PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID STERLING, CO 80751 PERMIT NO. 33
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Sterling, Colorado 80751
Wednesday July 31, 2019
Residents to get letter about bond question By Sara Waite Editor Sterling residents soon will be receiving a letter explaining the reasons behind the city’s need for a bond to fund improvements to the wastewater treatment facility. City Manager Don Saling got the ok from the Sterling City Council during their meeting Tuesday, July 23m to send out a letter that lays out the potential consequences if a proposed ballot question fails this November. Saling noted that once the council officially votes to put the question on the ballot, the city can’t spend any funds on campaigning for it. However, he said, the Logan County Chamber of Commerce has indicated it will provide support for the issue. The letter points out that if the measure fails, residents could face an increase on their sewer rates from the $50 in place now to about $85 per month. That would generate about $10 million over the next three years so that the city could fund one-third of the project, if construction rates remain the same. Saling told the council last month that due to a drop in interest rates and the fact that the city will get credit for the project’s energy efficiency, if the bond measure passes he may be able to recommend a slight decrease in the sewer rates. The letter will go to Sterling residents
See LETTER, 4
Volume XXXII Issue 14
‘Close Encounters’ in Crook
Callie Jones / South Platte Sentinel
It was "Destination Crook" for Lutz Family's alien spaceship float as it made its way through downtown Crook during the Crook Fair parade on Saturday. This year’s theme was “Close Encounters of the Crook Kind.” Find more fair photos on Page 6.
Parade staging tweaked for construction By Jeff Rice Staff Writer The Logan County Fair Parade route is being tweaked yet again because of ongoing road construction in Sterling. Parade Chair Theresa Baessler said she had spoken last week with Major Russ Swingle, commander of operations for Sterling Police Department, to discuss the logistics of using the Broadway Plaza shopping center for staging.
Baessler said there is some concern over construction on Broadway at the entrance of the shopping center. “We have opted to have the floats check-in behind the U-Haul/A&A Rentals business and begin lining up at the west entrance of the shopping center next to the NJC parking lot,” she said. “We’ll utilize the long road behind the shopping center businesses.” The parade route will now begin at
the shopping center’s west entrance off Sidney Avenue, then travel south to Broadway then head west to N. Third Avenue. The parade will turn north on Third and go west on Walsh Parkway to Seventh Avenue. The route then returns to Broadway and ends at Sterling High School. The parade will disperse in the school parking lot or in the streets to the south.
See PARADE, 8
Community endowment fund tops $1 million By Sara Waite Editor The Sterling Community Fund has surpassed a major milestone in its endeavor to serve as a lasting source of revenue for improvements in Logan County. In a press release last week, the Sterling Community Fund Committee announced that the fund has exceeded $1 million in assets and pledges. “These are dollars raised in Logan County
that will remain in Logan County,” the release states. The community fund was established within the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado in December of 2017. Reaching the $1 million mark came about as the result of “Under the Western Sky” Gala on June 1 at the Logan County Fairgrounds. “Thanks to tremendous community support — including nearly 600 guests, 100 volun-
teers, 57 in-kind donors (restaurants, food vendors, auction donors, and others), and 52 sponsors — the event raised over $325,000. We are gratified that so many people in our community support this grassroots effort to bolster the future of Logan County,” the release states. The community fund committee offered its thanks to the Gala Committee: Karen Burkholder, Marcia Burnham, John
Chapdelaine, Cindy Hoal, Cindy Horner, Peter Sisneros, Julie Sonnenberg, Peggy Stoltenberg, and Karen Torres; as well as Food Committee members Trevor Bedsaul, Calvin Lee, Kim Sellers, and Ryan Virgil; and Auction Committee members Tina McEndaffer and Linda Meisner. They also thanked the auction buyers: the Burnham and Jones families, Brent and Stacey Erickson, Dr. Bill Fredregill,
Alan and Cindy Hoal, Industrial Welding, Jason and Nicole Koester, Marick’s Waste Disposal, Johnson and Associates, CPAs, Matt and Cindy Johnson, McEndaffer Feedyard, Linda Meisner, Rob and Rosie Nichols, Curt and Cindy Pilkington, Ted and Penny Propst, Jim and Becky Santomaso, Shawn and Jenifer Seifried, The Wright Law Firm and Victoria Yarrington.
See FUND, 28