Weed it and reap
Federal water projects dream big
Federal funds to address drought, water conservation in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming
BY SHANNON MULLANE THE COLORADO SUN
e federal government has planned since 2022 to spend $450 million on water projects in four Western states, including Colorado. Last week, water o cials nally learned which projects are eligible — and they’re planning to dream big.
the Month’ awards encourage homeowners to clean up
Commerce City takes great pride in its neighborhoods and the hardworking folks who make the community special.
To help showcase this pride, the city’s community development ofce recently launched the “Yard of
the Month” program. As part of the MyC3 Initiative, the program recognizes and rewards residents who go above and beyond in maintaining beautiful and well-kept yards, bene ting the city both aesthetically and environmentally. e program began in June and will run through Oct. 30 each year. Each month, four yards are selected (one winner per ward) as winners, and receive gift cards, a sign to display in their front yards, and public recognition.
A big congratulations to July’s winners: Ward I: 4295 E. 69th Ave, Ward II: 6421 Glencoe St., Ward III: 10061 Joplin St., and Ward IV: 17252 Parkside Drive. June winners
can be found on the city’s website.
A yard can be nominated by a neighbor, friend, family member, or oneself for consideration, but you can only nominate one yard per month, and you can only win once per year. When submitting a nomination, provide a 500-word reason for the nomination as well. Residents who seek to don the “Yard of the Month” crown must meet some speci c criteria. Only the front and side yards are considered in the judging process; whatever is visible from the street. e yard should be well-maintained with neatly trimmed lawns, pruned trees and shrubs.
e funding is part of the federal government’s plan to address the impacts of drought in the overstretched Colorado River Basin. It will, in part, be used for projects that restore habitats and ecosystems or o er other environmental bene ts, according to an announcement from the Bureau of Reclamation July 22. A second application period, which opens later this year, will focus on longterm water conservation e orts using the same bucket of funds. e door seems to be wide open for larger-scale projects — with more exibility and fewer hurdles for applicants, several groups said.
“Normally we’ll see somewhere in the ballpark of $20 million to $30 million annually for ecosystem restoration work through WaterSMART for the Upper Colorado River Basin,” said Alex Funk, director of water resources and senior counsel at eodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “Never have we seen $450 million come online all in one (request for proposals).”
July’s winners: (clockwise from top) Ward I: 4295 E. 69th Ave, Ward II: 6421 Glencoe St., Ward IV: 17252 Parkside Drive, and Ward III: 10061 Joplin St. COURTESY PHOTO Commerce City’s ‘Yard of
BRIEFS
Adams City ‘84 alums seeking missing classmates
Adam City’s class of 1984 is scheduled to host its 40th class reunion at 5 p.m. Aug. 30 at the 30/70 Sports Bar and Grill, 18856 W. 120th Ave. in Westminster.
Organizers are trying to contact a few remaining missing graduates. If you attended ACHS with the class of 1984 or have a family member who did, please get in touch with Susan Zale Vanness (303) 513-1333 or vannessrealty@ comcast.net or Tracey Snyder (303) 921-2114 tjsnyder07.ts@ gmail.com
Legal self-help clinic
e Access to Justice Committee hosts a free, legal self-help clinic from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on the rst Tuesday of every month. e program is for those without legal representation and needing help navigating through legal issues.
Volunteer attorneys are available to discuss family law, civil litigation, property, and probate law. Call 303-405-3298 and ask for the Legal Self-Help Clinic at least 24 hours before.
removed from patios that can hold water, making sure roof gutters are cleaned and inspected yearly, removing debris piles from outdoor areas— including buckets, barrels, children’s toys, and tire swings— and removing or changing water in birdbaths frequently.
Homeowners should also maintain swimming pools and spas with proper ltration and chlorination levels, limit watering lawn and plants to avoid water pooling and limit your time outdoors during dusk and dawn to avoid mosquitoes. If you stay outdoors during this time, wear long-sleeved shirts and pants and use mosquito repellents that contain a high percentage of DEET.
Alliance Business Assistance Center grants available e Alliance Business Assistance Center is excited to announce that 2024 business grants are now available to support your business endeavors. Sta at the center can assist residents by helping to identify grants that align with their business goals and industry, providing guidance through the application process, ensuring that they have the best chance of success and providing other valuable resources for local business. To get started, visit our website at https://businessinthornton.com/ local-business/small-businesssupport-programs/business-nancial-assistance.
Mosquito Prevention
CCPD Introduces Online Crime Reporting Form
e Commerce City Police Department has a new online reporting tool allowing the public to report some non-emergency crimes and receive a police report immediately without speaking to a police o cer.
Community members can now conveniently report incidents that do not require immediate ofcer intervention, such as fraud, identity theft, lost property, theft/ shoplifting (less than $2,000), and vandalism.
e new form is online now in English and Spanish at c3gov. com/ReportACrime. Residents should always call 911 for emergencies.
‘Taking No Chances’
and a fun conversation. It’s a great way to get out, get active, and enjoy all the bene ts of walking.
Legal self-help clinic
e Access to Justice Committee hosts a free, legal self-help clinic from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on the rst Tuesday of every month. e program is for those without legal representation and needing help navigating through legal issues.
Volunteer attorneys are available to discuss family law, civil litigation, property, and probate law. Call 303-405-3298 and ask for the Legal Self-Help Clinic at least 24 hours before.
Boards/commissions’ openings
Commerce City has openings for several boards and commissions, including the city’s cultural council, the housing authority, and the Derby Review Board.
Visit https://www.c3gov.com/ Home/Components/Form/Form /70316b05422c448492c51da0f0e0 fd86/ to sign up.
Help for vets
Quali ed Listeners, a veteran and family resource hub serving northern Colorado and southern Wyoming, has many power chairs, scooters, and electric wheelchairs available.
To nd the closest facility to you, visit www.va.gov/ nd-locations.
ter to ensure safety and wellness for everyone. Anyone feeling unsafe or suicidal should call Colorado Crisis Services at 1-844-493-8255, text 38255, or visit the Behavioral Health Urgent Care (BHUC) Center at 2551 W. 84th Ave., Westminster.
Workforce & Business Center workshops
e 17th Judicial District Attorney’s O ce and e Link, a community resource and assessment center in ornton, o er free, 10week programs to families of Adams County teenagers to help develop personal and interpersonal drug-resistance skills. Sessions are from 5:30 to 6;30 p.m. Wednesdays. Call 720-292-2811.
Walk with a doc
Quali ed Listeners also need volunteers to drive veterans to and from appointments, run errands for veterans who cannot get out, provide handyperson services, help administer veteran and family resource guide inventory in local libraries, and veterans to be trained to become quali ed listeners. Call 720-600-0860.
Mental health
Platte Valley Medical Center’s cardiac rehab team and Walk With A Doc will host monthly walks with Dr. Christopher Cannon, an interventional cardiologist at Brighton Heart and Vascular Institute.
e Adams County Workforce & Business Center is hosting multiple workshops throughout November. Visit the center’s website, https:// adcogov.org/workforce-businesscenter, for a full class schedule, which includes contact information for each workshop. e center has locations in Aurora, in Westminter’sPete Mirelez Human Services Center, 11860 N. Pecos St and at 36 South 18th Ave. in Brighton.
Warm Line up and running
Community Reach Center is offering a Warm Line (303-280-6602) for those who want to talk to mental health professionals about anxiety, lack of sleep, and strained relationships, among other topics. e professionals can facilitate referrals to other programs for assistance.
A press statement said the Line is not for crisis intervention. ose feeling unsafe or suicidal should call Colorado Crisis Services (1-844-493-8255), text 38255, or visit the Behavioral Urgent Care Center, 2551 W. 84th Ave., Westminster.
Also, the center’s COVID-19 Heroes Program is set up to assist healthcare workers during the pandemic. ose who live or work in Adams County can receive up to six free counseling sessions. Use the Warm Line for support and free counseling.
