Highway 60 Connect by The Greeley Publishing Company

Connecting people, families and communities in the Johnstown-Milliken area

The New Milliken Athletic Complex

WELD SCHOOL DISTRICTS ASKING FOR BONDS to make improvements

Isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t your traditional Recreation Center Johnstown poised for millions in revenue and job growth

AUGUST 2016 Photo by Joshua Polson

VOL 1

ISSUE 1

2 I HIGHWAY 60 CONNECT I AUGUST 2016

A NOTE FROM THE MANAGING EDITOR

t’s an exciting time to live and work in Johnstown and Milliken. Population and business growth have opened up the possibilities for these two communities, and we want to be part of that. Highway 60 Connect is a news publication meant to bring people, families and communities together. Whether it’s telling your best stories, providing important community event information or writing about the newest businesses creating the biggest buzz, we hope to be a reflection of two great communities. Welcome to your newest source of news and information for the Johnstown-Milliken area. We hope you enjoy it!

Letford Elementary School, 2 Jay Ave, Johnstown Photo by Alyson McClaran

- Tyler Silvy, managing editor, Highway 60 Connection

YOUR BACKDOOR NEIGHBOR FOR THE LARGEST NEW AND USED SELECTION IN NORTHERN COLORADO SINCE 1908

DRIVEN TO DO WHAT’S RIGHT 34 Bypass & 47th Avenue • 970-352-1313 www.weldcountygarage.com

AUGUST 2016 I HIGHWAY 60 CONNECT I 3

WHATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S INSIDE...

A train in Milliken minutes before a storm July 5. Photo by Alyson McClaran

P. 4

BORN IN A BARN Unique Johnstown building houses sports of all kinds, mere feet from grazing cattle

P. 6 Calendar of Events

PUBLISHER Bryce Jacobson EDITOR Randy Bangert CREATIVE MANAGER Kyle Knoop

P. 8

P. 10

P. 15

A clever bit of flagpole annexation has Johnstown poised for millions in revenue and jobs to boot

With a grand opening scheduled for Aug. 12, the sprawling Milliken Athletic Complex is offering a sense of place for residents

Nearly half of Weld County school districts to ask voters for more money in the fall

RUN IT UP THE FLAGPOOL AND SEE

SUMMER FUN FOR EVERYONE

P. 7 Johstown/Milliken on the List

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Nikki Work Catherine Sweeney Bobby Fernandez Trevor Reid

P. 16

COVETING CASH

P. 12 Your Schools

OIL, GAS SLOWDOWN HITS AG COMMUNITY Agriculture community also affected by oil and gas slowdown

P. 14 Festivals

501 8th Avenue P.O. Box 1690 Greeley, CO 80632

BUSINESS MANAGER Doug Binder

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Joshua Polson Alyson McClaran

For all editorial, advertising subscription and circulation inquires, call (970) 352-0211

MANAGING EDITOR Tyler Silvy

SALES MANAGER Bruce Dennis

Send editorial-related comments and story ideas to: tsilvy@highway60connect.com

CREATIVE SERVICES SUPERVISOR Amy Mayer

SALES STAFF Sue Lapcewich Heather Marrow

For advertising inquiries, contact bdennis@highway60connect.com

ON THE COVER

A tee-ball batter is silhouetted as he practices his swing while his teammates watch last month at the Milliken Recreation Center.

Look for the next edition of Highway 60 Connect in September

4 I HIGHWAY 60 CONNECT I AUGUST 2016

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“I would have given a lot when I was young to have a place like this.”

Rex Beall stands in the 16,000-plus-square-foot facility called the Sports Barn in Johnstown. The facility can accommodate athletes in a number sports including basketball, volleyball, dance, gymnastics and soccer.

BORN IN A BARN

Unique Johnstown building houses sports of all kinds, mere feet from grazing cattle By Bobby Fernandez // Photos by Joshua Polson For Highway 60 Connect

hen Rex Beall and Cade Lehl pitched in on some land in west Johnstown a few years ago, all they really wanted was to provide a convenient and reasonable place for local athletes to fine-tune their skills. At that time, the generous duo likely couldn’t have imagined turning away any athlete serious about developing their games. Just a few years later, Beall and Lehl are turning away athletes almost constantly — not because of any kind of change of heart, rather out of necessity. The 16,250-square-foot Sports Barn facility in the countryside just west of the heart of Johnstown is often a packed house. Following the winding dirt road that leads to the facility provides a passage to a high-energy oasis from the otherwise tame, tranquil acres of surrounding farmland. On a particularly busy day, one might

find young children having lunch or climbing on rocks in the lawn in front of the building. But the real intrigue comes from all that goes on inside the facility. Basketball, volleyball, baseball, soccer, gymnastics, dance — you name it. Athletes from throughout northern Colorado assure the Sports Barn is more packed than a trendy nightclub in Lodo on a crisp, summer night. The family-owned facility offers opportunities for club athletes from just about all areas of the sports spectrum to train. “As far as indoor facilities for baseball or even public basketball, there was not much around this area,” said Lehl, 27. “So it’s definitely very beneficial for a small town like this.” Beall and Lehl also use the property to raise cows, mere feet from the athletic facility. The facility also offers private lessons in various sports, particularly during the

