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JUNE 18 IS NATIONAL GO FISHING DAY
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LOOK FOR REDSTONE REVIEW AT ISSUU.COM / SDCMC VOLUME 18, NUMBER 5
LYONS, COLORADO
RESIDENT / OCCUPANT PRSRT STD ECRWSS US POSTAGE PAID LYONS, CO PERMIT No 2053 $.50
JUNE 14 / JULY 19, 2017
B •R •I •E •F •S Tubing ban enacted for St. Vrain River BOULDER COUNTY – Sheriff Joe Pelle, in consultation with Victoria Simonsen, the Lyons Town Administrator, and Lyons Fire Chief J.J. Hoffman, has concluded that, in the interest of public safety, the St. Vrain Creeks and River will be closed to tubing and single chamber flotation devices. The closure will take effect immediately, and will encompass the North and South St. Vrain Creeks and the St. Vrain River from the western county line through the entire length of Boulder County. Sheriff's deputies will be posting notices to advise recreationists of the closure. The South Platte River Basin high snowpack, which also has high water content, is expected to melt quickly with the current high temperatures and cause the creeks and river to continue to Continue Briefs on Page 7
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I •N •D •E •X LYONS
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Dollhouses made by Lyons resident Anne O’Brien will be on exhibit through October 1 at the Lyons Redstone Museum. Five houses from different historical periods are featured, each with its own unique story: a Civil War era Southern plantation house; a 1910 Granite, OK, farmhouse; an early 18th century Scottish cottage; an early 1900s Woonsocket, RI, dressmaker’s house; and a 1950s Hannibal, MO, house. Lyons resident, Andrea Marshall, is pictured above using one of the tiny flashlights provided to get a better look inside the Oklahoma farmhouse. The exterior of this house and details of others appear at left. PHOTO BY CATHY RIVERS
Town Board sets election date for Planet Bluegrass annexation and cost overruns for treatment plant By Susan de Castro McCann Redstone Review Editor LYONS – At a special public meeting in early June, the Lyons Board of Trustees (BOT) approved the annexation ordinance for Planet Bluegrass Farm, 26 acres just west of Planet Bluegrass Ranch on the lower corner of Apple Valley Road and US Highway 36. This clears the way for the annexation to go to a vote of the people on Tuesday, Aug. 8. The vote will be a mail-in ballot. The farm is in Apple Valley and numerous residents in Apple Valley, Eagle Canyon and in the surrounding area objected to the annexation citing increased volume of traffic, noise, the environment, destruction of the river habitat and a few other things. Craig Ferguson, principal owner of Planet Bluegrass Ranch and Farm, addressed these concerns and the numerous issues brought forward by the BOT, which seemed to satisfy the board and after two meetings and many hours of discussion. Ferguson told the board he wants to build a pole barn and perhaps a shed on the property for his cattle. The board approved his request for parking cars, campers, etc. and for camping on the property. Approximately 2.8
acres will be used for camping and that amount will be less than that when the wetlands are taken out of the equation. The BOT reached a compromise with Ferguson by agreeing that there would be no parking or camping on the south side of the property, which is very environmentally sensitive, and allowing more parking (up to 150 vehicles) and more camping (up to 1,200) people (campers) on the north side of the property. “We charge by the number of people, not the number of tents,” said Ferguson. “We don’t charge for tents, we just count people.” The campers receive a plastic wrist band showing what they paid for. To further address environmental concerns, Ferguson told the board that he would donate $25,000 to the St. Vrain Creek Coalition. “Boulder County has chipped in $27,500 to St. Vrain Creek Coalition; we could do $25,000,” he said. Cecily Mui, watershed coordinator for St. Vrain Creek Coalition, told the board, “Not much needs to be done on the river; most of the money will go to re-vegetation.” Mui said that Ferguson would need to rejoin the Creek Coalition and fill out forms, but added that donating $25,000 would go a long way towards that. He still needs to sign a com-
mitment pledge. Trustee Dan Greenberg asked Mui if she was comfortable with all the current agreements, adding that the town could oversee the requirements put forth in the resolution. “We want to bring in a property that is under compliance, not one that we oversee to bring into compliance,” Greenberg said. As for the noise issues, Ferguson said that he would follow the same restrictions of using non-amplified music for weddings that River Bend has in place for its weddings, to reduce the potential noise concerns from Apple Valley neighbors. The traffic issues will require more work. Ferguson said he does not plan to use the property this year for weddings or camping. And he plans to build up the parking and camping slowly over the next few years. “We are only going to allow 120 campers for 2018,” he said. “We just want to ease into this. We plan to follow the CDOT (Colorado Department of Transportation) pedestrian plan and we will offer a shuttle service to Planet Bluegrass (Ranch); we would establish a crossing area at the bridge.” Mayor Connie Sullivan pointed out, “Cars go really fast (out of town) up to the bridge Continue Town on Page 15