Wheatridge transcript 0724

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July 24, 2014 VOLU M E 31 | I SS UE 4 | 5 0 ¢

WheatRidgeTranscript.com 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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Council approves funds for 38th

ON A ROLL

Move is contingent on election results By Hugh Johnson

Roughly 35 bikers met by Wheat Ridge Cyclery on July 17 for a cruiser crawl with stops at three local bars along the way. Organized by Mara Owen, communication and events coordinator for Wheat Ridge 2020, these cruiser crawls look to build community in Wheat Ridge. Photo by Hannah Burlingame

Street width of 38th put to residents POSTAL ADDRESS

WHEAT RIDGE TRANSCRIPT (ISSN 1089-9197)

OFFICE: 722 Washington Ave, Unit 210 Golden, CO 80401 PHONE: 303-566-4100 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Jefferson County, Colorado, the Wheat Ridge Transcript is published weekly on Thursday by Mile High Newspapers, 722 Washington Ave, Unit 210, Golden, CO 80401. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT GOLDEN, COLORADO.

Council approves ballot question By Hugh Johnson The street width designation has been a divisive issue within the Wheat Ridge community for some time, including Monday evening when residents packed council chambers to hear about the issue. According to District Three Councilman George Pond, some 25 people spoke on the issue either asking council to move forward with the design or allow the people to vote on the street width designation. Pat Mucilli has lived in

Controversy could move to ballot box

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vvela@colorado communitymedia.com

PLE ASE RECYCLE T HIS C OPY

2008, we just thought it was really sad to go down 38th and see all the potential,” she said. “(We) ask our neighbors, ‘Why is there not a great coffee shop?’ Well the coffee shops come in and then they go out of business ... I think it’s just because it was just not desirable to be there the way that the street was.” Councilwoman Kristi Davis of District Two made the motion to put the matter to a citywide vote of the people, citing that the decision regarding 38th avenue will affect everyone. “I thank everyone for the discussions,” Davis said. “I think in summary we heard you, we’re doing as requested and I think we move forward.”

No special session on fracking issue

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G ET SOCIAL WITH US

Wheat Ridge since 1972 and owns a business on 38th Avenue. He expressed his concern with the city’s ability to keep up with the maintenance of a growing community as he said his property has been damaged. He said his business has a parking lot which the city owns, and he claims some of the signs have been vandalized by drunks coming from Right Coast Pizza. Wheat Ridge resident Suzanne Kay said she and her husband are happy to see the renovations on 38th. She contrasted that feeling with how the street looked when she first moved to Wheat Ridge in 2008, which she said wasn’t suitable for growing businesses. “When we moved here in

Wheat Ridge City Council approved a $750,000 budget appropriation July 14 so the city can solicit proposals for professional services from qualified consultants on the 38th Avenue Corridor. After putting the street width designation to on the November ballot, council passed the budget appropriation in order to stay on top of a tight schedule. The city charter mandates that construction must begin within one year after a hearing on street width designations (which would have been the 14th). Given that deadline, city staff recommended that they begin on design and survey work as soon as possible. Even so, the decision didn’t sit well with District Two Councilman Zachary Urban, who felt the move sent a message to the people that council doesn’t care about how the street width designation vote results. “I would just be cautious against allocating, setting aside, doing anything, especially to the tune of $750,000, on a project that has not yet been approved by the voters,” Urban said. “In order to recognize the sanctity of the vote that we’re going to have we need to postpone this until this has passed. To put this out ahead of that is basically telling the voters, ‘We’re going ahead ,with this and you vote how you want to vote but we’re already allocating $750,000.’” City staff made it clear that should the ballot question fail, the money would not be spent. The other members didn’t feel the move was one of deceit but preparation. George Pond of District Three felt that it would be more irresponsible to have no plan should the street width designation ballot question pass. “We have a responsibility to pass this right now because the clock is ticking,” he said. The appropriation passed on a seven to one vote with council member Urban dissenting.

By Vic Vela

The battle over hydraulic fracturing revved up last week as a diverse group of state, energy and business leaders joined Gov. John Hickenlooper in speaking out against potential ballot measures that would limit the oil- and gasdrilling practice statewide. The move came on July 17, a day after Hickenlooper ended his long-shot effort at convening a legislative special session to deal

with the highly contentious political issue. Hickenlooper had hoped to accomplish a legislative compromise over fracking issues in order to avoid an expensive, high-stakes battle at the ballot box this November. With no fracking legislation in place to stop ballot measures from moving forward, Hickenlooper took aim at initiatives that he feels will have “potentially disastrous consequences” if they prevail in November. “With November’s election fast approaching, we all agree we must all turn our full attention to defeating these ballot measures,” Hickenlooper said at the Denver Metro

Chamber of Commerce. The governor was joined by business leaders and a bipartisan group of politicians to denounce fracking initiatives that could result in the loss of “thousands and thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in investment and hundreds of millions of dollars in state and local tax revenues.” The debate over fracking — the process in which high-pressure fluid is blasted deep into the ground to free up oil and gas — has reached a pivotal point, now that it appears that voters will be weighing in on the issue in November. Supporters of fracking say it is a job creator and a vital part of Colorado’s economy. Opponents have

serious environmental and health concerns. The proposals would allow communities to have more control over where drilling takes place. And one effort would amend the state Constitution to require that wells be placed at least 2,000 feet from structures, up from the current setback of 500 feet. Oil and gas industry leaders say the proposed setback requirement is tantamount to a drilling ban in Colorado. Hickenlooper said the proposed “arbitrary” setback limit “provides no room to adjust based on local conditions and realities in

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