 2