RR 5-04.indd

May 2004
REGIONAL
Report
4500 CHERRY CREEK DRIVE SOUTH SUITE 800
DENVER COLORADO 80246-1531
Photo by Bob Ashe. Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau.
ENHANCING
CALENDAR
May 2004
Wednesday, May 19: The
Administrative Committee meets
at 5:45 p.m. and the DRCOG
Board of Directors meets at 7:00
p.m.
Friday, May 21: The Advisory
Committee on Aging meets at
noon.
Friday, May 28: The Water and
Environmental Planning Committee meets at 9:00 a.m.
June 2004
Wednesday, June 2: The Metro
Vision Issues Committee meets at
4:00 p.m.
AND
PROTECTING
THE
QUALITY
OF
LIFE
IN
OUR REGION
Board approves FasTracks
On April 21, the DRCOG
Board gave its approval to the Regional
Transportation District’s FasTracks
transit system plan. The action clears
the way for RTD to gather signatures
for a ballot issue on the plan and a 0.4
percent sales tax increase in November.
The DRCOG Board’s action speaks
strictly as to whether or not the plan is
technologically and financially feasible,
although a resolution in support of the
plan may be discussed later in the year.
DRCOG is required by state statute to approve the system and corridors
within the transit system, including the
method of financing and the technology, before the project goes to a public
vote. The review process is named after
the original enacting legislation, Senate
Bill 208. As part of the process, the
DRCOG Board held a public hearing
on FasTracks in January.
FasTracks is a 12-year comprehensive plan for transit services and
facilities in the Denver region. Key
components of the estimated $4.7
billion plan are 119 miles of light rail
and commuter rail and 18 miles of
bus rapid transit in nine major travel
corridors, new and expanded park-nRides, an enhanced bus network and
transit hubs, a downtown multimodal
center in Denver Union Station, and
other transit facilities and amenities. If
the plan is successful with the voters,
all improvements are scheduled to be
open for service by 2017.
A copy of the DRCOG 208
Report is available at www.drcog.org.
To see the FasTracks plan in its
entirety, go to www.rtd-denver.com.
Tuesday, June 8: The Regional
Transportation Committee meets
at 8:30 a.m.
Monday, June 21: The Transportation Advisory Committee meets
at 1:30 p.m.
Wednesday, June 23: Colorado
Bike to Work Day—register
online at www.drcog.org, or by
calling 303-458-POOL (7665).
T
Planning workshop June 5
DRCOG will hold its biennial
Planning Commissioners’ Workshop on
Saturday, June 5 at the Lakewood Cultural Center. The theme of this event is
“Communicating the Vision,” and will
cover a broad range of topics. The program begins at 8:15 a.m. and concludes
at 3:15 p.m., with general discussion in
the morning and breakout groups convening after lunch. The $95 registration
fee includes continental breakfast, lunch
and all workshop materials. For more
information, contact Larry Mugler at
303-480-6759 or [email protected],
or download a registration form at
www.drcog.org.
Friday, June 25: The Water and
Environmental Planning Committee meets at 9:00 a.m.
Bike to Work June 23
To see agendas for meetings
held at DRCOG, go online to
www.drcog.org.
the thousands that will trade four
wheels for two on Bike to Work Day.
Companies and individual participants are registering in droves to ride
to work on Wednesday, June 23,
confirming once again that this event
is metro Denver’s favorite way to kick
off the summer bike-riding season.
Bike to Work events will be held
all over Colorado on June 23, but the
Denver region traditionally sees the
greatest participation.
Cycle commuters will have over
100 breakfast stops to choose from
on the morning of the event, at retail
locations, along bike trails and other
prime locations. Along with a map
showing these locations, registered
All meetings are held at the council’s
office unless otherwise noted.
