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VOLUME 24, NUMBER 2
LYONS, COLORADO
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MARCH 15/ /APRIL 19, 2023
B •R •I •E •F •S Easter Service at Planet Bluegrass LYONS – Easter services will be held on April 9, at 11 a.m. at Planet Bluegrass, 500 W. Main St. on the Main Stage with music provided by local musicians. The Rev. Sam Tallent, will conduct the service. An Easter Egg Hunt, provided by Lyons Fire Department will follow after the service. A Love offering will be taken for Higher Ground Ministries. Bring your own chairs or blanket for seating. Dress appropriately. Drop off donations of filled plastic Easter eggs (no chocolate of any kind, please) at St. Vrain Market, 455 Main St. or at Moxie at 355 Main St., on Friday April 7 and Saturday April 8. Email Mindy Tallent for more information at mstallent@gmail.com.
Lyons Community Church Easter services LYONS – Lyons Community Church, 350 W. Main St., invites everyone to join them on Palm Sunday April 2 at 10 a.m. A Bluegrass Easter Service where the Blue Canyon Boys band will perform will be held on April 9 at 10 a.m. followed by an Easter Egg Hunt for the children. Pastor Matthias Krier will conduct the services. For more information, email lyonscommunityumc@gmail.com or call the church at 303-823-6245.
Blood Drive returns to the Library on May 2 LYONS – Town Planner, Dave Kimmett, reported to the town board that, “What I can say is that it (Blood Drive) was a resounding success. Vitalant, the blood donation management organization, was very pleased with the outcome, so much so that they will be back again on May 2 from 2 to 6 p.m., again at the Lyons Regional Library at 451 4th Ave. Spaces are already filling up, but there’s still room and walk-ins will be welcomed that day if time and space permit.” For more information, contact the Lyons Regional Library at 303-823-5165. Here are some numbers from Vitalant from the February 24 event: • 10 first-time donors • 26 whole blood donations • 1 double “Power Red” donation • Your first blood drive saved 89 lives Pretty cool. Continue Briefs on Page 6
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Fiddle the baby bongo – Denver Zoo is thrilled to introduce their newest Eastern bongo calf, Fiddle, who was born on January 25 to parents Fern and Howard. This adorable little bongo is extremely curious and loves running. Bongos are one of the largest forest antelopes, found only in a mountain forested region of central Kenya, and are condidered Critically Endangered. You can visit Fiddle and all the other animals at Denver Zoo, every day from 10 a.m.to 5 p.m.
Town board gives initial approval to raise sales tax on marijuana, decides to name alleys and join a BoCo solar co-op By Susan de Castro McCann Redstone Review LYONS – The Lyons Town Board voted to approve Ordinance 1142 on first reading to increase the marijuana sales tax from 3.5 percent to 5 percent. Finance Director Cassey Eyestone told the board that if the local marijuana sales tax is increased it will result in additional revenue of 1.5 percent in the town’s general fund that could result in approximately $45,000 to $55,000 in additional revenue annually. For some background, the board asked staff to provide a comparison of the town’s local retail marijuana sales tax rate, 3.5 percent with neighboring communities in addition to other mountain communities. This comparison was reviewed at the February 21 town board meeting. The study showed that the sales tax in some other communities was: Boulder 3.5 percent; Breckenridge 5 percent; Lafayette 5 percent; Longmont 3 percent; Nederland 5 percent. The staff was then directed to reach out to the three local marijuana dispensaries in town to get their input on an increase in the tax rate. The staff heard back from one dispensary in Lyons which was not in favor of the tax increase. At this writing the staff is still waiting for the other two dispensaries’ responses. The board has the authority to increase this tax rate up to 10 percent by ordinance without the need for additional voter approval. The board will hold a public hearing on the marijuana sales tax ordinance 1142 at its next meeting. The town board turned to other matters to discuss weather Lyons should sign on to support the Boulder County Solar Co-op. The Boulder County Office of Sustainabil-
ity, Climate Action and Resilience contacted Lyons to see if the town would be interested in helping to promote a solar co-op project that aims to get solar installed on 200 Boulder County buildings. The project was motivated by the Marshall Fire, which burned down over 1,000 homes. The county has a contract with Solar United Neighbors (SUN) to launch a countywide solar bulk purchase in April. Broomfield recently worked with SUN to develop a co-op. The contract is between Boulder County and SUN. The county is asking Lyons if Lyons would like to actively participate in the promotion of the project by supplying SUN with its logo and using the town’s media outlets. Aaron Caplan, Utilities and Engineering Director, said in his report to the board, “I sat in on the initial meeting with a number of other municipalities’ sustainability coordinators and asked a number of questions from a utility perspective such as, ‘Does Lyons having its own electric utility, and its own metering rate make a difference?’ From a technical perspective, there do not appear to be any concerns. My one concern was if Lyons actively participates and no Lyons residents are selected or become a part of the co-op, the perception or optics might not look good to Lyons residents. I do not see this as a reason not to help promote the project. The Utility and Engineering Board voted unanimously to recommend to the Board of Trustees that they would support Lyons’s active participation and promotion of the Boulder County Solar Co-op project.” After a discussion on whether or not some of the buildings in Lyons would be chosen, which is not known at this time, the Lyons Trustees unanimously decided to go ahead and promote the County’s solar project. Mayor Hollie Rogin said, “There is really no
downside to the project.” The board then turned to another topic, the naming of alleys. Town Planner David Kimmett gave the presentation saying that, from a safety perspective, it was important to name the alleys. Some residences face the alleys and emergency services such as fire department, emergency vehicles, sheriff’s department and even delivery vehicles have difficulty finding residences if the alleys are not named. Planner Kimmett has spoken with Lyons FPD Assistant Chief Pischke about this issue, and the Lyons Fire District would like to see alleys named. Planner Kimmett also conversed with the Lyons Substation Boulder County Sheriff Sergeant Sears about the issue, and he specifically pointed out how important this would be in helping officers identify a location. Kimmett pointed out that we now have a lot more accessory dwelling units (ADUs) which are difficult for emergency services to find in case of an emergency. Kimmett gave the board a list of suggested names which were mostly botanical names suggesting trees, plants., etc. There are 12 alleys that are not named. He pointed out that somewhere along the way someone decided that the east – west streets should be named streets and the north – south streets should be named avenues, even though it does not say that on the plats. Trustee Greg Oetting said that he met with the Student Advisory Council who suggested some fun names for alleys such as Bowling Alley and Trash Can Alley. Director Caplan pointed out that the board should be aware that when the alleys are named, some residents will have to change their address, so if their address is something like 429 1/2 Reese because it is in an alley, Continue Town on Page 15