City Launches New Budget Software see page 5
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Parks & Recreation Update see page 12
Gazette NEIGHBORHOOD
Wheat Ridge | Edgewater | NOVEMBER 21-DECEMBER 17, 2015
The Splendor Of Seasonal Sharing By Cyndy Beal
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n the yearly frenzy of holidays, festivals and celebrations, it can be easy to lose perspective and forget it’s a wonderful time, to just receive, give and gather with family, friends and the community. Whether gathering at Everitt Middle School on Dec. 10, or giving gifts after Thanksgiving, or supporting a nonprofit organization, there are many ways to share and enjoy the beauty and splendor of the season. Optimist Christmas Program and Operation Blue Santa Nov. 28 Now in its 19th year, the Wheat Ridge Optimist Club Christmas program has made the season brighter for thousands of children. Last year 75 families and more than 250 kids in Wheat Ridge received gifts and gift cards to purchase their holiday meal. Between the Christmas Program and Operation Blue Santa, around 400 Wheat Ridge kids received holiday gifts and gift cards for older kids. After Thanksgiving, in Wheat Ridge there will be Christmas trees at several local businesses, Lutheran Medical Center and the Recreation Center, with the ages of children and their family members, and their wish list for gifts. To participate, just take the tag or tags from the tree and shop for the families. Unwrapped presents may be dropped off at the Wheat Ridge Police Department, 7500 W. 29th Ave., through Dec. 16. On Dec. 18 at 4 p.m. there will be a
wrapping group gathering at City Hall in Council Chambers. Donations of wrapping paper, tape, tags and volunteers are needed. Everyone is welcome. “It’s a nice way to connect with the community,” said WR Optimist Charles Ault of the gift wrapping and program in general. For the second year, the Optimists have teamed up with Wheat Ridge Police Department and their Operation Blue Santa Program. This year on Saturday, Nov. 28 in front of the Walmart at 3600 Youngfield from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Optimists and officers will collect unwrapped toys for area kids. Last year, they filled two patrol cars to the top with toys, for around 125 kids. “The need is year round. We can’t do it all ourselves,“ said Ault, who said they are always looking for ways to partner to expand their programs and scholarships. The Wheat Ridge Optimists meet every Wednesday for breakfast from 7 to 8 a.m. at the Wheat Ridge Recreation Center.
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he historic Fruitdale school may become home to a high-end butcher shop and school, as well as a dozen residences, if gap funding can be found by potential developer Hartman Ely Investments. It’s the third proposal since 2008 for the Temple Buell-designed structure, built in 1927 and added to in the 1950s, which has sat vacant since being decommissioned by Jeffco schools in 2007. The Wheat Ridge Housing Authority saved the school from demolition by purchasing it in April 2011, and has been soliciting proposals for redevelopment since. WRHA gave the go-ahead for Hartman Ely to provide a refined proposal for reuse in February, after a proposal fell through for local pre K-8 charter school Mountain Phoenix Community School to use it as an extension of its Miller Street campus. WRHA and Hartman Ely, a developer specializing in historic preservation and reuse, presented the proposal to Wheat Ridge City Council at its Oct. 5 study session. According to a Sept. 28 memo to city council from Ken Johnstone, Community
Will Starker Fill DiTullio’s Vacant District I Seat?
For more information about the Optimists, scholarships they offer and their mission, “As Friend of Youth,” go to www. wheatridgeoptimist.org.