S
upport continues to grow for
greater equity in funding transportation projects in the metro area. At the
April Board meeting, DRCOG Chairman Lorraine Anderson reported that
30 local governments and 11 economic
development organizations and chambers of commerce have adopted resolutions supporting DRCOG’s position,
with four more ready to act. Anderson
emphasized that support from around
the region is important to the Board’s
work in addressing this issue. DRCOG
is continuing to meet with CDOT
representatives to find a solution that is
acceptable to all parties.
To view a copy of the Board’s
resolution as well as a map of supporting
jurisdictions, a PowerPoint outlining the
issue and more, go to www.drcog.org.
Short courses
begin
Wednesday, June 16: The
Administrative Committee meets
at 5:45 p.m. and the DRCOG
Board of Directors meets at 7:00
p.m.
Friday, June 18: The Advisory
Committee on Aging meets at
noon.
Equity still
attracting
support
There’s plenty of time to join
participants are also entered into a
drawing for a hybrid TREK bicycle,
courtesy of Treads Bicycle Outfitters,
as well as other prizes. Registrants
will also receive two free ride coupons
from RTD, which can be used the
day of the event or up to two months
after.
To register, go to www.drcog.org
or call 303-458-POOL (7665).
he first of four short courses to
be held this year gave Board members
and alternates a closer look at Metro
Vision on April 29. The short courses
were instituted in 2003 as a way of
giving the Board an opportunity to
learn more about four of DRCOG’s
general areas of interest: aging, Metro
Vision, transportation and water.
Last year’s short courses were well
attended. Invitations for this year’s
series include all commissioners,
council members, city and county
management, and planning commissioners. The next short course
at 11 a.m. on June 17 will tackle
DRCOG’s involvement with the
region’s older adults.
For more information on the
short courses, call 303-480-6730.
Board Officers
Lorraine M. Anderson, Chairman
Council Member, City of Arvada
Will Toor, Vice Chairman
Mayor, City of Boulder
Richard M. Sheehan, Secretary
Commissioner, Jefferson County
Nancy Sharpe, Treasurer
Mayor, Greenwood Village
Melanie A. Worley, Immediate Past Chairman
Commissioner, Douglas County
Betty L. McCarty
Acting Executive Director
Board Profile
A
s the newly elected mayor of
Glendale, Larry Harte’s goal for the
community is to make it a fun, safe,
healthy place to live and work. “Glendale is a small city, like a village, where
members of the community at all levels
are able to interact with one another
on a daily basis. When the businesses,
residents and our local government are
encouraged to work closely together,
the results are noticeable – and tangible.
We have a very thin level of government
that is accessible and efficient - and we
take a great deal of pride in offering
exceptional customer service.
“Over the next four years we
are looking forward to considerable
improvements to Glendale. Three of
our biggest priorities are: creating pedestrian walkways to connect new and
existing parks and to connect residents
to business and retail areas; expanding our existing recreation center and
YMCA; and developing a “downtown”
Glendale along Cherry Creek to include
an amphitheater and “river walk”.
These projects, along with others
currently underway, will help define
the image of Glendale as a pedestrianfriendly, true urban village.”
Harte, a five-year resident of Glendale, was elected mayor April 6. He was
first elected to the city council in April
2002 and has represented Glendale on
the DRCOG Board since May 2002.
He also is the Glendale representative to
Colorado Municipal League, or CML.
Additionally, he serves on the City Planning Commission and on the boards
of directors of the Four Mile Historic
Park and the Glendale YMCA. As a
mortgage broker with Sunrise Mortgage
Corporation, Harte is also active in the
Greater Glendale Chamber of Commerce and the Denver Better Business
Bureau.
Harte is a 35-year old graduate
of Vanderbilt University in Nashville,
Tennessee, where he earned a degree
in civil engineering in 1990. He is
engaged to be married this summer to
Heather Roberts. They met in seventh
grade in Cincinnati where they both
grew up.
Transportation
Aging
At its April meeting, the Board
RCOG is still looking for
caring volunteers to join the Ombudsman program as advocates for the
region’s older adults.
