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EDSTONE JUNE 3 IS NATIONAL DOUGHNUT DAY
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LOOK FOR REDSTONE REVIEW AT ISSUU.COM / SDCMC VOLUME 17, NUMBER 4
LYONS, COLORADO
RESIDENT / OCCUPANT PRSRT STD ECRWSS US POSTAGE PAID LYONS, CO PERMIT No 2053 $.50
MAY 18 / JUNE 15, 2016
B •R •I •E •F •S PHOTO BY ED BRUDER
Lia’s best birthday ever LYONS – Lia Malito from Lyons was about to turn 13 but no one wanted to attend her party. So her mom, Kim, told her story on Facebook: a child with autism who was abandoned by her peer group. Kim said, “Lia has Autism Spectrum Disorder, and although she desperately wants friends and to be like every other girl her age, she has been rejected by her peers because she is seen as being different.” So friends and neighbors sprang into action with an extraordinary show of friendship and affection. Lia’s mom, Kim, tells the story of her birthday. “People from all over the country responded to the post and shared it with their friends. It was shared over 150 times. Lia did not know that I had written anything about her, but she found out something had been written because the day before her birthday, when she checked the mail to see if any cards had come, she opened the mail box to over 40 cards. I captured her on video being elated and also confused by what was happening. The following day, her birthday, when Lia walked out the front door to go to school, she was met with both sides of the street lined with purple (her favorite color) balloons running from our house all the way to the middle school. It was Continue Briefs on Page 4
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Vance French welcomes spring to Lyons with a tune on his ukelele.
PHOTO BY CATHY RIVERS
Funding available for modular homes, library numbers up By Susan de Castro McCann Redstone Review LYONS – It came as a surprise to the Lyons Board of Trustees (BOT) when it was told that there was funding available from Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) for modular housing. However, although DR funding is available, no tax credits are available for modular housing. At a workshop held before the regular BOT meeting on May 16, Kathy Fedler, CDB/Affordable Housing Coordinator with the Housing and Community Investment Division in Longmont, told the Lyons Trustees that the state has set aside $4 million of CDBG-DR funding for affordable housing in Lyons. This is Round 3 of CDBG funding being allocated for affordable housing projects. Fedler said that the CDBG-DR funding can be used to replace and repair flood damaged homes and for mobile homes and mobile home parks, but mobile homes and mobile home parks would not qualify for tax credits. However, for regular flood damaged homes, Fedler said that the $4 million could leverage another $20 to $26 million (just an estimate) through tax credits, making it possible to create a development of around 60 regular affordable housing units in a potential mixed-use development. Fedler said that the Longmont Housing Authority (LHA) usually builds housing for people who qualify by making 30 to 40 percent of Boulder County’s Area Median Income (AMI). The median income in Boulder County is $49,700 for a family of four people. This means that the LHA builds rental units, since 30 or 40 percent of the AMI would not allow someone to qualify for home ownership.
Fedler said that in order to use tax credits the housing units have to stay under 60 percent of AMI. She added that when municipalities use private developers, those developers usually want to charge renters 60 percent or more of AMI which means tax credits can’t be used. Both the State and Federal Government offer tax credits for financing affordable housing. The State offers tax credits twice a year, at 4 percent and the Feds offer tax credits at 9 percent once a year usually in June, Fedler said. The State Division of Housing considers applications every month. The idea is to time the application to receive both State and Federal tax credits to maximize the potential funding. Fedler encouraged the BOT to move forward with its affordable housing projects as soon as possible. “There is strong support at the state level to make funding available for Lyons,” she said. “I would recommend that you hire a developer to look over the projects and make recommendations.”
Town Administrator Victoria Simonsen suggested to the BOT that it start by doing an environmental analysis. “This is the first step for DR funding,” she said. Simonsen added that the money left over from Cody Humphrey’s salary could be used for hiring a developer or project manager. Hunphrey, whose work was coming to an end, left his position as Lyons Flood Housing Coordinator to accept another job in Colorado Springs. Funding for the remainder of his term is available for the BOT to use to hire a developer or to use as the board sees fit. The clock is always ticking on government funding for housing projects. Applications must be submitted to the state by June of 2017 for tax credit financing. Fedler said that Lyons should be prepared to submit an environmental review study by July 2016. “We need to at least submit the properties to be considered and to have a very good scope of the work,” she Continue Town on Page 15
Redstone wins Sweepstakes Award for Editorial Excellence LYONS – At the Colorado Press Association (CPA) Awards Banquet, held on May 14 at the Denver West Sheridan Hotel in Denver, editors, publishers, reporters, photographers and all manner of newspaper staff gathered to receive awards in photography, news and editorial, electronic media and advertising. The newspapers are placed into categories according to size of circulation; the monthlies, including the Redstone Review, are in category 10. There are seven newspapers in the monthly category, ranging in size from large circulations of 82,238, 50,000, 36,000, and 21,000 down to the smaller circulations of 3,000 (Redstone Review) and
1,700 (the Southern Ute Drum). This year the Redstone won 18 awards plus the Sweepstakes Award for Editorial Continue Award on Page 15
Left to right: Richard Joyce, John Gierach, Susan de Castro McCann, Eileen Tobin and Don Moore