AUGUST 2016 I HIGHWAY 60 CONNECT I 5

Jessa Megenhardt, 17, collects all of the volleyballs during practice at the Sports Barn in Johnstown.

summer when club seasons slow a bit. It also hosts fundraisers on a regular basis. Beall painted the blueprint for the Sports Barn years ago, when he put up indoor baseball batting cages in one of the buildings at a feedlot he owns in Platteville. “So, once we bought this property about three years ago, we just started playing with numbers about building an indoor facility for club teams,” said Beall, 43. “Really,

it’s for the local kids, because there is not anywhere for them to go. There is no gym space hardly at all. I’ve been turning people away, and I’ve never really advertised.” Beall and Lehl are among the Sports Barn’s ownership group which also includes Rex’s wife Sara Beall, Mollie and Billy Schmitz and Randy Lehl. The owners have spared no expense accommodating their long list of partners. In addition to a full-size basketball court — which is also used for volleyball and indoor soccer and baseball — the facility is equipped with a full-size gymnastics facility and multiple dance studios. Beall’s daughter competes in gymnastics with

Ava Andreason, 7, carefully walks along the balance beam during practice at the Sports Barn last month in Johnstown.

Gymstarz Elite — run by Stephanie Meza — which quickly became one of the prime users of the Sports Barn. Gymstarz’s dance club counterpart, Dance Starz — operated by Jenna Evans — is another club that makes its home at the Sports Barn. Meza and Evans had plenty of input when their portions of the facility were being built. Factor in a series of other partners — from baseball instructors to volleyball clubs — Rex Beall, Cade Lehl and company are now full to the brim and nearly spilling over with organizations eager to make use of the facility, which lays within a northern Colorado environment that largely consists of crowded gyms, stiff fees and sparse court time. While the Beall, Lehl and Schmitz families own the building, their aforementioned partners pay a lease. The Sports Barn also allows more leisurely users to schedule birthday parties, graduation parties, poker tournaments and similar social events, giving the public a little piece of the pie on which club teams are feasting. “I just live about three miles away, but really I didn’t know it even existed until about a year ago,” ClubOne volleyball director and Windsor High School coach LaVerne Huston said. “And what a great place. It really is. And the idea that these guys are keeping it pretty functional for anything and everything — because you will go into a number of volleyball facilities in which there is nothing else held there, no basketball, no soccer — they’re definitely getting the best out of this facility.” Without its own facility, ClubOne has struggled in the past finding adequate practice space, often utilizing high school gyms but playing second fiddle to official school functions. “We’re trying to get in here even more,” Huston said of the Sports Barn. “And it is kind of centralized for us,

THE SPORTS BARN » The Sports Barn is a 16,250-square-foot athletic training facility in west Johnstown. » It was opened three years ago by Rex and Sara Beall, Mollie and Billy Schmitz, Randy Lehl and Cade Lehl. » The facility caters primarily to athletes at the club level in basketball, volleyball, baseball, soccer, gymnastics and dance. » Also, the public can book the facility for birthday parties, graduation parties and other social events. For contact information, go to www.thesportsbarn.org. for the athletes that we do have. We have a lot of local kids — Johnstown, Milliken kids. We also have Loveland and Greeley kids.” The Sports Barn’s ownership group certainly isn’t paying lip service to its desire to prioritize kids over cash. Beall said he and the other owners are seeking to earn nonprofit status within the next year. “As far as Cade and I are concerned, we’re not going to make a living off of what we make on the income on this,” Beall said. “We’ve got the bills paid for and we keep our own payment. Besides that, it’s for the kids to give them a place to go. I would have given a lot when I was young to have a place like this.”

6 I HIGHWAY 60 CONNECT I AUGUST 2016

Photo by Alyson McClaran

AUGUST EVENTS

Swim in movie night 8 p.m. Milliken Pool, 112 Centennial Drive, Milliken www.trpr.org/aquatics

Johnstown Town Council Meeting 7 p.m. Town Hall 450 Parish Ave. Johnstown www.townofjohnstown.com

Milliken Town Board Meeting, 7 p.m. Meeting House 1101 Broad St., Milliken (970) 587-4331

Beef â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;N Bean Day all day Lola Park, Milliken 301 Irene Ave., Milliken www.millikenco.gov/ news_detail_T6_R115.php

Milliken Planning Commission 7 p.m. Meeting House 1101 Broad St., Milliken (970) 587-4331