Because the regional council is
designated by the federal government
as the local Area Agency on Aging,
one of its significant tasks is managing
the Long-Term Care Ombudsman
Program. The Ombudsman program provides advocacy services for
residents of long-term care facilities
throughout metro Denver.
Currently, 50 volunteers and six
staff members serve 17,000 residents
in over 340 facilities in the metro
area. Because every facility needs to
be visited on a regular basis, there
is an ever-growing need for more
volunteers. Volunteers are advocates
of residents’ rights as well as friends to
the many people in long-term care.
Volunteers are given extensive
training in the role of an ombudsman,
residents’ rights, complaint investigation, and documentation before they
are placed in a long-term care facility.
They also receive additional training
and support from the Ombudsman
program staff throughout the year.
Benefits to volunteers include personal satisfaction in helping residents
obtain optimum quality of life and
quality of care, while also utilizing
and gaining new skills.
For more information, please
contact Penny Cook at 303-4806799 or [email protected], or visit
www.drcog.org.
was briefed on the continuing work
of the Colorado Tolling Enterprise
(CTE) Board, which is examining
possible future toll facilities. The CTE,
established in 2002, is a non-profit
business operating within the Colorado Department of Transportation
to finance, build and operate toll
facilities. The CTE Board recently
established criteria to screen potential
toll facilities and the DRCOG Board
has been providing suggestions and
comments along the way. Candidate
corridors for further study include
US-36, C-470, I-70 East, I-270,
I-225, the Northwest Corridor, I-25
North, and I-70 tunnel improvements. Other candidate corridors
outside the Denver region are also
being studied.
For more information on
DRCOG’s comments to the
CTE Board, contact Jeff May at
[email protected] or 303-480-6746.
E-470 loans
paid early
D
uring April, the E-470 Public
Highway Authority is repaying approximately $30 million in loans owed to
its member governments and the State
of Colorado, years earlier than anticipated. E-470 originally secured the
loans 10 years ago as “seed money” for
financing the completion of the road.
E-470 is able to pay back the loans
because no additional construction
contingency reserves were needed to
finish the road’s northern link in 2003,
thus making these funds available to
repay the loans. Interest rates associated with the loans are higher than current rates, giving E-470 another reason
to repay the loans now.
The Authority is paying back loans
in differing amounts to the State of
Colorado and E-470’s eight member
governments: Adams County, Arapahoe County, Aurora, Brighton (repaid
in 2003), Commerce City, Douglas
County, Thornton and the town of
Parker.
These agreements were the keystone of E-470’s financial plan, and
the support of local governments was
essential prior to approaching bond
market investors and securing the
funds.
D
COPS testing
available daily
D
RCOG’s Centralized Organization for Police Selection (COPS)
program allows candidates who are
interested in public safety careers to
take one test and be considered by 23
departments for entry-level positions.
Previously, candidates could only test
one day per month, but now interested applicants can schedule testing
any time between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.,
Monday through Friday.
Pre-arrangement is required;
please call 303-480-6729 to schedule
testing times.
There is a $40 fee to take the
test, and study guides are available
for an additional fee. To find out
more about the COPS program and
participating departments, go to
www.drcog.org.
DRCOG’s Seminars for Success
program offers experienced local
instructors and small class sizes to
maximize participants’ ability to
learn. There are three more sessions
before the summer break, so sign
up soon!
Instructor Jim Hunt will assist
participants with Getting a Grip on
Grammar Thursday, June 3, from
8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. This session
will help participants identify some
of the most common grammatical
errors, gain greater accuracy using
punctuation and build writing and
speaking skills. The fee is $110.
On Thursday, June 10, Penny
McDaniel will lead a workshop on
Negotiating for Win-Win Outcomes. Part two of a four-part series
on Alternative Dispute Resolution
(ADR), this seminar will help participants to understand the negotiation
process and plan for collaborative
outcomes. The session runs from
8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., and the fee
is $120.
