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VOLUME 22, NUMBER 11
LYONS, COLORADO
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DECEMBER 15, 2021 / JANUARY 19, 2022
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New auditorium opens at Lyons Middle/Senior High School LYONS – The new auditorium recently opened at Lyons Middle/Senior High School with its first performance, a middle school band concert, on Wednesday, December 8 and Mayor Nick Angelo was in attendance and gave the auditorium rave reviews. “Yes I did attend, the first performance was last Wednesday and it (the auditorium) is drop dead gorgeous and the acoustics are perfect and the stage is huge,” he said. The auditorium has its own entrance and ticket booth, so those who attend can park and enter the auditorium without going through the school. The original budget was $4.2 million but the school was able to use bond premiums, unused contingency funds and interest on bonds to raise the budget to $9.2 million, which nearly doubled the original amount the school had to work with. The auditorium is nearly 16,000 square feet; the new stage is 2,700 square feet and will be a real treat for dancers because the floor is dance quality, known as sprung. The design process began in September, 2019 before Covid and the community was surveyed to give input. Alan Ford Architects designed the space and Golden Triangle Construction did the work on the auditorium. Construction began in October, 2020. There is a sandstone plaza which can be used as an outdoor space for eating or for an outdoor classroom. There is seating for over 400 people and some of the front row seats are movable to create a type of orchestra pit. The funding included enough money so that students were able to purchase some power tools to create sets. The building includes blackout shades for windows. This is another success story for Lyons’ residents and students. The auditorium was badly needed since Lyons has limited space options for students to host performances, plays, musical events or shows. Now Lyons has a largestate-of-the-art auditorium that everyone can enjoy. Continue Briefs on Page 10
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The Coppom family of Lyons visited with Santa at the 2021 Lyons Holiday Artisan Market on December 4. Left to right are Simone, age 9; Zadie, age 6; and at Sants’s knee, Avett, age 2. PHOTO BY CATHY RIVERS
Lyons Town Board discusses a dog killed at the dog park, gives SFC a slap on the wrist and other issues By Susan de Castro McCann Redstone Review Editor LYONS – At a recent town board meeting in December, Sgt. Bill Crist who is with Boulder County Sheriff’s Dept. told the board how pleased he was with the Christmas Parade. He said everything went well, everyone pulled together, the turnout was great and everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time. After a year of cancelling all events, people were ready to celebrate and enjoy the season. During the Board of Trustee reports, Trustee Hollie Rogin reported that 74 percent of Lyons residents said that tourism was good for Lyons, based on a recent survey. Trustee Mark Browning told the board about a more disturbing issue, saying that it was brought to his attention that the Sustainable Futures Commission (SFC) sent a position statement letter to a state agency on Town of Lyons letterhead stationary, on behalf of the Town of Lyons. The SFC is an advisory group to the Lyons Town Board. Trustee Browning said he believes that it is inappropriate for any advisory boards and commissions to take a position on something in the name of the Town of Lyons and that only the town board can do that. Town Attorney Brandon Dittman said, “I can’t tell you how disconcerting that is to hear boards or commissions making policy statements.” He went on to say he would highly support a workshop with the boards and commissions to reinforce what their role is with the town. He said he was not aware of this issue until Trustee Browning stated it in his report. He said boards and commissions
should not be taking positions on behalf of the town and, “they are not authorized to do that, only the town board may do that.” Trustee Browning went on to suggest that the town board have a future agenda item to discuss what the Sustainable Futures Commission did and to give general direction to all boards and commissions about taking policy positions on behalf of the town. He added that the town board also needs to discuss openmeeting laws with board and commissions. He also referred to the issue of boards and commissions sending out group emails outside of the meetings. “You can’t do it,” he said, adding that the town board can’t do it and this is where lawsuits get filed. In other matters, Trustee Greg Lowell told the board that in a tragic event, a small dog was attacked and killed by a large dog at the dog park. The owner of the small dog had just entered the dog park in Lyons; the small dog was on a leash when a large dog, a Malamute mix, charged the small dog and killed it. Trustee Lowell said animal control was notified immediately and the animal control officer said the large dog could be put down but the owner of the small dog declined to use that option. The owner of the small dog is a Lyons resident and the owner of the large dog is from Longmont. Lowell said he was under the impression that the dog park was only for local residents and those in the area with Lyons addresses. “The dog park has become increasingly dangerous for small-breed dogs and this is not the first time this (an incident) has happened there,” said Lowell. “This is a serious problem and one that we need to deal with.”
Trustee Lowell said that he wants to see some sort of signage or warnings to notify people until the board can parcel off an area for small dogs. The town board took the matter seriously and discussed creating a separate area of the dog park that is for small dogs only. The board went on to discuss a request by developer Paul Tamburello and his assistant Rene Doubleday to remove the requirement for submitting the PUD (planned unit development) for his proposed subdivision on Ute Highway on the eastern corridor of Lyons. The time for submittal of the PUD was already extended once due to delays and circumstances around Covid. Tamburello said he did not want to keep coming back to the board with an arbitrary date to submit the PUD. He said that they were working continuously on the PUD and requested that the board remove the requirement for submitting the PUD. He also gave some examples of work that they have been doing such as they submitted a traffic study to Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) as well as several other things that they accomplished. The board agreed with Tamburello and instructed Attorney Brandon Dittman to draw up and ordinance to waive the PUD requirement altogether. No date for a vote on that ordinance has been set. Summit Housing Group closed on its financing November 23, has paid its outstanding fees and utility tap fees for the project and is now preparing the performance bond and finalizing building permit fees before proceeding with non-public improvements. Summit planned Continue Town on Page 12