Milliken Housing Authority 1:30 p.m. Meeting House 1101 Broad St., Milliken

GOOD TO KNOW... MILLIKEN

JOHNSTOWN

Milliken Athletic Complex, 320 Centennial Drive, Milliken, (970) 660-8750

Johnstown Town Hall, 450 South Parish Ave., (970) 587-4664

Milliken Town Hall, 1101 Broad St. (970) 587-4331 Milliken Public Works, 2951 Ash St., (970) 587-8723 Photo by Alyson McClaran

Johnstown-Milliken Chamber of Commerce, 1109 Broad St., (970) 587-0699 Milliken Police Department, 1201 Broad St., (970) 587-2772

Johnstown Public Works, 450 South Parish Ave., (970) 587-9103 Johnstown Police Department, 430 South Parish Ave., (970) 587-5555 Johnstown Municipal Court, 450 South Parish Ave., (970) 587-4664 Johnstown Community Center, 101 Charlotte St., (970) 587-4664

AUGUST 2016 I HIGHWAY 60 CONNECT I 7

MILLIKEN

JOHNSTOWN

Staff reports // Photo by Alyson McClaran

Welcome to Milliken, the land of industrious women. When it comes to top lists in this community, working women account for four of seven categories, including percentage of women in the construction industry.

Fastest growing cities? Check. Newest houses? Check. Johnstown finds itself on a handful of recent lists, according to citydata.com. Check out where your community stands below.

IS ON THE LIST

on the list of “Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in industries: Administrative and support and waste management services (population 5,000+)”

on the list of “Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in occupations: Construction and extraction occupations (population 5,000+)”

IS ON THE LIST

on the list of “Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in industries: Construction (population 5,000+)”

on the list of “Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in industries: Other services, except public administration (population 5,000+)”

on the list of “Top 101 cities with the most cars per house, population 5,000+”

on the list of “Top 101 cities with the lowest number of assaults per 100,000 residents (population 5,000+)”

on the list of “Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in occupations: Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations (population 5,000+)”

on the list of “Top 101 cities with largest percentage of females in industries: Information (population 5,000+)”

on the list of “Top 101 cities with most building permits per 10,000 residents (population 5,000+)”

on the list of “Top 100 fastest growing cities from 2000 to 2014 (pop. 5,000+)”

on the list of “Top 100 cities with newest houses (pop. 5,000+)”

on the list of “Top 101 cities with the smallest percentage of divorced people (15+ years)(population 5,000+)” Source: citydata.com

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Source: citydata.com

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RUN IT UP THE

FLAGPOLE AND SEE A clever bit of flagpole annexation has Johnstown poised for millions in revenue and jobs to boot By Trevor Reid // Photos by Alyson McClaran For Highway 60 Connect

ABOVE: Construction worker Jose Arita installs pipes for a laundry room July 5 in a new apartment complex in Johnstown. BELOW: Construction worker Valdo Estrada controls the crane that lifts him to the top on the new Scheels building July 5 in Johnstown.

t might seem surprising that sporting goods giant Scheels has taken so long to build its first location in Colorado, a state known for its outdoors culture. Even more surprising is that the 250,000 square foot retail building will open in Johnstown, with its relatively small population. But with an understanding of the town’s history of rapid growth, it becomes clear the location is no mistake. The thriving 2534 development didn’t look like much in the late ’90s, but a few savvy businessmen saw the location’s potential and they jumped on it. They had a vision — and the guts to try to make it come true. Almost two decades later, the team has grown and their vision has evolved, but the root of the goals remains: to build a hub for the northern Colorado region. The more than 500-acre 2534 development is now rife with new developments. It’s home to multifamily housing units, retail, medical and office buildings and it will even soon house some industrial companies. The dream all started when developers Gary Gerrard, Joel Wiens and Dale Boehner bought the several hundred acres of land at the cross streets of two of the region’s busiest highways. “I think that all three of us could see the value of that intersection. You’ve got a major interstate highway going north-south and a major U.S. highway going east-west, so it

AUGUST 2016 I HIGHWAY 60 CONNECT I 9

<< makes a regional draw for users, and that’s what we saw,” Gerrard said. “We hadn’t seen a raise in the value of the land yet, so it was a good time to buy that land, even if we had to hold it for a while.” A while later, Scheels purchased its Johnstown location with Carson Development, a development company that has worked with the store in Overland Park, Kan. Operating as Johnstown Plaza, LLC, Carson Development purchased nearly a million square feet from Chrisland Real Estate, the company that began the 2534 development. Developer Allen Schlup said various factors attracted Carson Development to the location. “The demographics worked for our retailers we want to put in,” Schlup said. “The traffic count for I-25 and Highway 34 is really what brought us in, and the visibility from that intersection.” With an estimated 118,000 cars passing through the intersection each day, Schlup doesn’t use the word “visibility” lightly. Scheels officials anticipate the store will bring 450 new jobs to Johnstown, marking the beginning of the Johnstown Plaza as a prime location for retail businesses. Town manager Roy Lauricello said the project will bring the town $6.17 million in one-time revenue. Though such rapid growth might sound daunting, Johnstown is no stranger to growing at a faster pace than most towns. From 1990 to 2005, the town’s population grew nearly twice as fast as the populations of the counties of Larimer and Weld. That population growth naturally stimulated the businesses of Johnstown as well. From 2000 to 2005, the gross retail sales increased almost 20 percent annually, more than 15 percentage points larger than Colorado’s growth rate in the same period. More than just a growing population is responsible for that sales

