R
EDSTONE R •E •V•I •E •W
Redstone stands with President Zelensky and the people in Ukraine
VOLUME 23, NUMBER 4
LYONS, COLORADO
RESIDENT / OCCUPANT PRSRT STD ECRWSS US POSTAGE PAID LYONS, CO PERMIT No 2053 $.50
MAY 18 / JUNE 15, 2022
LaVern McConnell Johnson 1927 – 2022 Tribute story on Page 6
B •R •I •E •F •S Lyons Garden Tour June 18 LYONS – Planning for Lyons Garden Club 2nd Annual “Mountain Blooms” Garden Tour is in high gear. There are currently 10 sites of garden delights set for the tour, which will be held on Saturday, June 18, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine. Tickets are available through TicketTailor. There is a direct link to the registration site through the garden club website: www.lyonsgardenclub.com. There is no fee for tickets, but the club will greatly appreciate donations.
Music at the Cup LYONS – The Stone Cup will extend its hours in June. Beginning on Wednesday, June 1, the Stone Cup will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. from Wednesday through Sunday. Last call for kitchen will be at 1:30 p.m. Rachel’s Tallent’s art show Desert Sprawl will remain on display through the end of June. Live outdoor weekend music continues. May 21, Saturday, 10:30 to noon: Elio Quest May 22, Sunday, 10 a.m. to noon: Zea Stallings May 27, Friday), 10 a.m. to noon: Denny Driscoll May 28, Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon: James Faulk May 29, Sunday, 10 a.m. to noon: David Tilmon June 4, Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon: Sarah Caton June 5, Sunday, 10 a.m. to noon: Wrenn Van & Friends Continue Briefs on Page 5
issuu.com/sdcmc Like us on Facebook
I •N •D •E •X LOCAL
2
MAYOR’S CORNER
3
LYONS
4
OPTIONS
5
LAVERN M. JOHNSON
6
INSIGHT
7
GRADUATES
8
A&E
9
CONSENSUS
10
INTEREST
11
CROSSROADS
12
A spectacular display of tulips at 5th Avenue and Baker Street in Longmont. The homeowner has planted thousands of tulips in his yard creating a beautiful spot of color on the Historic East Side. Photo by Priscilla Cohan.
New Town Board discusses a home for LEAF, pavement issues, renaming the dirt bike park and other things By Susan de Castro McCann Redstone Review Editor LYONS – After Mayor Hollie Rogin gaveled the May 16 meeting to order, she called everyone’s attention to the brightly colored chair centered just below the Trustees seating platform. The chair was decorated and designed for Lyons Matriarch, LaVern Johnson, who passed away Saturday. Mayor Rogin took a moment to recognize Mrs. LaVern (as she is affectionally called) and her accomplishments, which include her service as a Town Board Trustee. Both Mrs. LaVern and her husband Mr. LaVerne served as Trustees on the Lyons Town Board. Both before and after Mrs. LaVern served on the board, she attended every single board meeting. For the past 23 years, more often than not, by 9 p.m. there were only three of us in the audience at the board meetings – me, Mrs. LaVern and the reporter from the Lyons Recorder. She will always be remembered for her long standing fight to preserve the schools, the parks, the museum and the arts, and history of Lyons. She represents a time when people’s opinions mattered. The board moved on to a presentation from Lyons Arts and Humanities Commission (LAHC) chair Lauren Click who told the board the value and positive impact that art has on the community. She also talked about the new art district, Lyons Creates. The new art district, Click said, will enhance and enrich the community physically and economically. They are working on painting scenes on all the utility boxes around town. Lory Barton, chair of the Lyons Emergency & Assistance Fund (LEAF) updated the board on LEAF’s progress in finding a new location. After searching every available site for a new home for LEAF, Barton said she was hopeful that she would be able to find a home at the current brown shed building next to Town Hall where the Boulder County Sheriff’s sub station is located. Barton said that she and Sargent Bill Crist have been in discussions about the Sheriff’s substation moving to the old remodeled Depot
Building behind the town hall. Sgt. Crist also spoke to the board and affirmed that the Depot Building would by an ideal site for the BoCo Sheriff’s department in Lyons. He said there would be room for all the deputies, plus an office for him and a meeting area. He said that the first responders would also be able to have space in the building, which he said was critical for them. The Sheriff’s Dept. would lease the building from the Town of Lyons. The talks are still on going but the brown shed would also be able to house Lyons Creates along with LEAF. Barton said that nothing is carved in stone and the plan is still very flexible. Trustee Tanya Daty said she loved the idea of LEAF occupying the brown shed building. LEAF would do some retrofitting and remodeling if they were to lease or purchase the brown shed building. Barton said if all the pieces fell into place, LEAF could move in within a year. In other matters the board listened to a presentation from Boulder County Transportation by Kathleen Bracke, deputy director for planning and permitting. Voters in Boulder County approved a 0.1 percent transportation tax and it was renewed in 2007 at the same rate. The tax has a sunset clause to expire on June 30, 2024. Bracke wanted to inform the board on how the taxes are used, the plans for future and to let everyone know that the tax will come up again for a vote in 2024. Moving on, the board discussed current pavement issues around town. Utilities & Engineering Director Aaron Caplan, told the board to begin thinking about how best to fund street capital improvement projects and how much is needed for street maintenance and preservation. He said in his report, if it was determined to move forward with a rehabilitation or reconstruction project the estimated costs range from $134,000 to $300,000. There is funding in the budget for streets capital improvement projects that is currently at $300,000 with an additional $300,000 budgeted to be transferred to the fund in 2022. The current 2022 streets budget includes
$43,000 for preservation recommendations. To meet the goal of increasing our streets’ PCI by 10 points by the end of 2024 that would need to be increased to $85,000 for this year and for the next 2 years. Caplan said the staff recommendation is to proceed with the rehabilitation projects. If the town can continue to appropriate $300,000 a year towards streets capital improvements, it could show this as a revenue stream to go out for bonds for larger street projects such as the entire stretch of 5th Ave. from High St to Steamboat Valley, or 2nd Ave. from Main North to the cul-desac. We could continue getting some projects done this year and show we still have the additional $300,000 allocated this year to assist with bonds or another determined funding source. The full depth reclamation or repair on 5th Ave. Staff would then recommend using any of the existing $300,000 that was not used for the rehabilitation projects and additional funding from the $300,000 being transferred this year to make a budget amendment to increase the current $43,000 up to the $85,000 listed in the memo. Improving the town streets has been a priority in the previous years. If this is still considered to be a priority, it is recommended to begin planning the 2023 budget for street repairs with $85,000 budgeted, if funding is available, and then make adjustments as needed during budget season. About $260,000 would be kept in reserve. The board agreed with the staff recommendation and wanted to increase the current $43,000 up to $85,000 as was recommended although it was a discussion and no vote was taken. The board also took up the issue of renaming the Lyons Dirt Bike Jump Park. Some trustees thought that the name was too long and complicated. Town Attorney Brandon Dittman pointed out that the park is used for lots of different types of bike activities and the current name does not reflect that. Mayor Rogin proposed that the name be changed to Lyons Bike Park and the trustees agreed with than name change.