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LOOK FOR REDSTONE REVIEW AT ISSUU.COM / SDCMC VOLUME 19, NUMBER 7
LYONS, COLORADO
RESIDENT / OCCUPANT PRSRT STD ECRWSS US POSTAGE PAID LYONS, CO PERMIT No 2053 $.50
AUGUST 15 / SEPTEMBER 19, 2018
B •R •I •E •F •S Update: Recycling Center moving to Second Avenue LYONS – Due to construction for the library, the town and associated partners have begun preparation for relocating the recycling center from Fourth Ave. and Railroad, to the south side of the Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) center at 198 Second Ave. Construction for the new Americans with Disability Act (ADA) accessible facility is well underway; however, due to minor engineering setbacks, the town now estimates the move to be complete by mid-August. Except for the cardboard-specific bin, the Town does not anticipate any lapse in availability in single-stream recycling between locations. Recycling will remain available at its current location, and a new dumpster will be replaced at the new site, upon its completion. The availability and schedule of the cardboard-specific bin may vary during the relocation period. Updates will be sent as information is received.
Look & See, film on the life of Wendell Berry to be shown at Stonebridge LYONS – Look & See, the next Ecology Board community movie, explores the life of Wendell Berry, author of over 40 books of essays, poetry, and fiction. Look & See will be shown at Stonebridge Farm, 5169 Ute Highway, a local CSA Farm, on September 7 at 7 p.m. Wendell Berry is a farmer whose family life and writing revolve around farming within a community. Berry’s work reveals all we have lost by the disappearance of farming communities. He stresses that industrial farming has no connection with the land other than as a money economy bent on employing fewer and fewer people. But in farming communities as he writes about them, a farm is a place where you make your life, a place full of Continue Briefs on Page 4
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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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OPTIONS
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OPPORTUNITY
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INSIGHT
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COMMUNITY
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A&E
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EXPRESSIONS
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HOUSING
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PHOTO BY CATHY RIVERS
Utility bills became a sticky situation with the town board By Susan de Castro McCann Redstone Review Editor LYONS – At a special meeting in late July the Lyons Town Board heard the annual presentation of the town audit, which they have to approve each year. They received a clean bill of health, by in large, with “no material findings.” This is always good news for the board and for any small town. Mayor Connie Sullivan pointed out that many cities and towns do not come out as well as Lyons. The auditors did point out in the audit that, “The spouse of a member of the Board of Trustees owns a business within the Town. As such the business uses the Town’s utilities of electricity, sewer and beginning in 2017 water. The customer has not made payments since September, 2015. The customer has disputed certain charges related to the water base fee and the number of sewer taps. During 2017, the Town refunded one of the sewer taps. As of December 31, 2017, the Town has an outstanding receivable of $43,122 or approximately 14.12% of utility receivables from this customer. No payments have been received in 2018.” The business the auditors referred to is Lyons Properties, LLC also known as River Bend or Wee Casa where the weddings are held on the river. The property is owned by Mike Whipp, Kenyon Waugh, Steve Beck, John Eaton, Jerry Moore and Brett Hollingshead. Kenyon Waugh is married to Juli Waugh, a town board trustee. Julie was on vacation and was not present at the special meeting for the auditors’ presentation, but she has always recused herself at every meeting where any issues concerning Wee Casa were discussed.
The board went into executive session at that meeting to hear from the attorney what they could talk about publically concerning the Lyons Properties utilities. After the meeting Mike Whipp, the managing partner with Lyons Properties, said that before the flood of 2013, when he bought the property on the river which was a trailer park, he did not own the water taps that came with the trailers and each individual trailer owner had their own tap and water bill. When the flood took out all the trailers he told the town that he did not own those taps and wanted the town to take them back. He had one water tap and each unit had one also which came to something around 30 taps. Whipp told the town he didn’t need all those taps for his wedding business. The flood changed the river somewhat as well as property lines. The town negotiated a utility easement for a water line to Apple Valley which went through River Bend. The sewer taps for River Bend were negotiated based on a ratio that is used for RVs in other parts of town. At the town board meeting on August 6 Town Administrator Victoria Simonsen said that sewer taps are counted by the same ratio that is used for RVs which is a ratio of one tap for 4 RVs. There are 23 tiny homes at Wee Casa at River bend, tiny homes fall into the RV category. The bill was allowed to escalate because the staff wanted to be business friendly and cutting off the utilities would be a great hardship since the wedding are often booked a year or two in advance along with caterers, bands, etc. Several of the town board members seemed to be caught blindsided by the huge amount of the bill which had escalated to
over $50,000 by the time it was presented to the town board in the audit. The audit only showed the amount of the bill through 2017 and no payments were made in 2018. After the meeting Mike Whipp said that both he and other members of the LLC asked for documentation from the town of Lyons and when they finally got a bill with all the charges it was almost totally redacted and they couldn’t read most of the content. He said he and his partners had requested meetings and documentation of all the water taps, but were unable to get the documentation from the town for proof of the water taps that the town claims they owe on. Whipp said all the utility payments for the three properties that comprise River Bend were up to date except for Wee Casa where they did not agree on the amount billed. “I’m glad this came up in the audit,” he said. “I want this resolved. We know we owe money, we know we are likely to get the utilities turned off and shut down. We want to resolve this.” Before the Waughs left for vacation in July, Kenyon gave the town a check for $5,000 as a good faith payment on the utilities bill at River Bend. The town reduced the number of sewer taps at River Bend from 30 to 9. Before the executive session Trustee Mark Browning recommended to the board that they revise the code to say, “When any utility account exceeds $10,000 the town administrator shall notify the board of trustees.” The town board had to face the issue head on at the August 6 regular meeting. Town Administrator Simonsen issued a termination of services order to shut off the utilities at River Bend to take place on August 15 and Lyons Properties LLC was requesting a Continue Town on Page 14