increase. The town literally grew in land size as it began annexations northwards along I-25 in 2000. The growth might have been stunted if not for a lack of interest in Loveland. “We wanted to annex that property and develop it,” Gerrard said. “Loveland’s vision didn’t really carry it that far east. At the time, there wasn’t much out there. (Loveland) didn’t seem interested in crossing the interstate, so we went to Johnstown, and they were very interested in it.” Johnstown hopped on board quickly, helping the developers come up with an expedited approval process for companies looking to use the land. “It was attractive to (Johnstown) because it brought them to a very busy intersection,” Gerrard said. Gerrard said they installed the infrastructure, such as the water and sewage, on their own dime. Town Planner John Franklin described the annexation as “a short flagpole,” referring to a strategy used by municipalities to annex a small strip of land to maintain contiguous borders. From the historic Johnson’s Corner truck stop and restaurant, Johnstown annexed along I-25 to reach what’s now known as Thompson River Ranch. With more than 50 homes already sold this year and still more land to build on, the Thompson River Ranch is the fastest selling community in Northern Colorado. From there, parcel annexations brought Johnstown to the 2534 development. Just two miles north of the Thompson River Ranch sits the Gateway at 2534, offering 254 luxury apartments. The brand new apartment complex hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony July 12. Scheels marks just the beginning of the development, as Schlup mentioned other leases with Johnstown Plaza already being executed. He said

DID YOU KNOW? When a municipality annexes

unincorporated territory, it is required to maintain a set amount of contiguity along its borders. In order to do so, a municipality may annex a narrow strip of land to reach a desired plot of land. The resulting annexation looks like a flag waving off a pole that attaches to the main land of the municipality.

Johnstown Plaza has also received letters of intent from more brokers interested in the Plaza. By press time, he could not provide names. Scheels isn’t the only building under construction, as Johnstown Plaza expects to break ground on a fourth building soon. Schlup said Carson Development has worked in wonderful towns and cities, but the Johnstown staff’s cooperation really stands out. “They bend over backwards to make things go as smooth as possible,” he said. “Johnstown has been by far the best one we’ve worked with so far.” Franklin said that even though it’s difficult to project specifics about the development, it fits like a glove for the Johnstown Area Comprehensive Plan that laid out a vision for the town in 2006. In the plan, the area that has now become Johnstown Plaza is marked as a gateway meant to attract residents and consumers from the town’s borders. “We’ve anticipated general growth and have planned for provision of services,” Franklin stated simply in a phone interview. - Bridgett Weaver contributed to this story.

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10 I HIGHWAY 60 CONNECT I AUGUST 2016

SUMMER FUN... FOR EVERYONE With a grand opening scheduled for Aug. 12, the sprawling Milliken Athletic Complex is offering a sense of place for residents By Catherine Sweeney// Photos by Joshua Polson For Highway 60 Connect

AUGUST 2016 I HIGHWAY 60 CONNECT I 11

he Milliken Athletic Complex’s unfinished gymnasium floor isn’t keeping kids away. The facility is weeks away from its official opening, but girls and boys are already rushing to the sprawling facility, 320 Centennial Drive. Just off a dirt road and surrounded by farmland, the complex holds 22,000 square feet of space for them to play. Outside, they ride bikes on the new pavement and run around jumping rope. Inside, they shy away from the raised floor panels to make their way to wellness classes. On a hot Friday morning, a small group of girls cooled off from the sticky weather as a woman plugged in a food processor. She wrangled them as they giggled and wandered, and told them they’d be learning to make hummus. Thompson Rivers Parks and Recreation, a special district blanketing Johnstown and Milliken, built the $8 million facility. Most of that money came from fundraising and donations. Leaders say the athletic complex, or the MAC, does more than give families a place to gather; it’s changing the area’s image. The complex will have its official opening Aug 12, but the schedule is already packed, said Executive Director Clint Dudley. Classes are the facility’s mainstay. It’s not a traditional rec center; it doesn’t have a pool or tennis court residents can drop in and use. It’s called a programming facility. “Generally, there’s an instructor or a coach,” Dudley said. The district’s board has been looking to add more space for years, and it started out wanting that traditional kind of recreation center. It started in 2013 when they decided to ask voters for a property tax increase to pay for one. Before Election Day, Colorado saw one of its worst floods. It hit the Front Range hard, and the district’s two towns were no exception. “The town was pretty devastated,” Dudley said. Voters didn’t approve the project’s funding. Officials started looking at other ways to provide more recreation opportunities. They came up with an idea: Build a collection of smaller athletic facilities. “Out of that failure, there was a better path forward,” Dudley said. Smaller athletic facilities like these have benefits a large complex can’t offer. The district can pay for new space incrementally, which means members don’t have to ask for a large chunk of change all at once. “We don’t have to build a $25 million rec center on Day 1,” he said. It helps participation, too, he said. People are more likely to go to a recreation facility if The Milliken Athletic it’s

Want in?

