R
EDSTONE R •E •V•I •E •W
LOOK FOR REDSTONE REVIEW AT ISSUU.COM / SDCMC
VOLUME 23, NUMBER 3
LYONS, COLORADO
RESIDENT / OCCUPANT PRSRT STD ECRWSS US POSTAGE PAID LYONS, CO PERMIT No 2053 $.50
APRIL 13 / MAY 18, 2022
B •R •I •E •F •S Easter service is back at Planet Bluegrass LYONS – It’s been two long years, but the annual Lyons Community Easter Celebration at Planet Bluegrass is returning. Join us on April 17 at 11a.m. Enjoy live music from Lyons’ amazing local musicians. The Kids’ Easter Egg Hunt will follow the celebration. Lyons Fire Department will be facilitating the hunt. We’ll be accepting donations of filled plastic eggs at the Stone Cup on the Friday and Saturday prior to Easter. No chocolate please – it gets messy when it melts. We’ll be celebrating outdoors, so dress warmly and bring a blanket or chairs to sit on. Easter bonnets, frilly dresses and silk cravats are all encouraged. A love offering will be taken for Higher Ground Ministries. We won’t have a potluck this year, but the folks at Planet Bluegrass are planning to make a day of it with food trucks, a fun beverage bar, and more live music for everyone’s enjoyment. We can’t wait to celebrate with all of you. If you have questions please email info@thestonecup.com.
Easter Egg Hunt LYONS – Get the kiddos out and hunting for eggs in Lavern Johnson Park for the egg hunt Easter Eggstravaganza. Save the date for Saturday, April 16, from 10 a.m. to noon.
Join the Rockies for Youth Baseball and Softball Days LYONS – Join the Colorado Rockies to celebrate Youth Baseball and Softball Days and help support our Lyons athletes at the same time. Local youth teams and their families, friends, and fans of any age are welcome to attend. Youth teams are welcomed to Coors Field with a scoreboard message and will be invited to parade around the field. Come on out to the old ball game for a day of fun. Tickets are for the Colorado Rockies vs. Atlanta Braves game at Coors Field on Sunday June 5 at 1:10 p.m. Tickets are $40, which is a $5 savings off the regular ticket price. Tickets may be purchased online at www.townoflyons.com/recreation or you can call Lyons Town Hall for more information at 303-823-8250. Continue Briefs on Page 4
issuu.com/sdcmc Like us on Facebook
I •N •D •E •X L0CAL
2
MAYOR’S CORNER
3
LYONS
4
OPTIONS
5
OPPORTUNITY
6
INSIGHT
7
CORNERSTONE
8
A&E
9
CONSENSUS
10
INTEREST
11
CROSSROADS
12
TRAVEL
13
WHAT’S COOKIN’
14
Local great blue herons on their huge tree top nests.
PHOTO BY SUSAN SILBERBERG PEIRCE
New Italian restaurant soon to open in Lyons, board hears about the Prebles Mouse, and changes to the PBF annexation agreement By Susan de Castro McCann Redstone Review Editor LYONS – At a special meeting of the Lyons Town Board, the board approved a resolution for an amendment to the development plan agreement between Lyons Valley Townhomes LP and the Town of Lyons to dedicate two lots, 39 and 40 which are not buildable, to the town in lieu of some park impact fees. The resolution was made partly for clarification due to the fact that there was a mix up when Lyons Valley Townhomes thought for a while that lot 17 was also not buildable and decided to dedicate that lot as well. Then somewhere along the way it was decided that lot 17 was buildable and furthermore LVT needed that lot to make up the 40-home requirement by the State. Paul Capps, the president of Summit Housing Group, said it was too late to decrease the number of units. “This is just to correct an unintentional error,” said Trustee Mark Browning. The current town board is getting short on time to complete some of its business still on the table before the new town board is sworn in on April 18 in person at Lyons Town Hall. This is the first time in over two years that the board will meet in person. The current town board never met in person and all the town board meetings were held on Zoom with the public invited to attend on Zoom. The new town board will meet in person at the town hall with either Zoom meetings or video meetings going on at the same time so the public can attend the meetings remotely. In other news at the regular meeting, the town board approved ordinance 1118 to amend an annexation agreement with Planet Bluegrass Farm (PBF). The amended annexation agreement would allow changes to land use and the grazing area. It would allow the addition of a permanent vehicular bridge, changes to camping area to allow up to 600 people per day, storage facilities, the addition of mid-tier events adding up to 5 events an-
nually, utility changes and a few other things. Director of Community Development, Philip Strom, said that there were some issues of concern stated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The issues focused on the protection of habitat for the Prebles Jumping Mouse habitat and breeding. The Prebles Mouse lives and breeds along the St. Vrain River banks and is a very endangered species. The mouse was found in areas around the river area at PBF. Director Strom said that approval of the new amendment to ordinance 1118 would not remove PBF from complying with any regulations or restrictions in place by the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the mouse. Trustee and Mayor elect Hollie Rogin asked town attorney Brandon Dittman if it was appropriate to pass this ordinance at this time since the Fish and Wildlife Service had not yet approved of given permits to PBF concerning the Prebles Jumping Mouse. Trustee Greg Lowell concurred with Trustee Rogin saying that the Fish and Wildlife report advised PBF to reduce all activity around the creek. Lowell said that would include the bridges, the parking and other areas and he wondered how PBF would be able to comply. Attorney Dittman said that this was two separate entities working with parallel sets of rules and that the town has no jurisdiction over Fish and Wildlife Service regulations. He said the town only has control over land use issues. PBF is required to obtain permits from Fish and Wildlife which has the authority to prevent any activity in the affected areas if they find PBF to be in violation and the fines for any violations are very hefty. “They (PBF) can’t do it,” said Attorney Dittman referring to PBF if they did not comply with the Fish and Wildlife regulations. Attorney Dittman also pointed out that the Fish and Wildlife concerns only apply to a portion of the land at PBF and that it would be possible for PBF to come up with modifications to their land use plan. Attorney Dittman went on to say that if
PBF did have to modify their current land use plans to comply with Fish and Wildlife regulations, then they would come back to the board to have those plans approved as part of the annexation agreement. The attorney suggested that the board could make an amendment to say that PBF had to come back to the board with any changes, but it was not necessary. He told the board that the it has no jurisdiction over the issues that Fish and Wildlife are working on with PBF. Zack Tucker, who spoke for PBF said that PBF was working with a consulting biologist and they were following all the guide lines set in place by Fish and Wildlife Service. In other matters, Trustee Greg Lowell told the board that on a current stroll through town he saw people committing numerous violations, such as someone playing frisbee with his dog on the soccer field, someone fishing in the ponds near McConnell Bridge and several other things. He said what is the point of having laws if we can’t enforce them. Town Administrator Victoria Simonsen told the board that an offer has been made to someone who was interested in that job. She created a job description and she said this person was interested in the job. Trustee Lowell ask what the job title would be and Administrator Simonsen said he would be the Code Compliance Officer and would hand out citations to those people who were in violations of the town codes. She added that hopefully he could start in mid June. Mayor Nick Angelo said that at the Sustainable Futures Commission meeting there was a discussion of finding an alternative to using MEAN (Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska) the power provider for Lyons. The board has had numerous issues with MEAN as an energy provider. The board issued three proclamations, the first proclaiming April 29 as Arbor Day celebrating 150 years of planting trees. The second proclamation dedicated the 4th Avenue Trail as Continue Town on Page 13