Redstone July/August 2020

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L OOK FOR REDSTONE REVIEW AT ISSUU.COM / SDCMC VOLUME 21, NUMBER 6

LYONS, COLORADO

RESIDENT / OCCUPANT PRSRT STD ECRWSS US POSTAGE PAID LYONS, CO PERMIT No 2053 $.50

JULY 15 / AUGUST 19, 2020

B •R •I •E •F •S An update from the Stone Cup: Open for take out LYONS – The Stone Cup Café, 442 High St., is now open and the hours are: Thursday – Sunday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. They are continuing their 4-day/week schedule. Masks are required for all staff and customers. They have lots of signage, marked distancing patterns, and clear policies to help keep everyone safe throughout the summer. Owner Mindy Tallent said, “It’s a challenging way to do business, so we appreciate your kind patience and support. We have less staff. Our food menu is smaller. Our ordering station is set up at the open garage door, with customer flow across the patio. “Dine-in” tables are outside. Seating is limited. We are hosting live outdoor music on some weekends. Watch for posts on our Facebook page.” Gift certificates are available for purchase in person or may be requested by calling 303-8232345 or emailing mindy@thestonecup.com and paid through PayPal: PayPal.Me/thestonecup or by credit card over the phone.

Farmette Dinners will be canceled for 2020 LYONS – After much deliberation and thought, we have decided to cancel all of our farm dinners and workshops this year. We want to be very responsible business owners and this is just not the summer to have gatherings for the public. Farmette dinners are wellloved for many reasons and they’re also all benefits for wonderful causes and deserving nonprofits. I’ve linked everyone below. Stay home, enjoy a glass of wine and consider donating. • Mountain Crust & the Lyons Community Foundation • Jacaranda & SOIL • A Spice of Life & PRIDE Benefit • Idea Wild Benefit • Cured & Growing Gardens • Sugar Pine & People and Pollinators • Butcher & the Blond & SOSVV • GB Culinary & the Colorado Haiti Project • Forage Sisters & the Water Shed Center & MAD Agriculture Continue Briefs on Page 8

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I •N •D •E •X LYONS

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Gerry Morrell photographed this mama brown bear and her four cubs in Tetons National Park on May 18. A litter of three cubs is unusual, but four cubs is very rare. This bear, called 399, is 24 years old and is probably the most photographed bear in the Tetons.

Town Board tackles some issues with conflicts By Susan de Castro McCann Redstone Review LYONS – The Lyons Town Board had numerous complex issues to discuss at the early July town board meeting. The parks and some river areas seem to be overrun with people on the weekends with crowd control becoming difficult and almost no one wearing masks or practicing social distancing. Summit Housing Group has to re-submit their site plan to move some housing units and the board will form a task force to oversee certain actions by the town staff and the town board. Administrator Victoria Simonson suggested to the board that due to the fact that the town was getting overrun with people on the weekends and the park hosts parking attendant were not able to control the crowds, the town should require reservations to use the parks on the weekends. She said that the park hosts were frustrated with the amount of clean up and destruction in the bathrooms and were afraid for their safety. Most people using the parks on weekends are from out of town. The board agreed that anyone who wants to camp, use picnic tables, pavilions, etc. needs a reservation. It seems that the 4th of July weekend passed fairly smoothly with the new rules in place. Two sheriff deputies have been added to help patrol the parks on weekends which helped with managing the flow of people. During staff reports at the board meeting, Administrator Simonsen brought up a new development with Summit Housing Group, the development company which is building the affordable housing near 2nd Ave. She said that Summit’s construction bids for the housing development came in significantly higher than expected due to the rocky hillside where the proposed multifamily units were to be built. Summit is requesting moving the two multifamily unity to Carter Drive or they want to move one of the units to Carter Drive and add five more single family homes. Summit wants to know if these changes to

the site plan can be approved by the town staff or if they need to come before the board with a new site plan and answer questions. Simonsen said the town code allows staff to approve minor changes to the site plan. Attorney Brandon Dittman, said that the town code was very vague on this issue. He pointed out that the town was going to discuss amending this section of the town code later in the meeting that same night and could make changes at that time. Trustee Greg Lowell said the town owes Summit a huge apology because the rocky hillside was never going to be buildable and he referred to the fact that developer Michael Markel, chose not to buy that property from Keith Bell because it was too rocky to build on. Simonson disagreed that Summit was owed an apology saying that Summit did all their own soil samples (testing) and the town had nothing to do with it. Trustee Mark Browning agreed saying that the town does not owe them an apology. The town never owned that property and Summit did all their own surveys, testing, etc. Browning said this change to the site plan was not minor and he agreed with Attorney Dittman, that the code was very vague on this issue. He said that Summit should submit a new site plan before the board. The other trustees agreed and Mayor Angelo said that he wanted to follow the proper process and have Summit resubmit their plan and present it to the board. Later the board approved, on first reading, Ordinance 1085 amending sections of the municipal code concerning site plan development and review process with an amendment by Trustee Mark Browning, so that modifications to site plans will now be required to go to the board for approval after the staff has approved the plans. Towards the end of the board meeting, Trustee Mark Browning brought an issue to the board for discussion of a recent event where Administrator Victoria Simonsen sought direction from the board after Mayor

Nick Angelo was asked by a homeowner to change the curb and gutter work at or near the homeowner’s house. Mayor Angelo showed up at the construction site and instructed the contractor to change the curb and gutter to comply with the homeowner’s wishes. However, the original plans for the work order had already been approved by the town staff. It is written in the town code that the town staff has the authority to approve this type of work. Trustee Browning said, “That this same problem has occurred in the past where former mayors or board members have interfered or even changed already approved plans.” He said he could no longer stand by and felt he had to bring up this issue to the board. Trustee Browning made it clear that Mayor Angelo’s motives or honesty were not in question saying, “I am sure he had the best intentions.” Browning said that this issue was going to be discussed in an executive session at the end of the board meeting. He said that since he has been a board member, about 2.5 years, he has been informed by staff or by a member of another board or commission over that time of several instances where a former mayor or board member got involved with issues that had been settled by staff. He gave an example of a former mayor who interfered and over ruled staff when there was a serious building code violation and directed staff not to pursue further action. He also mentioned that a former mayor got involved in a utilities issue, where a former mayor over ruled town staff on disconnecting utilities at a local business which was in default of payment and this resulted in a long difficult process and in litigation for the town. “In neither of these actions did the staff inform the board, I as one Trustee do not like being left in the dark,” said Trustee Browning. Browning said that these issues would be discussed in an executive session. Trustee Kenyon Waugh spoke up saying Continue Town on Page 14


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