VOLUME 36 • NUMBER 47 • OCTOBER 11, 2018
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BY FREDA MIKLIN GOVERNMENTAL REPORTER
On a sunny Oct. 6 afternoon, Greenwood Village put on another great free event for its families at William McKinley Carson Park, adjacent to city hall. Over 800 people got their free tickets in advance through the city’s new online reservation system, split 500 to 300 in favor of kids over adults. There was a yummy free lunch for all of full-sized kosher hot dogs, chips, lemonade and cupcakes, along with plenty of Halloween candy for the children at the carnival games. Along with the games, there were rides, jump houses, art projects, and face painting for the kids. The atmosphere was kept lively by a deejay playing music in the background. Adults were probably more likely than their children to recognize, The Monster Mash, but the kids danced to it anyway. City staff always holds a best-costume contest to encourage kids to dress up in their Halloween finest. Winners are chosen for every age, but prizes are the same for all contestants. It’s all about participation and inclusion. Like so many of GV’s best family fun events, this one dates back to the early 1900s, when recreation manager Cathy Delap came to the city. Early Fall Fests were held at Cherry Creek Reservoir with chili and hayrides for about 200 people. Fall Fest moved to its current location in the beautiful William McKinley Carson Park adjacent to city hall in the early 2000s. It is a happy and fun event for families and kids of all ages, where neighbors can meet and connect. fmiklin.villager@gmail.com
Six-monthold Beckett Martinez enjoyed Fall Fest from his stroller with his mom Danielle. Dad Anthony Martinez is part of the landscape construction team in GV’s Department of Parks, Trails and Recreation.
Twenty-month-old duckie Alise Law lives in Littleton. Her mother Renee Law grew up in western Greenwood Village and wouldn’t miss Fall Fest. Photos by Freda Miklin
Pumpkin rider 5-year-old Zoe Arrowsmith lives in the Huntington Acres neighborhood of Greenwood Village. She is a kindergartner at Belleview Elementary School.
Residents meet to discuss cut-through traffic and speeding in Greenwood Hills BY FREDA MIKLIN STAFF WRITER
On Sept. 24, 40 residents of the Greenwood Hills (GH) neighborhood came to GV city hall in response to an invitation from their city council representatives, Anne Ingebretsen and Dave Kerber, “to provide input on traffic volumes and speeds on Monaco Street, and the issue of cut-through traffic
that impacts GH on the west side of the neighborhood.” On hand to provide information and answer questions were GVPD Special Operations Commander Brandon Gipson and Lieutenant Scott Jones, along with Public Works Director Jeremy Hanak and Transportation Planner Josie Ortiz. Initially, residents appeared to be most concerned about cut-through traffic, defined as
vehicles that drive through a neighborhood in which they have no destination, usually to avoid busy streets. Resident Paul Orland asked if there are any city ordinances that are available to allow “local traffic only?” Another resident said that when she lived in the Walnut Hills neighborhood in Centennial, they instituted that policy, and police officers stopped and ticketed drivers
who didn’t have an address in the neighborhood. Gipson pointed out that, “public streets are public streets,” adding it would be difficult to define “local traffic.” He posed the question, “If a resident of a neighborhood across the street from GH drove through GH, would that vehicle be considered local traffic?” Suggestions about how to reduce the number of vehicles
using GH streets ranged from, “Can we make Monaco private?” to, “Why don’t we shut down Monaco on one side (Belleview or Orchard)?” and even a proposal to make Holly a four-lane street to accommodate more traffic, so drivers wouldn’t use Monaco to avoid it. Ingebretsen suggested that someone might want to research private Continued on page 3