Community Night of Sharing At Everitt On Thursday, Dec. 10 from 4 to 7 p.m., the community is invited to Everitt Middle School at 3900 Kipling Blvd., in their cafeteria, for a free Resource Fair and accompanying Cake Auction at 6 p.m. All proceeds from the auction will help Continued on page 2
Third Time’s the Charm to Redevelop Fruitdale School? By J. Patrick O’Leary
RIDGE AT 38 HOLIDAY CELEBRATION is set for Saturday, Dec. 5, on The Green, West 38th Avenue between Upham and Reed Streets, 3-7 p.m. The free public event features refreshments, entertainment, craft activities and shopping until the 6:15 tree lighting ceremony. PHOTO COURTESY WHEAT RIDGE 2020
Development Director and Executive Director of WRHA, the current proposal includes an “artisanal meat production and apprenticeship program operated by a wellestablished Denver-based restaurant group” and an associated small retail storefront, up to 13 mixed-income residences, a community room, orchard, courtyard and rooftop solar. For the project to be viable, a $640,000 funding gap must be closed, likely through grants and tax-credits, according to the memo. One possibility is for city council to fund $470,000 of that figure, and take a minority ownership interest in the project. WRHA is considering providing the remaining $170,000. “We are still in active negotiations with HEI and have executed a purchase and sale agreement just last week,” Johnstone told Neighborhood Gazette at press. “The next step is to firm up the development pro forma in order to present more definitively to the WRHA and city council and present to each of those bodies to determine their willingness to be financial partners in the Continued on page 2
By J. Patrick O’Leary
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ackles and voices were raised in Wheat Ridge City Council Chambers Nov. 9 when council moved to appoint former councilmember William “Bud” Starker – unseated by Monica “Pema” Duran – to the council seat vacated by Gerald “Jerry” DiTullio. At press, two other candidates had submitted letters of interest to council to fill the seat, and the motion to appoint Starker remains on the table for the upcoming Monday, Nov. 23 regular council meeting. At the Nov. 9 regular council meeting DiTullio was sworn in as the newly elected City Treasurer, creating a vacancy for a councilmember in District I. Duran was elected over incumbent Starker for the other District I seat this election. The appointee will serve the remaining two years of DiTullio’s council term, after which the seat will be filled by the regular election process. Prompted by a question from District II councilmember Kristi Davis, city attorney Gerald Dahl explained that Section 4.5 of the city charter requires remaining council members to appoint a replacement within 30 days, but that no detailed procedure is provided. (The charter calls for a special election only when three or more seats are vacant – Ed.) “It’s up to you, council,” said Dahl. District III councilmember Tim Fitzgerald urged the matter be addressed quickly, so that the council could address “important issues” like the recently passed ballot issue #300. (Nov. 9 and 24 were the only regular council meetings scheduled within 30 days – Ed.) Duran proposed a plan in which she would nominate a replacement for council approval. Davis stated that Starker should be considered, and District III’s George Pond moved that Starker be called to the microphone to address council. That motion passed 4-3 – over the objections of Duran, District II’s Zach Urban and newly elected District IV councilmember Larry Matthews
– and Starker told council that he would serve if council asked him to. Pond moved to appoint Starker to the vacancy, and Fitzgerald seconded. Urban objected to the motion on the grounds of form, and Mayor Joyce Jay stated that was her call, and allowed discussion to continue. Matthews stated he wanted the public to have a chance to comment, and Dahl explained that the charter does not call for a public hearing, but that it was within the discretion of council. “It doesn’t preclude public comment,” said Dahl, and restated that the procedure was up to council. Discussion included whether Starker’s being voted out of his previous District I seat precluded him from being appointed to the vacancy; if District I had a “right” to appoint; whether Duran meant to exclude Starker from consideration, or other councilmembers meant to exclude other candidates; and whether the motion to appoint Starker (at a public council meeting) was “transparent.” Duran, Urban and Matthews argued against Starker’s appointment. After a half-hour debate, council agreed to table the motion to appoint Starker until the Nov. 23 general meeting, and until then solicit letters of intent from other persons interested in filling the vacancy, allowing those candidates to make statements at the Nov. 16 study session. A deadline of Nov. 13 was set for applications. By week’s end, the Wheat Ridge City Clerk had received applications from four candidates: Starker, Janeece Hoppe, David Feiertag and Bev Brinson. Brinson withdrew her application on Nov. 16, but the remaining three addressed council at that evening’s study session, along with eight members of the public. Entrepreneur Hoppe is currently the Board President of Wheat Ridge 2020, and a director on the Wheat Ridge Business Continued on page 2