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VOLUME 24, NUMBER 11
LYONS, COLORADO
RESIDENT / OCCUPANT PRSRT STD ECRWSS US POSTAGE PAID LYONS, CO PERMIT No 2053 $.50
DECEMBER 13, 2023 / JANUARY 17, 2024
B •R •I •E •F •S Catholic Christmas Eve Mass LYONS – Catholic Christmas Eve Mass will be held at the Stone Congregational Church, 408 High St. in Lyons (instead of the Lyons Methodist Church, 350 Main St.) at 4 p.m., on Sunday Dec. 24, 2023. For information on the Catholic Community, contact Patti Puzo at pattipuzo@msn.com. Patti Puzo is the spokesperson for the Lyons Catholic Community; the Catholic Community holds services at either the Lyons Community (Methodist) Church at 350 Main St. and on occasion the Stone Congregational Church. In 2021 the Catholic community in Lyons celebrated its 40th year in Lyons, Colorado, providing Mass celebration to the Lyons and surrounding mountain areas since 1981. The church has a rotating schedule of priests who schedule services. The Catholic Community is part of the St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Longmont. The regular, weekly Mass is held 5:30 p.m. on Saturday evenings at the Lyons Community Methodist Church, 350 Main St.
Community dance class at the DCPA DENVER – No matter the number of left feet you think you have, you’re invited to a DCPA Community Dance Class. Led by professional dancers Gavin Juckette and Lyndsay Corbett, people of all ages and abilities are invited to learn dance numbers from A Chorus Line and Singin’ in the Rain. Bring a hat and umbrella to complete your look as you sashay your way across the stage. Class will be held on Sat, Dec 16 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at the Newman Center for Theatre Education located at 1101 13th St., Denver, CO 80204. The cost is $2 per person Not keen to get your Gene Kelly on? No problem. We’ve got winter classes for all ages and theatrical disciplines still on sale. From dialect coaching to scene study, intro courses to professional development, you’ll have the opportunity to improve your craft with support from our experienced faculty. But don’t delay. Many of our most popular courses have already reached capacity. For go to the DCPA Newman Center for Theatre Education website. Continue Briefs on Page 5
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I •N •D •E •X LYONS
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MAYOR’S CORNER
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OPPORTUNITY
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Audrey, 8 years old, from Lyons, dressed in her glittery holiday best to see Santa at the annual Lyons Holiday Artisan Market on Saturday, December 2 at Lyons Elementary. PHOTO BY CATHY RIVERS
Town Board decides to place sales tax increase on November ballot and discusses enforcing air quality regs for CEMEX By Susan de Castro Redstone Review Editor LYONS – At a recent Lyons Town Board workshop in December, the board discussed the possibility of placing a sales tax increase on the November, 2024 ballot. The Town Board is looking for ways to pay for some storm water drains and other infrastructure projects. The current sales tax rate in Lyons is 3.5 percent, which is in the lower range compared to 12 other municipalities in Boulder and Larimer Counties. Finance Director Cassey Eyestone prepared some charts for the board to see a comparison between other municipalities, and a chart showing examples of how much annual revenue would be generated by an increase in various sales tax revenues. The comparison chart showed that three municipalities have lower sales tax rates: Loveland has 3 percent; Mead has 3 percent; and Superior has 3.46 percent. One town, Erie, has the same sales tax rate, 3.5 percent, as Lyons. Some of the higher sales tax rates included Estes Park, which had the highest rate of 5 percent; Berthoud with 4 percent; Nederland with 4.25 percent; Boulder with 3.86 percent; Fort Collins with 3.8 percent; Lafayette with 3.87 percent; and Louisville with 3.65 percent. Mayor Hollie Rogin asked Town Attorney
Brandon Dittman if there was any data on what the threshold would be for voters to approve an increase in sales taxes. Attorney Dittman said that he didn’t have any numbers off the top of his head but could certainly do more work on that. He added that in his experience sales tax issues usually are more successful if they are tied to a project. Director Eyestone suggested that she could also pursue getting a loan for the storm water projects or the board could raise the storm water fees. Town Administrator Simonsen pointed out that about 60 percent of the sales tax revenue is paid by visitors in the summer. “That is one thing to keep in mind here as we look at sales tax questions,” she said. She added, “We now have the funds to design the storm water project, and it looks like it would be 2nd Avenue first.” Administrator Simonsen said that Director Eyestone has found a very low interest loan that they had used before. The caveat is that the construction would begin as soon as the loan was in place. She added that the town has 2nd Avenue, 3rd Avenue and 5th Avenue, all of which are associated with watersheds above them and all with water slides coming down the roads during large storms. “We keep hoping for Federal grants, but that hasn’t happened yet. If we could get the sales tax passed, that would potentially offset
the cost of construction,” she said. “If the tax does not pass, we have the storm water impact fee that we could increase.” She added that Governor Polis sent a letter asking all municipalities to reduce their tax rate (mill levy) in all areas of the state because the cost of housing is so high in many areas of Colorado and everyone is very mindful of how their tax dollars are spent. During the regular town board meeting the board decided to place wording on the ballot to ask voters to approve a 0.5 percent increase on Lyons sales tax to be used largely for infrastructure. In the last election (2015) where the Lyons sales tax was raised to 3.5 percent, the ordinance passed by 62 percent. The board held a discussion on what direction to give to Mayor Hollie Rogin, who will give her report to the Boulder County Commissioners as to whether to give the board’s approval to renew the operating permit for CEMEX. The board seemed divided on the issue of whether they were in favor of renewing CEMEX’s operating permit. Mayor Rogin, and others, will give their comments at the Boulder County Commissioners’ meeting on Jan. 5, 2024. All the board members made it clear that they wanted CEMEX to comply with the current air quality regulations and wanted those regulations to be enforced and even to raise the fines. But on the issue of denying the Continue Town on Page 14