Brighton’s community intake location is at 1850 E. Egbert St., on the second oor. It’s open from 8 a.m. to noon Tuesdays.
Volunteers needed
e Adams County Health Department wants people to be proactive in protecting themselves from mosquitoes and illness during these warm summer months. While the county Environmental Health Team monitors for mosquito-borne illnesses, there are steps you can take right now to keep you and your loved ones safe. ose include ensuring pet dishes are
Community Reach Center offers in-person intake assessments from 8 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays at the Brighton Learning and Resource Campus, 1850 E. Egbert St. in Brighton. Call the Community Reach Center at 303-853-3500.
is is a walking program for everyone interested in a healthier lifestyle. After a few minutes to learn about a current health topic from the doctor, spend the rest of the hour enjoying a healthy walk
For walk-in intake, bring an ID and insurance information. For those who would prefer to complete the intake forms and schedule an appointment, the intake forms are available online at www. communityreachcenter.org. ere will be a short screening for u-like symptoms before entering the cen-
Quali ed Listeners needs volunteers to drive veterans to and from appointments, run errands for veterans who cannot get out, provide handyperson services, help administer veteran and family resource guide inventory in local libraries, and veterans to be trained to become quali ed listeners. Visit quali edlisteners.org/volunteerapp and ll out the form, or call 720-600-0860.
Seniors Over 70 Should Consider Downsizing Into a Rental, Not a Smaller Home
Regular readers know that I’ve written about this topic before, but it bears repeating. Just last week a reader called me about listing their home and helping them to buy a smaller, easier to maintain home.
Most agents would welcome this opportunity to have two paydays from a single client, but I’m different, because Rita and I were in a similar situation two years ago and chose another path, and we’re glad we did.
your “golden years” and travel, there’s the added stress of securing your home and handling yard maintenance and snow removal in your absence, so your home doesn’t look like you are on vacation.
We sold our 4,000-squarefoot home and moved into a 1,200-square-foot apartment. A recent study showed that this is a trend among us Baby Boomers.
Homeownership has a lot of costs, responsibility and tasks. The costs include rising property taxes which you will want to appeal every two years, plus rising insurance costs which can’t be appealed. For many, HOA dues and special assessments are an added burden.
Also, just as you might want to enjoy
Condo ownership at least offers a lock-and-leave situation, but still entails those other expenses. Rental relieves you of all the above.
I still recommend home ownership for non-seniors, because it is a proven strategy for wealth accumulation. Indeed it is the appreciation from our owned real estate which set Rita and me up for retirement far more than our earned income.
As one of my fellow Realtors is fond of saying, “If you have too little real estate or not enough, I’m here to help you!”
Fortunately, most seniors over 70 probably own their home free and clear, which means that selling their home can produce a lot of cash to invest in annui-
Kudos to Wendy Renee, Loan Officer Extraordinaire
Last week, I had a double closing that was only made possible by the diligent work of our in-house lender, Wendy Renee of Fairway Independent Mortgage. I can’t go to press this week without describing her work to you!
As happens now and then, I “doubleended” a listing, selling it to an out-ofstate buyer who was unrepresented. This was an investor who has purchased 18 homes and had her own lender, but that lender couldn’t perform and two subsequent lenders failed her, until the last one said we’d have to move the closing to August 15th instead of July 31st. The problem was that my seller was under contract to buy her replace-
ment home on July 31st, and the seller of that home couldn’t postpone the closing because of the contract they had on their replacement home.
So I introduced the out-of-state buyer by phone to Wendy, who said she could meet the deadline — and she did!
Making that possible was the fact that Fairway has every lending function inhouse. She issued disclosures on day 1, got underwriting approval on day 2, sent the Initial Closing Disclosure on day 3, and got the appraisal transferred and a Clear-to-Close on day 7. The loan proceeds were wired on day 7 so we had them for closing at 8 a.m. on day 8.
Thanks, Wendy. You’re amazing!
List With Me & Get Totally Free Local Moving
It has long been my practice — and that of some of my broker associates — that if you hire me to list your current home and to purchase your replacement home, I will not only reduce my commission for selling your current home but provide totally free local moving using our company moving truck (similar to a large U-Haul) and our own moving personnel. We also provide free moving boxes and packing paper/bubble wrap.
using traditional moving companies, you know that our totally free moving can save you thousands of dollars, even for a move within the metro area.
ties or CDs which could well provide enough monthly income to compensate for paying rent. A quick calculation can tell you whether your money will in fact outlive you, when that invested income is added to your Social Security and other income. That was the calculation that Rita and I made.
The question then arises, where can I rent an apartment that suits my needs? Should I go into a 55+ “independent living” complex or a regular rental?
A 55+ community may suit you, especially if you’re a widow or widower or otherwise single, because it can provide much-wanted companionship with its many activities. Some such communities offer “continuous care,” meaning that if you suffer a health setback, you can switch to assisted living, nursing home care and or even memory care without having to move to another com-
munity. I recommend Jenn Gomer from CarePatrol, 720-675-8308, who will interview you about your needs and wants and help you find the right 55+ community for you. She found the complex that Rita and I selected, although we have since moved to a regular rental closer to my office. You pay nothing for her services. She is compensated by the community which you end up choosing,
Are Real Estate Agents Overpaid?
Here’s some data cited by Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman at a conference last week: Seventy-seven percent of agents haven’t made a sale this year, slightly worse than the 70 percent average seen in previous years. Of the agents who do make a sale, more than half earn less than $50,000 a year, and nearly a fourth make $100,000. More than a third of agents have to work a second job just to be able to stay in real estate. (from Inman News)
Trusts Are Another Tool for Leaving Home to Heirs
On July 25th, I wrote about title issues, especially when it relates to leaving a home to your heirs. With input from attorney Dan McKenzie, I wrote about the use of beneficiary deeds and life estates.
A reader asked, “what about trusts?” So I asked Dan to address that topic, and he sent me the following:
Trusts offer several advantages over beneficiary deeds and life estates. Like those two options, a properly funded trust avoids probate. Unlike those two options, however, it also allows your chosen trustee to step in and manage the property during an incapacity event, which is a more significant risk than death at any point in your life. Also, trusts allow you to control things over a few steps and can include instructions on handling things during the various phases of occupancy.
For example, if I want to leave a house to my two kids at my death, I could do that with a beneficiary deed, and that would avoid probate. However, the two kids would become equal co-owners, with no obligation to
each other or any way to resolve disputes about the property. If the property is passed to them through a trust, you can specify as many details as you want in the trust agreement about who is in charge: how costs will be split, decisions will be made, disputes will be resolved, etc.
Similarly, a trust can allow someone to live in the house for some time but ultimately direct where that house goes after a particular event. This is very common when one spouse brings a house into a second marriage. The spouse who does not have an ownership interest often wants assurance that they can stay in the house if they survive the house's owner. But the house's owner wants assurance that, ultimately, this significant asset will pass to their kids, not their step-kids.
A trust can include all the instructions about handling that, such as who is responsible for the maintenance, upkeep, insurance, and taxes during the surviving spouse's occupancy. A life estate doesn't give you a way to provide so much instruction.
Just pack and unpack. We will even pick up your flattened boxes and packing materials after you unpack!
If you have ever priced moving costs
I bought our first moving truck in 2004. We replaced it with a newer truck (above) in 2016. I calculate that we’ve saved clients hundreds of thousands of dollars in moving costs over the years.
Tips for avoiding cons, scams and schemes
District Attorney’s o ce recaps scam awareness event in Commerce City
BY JACKIE RAMIREZ SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
On July 30, a Lunch and Learn event highlighted the prevalence of nancial fraud within the Commerce City community for seniors at the Eagle Pointe Recreation Center.
Sarah Domke, senior deputy district attorney for the 17th Judicial
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District Attorney’s Ofce, explained warning signs and how to keep from being a victim of nancial scams.