Many local communities are
faced with the challenge of incorporating immigrants into their
midst, which is why The Changing
Face of Colorado: Welcoming and
Involving New Americans in Your
Community is so important. Susan
Thornton, a former Littleton city
council member and mayor, offers
first-hand experience in welcoming
legal immigrants. This seminar is
ideal for elected officials and any city
and county staff that interact with
immigrants. This Tuesday, June 15
session runs from 8:45 a.m. to 3:45
p.m. and the fee is $110.
To register for any of these
classes, call 303-480-6729 or e-mail
[email protected].
Renewable Energy
T
he annual conference of the
Colorado Renewable Energy Society
will take place June 25-27, 2004 at the
University of Denver.
The purpose of the conference is
to bring together renewable energy and
energy efficiency professionals, policy
makers and interested citizens.
Scheduled keynote speaker is former
Senator Tim Wirth.
The conference theme is: “Renewable Energy: It Makes $ense,” with
sessions and workshops directed toward
home owners, business owners and local
leaders.
For more information, visit
www.cres-energy.org/conference/
index.html.
DRCOG Principal Staff
Betty McCarty
Acting Executive Director, 303-480-6703
PRESORTED
STANDARD MAIL
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
DENVER, CO
PERMIT NO. 1522
Susanna D. Bozinovski
Aging Services Director, 303-480-6736
Karin McGowan
Policy and Legislative Development Director, 303-480-6716
Jeffrey H. May
Metro Vision Resource Center Director, 303-480-6746
4500 Cherry Creek Drive South, Suite 800
Denver, Colorado 80246-1531
Shepard Nevel
Membership Services and Community Outreach Director,
303-480-6711
Sherry Patten
Public Information and Communications Director, 303-480-6786
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
George J. Scheuernstuhl
Metro Vision Planning and Operations Director, 303-480-6743
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: (303) 455-1000
Web site: www.drcog.org
recycled paper
2004
DRCOG
Awards
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n
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t
a
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Regional Stars
A fundamental piece of the awards dinner each year is the presentation of the Metro Vision and Local Government Innovations Awards. Representing the
best in local government programs each year, these awards give the council the opportunity to shine the spotlight on its members and their achievements.
Metro Vision
Awards
FIRST PLACE
Boulder County Countywide
Coordinated Comprehensive
Development Plan
Intergovernmental Agreement
Boulder County, City of Boulder,
Town of Erie, Town of Jamestown,
City of Lafayette, City of
Longmont, City of Louisville, Town
of Lyons, Town of Nederland, Town
of Superior
Ron Stewart, Boulder County
Commissioner
Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, Boulder
County Intergovernmental Relations
Director
Larry Hoyt, Boulder County
Attorney
Will Toor, Boulder Mayor
Frank Bruno, Boulder City Manager
Barbara Connors, former Erie
Mayor
Mike Acimovic, Erie Town
Administrator
Kenneth Lenarcic, Jamestown
Mayor
Dale Avery, former Lafayette Mayor
Gary Klaphake, Lafayette City
Administrator
Julia Pirnack, Longmont Mayor
Gordon Pedrow, Longmont City
Manager
Tom Davidson, former Louisville
Mayor
Bill Simmons, Louisville City
Manager
Dick Hinshaw, Lyons Mayor
Gary Cinnamon, Lyons Town
Manager
Scott Bruntjen, Nederland Mayor
Susan Spence, Superior Mayor
Bruce Williams, Superior Town
Manager
Second Place
2003 Transportation Master Plan
for the City of Boulder and Webbased Transportation Master
Plan Project and Geographic
Information System (GIS)
Mapping Application
