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VOLUME 14, NUMBER 12
LYONS, COLORADO
RESIDENT / OCCUPANT PRSRT STD ECRWSS US POSTAGE PAID LYONS, CO PERMIT No 2053 $.50
JANUARY 15 / FEBRUARY 19, 2014
Above left: In this 2004 photograph, Matt Sullivan of Boulder plays ice hockey with his border collies at the skating rink in Lyon’s Meadow Park. The photo at the right shows the park shelter (visible behind Matt in the first picture) as it looks today, destroyed by the September flood.
B •R •I •E •F •S Housing survey
PHOTOS BY SUSAN MATHES (HOCKEY DOGS) AND CATHY RIVERS (AFTER THE FLOOD)
LYONS – Everyone in the greater Lyons area is being asked to participate in a housing survey whether your house was damaged or not. The town wants to get as much input from as many people as possible to be able to make more informed decisions. The survey is on line and takes a little less than 10 minutes. Please see the details for the survey on page 14 of the Redstone Review. Residents who don’t have a computer can take the survey in person at the High School on Jan. 15 and Jan. 17.
Raising electric rates and looking for funding
Cash Mob ] LYONS – Lyons’ businesses still need help. To help local businesses the cash mob will meet again to spend money on Saturday January 18 at 3 p.m. They will be shopping at Clark’s Hardware, Diamond Shamrock and Spirit Hound Distillers (adults only at the Hound). The rules are to have fun and spend money. The group will meet outside of Clarks Continue Briefs on Page 4
I •N •D •E •X LYONS
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MAYOR’S CORNER
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OPTIONS
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CONTRAST
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CONTACT
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INSIGHT
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A&E
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OUTREACH
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FOUNDATIONS
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OUTCOME
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INTEREST
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NATURE
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By Susan de Castro McCann Redstone Review Editor LYONS – Much to the dismay of the Lyons Board of Trustees, BOT, the electric rates are going up. The Utilities and Engineering Board, UEB, gave a presentation and recommendation to the BOT at a January meeting and pointed out that the Lyons’ energy supplier has raised its rates to Lyons by 12.8 percent. Lyons gets its energy from the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska, MEAN, which is the wholesale supplier of energy for the Nebraska Municipal Power Pool, NMPP, of which Lyons is a member. The town was expecting a much smaller increase than 12.8 percent, something along the lines of 5.8 percent. The town’s electric fund was losing money even before the flood due to several previous rate increases by MEAN which were not passed on to the consumers. Now the town has few options except to raise rates. The UEB recommended a $5 per month surcharge be added to the base rate raising the base from $13 to $18 a month and that the rates go up by 12.8 percent per month. This will cover the increase that MEAN is charging the town and cover the costs to repair the flood damaged infra-
structure, plus allow the fund to build reserves to the state-required level for the debt service. Although the rate increase is necessary, actually unavoidable, the BOT is mindful that this will be a blow for homeowners and businesses trying to recover from the flood. Trustee Connie Sullivan said that this would be hard on businesses trying to recover after the flood. Mayor Julie Van Domelen pointed out that the surcharge would be temporary until the fund was built back up again. Perhaps a year or year and a half from now the electric fund will be solvent. The BOT did not vote on the tax increase. There will be a public hearing on the rate increase at the next BOT meeting to be held on Jan. 21, Tuesday. Monday is Martin Luther King’s birthday. Trustee Sandy Banta asked for an internal audit to make sure all the electric users are metered, and to review the revenues and funds. The flood is expected to cost the town about $50 million with Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, paying the lion’s share; but so far, not one drop of FEMA money has arrived even though the town has already paid out somewhere between $3 and $4 million. The mound of paper work, which Lyons Finance Director Tony Cavalier refers
to as documentation, just arrived on his desk and now the staff is busy filling out the documentation to request reimbursement from FEMA. FEMA funding goes to the state and then the state releases the money, after collecting the documentation. “Once we get the documentation in for the 10 projects we are working on now, and submit that documentation, we think that the turnaround (for payment) will be about two weeks for us to receive the money,” said Cavalier. “Then we should start getting a regular turn around.” For some reason, the documentation was delayed in getting to Lyons. To add another wrinkle, FEMA told Town Administrator Victoria Simonsen that the Public Works Building, which was badly damaged in the flood and subsequently torn down, cannot be rebuilt at the old location. This means that the town must find a new location for the building. Currently the town is leasing land from Raul Vasquez, who owns Blue Mountain Stone on east Main Street. Vasquez owned a motel next to his stone yard on east Main Street, also badly damaged in the flood and eventually removed. In its place the town is constructing a temporary building for the Public Works Department. Continue Town News on Page 15
Repairs and closures on US 36 between Lyons and Estes Park Staff Reports Redstone Review DENVER – Colorado Department Of Transportation (CDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration have begun the final post-flood repairs on US 36 between Lyons and Estes Park. The first of two phases are intended to be complete before high tourist season. This emergency phase will stabilize sections of the highway that failed during the flood. To
do this CDOT will move the highway five to 50 feet away from the river onto more solid ground, from soil to bedrock, and portions of the mountainside will be removed via blasting. “Despite the amazing work done by the National Guard to temporarily reopen the highway, US 36 is at risk of losing additional embankment and roadway,” said CDOT Resident Engineer Chris Boespflug. “With the spring runoff imminent, we are doing our best to protect the
safety and integrity of the highway, making it stronger and more resilient in the future.” Crews will be working 24 hours a day, seven days a week. One-hour traffic delays can be expected Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Crews will minimize delays to motorists, between 6 and 8 a.m. and between 4 and 6 p.m., to accommodate commutes. Thirtyminute delays can be expected during night and weekend work. Continue US 36 on Page 15
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