Domke has been a prosecutor since 2008 and has worked in Je erson, Adams and Broom eld counties. She has also worked in the Colorado O ce of the Attorney General. As one of the two attorneys in the unit of Financial Crimes, she works alongside the units’ legal assistant and an investigator. is article has been edited for clarity and length.
Colorado Community Media: You were part of Commerce City’s Lunch and Learn on the prevalence of nancial scams in the community. How did the event go?
Sarah Domke: It was a great event – there were probably around 60 people there who were a great audience. ey were engaged and asked great questions at the end – some even provided helpful tips to the group.
CCM: Can you share with our readers what scams are typically taking place in Commerce City or in Colorado in general?
Domke: We see a lot of phone and computer scams. Many times a person will contact the victim of the scam out of the blue and either o er a service or prize (in exchange for a “service charge” or for “taxes”) or threaten legal action unless the person pays money (there is a warrant for their arrest, they missed jury duty, someone has their information and they need to pay so they do not get into legal trouble). ere are still the more traditional computer scams like the “romance” scam (developing a relationship with a
person met in a chat room, dating website, etc and then the other person asks for money) and the scams that say you paid for something you didn’t or there is a problem with your computer and you need to contact a “help” number (and then the “help” number is a person asking for money to “ x the problem”). Similarly, fake warranty expirations and phone solicitors often lead to bigger asks for money and personal information.
CCM: What are some ways that folks can protect themselves from being victims of a scam? What are the signs to look for?
Domke: We talk about six hallmarks of a scam: (1) they contacted you “out of the blue”; (2) they dangle bait, usually money; (3) they want your personal information; (4) you have to pay them rst; (5) you have to wire money, pay in gift cards or cryptocurrency or pay through a payment app; (6) they play on emotions like fear and sympathy – the money is often needed “urgently”
CCM: Scams are typically known to be done either online or over the phone, but are there any other areas where people can nd themselves being brought into a scam without knowing?
Domke: Sometimes people may ask to give an estimate on your home to do some work and then “get hurt” during that “inspection” and request money or threaten legal action. We also still see mail theft quite often and are seeing more and more “card skimmers” in gas pumps.
CCM: is event was held specically for older adults. Based on your expertise, what makes older adults more vulnerable to scams? Are there other age groups that are just as vulnerable to scams?
Domke: Scammers have a good understanding of human nature. Because older adults are more often alone, they are more vulnerable. It is embarrassing to admit when you
have been caught up in a scam, and often older adults do not want to admit that they were the victims of a crime of this nature. However, these scams happen to everyone (I fell for one where they pretended to be the postal service!), and the same emotions are involved – fear and sympathy followed by embarrassment and self-blame.
CCM: When someone nds themselves caught in the aftermath ofnancial fraud or a scam, what steps of action do you recommend for people to take to avoid further damage? Does Adams and Broom eld o er resources to help those who have been victims of nancial fraud and scams?
Domke: Call your bank or credit card company and cancel your card that you were using. Call the nonemergency phone line at your local law enforcement agency. Use the Stop Fraud tab on the Colorado Attorney General website for consumer fraud. Call the DA’s o ce and ask for someone in the Financial Crimes Unit. If we are able to determine (1) that criminal charges were committed and (2) who committed that crime, we may le charges and pursue a criminal prosecution.
CCM: At the event, did you learn anything new about the world of nancial fraud or scams and the e ects that they have on people’s lives, speci cally with Commerce City residents? Or anything that you would like to mention?
Domke: I am always amazed by how many people have been victims of these scams. We hope that by learning about scams and sharing experiences with other community members, we can help people prevent becoming victims. e scammers are not going away; our information is out there because of our reliance on the internet, but we can stop the scam before money changes hands. e best prevention is information and communication with others.
STEAD School gets grant to build “Founders Field”
Commerce City’s STEAD School received a $550,000 grant from Adams County that will allow the public charter high school will proceed with building a 29,900 square foot natural grass play eld – to be known as the “Founders Field”.
e eld will be built at the northeast end of its 10-acre L.C. Fulenwider campus. As a next step, the STEAD School will begin to issue construction bids to landscape rms over the next several weeks.
STEAD is a science-based, student-led, and agriculturally-focused, project driven school serving Reunion, a master-planned community managed by Oakwood Homes in Commerce City.
e school has been developed through a series of public-private partnerships, including a range of funding sources. It currently features three instructional buildings, a one-acre farm, general store, live-
stock, greenhouse lab, soils and seeds lab, a Cultivate Center which slated to open later this year and more.
e school is continuing to fundraise for the nal campus features, including the play eld, as well as animal stables and the “Barn”, which will be the school’s gymnasium and public assembly space.
e Adams County Board of Commissioners awarded more than $21 million in open space grants for 24 projects thanks to the voter-approved Open Space Sales Tax. Funding for the spring 2024 grant cycle came from revenues from the second half of the 2023 Adams County Open Space Sales Tax, which was passed by Adams County voters in 1999, and in perpetuity in 2020.
When the Open Space Sales Tax was presented to voters in 1999, the ballot question called for the creation of an Open Space Advisory Board. is board recommends
open space projects to the county for funding. Grants are funded from 68% of the tax proceeds and are awarded twice a year.
Sarah Domke
The main building at Commerce City’s STEAD School. COURTESY PHOTO
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Obituaries, Arrangements and Resources Online at taborfuneralhome.com
KILGORE
Rich Martin
December 31, 1939 - July 23, 2024
In Loving Memory of Charles Richard Martin
Rich is survived by his spouse of 62 years, Janice (Rutt), 4 children (Steve, Scott, Shellie, Stan), 18 grandchildren, and 15 great grandchildren.
A funeral service to honor and celebrate Rich’s life will be held on Friday, August 30, 2024, 10:00 AM at Zion Lutheran Church, 1400 Skeel St., Brighton, CO. In lieu of owers, donations may be made to Zion Lutheran School in memory of Rich.
William Ray “Ray” Kilgore
December 3, 1935 - July 24, 2024
On July 24th, William Ray Kilgore passed away peacefully in Brighton, Colorado at the age of 88. Known to his loved ones as Ray, he is survived by his wife Colleen, brother Jerry, sons Michael and Randy, and daughter Julie as well as grandchildren Michael Jr., Nathan, Luke, and Liam. He also leaves behind four great grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren.
Born in Denver in 1935, Ray was a hardworking and kind man with a passion for science, woodworking and serving his community. He dutifully served his country in the United States Naval Air Reserve from March of 1954 to March 1961 and took pride in his acts of service to the community as a Boy Scout leader for Troop 75, arbitrator for the Better Business Bureau and Union Steward for the Communications Workers of America Union. As a man with a deep love for learning, Ray was able to pursue an interest in technology and engineering at the Pickens Tech Center in Aurora, where he taught classes on hydraulics and pneumatics as well as served on the advisory board.
After growing up in Milliken, Ray moved to Brighton in 1955 where he gave back to his community by acting as a sitting member on the City of Brighton Board of Adjustment and Charter Chair Commission. He also chose to volunteer as an ambulance driver for Platte Valley Ambulance, where he sought to both help those around him as well as inspire his children, two of whom had taken an interest in medicine.
After taking over Kilgore Supply Company in Milliken with his brother Jerry, Ray spent most of his professional life working in the farming and construction supply industry. He went on to make a name for himself by
founding Farmers Elevator in Brush and Colorado Tool Center in Englewood; both of which he built from the ground up, taking pride in his meticulous accounting and inventory systems which helped to keep his businesses both pro table and organized. Later, he dedicated his time to working with United Power, not only serving on their Board of Directors for fteen years but also acting as President of their USA subsidiary branch. In 1993 he was recognized by Who’s Who Worldwide for outstanding achievements as a global business leader. Ray liked to spend his free time between his home in Brighton and cabin in Bailey, while also occasionally heading south to Sun City, Arizona to enjoy the warm weather or San Carlos, Mexico where he liked to go deep sea shing with his son and grandson. Sometimes described as “one helluva sherman” by those who joined him, Ray participated in numerous shing tournaments over his years of visiting San Carlos, even winning a Cantina Cup Tournament as well as competing in an IGFA world championship in Cabo. Known for his quick wit, ornery character and love for making people laugh, Ray and his tightly knit group of “co ee club” friends remained close throughout his life. He was also an animal lover, having adopted a number of cats and dogs that he cared for with his wife Colleen over the more than sixty nine years that they were together.
