Transcript Wheat Ridge
June 20, 2013
50 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourwheatridgenews.com
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 29, Issue 52
EDC aims to create 7,500 new jobs Mayor
vetoes lower fine
New economic development initiative ‘Forward Jeffco’ launched By Glenn Wallace
gwallace@ ourcoloradonews.com Jefferson County Economic Development Corporation launched a new initiative last week — “Forward Jeffco” — with the goal of creating 7,500 new jobs in the county. To accomplish that level of economic development, the EDC is attempting to raise $3.9 million in additional revenue from government and business sponsors. In 2012, Jeffco EDC had an operating budget of about $900,000 and claimed 860 jobs created or retained. The official kick-off, which comes after months of behind-thescenes sponsorship discussions, occurred June 11 at the MillerCoors Golden Brewery. Jeffco EDC board chair Fred Baker started the kick-off presentation, saying that the corporation’s last five-year-plan lacked a lot needed funding. “What we were able to do this time is take a more intelligent approach,” Baker said. Forward Jeffco has five listed strategic components: • More aggressive targeting of companies in desired industries; • Create new jobs by helping existing businesses grow; • Stimulate new business, including small and home-based businesses, by pulling together entrepreneur resources; • Identify and satisfy workforce development needs; • Aggressively advocate for business at all levels of government. According to Jeffco EDC CEO Kevin McCasky, part of the additional funds will quickly go to hiring another staff member to travel nationally, and internationally, to market the county to businesses in “identified cluster markets” that he hopes to bring in. Those
Change would have reduced ticket costs for illegally parking in handicapped spaces By Vic Vela Jeffco EDC Board Chair Fred Baker helped start the Jeffco Forward Initiative presentation, held at the MillerCoors Brewery on June 11. The presentation represented the public kick-off to the initiative, which seeks to expand Jeffco EDC’s activities in trying to bring more businesses to the county. Photo by Glenn Wallace cluster markets include aerospace/aviation, energy, bioscience, enabling technologies, and consumer products and creative services. More than $2 million of the Forward Jeffco monetary goal has been reached with contributions from about 25 sources, according to McCasky. Contributors include the City of Lakewood, Exempla Lutheran Jobs continues on Page 22
Clear Creek water level running high Runoff rates dangerous for recreation By Glenn Wallace
gwallace@ourcoloradonews. com Dangerous runoff conditions, along with a vehicle water recovery effort that occupied much of the city’s rescue personnel, led the City of Golden to close Clear Creek to recreational use on June 12. Water levels, and the rate of recreational swimmers and tubers in the creek were on the rise earlier that week. According to Golden city records, there were three incidents of people in the creek getting into distress — requiring aid getting out of the water, and/or recovering from the cold water’s effects – from Sunday to Tuesday. No serious injuries were reported. “We helped fish this little 19-year-old tuber out of the creek,” Keifer Logsdon of Greenwood Village said, alongside his friend Bailey Pate on June 10. The two were sunning themselves near a flooded section of the Clear Creek trail, when they said they helped the young man pull himself up the creek bank. “He was yelling ‘Help.’ I thought he was joking, but he wasn’t,” Logsdon said of the tuber. Logsdon described the creek
Bailey Pate, left, and Keifer Logsdon, both from Greenwood Village, enjoy dipping their feet in the waters of the Clear Creek next to the Parfet Park fish sculptures that normally stay above water level. That portion of the Clear Creek trail, among others, began seeing some flooding last week as high temperatures led to higher run-off volume. Portions of the trail remained closed throughout the week due to flooding concerns. Photo by Glenn Wallace
water level as “crazy.” Beginning last week, record high temperatures contributed to higher run-off water volumes along the creek, leading to portions of the city’s creek-side trails to become flooded beginning on June 12. Flood-prone sections were closed to the public.
POSTAL ADDRESS
According to the U.S. Geologic Survey’s Golden monitoring station, the seasonal peak of flow in Clear Creek seems to have occurred in the early morning hours of June 12, at around 1,300 cubic feet per second. The 38-year average creek volume is 680 cubic feet. Last year, the flow for this time of year was only 380 cubic feet due to drought and a warm spring. “It is time consuming. Every time we get a report of an empty tube floating downstream, we have to investigate,” Golden Fire’s Battalion Chief Jerry Stricker said, indicating that the city had received several such calls in recent days. Due to the conditions, and stretched resources, the city
banned all non-professional water recreation in Clear Creek for a day. The ban was lifted Thursday, June 13, but city Public Information Officer Karlyn Tilley said she continues to recommend great caution. “We still urge people to not get in the creek because of the high water levels. And we strongly encourage wearing life vests and helmets if they do,” Tilley said. Stricker said he expects water flows to slowly decrease, perhaps becoming safer for tubers and swimmer later in the summer. For the present however, he says it is not recommended, and describes the current creek water as “powerful and relentless … and cold.”
vvela@ourcoloradonews.com Wheat Ridge Mayor Jerry DiTullio recently vetoed an ordinance that would have significantly lowered the fines levied against persons who illegally park in handicapped-designated spaces. DiTullio’s sharply-worded veto letter came the day after the two-term mayor shared a testy exchange over the issue with a city council member, which occurred at the end of a June 10 council meeting. The veto came on the heels of the council passing an amendment to an ordinance that would have lowered the fines tied to handicapped parking offenses to a flat penalty of $150. That’s considerably less than the current fine schedule, which starts at $350, and can go as high as $1,000. The council’s vote brought the body fullcircle to a consensus that it had reached during a recent study session. But that was before members instead approved a measure to set the fine at a flat rate of $300 for each offense, during a preliminary vote at a previous council meeting. But, during the June 10 meeting, a majority of the council voted to amend the ordinance to set the fine at $150. During the meeting, Wheat Ridge Police Chief Daniel Brennan acknowledged that even a $150 fine is at the “upper end” of penalties imposed by surrounding jurisdictions. And, city court administrator Kersten Armstrong cautioned that if fines are set too high, more people would contest their tickets in person, which would take up more court resources. Councilwoman Tracy Langworthy expressed concern that the handicapped parking penalty is not proportional to those other vehicle-involved violations, such as speeding in a school zone, which carries with it a $240 fine. “I have a hard time saying … charge more to the person who parks illegally, than the person who can hurt someone,” Langworthy said. Council members Joseph DeMott and Mike Stites voted against setting the fines at $150. Stites said that the fine needs to be higher, and that he thinks it’s “pretty schmucky” for an able-bodied person to park in a handicap spot. In his formal veto letter, DiTullio said that the amended ordinance “is not in the best interest of our community.” DiTullio also wrote in the letter that he would be supportive of a compromise that would lower the fine to $240, “which would mirror the speeding in a school zone fine.” The council adopted a tiered fines schedule last year, which puts in place penalties that range from $350 to a maximum penalty of $1,000 for illegal handicapped parking. The council looked into changing the fines schedule this year because the tiered system has proven difficult to implement.
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