Tristan Brown, 5, stretches to try and tag out Chace Hagan, 6, during a tee-ball game last month at the Milliken Recreation Center.

Complex is already letting people in, but it will have a grand opening at 5 p.m. Aug 12. Thompson Rivers Parks and Recreation is throwing a party for the opening with snacks and games.

close to home. Decentralizing the options cuts down on some of the barriers. The new building gave administrators a new home, too. For years, their offices have been in the JohnstownMilliken RE-5J School District building, 110 Centennial Drive. The districts are still neighbors and partners. The recreation district still uses the schools’ gyms, and the schools still use recreation staff to maintain their athletic fields. The recreation district also partners with the local Boys and Girls Clubs of Weld County chapter. A Boys and Girls Clubs employee will be at the Centennial Drive facility full time. The organization rents space in the athletic center for him. There’s also a lounge and a computer lab, where kids can hang out, play games, craft, read and do homework. The recreation district’s board has been looking to add after-school programs, but they proved to be immensely expensive. The Boys and Girls Club already offers those services at a low cost to families, Dudley said. That’s something the district couldn’t do itself. About half of the $8 million facility’s construction costs were covered by donations. Some corporate leaders donated water rights and land, Dudley said. State grants covered a bit. But the biggest contributor was the town of Milliken, which pitched in $3 million. “The town board stepped up,” said Milliken Town Administrator Kent Brown. Members saw both the rec district and the Boys and Girls Clubs needed more space. It’s proven a good investment, he said. “You see people over there all the time, and they haven’t even opened the gymnasium,” he said. The immediate use isn’t all the center has brought the area, though. There weren’t many gathering places before, and that didn’t help Milliken’s image. “I think it’s made a difference for the town,” Brown said. “It’s changed the perception.”

Maddox Tymkowych, 5, lines up his swing on the ball during a tee-ball game last month at the Milliken Recreation Center.

12 I HIGHWAY 60 CONNECT I AUGUST 2016

YOUR SCHOOLS

PARKS & REC

Weld County RE-5J School District

MILLIKEN

Photo by Alyson McClaran

Ada Park, located South of Broad Street (Highway 60) on Aragon Court Fireman’s Park, located on Broad Street (Highway 60) next Milliken’s Fire Department Photo by Alyson McClaran

Administration Building 110 South Centennial Drive, Suite A, Milliken (970) 587-6050 • weldre5j.k12.co.us Letford Elementary School 2 Jay Ave., Johnstown (970) 587-6150 • letford.weldre5j.k12.co.us Pioneer Ridge Elementary School 2300 Cinnamon Teal Ave., Johnstown (970) 587-8100 • pioneerridge.weldre5j.k12.co.us Milliken Elementary School 100 Broad St., Milliken (970) 587-6200 • millikenes.weldre5j.k12.co.us Milliken Middle School 266 S. Irene Ave., Milliken (970) 587-6300 • millikenms.weldre5j.k12.co.us

Milliken Fitness Park, located on Lilac Street and Rachel Court in the Frank Farms Subdivision Florence Park, located on Holly Street between Rachel Avenue and Tamara Avenue, in the middle of Frank Farms Subdivision Hillsboro Skate Park, located at Harriet Avenue and Elm Street Lola Park, located on Forest Street, between Irene and Josephine avenues Mountain View Park, located off of Juneberry and Olive streets in Milliken’s residential area Sappington Park, located off of Schoolhouse Drive on the west side of Knowledge Quest Academy

JOHNSTOWN Clearview Park, located in the Clearview Subdivision Eddie Aragon Park, located in the Johnstown Center Subdivision between South Parish Avenue and Castle Pines Avenue between the Post Office and Library Hays Park, located in the Country Acres Subdivision on Country Acres Drive and Harding Avenue Lake Park, take Highway 60 to High Plains Boulevard, turn right onto Rocksbury Lane Parish Park, located at Charlotte Street and Raymond Avenue

Roosevelt High School 616 N 2nd St., Johnstown (970) 587-6000 • roosevelt.weldre5j.k12.co.us Knowledge Quest Academy 705 School House Drive, Milliken (970) 587-5742 • kqatrailblazers.org

Rolling Hills Ranch Park, located in Rolling Hills Ranch Subdivision on Rolling Hills Parkway Pioneer Ridge Park, located in the Stroh Farm Subdivision, west of Pioneer Ridge Elementary School, at the corner of Cinnamon Teal Avenue and Saxony Road Sunrise Park, located at the North end of Greeley Avenue and also accessed off North 6th Street near Jay Avenue

AUGUST 2016 I HIGHWAY 60 CONNECT I 13

Population

13,306 Johnstown population in 2014, a 247 percent increase since 2000.