He will be greatly missed and lovingly remembered by everyone lucky enough to have known him.
Services will be held on Friday, August 2nd at 3pm at the Presbyterian Church in Brighton
tershed. at work could be paired with downstream projects, like improvements for irrigation infrastructure, Funk said.
e in ux of money is headed for Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah, the four states in the Colorado River’s upper basin. e river basin spans seven Western states, the lands of 30 tribal nations and two Mexican states. ere, the future water supply for 40 million people has been compromised by two decades of drought, a changing climate and overuse.
e funds come with a few strings attached. Only public entities, like governments and tribal nations, can apply. ey can partner with other groups, like environmental advocacy nonpro ts or nongovernmental organizations, which cannot apply independently.
e criteria seem suited to make big ideas happen, several water experts said. e funding minimum is $300,000. Many other grants max out at $300,000, which means projects are smaller in scope. Organizations will have ve years to spend the money.
With applications due in midOctober, many organizations are in the early stages of deciding which projects to prioritize. Funding announcements are expected in spring 2025.
e Ute Mountain Ute Tribe is looking at opportunities to improve operations at its farming enterprise and water infrastructure, spokesperson Peter Ortego said.
e Southwestern Water Conservation District is already planning meetings with local partners to identify multipurpose projects that could receive funding. at could
imum, a conservation group might choose to align its relatively inexpensive stream restoration project with a more expensive project to upgrade a concrete diversion gate for farmers and ranchers, for example. A recent project that helped sh and ranchers near Maybell is a good example of this type of work, Funk said.
“You might see some interesting bedfellows, like ag groups and conservation groups blending their projects together,” he said. “I think that could be really interesting in terms of long-term relationship development.”
Typically, a watershed is broken into smaller projects to t requirements for smaller grants, which can lead to disjointed work, Funk said. e new funding could allow it to tackle a whole river segment at once or do work in both headwaters and valleys.
In the Gunnison Basin, the funding could be used to build arti cial beaver dams, which slow the speed of water, attract beavers and restore wetland ecosystems higher in a wa-
Or, organizations could focus on the Animas River in southwestern Colorado, which turned yellow in 2015 when an upstream mine released toxic wastewater into the river. e funds are also easier to access. Many grant programs require applicants to come up with matching funds, which can be di cult for rural communities, small organizations and tribal nations. ese funds do not have a match requirement.
“Match funding can be hard to secure,” said Aaron Derwingson, Colorado River Program water projects director for e Nature Conservancy. “With the urgency a lot of us are feeling in the basin with the water situation and the scale of the work that needs to be done, it’s really encouraging to see this great downpayment of funds.” is story was printed through a news sharing agreement with e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned nonpro t based in Denver that covers the state.
MARTIN
Fort Lupton welcomes National Guard expansion
Mayor, o cials cut ribbon
$9.4 million readiness center
BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
e Colorado National Guard and the community of Fort Lupton celebrated the expansion of its Guardsmen Readiness Center on July 26. “ e unveiling of this state-of-theart maintenance facility and gym completes the expansion project that India Company and the Infantry Battalion have been anticipating for nearly three years,” said company commander U.S. Army Capt. Kayla Koeune. “ is multifunctional building enhances unit readiness by ensuring rapid maintenance and repair, amenities to increase soldier tness, training and retention, and allows increased integration and streamlined operations with Bravo Company.”
Fort Lupton Mayor Zo Hubbard welcomed the facility and she remembered when it rst opened.
“I can remember at that time, Mayor Tommy Holton said he was proud that one of the only municipalities in Fort Lupton called the Fort actually had military here. We’re still happy about that,” she said.
Mayor Hubbard said it was important to her to say she had olive drab, or O.D. green, in her blood because she was born in Fitzsimmons Army Hospital.
“To see you expand and be part of this community is a big deal to everybody,” she said. “Seeing people in the O.D. green in our gas station stores gives everybody a sense of security.”
Military careers are all about service, and that goes two ways.
“But it’s so important for the citizens of America to know that there are people who are willing to go out and give their very lives. If you’ve been in our cemetery on Memorial Day, you’ve heard me say I take your service personally, you are here for
me,” she said. And she’s grateful for their service.
“I know you serve for the greater good and for all Americans. But I will never forget it because you’re out there to protect me. ank you all for coming. If you’ve never been to Fort Lupton before, please come again, have a meal, and ll your cars with gas. Maybe you’ll nd you like it and want to move here because we love to grow. e National Guard’s growth will help the community in immeasurable ways. So thank you.”
SSG Brandon Behrens, said readiness centers used to be called armories. e community can use it as much as we can.
“We respond to res, natural di-
sasters such snow storms, tornadoes, anything like that,” he said. “We gather at the readiness center and then we can help the community with local support and help local rst responders so they can do their jobs,” Behrens said.
Deployment
Behrens said the rst and overall mission for the battalion is the state of Colorado. ey take orders from the Governor of Colorado regarding natural disasters and other matters.
ey are the only military entity allowed to do that, he said.
“Active Army, or reserves or Marine Corps, or even Air Force can’t respond to natural disasters,” Beh-
rens said. “However, the Air National Guard and the Army National Guard can because we’re part of the state military. We are also federal so we can deploy overseas by order of the President of the United States.”
$9.4 million expansion
According to o cials, the construction expansion cost $9.4 million using state and federal funds, and the building received a certicate for its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. e Fort Lupton Readiness Center has 206 soldiers and 110 vehicles with training and administrative support.
Celebrating the National Guard expansion cutting the ribbon with sta , Fort Lupton Mayor Zo Hubbard, U.S. Army Major General Laura Clellan Adjutant General, and U.S. Army Capt. Kayla Koeune, I-Co commander.
PHOTO BY BELEN WARD
e Readiness Center was expanded to a total of 41,942 square feet, with a 5,826-square-foot readiness center space, a 6,627-square-foot multi-purpose room training building, 6,875 square yards of military vehicle parking, and 3,864 square yards of person vehicle parking.
e expansion is part of a reshufing of National Guard bases. It’s part of a master plan to provide modern readiness facilities for all Colorado Army National Guard units to replace aging readiness centers that no longer meet space or code requirements.
With the expansion, Company I, 186th Battalion, was moved out of the Windsor Readiness Center to join its sister unit, Company B, 1st Battalion, 157th Infantry. Sharing one facility provides more productive training of the units in a modern, safe training and storage facility with a unit maintenance area. According to o cials, it also supports these units’ retention, recruiting and administrative o ces.
According to o cials, the move out
CLEAN UP
It goes without saying that having litter, trash or debris strewn about is an instant disquali er. Other disquali cations include any properties that are in violation of city ordinances or zoning laws, or are currently for sale or rent. A winner does not, however, have to own your home to enter. If you are
of the Windsor Readiness Center’s opened that facility for the 3650th Maintenance Company, which relocated from its overcrowded space shared with the Support Maintenance Site in Firestone, Colorado.
According to o cials, HB&A Architecture & Planning was awarded the contract for the architectural engineering rm, and Howell Con-
a renter, that is perfectly ne! Additionally, the landscape design should be aesthetically pleasing, with a balance of colors, textures, and plant varieties. Don’t be afraid to show some personality with original or handmade touches such as bird feeders, art or handpainted pottery. Bonus points are awarded for using water-e cient landscaping, also known as xeriscaping, a practice that greatly reduces the need for irrigation and helps lower one’s carbon footprint.
in her speech, it’s great to see a municipality named Fort that has a military base in Fort Lupton,” said Fort Lupton Councilman Carlos Barron.