City of Boulder and LSA Associates
County Juvenile Assessment Center,
Colorado Departments of Human
Services and Public Safety, Colorado
Regional Community Policing
Institute
Joseph E. Cassa, Wheat Ridge
Deputy Chief of Police
Third Place
Watershed Approach to Stream
Health (WASH)
Boulder County, City of Boulder,
Town of Erie, City of Longmont,
Third Place
E-470 Corridor Zoning Regulations City of Louisville, Town of Superior
and Design Standards
Janice Buswell Lopitz, WASH
City of Aurora
Project Coordinator
Denise M. Balkas, former Aurora
Productivity
Director of Planning
Improvement
Tracy Winfree, Boulder Director of
Public Works for Transportation
Ray Moe, LSA Associates
Local Government
Innovations
Awards
Cooperative Service
Delivery
First Place
South Platte Water Management
Project
Cities of Thornton and Aurora
Bud Elliott, Thornton Deputy City
Manager/Infrastructure
Peter Binney, Aurora Utilities
Director
Second Place
Jefferson County Crisis
Intervention Team
City of Arvada, City of Golden,
Jefferson County, City of Lakewood,
City of Westminster, City of
Wheat Ridge, Exempla Lutheran
Medical Center, St. Anthony’s
Central Hospital, Colorado Mental
Health Institute at Ft. Logan,
Jefferson Center for Mental Health,
National Alliance for the Mentally
Ill Jefferson County, First Judicial
District Attorney’s Office, Jefferson
First Place
Arvada Police Department’s Verified
Alarm Response Program
City of Arvada
Commander Gary Creager, Arvada
Police Department
Second Place
CQT (Crime, Quality of Life and
Traffic)
City of Aurora
Ricky G. Bennett, Aurora Chief of
Police
Third Place
The Amigos Club
City and County of Broomfield
Rosa Warner, City & County of
Broomfield Health and Human
Services Administrative Technician
Third Place
eGovernment Strategic Plan
City of Golden
Greg Mortimer, Golden Information
Technology Manager
Public-Private
Partnership
First Place
Jefferson County Open Space/
Lafarge West Inc. Land Exchange
Jefferson County and Lafarge West,
Inc.
Ralph Schell, Director, Jefferson
County Open Space
Lafarge West, Inc.
Second Place
Business Corridor Revitalization
Program
City of Wheat Ridge and 38th
Avenue Business District
Randy Young, Wheat Ridge City
Manager
Vance Edwards, 38th Avenue
Business District Board President
Third Place
Hughes Station
City of Brighton and a host of
private and community partners
Manuel Esquibel, Brighton Assistant
City Manager
Terry M. Moore, Almost Home,
Inc. Executive Director
Third Place
Creating the Glendale YMCA
through a Public-Private
Partnership
City of Glendale and YMCA of
Metropolitan Denver
Cliff Dodge, City of Glendale
Sharon Schrage, YMCA of
Metropolitan Denver Vice President
of Programs
Distinguished
Service Award
Winners
D
istinguished Service Awards recognize the contributions that individuals make to the council’s programs and
activities, furthering the cause of regionalism. This year’s honorees have spent
countless hours advocating for seniors,
assisting in the creation of new modeling programs, preserving the region’s
environment and promoting the cause
of alternative transportation. DRCOG
is deeply grateful for the dedication of
the 2004 Distinguished Service Award
winners. Not pictured here is Tim
Grotheer, plant superintendent for the
Plum Creek Wastewater Authority, who
was unable to attend the ceremony.
Rice receives
Christensen
Award
R
eturning from service in
Iraq to life in Colorado provided
a degree of culture shock for Joe
Rice—and even greater shock
when he realized that he was being
honored with DRCOG’s John V.
Christensen Award.
Rice, former mayor of Glendale and also a former DRCOG
Board member, was honored for
his true belief in the power of
regional cooperation. When Rice,
a lieutenant colonel in the U.S.