Economy

$76,623 was the Median household income in 2013, a $26,000 increase since 2000.

62% of Johnstown residents are married.

16.4% of total Johnstown residents jobs that are in the construction sector, the highest share of jobs in the community.

91.9% of Johnstown residents with a high school diploma or more education.

1.1 Police officers per 1,000 residents, less than half the rate of the Colorado average.

Development

$224,000 was the median house or condo value in 2013, a $70,000 increase since 2000, but still below the Colorado median value of $240,000. 30 minutes is the average commute time for Johnstown residents.

20 Bridges built between 196069. Just five have been built since.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;www.citydata.com

14 I HIGHWAY 60 CONNECT I AUGUST 2016

Summer isn’t just about nearly 100-degree heat and swimming pools. Communities across Weld County will host an abundance of festivals and events that feature live music, fresh food, celebrations and more. Here’s a list of what is coming this summer in small communities throughout the county: » AULT FALL FESTIVAL: Aug. 5-7. For more information, contact Bob Swanson at (970) 702-3005. » DACONO’S CARBON VALLEY MUSIC AND SPIRITS FESTIVAL: Aug. 6. For more information, call AJ Euckert and Valerie Taylor at (303) 833-2317. » ERIE ART FAIR: Aug. 18-21. For more information, go to www.erieco.gov/specialevents. » FORT LUPTON TRAPPER DAYS: Sept. 9-11. For more information, call the Fort Lupton Chamber of Commerce at (303) 857-6694.

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» FREDERICK MINERS DAY: Sept. 17. For more information, call (720) 382-5500. » GARDEN CITY ANNUAL BOOTLEGGIN’ DAYS: Aug. 19-20. For more information, go to the Garden City Business Association Facebook page, or email gardencitybusinessassociation@gmail.com. » KERSEY DAYS: Aug. 5-6. For more information, go to the Kersey Day Facebook page. » MILLIKEN BEEF AND BEAN DAY: Aug. 13. For more information, call Caree Rinebarger at (970) 660-5045 or email CRinebarger@town.milliken.co.us. » NUNN HARVEST FESTIVAL: Aug. 27. For more information, call (970) 897-2385. » PLATTEVILLE HARVEST DAZE: Aug. 19-21. For more information, call (970) 785-2245 or emaildmillion@plattevillegov.org. » SEVERANCE DAYS: Aug. 12-13. For more information, call (970) 686-1218. » WINDSOR HARVEST FESTIVAL: Sept. 3-5. For more information, call (970) 674-2899 or go to www.windsorharvestfest.com.

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COVETING CA$H

By Tyler Silvy Photo by Alyson McClaran For Highway 60 Connect

or the second-straight year, Ault-based Highland Re-9 School District Superintendent Rob Ring Jr. doesn’t get much of a summer. Right outside his office window, to the south, there’s major construction underway, the fruits of a $10.7 million bond voters in the district approved in November 2014. A new vocational building with better safety standards, a new practice gym with a gleaming, 20foot tall logo facing the mountains to the west and a new cafeteria/auditorium have been working their way to completion since the passage. Ring has Dec. 1 circled on his calendar. That’s when the work should be completed. “The actual construction part is challenging, but the rewards come when the students (get to see it),” Ring said. “The response from our students is worth the pain and suffering of going through the construction.” Officials at five Weld County school districts this year are hoping for more, despite the headache from construction, asking voters to approve up to $296.7 million in tax increases to spruce up schools or bolster district budgets. Johnstown-Milliken Re-5J, for now, doesn’t appear to be one of them. That 42 percent of Weld County’s school districts will likely ask voters to approve tax increases would be unusual if it weren’t such an unusual year in the state. Officials at the Colorado School Finance Project expect more districts than ever to put tax increases on the November ballot. In Weld, it breaks down like this: » The Windsor Re-4 School District will ask voters for $104.8 million, nearly half of which will be used to build a new high school in the rapidly growing district. » The Keenesburg-based Weld Central Re-3J District hasn’t made it official but expects to ask voters to approve a $61 million bond issue which would, among other things, build another elementary school in Lochbuie. Officials there also plan to ask voters for an annual $3.3 million mill levy override for seven years to help increase teacher pay, among other things. » The Gilcrest-based Valley Re-1 School District will likely ask for $62.5 million for existing facility improvements and $18.1 million for a new junior high. Both numbers, say Superintendent Don Rangel, are contingent upon community survey results, which will be final in the next couple of weeks.

Nearly half of Weld County school districts to ask voters for more money in the fall

Felipe Vigil grinds all the cracks in the gym flooring to ensure that its level last month at Highland Re-9 School District.