Toward the end of the month, the committee, which is made up of community members and city sta , reviews all of the nominations and selects the four winners for the following month. Winners receive a yard sign, a shoutout on the city’s o cial website and social media channels, plus a gift certi cate to a local garden center to encourage their future landscaping endeavors. In a time when environmental conservation is a top priority for many Commerce City residents
“We are excited to have them here and be able to host them here in this body in this community (knowing they) are safe. e guardsmen are great people as well. It’s going to be amazing,” e Air National Guard at the Readiness Center training in the Variant Lakota helicopter.
and o cials, the Yard of the Month program is a great way to get involved with sustainability practices and get creative in the process. e August nomination window closed on Friday, and judges will soon begin reviewing the candidates. However, beginning on Aug. 5, the nomination period opens for September and runs through Friday, Aug. 30. To nominate yourself, a neighbor or a friend, visit the Yard of the Month page on the city’s website.
Colorado’s top-paying and lowest-paying jobs
The state’s annual wage data report is out
BY TAMARA CHUANG THE COLORADO SUN
Fast food cooks kept the top spot as Colorado’s lowest-paid occupation by averaging an annual wage of $33,251 last year. On the opposite end, neurologists retained their top rank as the highest, averaging $409,685, according to the latest wage report from the state’s labor department.
e annual report, based on Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data, o ers one of the most comprehensive looks at how much workers in Colorado earn. State labor department analysts just released their take on it, providing a plethora of charts for additional context. One insight? ey looked at how hourly wages changed between 2013 and 2023.
For food preparation and servingrelated jobs, those average wages soared 78.1% in 10 years, and had the highest growth rate of all major occupations for wage growth. When adjusted for employer costs, the historic increase dropped to 18.58%, which was still one of the highest pay bumps for all occupations, said Barb Wills, lead techni-
cal analyst for the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment OEWS program.
“You kind of expect high wage occupational groups to (be) increasing so this was encouraging,” she said. “It was nice to see them catching up.”
e most obvious contributor is the state’s higher minimum wage, which is pegged to in ation. In that same 10-year period, the state’s minimum wage has shot up 75.4%, while in Denver, where the majority of food workers are, the minimum wage is up 122.2%.
ere’s more to it, said Ryan Gedney, a Denver economist known as “ e Stat Guy.” Colorado’s tight labor market before the pandemic was a big contributor as demand for workers pushed salaries higher.
In Gedney’s calculations of wage data, Colorado’s overall median annual income rose 21.9% between 2015 and 2019, ranking the state third highest nationwide. But between 2019 and 2023, income growth of 20.8% “was outpaced by 32 other states,” he noted online.
“I think Colorado’s fall in ranking between 2019 and 2023 could be a re ection of other states increasing their minimum wages and having tighter labor markets than Colorado post-pandemic,” Gedney said in an email. “While Colorado’s minimum wage continued to increase through
2023 (and onward due to indexing), that gain was only 23% between 2019 and 2023. Additionally, Colorado’s openings-to-unemployed ratio bounced around signi cantly in 2022 and 2023, with rankings as low as sixth but as high as 36th. at said, I don’t see Colorado’s relatively low rank between 2019-2023 as discouraging.”
Other highlights from the state’s OEWS report:
• e Boulder metro area had the highest annual average and median wages in the state, at $87,221 and $64,753, respectively. Eastern and southern Colorado areas had the
lowest average wage at $54,205 and median wage of $45,220.
• e majority of the state’s labor force is in the Denver metro area, at 56.7%, or nearly 1.6 million workers.
e Colorado Springs metro is second with 11.1%, or 310,390 workers.
• Colorado has 10 times more astronomers than the rest of the nation, thanks to the federal labs and universities located in the state.
is story was printed through a news sharing agreement with e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned nonpro t based in Denver that covers the state.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 24
Charmed future for a Fort Lupton company
Carbon capture company hopes to bury climate change
BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNTIYMEDIA.COM
As global temperatures rise, a new Fort Lupton company seeks to nd new ways to repair the climate by removing carbon and securing it underground.
“With the high levels to keep the earth below one and a half degrees of warming. We need to reduce emissions by switching to electric vehicles and other things,” said Charm Industrial CEO Peter Reinhardt July 23 at his company’s grand opening and ribbon cutting in Fort Lupton. “But we also need to remove CO-2 from the atmosphere. In other words, we’ve over lled the bathtub. So, we need to go back and remove historical emissions to keep the balance and checks.”
Reinhardt said Charm is a seminalist for the Department of Energy Carbon Removal Purchase Pilot Prize, the rst initiative by the U.S. Federal Government to purchase carbon dioxide removal directly from domestic providers.
Charm Industrial started building its facility in 2022 and opened its doors at 2360 South Rollie Avenue on July 23, celebrating with a ribboncutting ceremony.
“We’re excited about the future; we hope it will transition to more of a public good service. We need to do something with atmosphere,” said Peter Reinhardt, CEO of Charm Industrial.
e Colorado Energy O ce roadmap is starting to incorporate carbon capture and removal in the statewide plan, due in the fall of 2024.
“We are so happy to support those e orts and to be in Colorado. Over 65 people are working at the Fort Lupton site, and we’re continuing to grow,” said company spokesperson Alison Kelman.
“We are dedicated to being part of the Colorado community here in Fort Lupton. It’s been a welcoming community, and we’re excited that you can all come out to our facilities to learn more about what we do.”
Beyond o sets
aerospace engineering but then moved to San Francisco to start a software company. Reinhardt built his company “Segment” up to 600 people with $250 million in annual revenues before selling it o in 2020.
“Along the way, I became interested in buying carbon o sets for our emissions at Segment. Unfortunately, most of those carbon o sets we were buying weren’t doing anything,” Reinhardt said.
Carbon o sets e ectively allow polluters to pay some other group to use less carbon, either paying them not to develop or remove some amount of carbon from the atmosphere.
“ en, I became very interested in building something of higher quality and more permanent, which ultimately led me to start Charm as a carbon removal company in February 2018,” he said.
Reinhardt said they settled on using Bio-oil sequestration pathway in March 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 shutdown. eir method takes plant residues from agricultural waste and potential fuel
orphan oil and gas wells. Today, we do that in Kansas, and hopefully soon in some other states,” he said. Reinhardt said that the process permanently removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, very measurably puts it underground, and permanently sequesters it.
“ is took o for us in 2020. Our rst customers were software companies based in San Francisco and Seattle. We started delivering the rst carbon removal in January 2021. A few years later, we’re excited to be here in Fort Lupton and start to scale up our operations,” Reinhardt said.
Green transition
Reinhardt noted that the nations’ transition to green energy is underway, with wind turbine maker Vesta located down the street. But good methods for removing carbon are still considered an unsolved problem.
“It became clear in 2018, when the (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) released a report
where they said, it looks like we’re going to need around ve to 10 billion tons a year of removal CO-2 by 2050,” he said.
Reinhardt said there was zero carbon removal in 2018 at the start of the whole new industry.
“ ere are 100 Carbon removal companies out there, and Charm is one of the leaders. ere are a variety of di erent approaches, from direct air capture to enhance rock ocean alkalinity enhancement to biomass, carbon removal, storage, and weathering, which is what we do,” Reinhardt said.
Reinhardt said all these approaches are supported by voluntary purchases from companies that want a positive impact. It started with payment software companies such as Stripe and Shopify, an e-commerce company. But it has since spread to Microsoft and other companies and types of industries.
“It has now spread into nancial services companies JP Morgan, who are now paying for carbon removal against their own emissions,” Reinhardt said.
CEO Peter Reinhardt and his son cut the ribbon on Charm Industrial’s Fort Lupton operation on July 26. BELEN WARD
Overflowing
Reinhardt describes the process with a bathtub analogy. e amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today is about 420 parts per million, up from about 280 parts per million before we started burning fossil fuels in the 1800s.
