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LOOK FOR REDSTONE REVIEW AT ISSUU.COM / SDCMC VOLUME 19, NUMBER 4
LYONS, COLORADO
RESIDENT / OCCUPANT PRSRT STD ECRWSS US POSTAGE PAID LYONS, CO PERMIT No 2053 $.50
MAY 16 / JUNE 13, 2018
B •R •I •E •F •S Regional Library District open call for trustee applications LYONS – Trustees of the Lyons Regional Library District Board serve on a staggered-term basis. The board is always interested in seeing applications from interested parties for upcoming positions. In general, the board is seeking someone who: • Lives in the Lyons Regional Library District (Boulder or Larimer counties); • Can commit time and positive energy (varies with the needs of the new building project, but sometimes can be up to eight hours a month); • Has great teamwork skills, yet brings individual talents; • Is passionate in the belief that libraries transform lives; • Is comfortable working with digital documents. How to start your inquiry: Sarah Catchpole chairs the HR committee and is the best person to contact for an initial inquiry and exploratory conversation. Interested? Please email your contact info and the best times to reach you to: Board @ Lyons Regional Library. com. In the subject bar, kindly put: Sarah – Trustee Inquiry. The Library Board would love to hear from you and thanks you for your interest.
The Lyons Community Food Pantry LYONS – In April the pantry had 124 client visits in April, which averages 31 households a week. There were 978 pound of food and non-food items donated directly to the pantry by Lyons residents and businesses. The client records for 2018 have been Continue Briefs on Page 7
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I •N •D •E •X LYONS
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MAYOR’S CORNER
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INTEREST
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OPPORTUNITY
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INSIGHT
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CREATE
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COMMUNITY
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A&E
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LHS GRADUATES
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LOOKING AHEAD
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CUTTING EDGE
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EXPRESSIONS
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HOUSING
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WHAT’S COOKIN’
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CONTEXT
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A flying dinosaur? No, it’s a great blue heron, gathering nest materials at its home in Belmar Park in Lakewood. Largest of the North American herons, with long legs, a sinuous neck, and thick, daggerlike bill, the great blue heron stands four feet tall with a seven-foot wingspan and can be found in nearly every state. Greg Lowell writes about the great blue heron this month. See his story on page 5. PHOTO BY VERONICA LANDON
Trustees hear update on Bohn Park, the Greens and other issues By Susan de Castro McCann Redstone Review Editor LYONS – Bohn Park Phase I is now open and the soft opening for the park in early May was well received by all those who came to the park, according to Richard Markovich, Flood Recovery Manager. Residents and visitors in Lyons have missed their parks, which are slowly reopening after the flood of 2013. Phase II of the park has been delayed due to a required survey of the land that federal authorities said was missed. The town staff did do a Cultural Resource Survey (CRS) of the land when they were considering it for the new public works building before the construction began. The town staff is now consulting with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the state and others to see if the town survey will comply with the federal regulations. Although the feds and the state could rescind their funding for the project, it seems unlikely that the park project would lose its funding altogether. Markovich also told the board that the new public works building will be increased from about 7,000 square feet to over 9,000 square feet. He added that the new whitewater features on the St. Vrain River from the Black Bear Hole along the river were a disappointment. He said that the work was not up to the standards that he wanted, which included the work along the banks of the river. The embankment was much steeper than he had wanted. Responding to Mayor Pro Tem Barney Dreistadt’s questions, Markovich said he hoped that the contractor would revisit the site and make some changes. The McConnell bridge officially reopened on May 8 with a ribbon cutting, a brief history by historian LaVern Johnson, comments by state officials and introductions by Mayor Connie Sullivan. Work is still being done on the bridge, but it is now open and residents are happy to have a direct route to homes in that area. At a workshop preceding the town board meeting the trustees heard from two developers, Paul Tamburello and Paula Merten, who gave a presentation on a project that they proposed to the town board to build in the eastern corridor, called The Greens. The Greens team’s Request for Proposal (RFP) was selected on Jan. 16 by the BOT to move forward with further discussions. The Greens
proposal would be to build be a series of very large grow towers that would grow food for the housing complex, and the food would also be sold to area residents. The grow tower idea originated in Singapore. The Greens would also consist of mixed-use development with commercial areas and some affordable housing units built by Thistle Community Housing. The Greens team was looking for a vote by the BOT to move forward on a signed purchase agreement. But Mayor Sullivan told the group that the board needed to have further discussions before taking that step. The Greens team seemed disappointed and not sure what they should do next saying that they had put up a lot of money to get to this point. The situation of whether the lateral sewer line on Upper Fifth Avenue is a public or private line still seems to be unresolved. Residents presented information on how property lines shifted and what was said and done under past town administrators to make their case that the sewer lateral which connects to the main line is actually a line owned by the Town of Lyons and is not a private line which would be the responsibility of the residents. According to town building codes, homeowners are responsible for lateral lines that connect from the home to the main sewer lines. The town could not find any Continue Town on Page 19
After being destroyed in the 2013 flood, the McConnell Bridge reopened on May 8 with a dedication event. PHOTO BY ARIELLE HODGSON