» Fort Lupton Re-8 School District will ask voters for a $35 million bond issue. » And Greeley-Evans School District 6 will ask voters to approve a seven-year, $12 million per year mill levy override that will go toward textbooks, transportation, security and employee pay increases, among other things. The timing of the request, for all districts, is not by chance. For every district, it’s a presidential election year, which means turnout. Historically, the higher the turnout, the higher the likelihood of school-related ballot measures passing. Ring doesn’t get much into the politics, but he knows Highland Re-9 won by 100 votes in 2014. By percentages, the 100 votes represented a landslide 55-45 percent victory for the district.

There was a sense Wednesday, as Ring donned his personal hard-hat emblazoned with the words “Big Daddy” that things are on the upswing in Ault after years of declining enrollment. New housing development in Pierce bolstered the district by 65 students last year, the first increase in more than a half-decade, according to the district’s Official Statement with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. The new students will be welcomed this year by glass garage doors on the south side of the high school that open up to patio seating outside the cafeteria and mountain views to the west. Ring lamented the foothills fires that obscured the mountains from view Wednesday, but it’s still one of his favorite parts. As more people move to the district, does the shiny, new construction — the mountain views — tempt them to stay local with their kids? “Can’t hurt,” Ring said.

Central Colorado Water Conservancy District Providing augmentation supplies for over 1100 agricultural wells in Weld, Adams and Morgan Counties. Services include water quality testing, education outreach and legislative efforts to protect water. www.ccwcd.org

970-330-4540

16 I HIGHWAY 60 CONNECT I AUGUST 2016

hen the South Platte River flows high, Chuck Sylvester doesn’t get nervous. He grew up on the river. His family’s farm has been in LaSalle for 150 years. High water, low water — he’s seen it all more times than he can count. But he’s only seen the water rise higher than the doorknob of his garage once. He and his wife have had to escape via a tractor and watch from a nearby hilltop as the foundation of their house disappeared underwater. The house is raised 4 feet off the ground. If it were 2 more feet off the ground, he thinks they may have been OK. As it was, they weren’t. “It’s just part of the trials and tribulations you go through,” he said. “God’s just testing to see if we’re strong enough to stay alive.” The 2013 floods in Weld County caused significant damage to Sylvester’s property. If it weren’t for the oil and gas wells on his land — and the monthly checks he receives from the leases — Sylvester said his family never would have been able to make the necessary repairs to keep their house livable. Farmers and ranchers often use oil and gas royalties as fallback money when things go wrong, like during natural disasters or when commodity prices fall. But when the royalties are low and commodity prices are low, like now, when they’re both at their lowest in 10 years, that can cause significant struggles. Farmers aren’t new to volatile markets. Commodity prices are always sliding up and down, and Colorado Farm Bureau President Don Shawcroft said farmers were expecting the oil and gas bubble to burst, though how quickly and severely it did came as a surprise. Even now, almost three years after the floods, Sylvester is still working to undo the damage done by one week of weather. The difference is the checks coming from the oil and gas companies are smaller these days. Farmers and ranchers have worked with oil and gas companies since development began in the state more than 30 years ago. While these relationships have both give and take, the two sides have come to agreements to make the partnerships profitable and livable. In the early days — the 1980s and ’90s — the two industries were often at each other’s throats. In a 2015 Energy Pipeline article, Greeley farmer Dennis Hoshiko said the relationship now couldn’t be more different than it used to be. “It’s like night and day,” he said. “It’s by no means perfect, but the relationship between the two is remarkably better.” Oil companies work around farmers’ day-to-day operations, give right of way to animals, try to minimize traffic and clean up sites when they’re finished. Farmers lease the land to the oil companies so they have the land to drill on, which is getting harder to access because of urban sprawl. After years of working together, it’s symbiotic. “We’ve heard from the agriculture community that these royalties and payments help farmers and ranchers through their lean years,” said Doug Flanders, director of policy and internal affairs of Colorado Oil and Gas Association. “They use these funds to put their kids through college or A view of the mountains from a hill in Johnstown. pay off

OIL, GAS SLOWDOWN HITS AG COMMUNITY

Agriculture community also affected by oil and gas slowdown By Nikki Work // Photos by Alyson McClaran For Highway 60 Connect