“ ere’s a safe level, around 350ish parts per million CO-2, but we’ve over lled it right now,” Reinhardt said. “ e removal process involves returning and lowering the bathtub’s level to what they think is safe and stable.”
Carbon dioxide cycles in and out of the atmosphere yearly as plants grow – removing carbon from the atmosphere – die and then rot, releasing that carbon back.
Aside from an engineered type of carbon removal, there is no way to do that, and there’s a lot of talk about planting more trees. Unfortunately, planting enough trees will not make this happen. It can help, but it can’t solve the problem anymore, he said.
Market for biomass
Reinhardt said his company buys biomass from folks who have it as residue from a forestry operation southwest of Denver, a part of forest fuel load reduction, wild re prevention and work to prevent the worst outcomes of wild res along the Front Range.
He’s hoping to expand those resources to include agricultural residues such corn stover – the husks, leaves and cobbs normally left in the eld after corn is harvested. at debris would otherwise rot in the eld, he said.
ey use pyrolyzer that convert the biomass to Bio-oil and then transport it to injection orphan wells nearby.
“We hope to shorten that transport distance, and what’s cool is that we’re using old orphan wells,” Reinhardt said.
Reinhardt said they’ve been asked why they don’t use Bio-oil as a replacement for crude oil or other fossil fuels
“ at was the idea behind pyrolysis and Bio-oil for many decades,” he said. “ e problem is that bio-oil
is not very rich in energy. It’s very rich in carbon, but it has one third the energy content of crude oil. So, it’s great as a way to sequester carbon. But unfortunately, it’s not very good as an energy production or transport tool.”
Size matters
Reinhardt said one thing that stands out when comparing technologies is Charm Industrial’s tiny footprint. eir machines do the conversion, which is small and uses little water and energy from the bio-mass being converted in the rst place.
“So, the conversion pyrolysis process involves heating up the biomass and e ectively boiling it, which comes from the biomass itself. So, we burn a little bit of the biomass and a little bit of the char for heat to do the conversion,” he said.
e machines will be located at the Fort Lupton location, but the next steps will make them smaller and portable, he said.
“ e key feature of what we’re doing is that the machines at our company are stationary. In the long run, we intend to move towards machines that are mobile and can go on the site of the biomass production, whether that’s a eld or a forest, and have a smaller footprint,”
said.
Reinhardt said an injection site, which is less than half an acre, can story 100,000s of tons of carbon dioxide equivalent underground stored in abandoned oil and gas infrastructure. Injection sites are chosen based on the surrounding rock and soil, quality status of the wellbore, and other factors.
“ e density of the bio-mass is also important, and the bio-oil his company produces is more dense than some alternatives that seek to sequester gaseous Co2 underground, he said.”
“ e problem is that when you compress gaseous Co2, it’s a very buoyant light-density uid, so when they pump it underground, it’s less dense than the brine that’s down there. So it wants to come back to the surface, which means you need extraordinary geological formations to make sure it never leaks back up. What’s cool about Bio- oil is that it’s very dense.”
“It’s denser than the brine, so post-injection, it sinks even better; it reacts with itself and solidi es. So, from a permanence perspective, it is guaranteed that it will stay down there, high-quality removal.”
Biomass sourcing
Kelman said one of Charm’s rst
Colorado projects uses piles of logs from a forest thinning project in McArthur Gulch on the Upper South Platte.
“It reduces the impact of postre sediment into the river, enhances wildlife habitat for species, elk, mule deer, and wild turkey, and makes the landscape more resilient,” said Kelman.
Kelman said they have 23 listings on the company’s job page.
“We’re excited to be in Colorado, and there are many opportunities for workforce development. We can contribute signi cantly and increase the economic impact in the area.”
e feeling was mutual, according to Mariann Johnson, president of the Fort Lupton Chamber. She said this is one of those things that makes your heart feel good because it feels like they are doing something good for our environment.
“Welcome to our community as a new, vibrant business. We’re so happy to have you. Your presence strengthens our network and adds immense value to our collective efforts,” Johnson said. “We are supporting and celebrating your successes. We are very thankful that you chose Fort Lupton for your home.”
Reinhardt
Charm Industrial CEO Peter Reinhardt shows o some of his company’s equipment during a tour July 26 in Fort Lupton. BELEN WARD
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Legals
City and County
Public Notice
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
AN-268-24
Notice is hereby given that a public hearing will be held by the City Council of Commerce City in a hybrid format, on August 19, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter. Persons wishing to testify in person will need to appear at the Council Chambers, Commerce City Civic Center, 7887 E 60th Avenue. Advance registration for in-person testimony is not required. Persons wishing to testify virtually must register in advance. Registration information can be found at https://www.c3gov.com/government/ city-council/virtual-meetings or by phone or email requests submitted to the City Clerk at 303-227-8791 or dgibson@ c3gov.com. The hearings will also be broadcast on Channel 8 in Commerce City and livestreamed at https://www. c3gov.com/video
The purpose of the public hearing will be to determine whether that property legally described on attached Exhibit “A” meets the applicable requirements of the statutes of the State of Colorado and is eligible for annexation to the City of Commerce City.
Any interested person may appear at the public hearing and be heard regarding the matter under consideration and/or may submit in writing prior to the public hearing any matter relative to the public hearing.
Notice is further given that, prior to final approval of this annexation proceeding, minor amendments may be made to the legal description for the property which is the subject of this annexation proceeding, based upon the evidence presented at the public hearing.
A copy of the petition initiating the annexation proceeding is on file in the office of the city clerk of the City of Commerce City, 7887 East 60th Avenue Commerce City, Colorado, 80022.
Dated this July 16, 2024.
CITY OF COMMERCE CITY, COLORADO /s/ Dylan Gibson, City Clerk
A RESOLUTION FINDING SUBSTANTIAL COMPLIANCE OF THE ANNEXATION PETITION IN CASE AN-268-24 KNOWN AS THE ANDERSON RANCH
ANNEXATION AND SETTING A PUBLIC HEARING TO DETERMINE ELIGIBILITY FOR SUCH ANNEXATION
NO. 2024-069
WHEREAS, there was presented to and filed with the City Council of the City of Commerce City, Colorado (“City”), a written petition dated February 16, 2024 by Anderson Trust in case No. AN-268-24 (“Petition”) seeking annexation to and by the City of contiguous unincorporated territory consisting of approximately 121 acres situated, lying and being in the County of Adams, State of Colorado, as described in the Petition and generally located at 9901 Chambers Road, commonly known as the Anderson Ranch annexation.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COMMERCE CITY, COLORADO, AS FOLLOWS:
Findings. The Petition in Case No. AN-268-24 is found to be in substantial compliance with the applicable laws of the State of Colorado, pursuant to C.R.S § 31-12-107(1).
SECTION 1. Notice of Hearing. The City Council will hold a public hearing for the purpose of determining if the proposed annexation complies with section 30 of article II of the state constitution, C.R.S. §31-12-104, as amended, and C.R.S. §31-12-105, as amended, or such provisions thereof as may be required to establish eligibility for annexation to the City under the terms of Part 1 of the Municipal Annexation Act of 1965, as amended, at the following time, date and place:
6:00 p.m.
Monday, August 19, 2024
City Council Chambers 7887 East 60th Avenue
Commerce City, Colorado 80022
*This hearing may be held partially or entirely electronically; more information is available at https://www.c3gov.com/ government/city-council/virtual-meetings.
Any person may appear at such hearing and present evidence related to the proposed annexation, subject to any applicable registration requirements. Upon completion of the hearing, the City Council of the City of Commerce City shall set forth, by resolution, its findings of fact and its conclusion based thereon for the annexation with reference to the matters required by C.R.S. § 31-12-110. If the City Council concludes, by resolution, that all statutory requirements have been met and that the proposed annexation is eligible and legal under the laws of the State of Colorado, the City Council shall consider an ordinance making the
proposed annexation effective.
RESOLVED AND PASSED THIS 15TH DAY OF JULY 2024.