Army Reserves, was charged with
coming up with a framework for
the new Baghdad City Council, he
turned to friends and colleagues
back in the United States for
advice. The result was a council
modeled after DRCOG, in which
each of Baghdad’s many neighborhoods was given equal representation at the table. In March, Rice
received a Bronze Star for his
service in Iraq. The Christensen
Award, named after an Arapahoe
County commissioner who was
one of DRCOG’s founders, is the
highest honor given by the council, and the recipient’s name is
kept secret until the award is given
at the Annual Dinner.
An additional surprise was
in store for Rice at the end of the
evening when winning numbers
were drawn for door prizes. Rice
won the biggest prize: round-trip
tickets for two on Frontier Airlines, proof that in this instance at
least, fortune does favor the brave.
Tim Baker
Albert “Bert” Melcher
Pat Pugh
Marilyn Sandau
Colorado Department of
Transportation Mobility
Analysis Unit Manager
Sierra Club Volunteer
Senior Marketing Manager for the
Regional Transportation District
Volunteer Ombudsman for DRCOG
Briggs honored for regional leadership Worley receives
At the dinner, State Representative represent District J on the Regional
outgoing
Bob Briggs received the Regional Leader- Transportation District’s (RTD) Board of
chairman award
ship Award, an honor not given every
Directors from 1999 to 2002. He was
year. Instead, this award is presented only
when there is a worthy recipient.
DRCOG Chairman Lorraine
Anderson and DRCOG Secretary Rick
Sheehan told the audience how Briggs
had championed the cause of the region’s
local governments to ensure transportation funding equity for the region.
Briggs also sponsored a bill that would
allow the urbanized areas of the state to
create regional transportation authorities so that local governments could
raise their own transportation funding
through taxes, if local voters approve.
Briggs served as an Adams County
commissioner from 1979 to 1983 and
was the county’s representative to the
DRCOG Board. He was elected to
elected to the state house of representatives in 2003.
Board Secretary Rick Sheehan with Rep. Bob
Briggs, Regional Leadership Award winner.
Congressman Bob Beauprez and his wife,
Claudia with DRCOG Board Secretary
Rick Sheehan and his wife, Sherri.
Acting Executive Director Betty
McCarty welcomes the assembled
group to the 2004 Annual
Awards Dinner.
DRCOG Chairman Lorraine
Anderson paid heartfelt tribute to
Douglas County Commissioner Melanie Worley
in presenting her
with the
Outgoing
Chairman
Award.
Worley
served
as Board
chairman from
February
of 2003 to 2004, and was part of the
Administrative Committee for several
years before that. Worley has served as
DRCOG’s Board representative since
her election in 2000, and continues to
serve the Board as immediate past chair
and as a member of the Administrative
Committee.
Anderson praised Worley’s skill at
developing partnerships and relationships, and the way she put those skills
to work for DRCOG. She also noted
Worley’s key role in the Board’s work
toward finding transportation funding
equity. Anderson presented Worley
with a plaque commemorating her work
as chairman.
D
DRCOG Board Treasurer Nancy Sharpe enjoys
a moment with Roger Cracraft and his wife,
DRCOG Community Liaison Linda Capra.
Arapahoe County Commissioner Susan Beckman
sits down to dinner with Clear Creek County Commissioner Bob Poirot and his wife, Joy.
Immediate Past Chairman Melanie
Worley with DRCOG Board Chairman Lorraine Anderson.
Joe and Kendall Rice enjoy the
evening together.
RCOG would like
to thank our generous
Annual Awards Dinner partners for
their support:
George K. Baum & Company
Carter & Burgess
CH2M HILL
Clifton Gunderson LLP
Coors Brewing Company and
Xcel Energy,
and Oakwood Homes for their
featured sponsorship.
Thanks also to the Denver
Center for the Performing Arts
for hosting the event, and those
who donated door prizes: Frontier
Airlines, the Aurora Fox Arts Center,
the Arvada Center for the Arts &
Humanities, the Colorado
Rockies Baseball Club, The Denver
Art Museum and Alpine Trophies.