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LOOK FOR REDSTONE REVIEW AT ISSUU.COM

VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2

LYONS, COLORADO

RESIDENT / OCCUPANT PRSRT STD ECRWSS US POSTAGE PAID LYONS, CO PERMIT No 2053 $.50

MARCH 19 / APRIL 16, 2014

Reconstruction continues By Susan de Castro McCann Redstone Review

Betsy Burton of the Lyons Farmette with her Angora goats, Doris and Delilah. Both goats are pregnant and are due in May. The Farmette is transitioning from dairy goats to those that produce fiber for spinning, weaving and knitting. Watch for knitting and spinning classes to be offered at the Farmette, and a “wool day” in early June, which will include a cocktail hour and a farm dinner. PHOTO BY CATHY RIVERS

Redstone Review wins Editorial Sweepstakes Award at the Colorado Press Association Contest Staff Reports Redstone Review LYONS – The Redstone Review won the 2013 Editorial Sweepstakes Award for winning the most awards in the editorial category for Class 10 at the Colorado Press Association

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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RECOVERY

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FOUNDATIONS

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CANDIDATES NATURE

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Awards Banquet held on February 21 at the Westin Hotel in Denver. Class 10 is the category for monthly newspapers. This was the first year that the Redstone was able to enter the contest because prior to this there was no category for monthlies. Usually all the CPA member newspapers enter the contest. There are over 105 newspapers in Colorado. Each year the CPA contest entries are judged by newspapers in another state. This year the Colorado entries were judged by the Virginia Press Association in Virginia. The Redstone won 31 editorial awards. The Redstone Review won the following awards: Best Editorial Writing: First Place, John Gierach for Going to Pot and First Place for

Sequester: What does it mean? First Place, Richard A. Joyce for The right to bear arms is not absolute. Second Place, John Gierach for Politics as fast food and Second Place for Election 2012 had some surprises and Second Place for Spying: Do we still have private lives? Best Serious Column Writing: First Place, Richard Joyce for Education for women around the world ends poverty and First Place for A true melting pot: US Census shows that the non-Hispanic white population is declining. Best Humorous Column Writing: Second Place, John Gierach for How do we define success and does it make people happy? Best Headline Writing: First Continue Award on Page 14

LYONS – Recovery is part of the everyday conversation for many Lyons residents who are also feeling meeting burnout. Meetings around the flood recovery take place every weekday, often weekends, all day long and into the evening. Although energy is waning, the recovery groups are forging ahead. Just as the town heads into an election for a new town board, the recovery groups are preparing for their presentations to the board. The new Board of Trustees will have vast amounts of research from the recovery groups to use to make future decisions. The Housing Recovery Working Group (HRWG) presented its current findings at the BOT meeting on March 17. Jeff Cornell, the group chair, dispelled some of the rumors floating around town telling the audience that this is not a land grab by Boulder County, no one is trying to take all the parkland in Lyons to build housing; he added that the whole process is transparent, open to the public with workshops, meetings, and online postings. Everyone has a voice. Rosi Dennett, Lyons planner assigned to housing, told the board that she has met with 60 people from the confluence area adding that about 20 of those need to have a town buyout of their homes; about 20 are interested in seeing what the appraisals for their homes bring, about three people said they do not want a buyout, some want to find a new property to buy, some want to rent. “Every situation is very different,” said Dennett. About 100 homes were damaged in Lyons, some destroyed, some severely damaged and some moderately and lightly damaged. Lyons lost more homes than any other town or municipality. “Officials at the state level know that Lyons suffered the greatest amount of home loss,” said Dennett. Jacque Watson, Lyons Economic Development and Community Relations, told the board that the owner of Foothills Mobile Home Park at 100 Fourth Ave. and Mealy Street, said he was willing to reopen the mobile home park again. The park, owned by

John Baranway from Watkins, had 15 units plus one house. The Housing Recovery Group is looking at all types of housing including modular, apartments, accessory dwelling units attached to a house or a garage and other options. The BOT decided at the last board meeting to pass ordinance 950 onto the incoming BOT to decide on the new zoning regulations for accessory dwelling units. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, recently gave a Community Development Block Grant of $63 million to Colorado for flood damage. Lyons is preparing its application to the state for a hefty portion of that funding. The application is due in April. Recently a second round of HUD funding, $199 million, was released to Colorado for flood damage. It is expected that Lyons will get financing from this HUD grant for the 404 program to buy out homeowners who want to sell their flood damaged home at pre-flood value. These homes must be scraped off the lot and no building will be allowed on that property ever except a possible park structure. The town must then maintain the property, cut the grass, water, etc. In some cases the land could be leased to neighbors to use in exchange for maintaining the property. Mayor Van Domelen said it would be better, safer if everyone living in the floodway would choose to move away from the floodway. The floodway is the pathway which the fastest moving flood waters move through. It is the path where huge boulders, trees, debris, etc. move through and damage other homes in the flood plain, which is where the water spreads. The flood has taken a huge toll on the town finances. Money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency is beginning to trickle in to offset some of the costs of repairing the infrastructure in Lyons. Sales tax revenues collected in 2013 dropped dramatically for the months of September (down 18.33 percent), October (down 62 percent) and November (down 21.3 percent). During these months the town was pretty much shut down with no Continue Town on Page 15


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