CITY OF COMMERCE CITY, COLORADO
Steve J. Douglas, Mayor
ATTEST
Dylan A. Gibson, City Clerk
Exhibit A LEGAL DESCRIPTION THAT PART OF EAST ONE-HALF OF SECTION 18, TOWNSHIP 2 SOUTH, RANGE 66 WEST OF THE SIXTH PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, COUNTY OF ADAMS, STATE OF COLORADO, BEING MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: COMMENCING AT THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE SOUTHEAST ONE-QUARTER OF SAID SECTION 18, THENCE SOUTH 88°47’00” WEST ALONG THE NORTH LINE OF SAID SOUTHEAST ONE-QUARTER, A DISTANCE OF 30.01 FEET TO THE WEST RIGHT-OF-WAY LINE OF CHAMBERS ROAD ALSO BEING A POINT ON THE PRESENT COMMERCE CITY LIMITS LINE AS SHOWN ON THE ANNEXATION MAP RECORDED IN FILE 16, MAP 783, ADAMS COUNTY RECORDS (AN-9988) AND THE POINT OF BEGINNING; THENCE SOUTH 00°14’15” WEST, 1329.89 FEET ALONG SAID WEST RIGHT-OF-WAY LINE AND ALONG SAID PRESENT COMMERCE CITY LIMITS LINE (AN-99-88) TO THE SOUTH LINE OF THE NORTH ONE-HALF OF THE SOUTHEAST ONE-QUARTER OF SAID SECTION 18; THENCE SOUTH 88°53’10” WEST, 2628.93 FEET ALONG THE PRESENT COMMERCE CITY LIMITS LINE AS SHOWN ON THE ANNEXATION MAP RECORDED IN FILE 18, MAP 245, ADAMS COUNTY RECORDS (AN-159-00) AND ALONG SAID SOUTH LINE TO THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF SAID NORTH ONE-HALF OF THE SOUTH-EAST ONE-QUARTER; THENCE NORTH 00°13’10” EAST, 1325.16 FEET ALONG THE WEST LINE OF SAID NORTH ONE-HALF OF THE SOUTHEAST ONE-QUARTER AND ALONG THE PRESENT COMMERCE CITY LIMITS LINE (AN-159-00) TO THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE SOUTHWEST ONE-QUARTER OF THE NORTHEAST ONE-QUARTER (CENTER CORNER SECTION 18); THENCE ALONG THE PROLONGED LINE OF NORTH 00°13’10” EAST, 1340.64 FEET ALONG THE PRESENT COMMERCE CITY LIMITS LINE AS SHOWN ON THE ANNEXATION MAP RECORDED IN FILE 16, MAP 783, ADAMS COUNTY RECORDS (AN-9988) AND ALONG THE WEST LINE OF SAID SOUTHWEST ONE-QUARTER OF THE NORTHEAST ONE-QUARTER TO THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF
SOUTHWEST ONE-QUARTER OF THE NORTHEAST ONE-QUARTER; THENCE NORTH 89°00’51” EAST, 1329.82 FEET ALONG THE ALONG THE PRESENT COMMERCE CITY LIMITS LINE (AN99-88) AND ALONG THE NORTH LINE OF SAID SOUTHWEST ONE-QUARTER OF THE NORTHEAST ONE-QUARTER TO THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF SAID SOUTHWEST ONE-QUARTER OF THE NORTHEAST ONE-QUARTER; THENCE SOUTH 00°13’42” WEST, 1335.29 FEET ALONG THE PRESENT COMMERCE CITY LIMITS LINE (AN99-88) AND ALONG THE EAST LINE OF SAID SOUTHWEST ONE-QUARTER OF THE NORTHEAST ONE-QUARTER TO THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE SOUTHEAST ONE-QUARTER OF THE NORTHEAST ONE-QUARTER OF SAID SECTION 18; THENCE NORTH 88°47’00” EAST, 1299.73 FEET ALONG SAID PRESENT COMMERCE CITY LIMITS LINE (AN-99-88) AND ALONG THE NORTH LINE OF THE NORTH ONE-HALF OF THE SOUTHEAST ONEQUARTER OF SAID SECTION 18 TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING. CONTAINS 5,267,997 SQUARE FEET OR 120.937 ACRES MORE OR LESS
Legal Notice No. CCX1379
First Publication: July 25, 2024
Second Publication: August 1, 2024 Third Publication: August 8, 2024 Last Publication: August 15, 2024 Publisher: Commerce City Sentinel Express
Bids and Settlements
Public Notice
WINDLER PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT AUTHORITY
WINDLER - 1881 Park – Bridge
Sealed Bids will be received by Windler Public Improvement Authority, hereinafter referred to as OWNER, at the office of the Authority Engineer, Merrick & Company, 5970 Greenwood Plaza Boulevard, Greenwood Village, CO 80111, until 10:00 AM local time on September 6, 2024, for:
WINDLER - 1881 Park – Bridge
This Contract provides for the construction of the following: Primary pedestrian bridge connection between the north and south sides of 1881 park, providing linkage above Tributary T Drainage Channel. Copies of the Bidding Documents may be requested from the Windler Public Improvement Authority, at the email of the Authority Engineer, barney.fix@ merrick.com, beginning August 8, 2024. NO PAYMENT REQUIRED.
Public Notices
Bidders must be licensed Contractors in the State of Colorado.
Bids will be received providing unit price for items; however, the price given will be on a maximum not-to-exceed amount, as described in the Bidding Documents.
The Work is expected to be commenced within sixty (60) days after the Date of Contract.
Bid Security in the amount of five percent (5%) of the total Bid Price must accompany each Bid in the form specified in the Instructions to Bidders.
The Successful Bidder will be required to furnish a Performance Bond, Labor and Material Payment Bond guaranteeing faithful performance and warranty bond for three-years after Substantial Completion, and the payment of all bills and obligations arising from the performance of the Contract.
The OWNER reserves the right to award the contract by sections, to reject any or all Bids, and to waive any informalities and irregularities therein.
For further information, please contact Barney Fix at Merrick & Company at 303-751-0741.
Legal Notice No. CCX1388
First Publication: August 8, 2024
Last Publication: August 22, 2024
Publisher:
Commerce City Sentinel Express Non-Consecutive Publications
Public Notice
WINDLER PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT AUTHORITY
Neighborhood C & F Streetlights
Sealed Bids will be received by Windler Public Improvement Authority, hereinafter referred to as OWNER, at the office of the Authority Engineer, Merrick & Company, 5970 Greenwood Plaza Boulevard, Greenwood Village, CO 80111, until 11:00 AM local time on September 6, 2024, for:
Neighborhood C & F Streetlights
This Contract provides for the construction of the following: Furnish and install streetlights for Neighborhood C (southeast corner of Denali Street and 55th Ave) and Neighborhood F (southeast corner of Denali Street and 53rd Ave) which is comprised of approximately 11,000 LF of conduit, 48 streetlights, 78 pedestrian lights, and 17 meter pedestals for Neighborhood C and approximately 4,900 LF of conduit, 20 streetlights, 21 pedestrian lights, and 7 meter pedestals for Neighborhood F.
Copies of the Bidding Documents may be requested from the Windler Public Improvement Authority, at the email of the Authority Engineer, barney.fix@ merrick.com, beginning August 8, 2024. NO PAYMENT REQUIRED
Bidders must be licensed Contractors in the State of Colorado.
Bids will be received providing unit price for items; however, the price given will be on a maximum not-to-exceed amount, as described in the Bidding Documents.
The Work is expected to be commenced within sixty (60) days after the Date of Contract.
Bid Security in the amount of five percent (5%) of the total Bid Price must accompany each Bid in the form specified in the Instructions to Bidders.
The Successful Bidder will be required to furnish a Performance Bond, Labor and Material Payment Bond guaranteeing faithful performance and warranty bond for two-years after Substantial Completion, and the payment of all bills and obligations arising from the performance of the Contract.