AUGUST 2016 I HIGHWAY 60 CONNECT I 17

an inheritance tax so they can keep their farm in the family. These checks make a real impact in people’s lives.” But at the end of 2014, oil and gas prices dipped, so production started to slow. By the end of 2015, the price per barrel fell to less than $40, and drilling had come almost to a halt. In Weld County, the leading oil producing county in Colorado, the rig count fell from more than 60 in 2014 to less than 20 in 2016. “It’s been difficult. We’ve seen some layoffs, and we’ve seen office closings. The rig count compared to last year is down by two-thirds,” Flanders said. The industry continued to slip at the start of 2016, but is finally beginning to see some gains. At the beginning of July, the price per barrel hovered just below $50 — a much healthier market. As the downturn hit the oil industry, it impacted farmers, too. More than 600,000 people in Colorado own mineral rights of some sort, according to the Colorado chapter of the National Association of Royalty Owners, many of whom are in the agricultural community. Shawcroft estimates at least 10,000 farmers and ranchers have wells on their property. “There are a number of (Colorado Farm Bureau) members certainly who are very concerned about it,” Shawcroft said. “We hear from them and those royalty checks being less. It’s not a majority of our (more than 24,000-person) membership by any means, but definitely a significant number of farmers and ranchers are in that situation.” Shawcroft said there’s an old joke among farmers throughout the Midwest, where the typical crop rotation includes corn, soybeans and wheat. Farmers around there always joke that the best rotation around the farm is an oil well — it’s consistent, there are basically no input costs and the impact on the owner is fairly low. But when that well runs dry, it hurts, Shawcroft said. Many farmers include their mineral interests in loan plans they propose to the bank. When the oil and gas money doesn’t hit its expected numbers, the entire budget has to change in order for the farm to stay profitable, Shawcroft said. For Sylvester in LaSalle, the prospects aren’t that grim. He’s semi-retired. He only raises a couple horses on his pastures and leases his cropland out to some younger farmers. For the Sylvesters, the checks for his several wells through companies like Noble, have never been a primary source of income. In the good times, the oil and gas income has helped the Sylvesters support scholarships for 4-H kids in Weld County. It’s helped them uphold water and land stewardship, something which is a passion for both Sylvester and his wife, Roni. Until the oil money picks back up, those things may have to fall by the wayside. If they relied on the checks for income, or something bad were to happen now, which Sylvester knows better than to count out, his safety net is all but gone. That said, he knows oil and gas has its peaks and valleys, and he believes there will be another peak. The number of wells on his property changes cyclically, dependent on the lives of the wells. It always has been that way since the first well was drilled in 1980. “The energy industry is kind of like farming. It has its ups and downs,” Sylvester said. “There’ll be better days, (we) just have to wait it out.” Other Colorado farmers, like Jim Park, who farms east of Kersey, said the oil and gas money has always been supplementary. Though the Parks, who farm alfalfa and corn, have never seen too much development on their property, Park said the royalties they do receive are shrinking. “Because the price of oil is half or less, it’s slowed up the royalties some,” he said. Though his operation hasn’t seen much change, he’s seen it happening around him. “I know some of the guys around, they’re shutting in some of the wells. They’re even shutting some of them down.”

Shawcroft said in the past, when commodity prices fell, farmers typically relied on other sources of income, like their oil and gas royalties. Since these payments are shrinking at the same time as corn, beef and other commodity prices are slipping downward, farmers are looking to supplement in other ways. Shawcroft said this dichotomy is forcing farmers to get creative in how they market their product and how they produce. Some are cutting spending on necessary items like fertilizer in hopes that their yields are still large enough and crop quality is still viable enough to carry them through the season. While Shawcroft said many farmers hope the oil market will turn around soon, the ag community as a whole is more concerned with the crop and livestock market. That’s their industry — the one they actually can impact. Everything else just tops off the tank. “There’s a lot of those folks that have interests in oil and gas and they recognize it is a very pleasant thing to have a significant amount of income coming from,” Shawcroft said, adding with a laugh that unlike agriculture, “production of oil is not very susceptible to weather.”

“We’ve heard from the agriculture community that these royalties and payments help farmers and ranchers through their lean years”

‘We live on ...’

The Colorado Farm Bureau keeps energy issues, including the development of mineral interests, among its top legislative and policy priorities every year. Don Shawcroft, president of the Colorado Farm Bureau, said oil, gas and natural energy development are all key to agricultural production. “Natural resources are what agriculture and what the rural lifestyle really are all about,” Shawcroft said. “We live on, we rely on and we enjoy the natural resources from water, soil, mineral interests and the beauty around us.”

18 I HIGHWAY 60 CONNECT I AUGUST 2016

Population

6,091 was the Milliken population in 2014, a 110% increase since 2000.

Economy

$67,789 is the median household income in Milliken, a $24,000 increase since 2000.

5.71 Square miles comprise Milliken, an area about five times the size of Johnstown despite Milliken having about half the population.

13.3% of Milliken jobs related to construction, the highest percentage by job type in town. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s followed closely by management jobs (12.8%).

69% of Milliken residents are married.

80% of Milliken residents have at least a high school diploma.

1.5 Police officers per 1,000 residents, fewer than the Colorado average.

Development

$168,698 Median house or condo value in Milliken, a $38,000 increase since 2000.

10 or fewer minutes spent commuting -- the most common commute time among Milliken residents.

85 Building permits issued in 2014, the highest total since 2004 and much higher than the 14 permits issued between 2008-11.

7% of Milliken residents use bottled, tank or LP gas for heating fuel.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;www.citydata.com

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