The OWNER reserves the right to award the contract by sections, to reject any or all Bids, and to waive any informalities and irregularities therein.
For further information, please contact Barney Fix at Merrick & Company at 303-751-0741.
Legal Notice No. CCX1389
First Publication: August 8, 2024
Last Publication: August 22, 2024 Publisher: Commerce City Sentinel Express Non-Consecutive Publications
Public Notice
INVITATION TO BID
Date: August 8, 2024
Sealed Bids will be received by the South Adams County Water and Sanitation District acting by and through its South Adams County Water and Sanitation District Activity Enterprise (Owner); Attn: Dawn Fredette at 6595 East 70th Avenue, Commerce City, Colorado 80022 until 2:00 p.m., local time, Thursday August 29, 2024, for the project entitled “2024 SACWSD Sampling Station Installations”. At said place and time, and promptly thereafter, all Bids that have been duly received will be publicly opened and read aloud.
The project generally consists of installing 19 sampling stations at various locations for the South Adams County Water and Sanitation District in Commerce City, Colorado. The project consists of installation of the sampling station units, including 3/4-inch taps to the existing water mains and installation of 3/4-inch water service line to the new sampling station locations, and associated asphalt, concrete, and landscaping removal and replacement.
All Bids must be in accordance with the Contract Documents on file with the Owner, South Adams County Water and Sanitation District, 6595 East 70th Avenue, Commerce City, Colorado 80022;
and at the office of Muller Engineering Company, Inc., 7245 West Alaska Drive, Suite 300, Lakewood, Colorado 80226.
Electronic files of the Bidding Documents for use in preparing Bids may be obtained from Muller Engineering Company. Bid Documents will be available on Friday, August 9, 2024, at no charge. Please contact Steve Hibbeler, shibbeler@mullereng. com, for questions and to obtain electronic copies of the Bidding Documents. No printed copies will be provided unless a specific request is made for a hard copy of the plans.
Bids will be received on a unit price basis. Bid Security in the amount of 5 percent of the total Bid must accompany each Bid. It is anticipated that the Contract Agreement will be signed and the Notice to Proceed will be issued in late September 2024. Construction shall be completed and ready for final payment within forty-five (45) calendar days, including all asphalt removal and replacement.
The successful Bidder will be required to furnish a Construction Performance Bond and a Construction Payment Bond as security for the faithful performance and the payment of all bills and obligations arising from the performance of the contract.
The Bid and Bid Security will remain subject to acceptance for 77 calendar days after the Bid opening, or for such longer period of time that Bidder may agree to in writing upon request of Owner.
The District reserves the right to reject any and all Bids, to waive informalities, and to reject non-conforming, non-responsive, or conditional Bids.
By: Vicki Ennis Secretary
South Adams County Water and Sanitation District acting by and through its South Adams County Water and Sanitation District Activity Enterprise
Legal Notice No. CCX1390
First Publication: August 8, 2024
Last Publication: August 8, 2024
Publisher: Commerce City Sentinel Express
Notice to Creditors
PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Estate of Ronald Charles Boggs, a/k/a Ronald C. Boggs and Ronald Boggs, Deceased Case Number: 2024 PR 30434
All persons having claims against the above-named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Adams County, Colorado on or before December 8, 2024, or the claims may be forever barred.
Howard Boggs Personal Representative c/o Law Office of Byron K. Hammond, LLC 4500 Cherry Creek Drive South
Suite 960
Denver, CO 80246
Legal Notice No. CCX1387
First Publication: August 8, 2024
Last Publication: August 22, 2024
Publisher: Commerce City Sentinel Express
Estate of Sheri Renee Dawson, Deceased Case Number: 2024 PR 255
All persons having claims against the above-named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Adams County, Colorado on or before December 1, 2024, or the claims may be forever barred.
Joseph Edward Dawson
Personal Representative 3144 Worchester St Aurora CO 80011
Legal Notice No. CCX1381
First Publication: August 1, 2024
Last Publication: August 15, 2024
Publisher: Commerce City Sentinel Express
Public Notice
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Estate of RANDALL T. LOPEZ, Deceased Case Number 2024 PR 30370
All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Adams County, Colorado on or before October 30, 2024, or the claims may be forever barred.
Adrian Lee Lopez, Personal Representative 5610 E. 66th Avenue Commerce City, CO 80022
Legal Notice No. CCX 1386
First Publication: August 8, 2024 Last Publication: August 22, 2024
Publisher: Commerce City Sentinel Express ###
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This summer, take simple steps for be er air
It’s another hot, sunny, bluesky day in Denver. The air is still and looks clear! Despite the beautiful day, you may feel irritation in your throat or a tightness in your chest while out walking the dog, at the park, riding your bike, or on an afternoon run. Your asthma may also be acting up.
This is likely the impact of ground-level ozone: the Front Range’s most pressing air quality problem each summer. We can’t see or smell it, but this pollutant accumulates the most on hot and sunny blue-sky days, reaching its highest levels in the afternoons and evenings.
While ozone serves an important purpose high up in the atmosphere — protecting us from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation — at ground level, high concentrations of ozone are unhealthy. Ozone makes it difficult to breathe, increases our susceptibility to respiratory infections, and exacerbates respiratory ailments such as asthma.
High ozone levels affect all of us. Even if you are healthy, ozone can impact the cells in your lungs during and after exposure, like
sunburn, and repeated exposure over time can lead to reduced lung function. The people at higher risk of exposure or more sensitive to this air pollution include the elderly, those with respiratory conditions, outdoor workers, outdoor athletes, and especially children, whose lungs are still developing.
Where does this air pollution come from? Ground-level ozone is not directly emitted from any source. It forms in the air when two chemicals, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), react in the sunshine and heat of summer days. These chemicals are called ozone precursors, and they are released into the air from emissions made by our gaspowered vehicles, gas-powered lawn equipment, and oil and gas production across the Front Range.
Both colorless and odorless, ozone is different than wildfire smoke, tiny particulate matter called PM2.5 or PM10, and the visible Denver “brown cloud” of years past. However, ozone can combine with other air quality issues, and is sometimes referred to as “smog.”
While air quality in the region has greatly improved in the past half century, ozone remains a pressing issue to our health and environment. But as our gas-powered vehicles and gas-powered lawn equipment contribute to its formation, we all have the power to reduce ground-level ozone in the Front Range each summer!
First, sign up for ozone alerts. Visit SimpleStepsBetterAir.org to sign up for emails or text “BetterAirCO” to 21000 to receive air quality alerts on your phone. When the Colorado Department of Health and Environment (CDPHE) forecasts a high ozone day, the Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC) will send you a timely text or email to let you know.
On high ozone days, protect your health by avoiding outdoor exercise or heavy exertion between noon and 8 p.m. Still want to get outside? Plan ahead and spend time outside in the morning, or later in the evening, when ozone levels will be lower.
Second, reduce your emissions! Take some Simple Steps for Better Air: Skip two car trips per week by carpooling, combining
errands, or taking the bus or the light rail to get where you need to go. Don’t forget: youth ride for free on RTD! For shorter distances, leave the car at home and walk, ride a scooter, or your bike or e-bike.
Fuel up your car after 5 p.m. to avoid releasing emissions during the heat of the day. Skip idling your car: instead, roll down the windows and turn off the engine while waiting in parking lots or lines. Consider a low- or zeroemissions vehicle, like an electric vehicle (EV), when it’s time to purchase a new vehicle.
Mow the lawn after 5 p.m. if you still use gas-powered equipment. Even better, upgrade your old gas lawn mower, trimmer, or leaf blower to a new electric one with a 30% state discount at participating retailers this year!
And if your job can be done remotely, work from home at least one day a week and eliminate your commute altogether.
Taking these timely, simple steps in the summer improves our Front Range air quality, our health, and our ability to enjoy the outdoors! Visit SimpleStepsBetterAir.org for more information about how to reduce your ozone impact this summer and help your community breathe easier.
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