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Ballots have arrived  

I received my ballot today. We are lucky to have six candidates that DO NOT align with developers. If that is your sole concern, I think you are safe to pick any of them.  

Regular readers of this newsletter know that there was more going on this past year, including backroom deals, secret meetings with developers, and a push for a one-sided settlement.   

I BELIEVE:  

the ability to discern that kind of wrong behavior is necessary in a Directo

the desire to stand against it is critical in a Director.  

that voters spoke LOUDLY in the recall election and a Director should align with the people a Director should find out the facts rather than spread rumors 

Directors must put ALL constituents above their personal connections 

Jeffrey Baker, Robert Wilson, Nathan Davis and Todd Hooks have demonstrated these characteristics.   

The other two candidates are fine men and have also worked hard in our community but they still have not decried the unethical behavior of our previous Board President and lawyer, instead choosing to call it "personality issues".  They have not demonstrated the above characteristics.  

I will VOTE BAKER, WILSON, DAVIS and HOOKS 

(information not provided in coordination with any candidate or candidate committee)  

Guaranteed Water  

Did you know that our contract with Denver Water does not guarantee us water? It says that we can have water, when available, and after their priority areas have been served. It has not been an issue yet, but I can see a day when it might, given the amount of growth the entire Denver metro region has undergone.   At the April meeting, the Board agreed to start a new committee to brainstorm ideas and talk to Denver Water. It will be an uphill battle, but if you would like to be a part of this, please email Board@greenmountainwater.org.     

GUEST POST by Lenore Herskovitz and Robert Baker regarding CCU 

On March 23, 2022, Judge Russell Klein, Jefferson County District Court, ordered that the City of Lakewood be granted Summary Judgement in favor of the City and denied Plaintiff, CCU’s Motion for Summary Judgement on all claims regarding the city ordinance that prohibits University/College uses in our low-density zoning. He also vacated the Temporary Restraining Order that had been in effect since the end of June, 2021 which had permitted the University to keep using their properties for student housing. This was just one more hard-fought victory protecting the integrity of our neighborhood in a debate that began in 2002. This order affirms the legality of city ordinances that stipulate that student housing, owned or controlled by an institution of higher education may be deemed by the City to be detrimental to the quality of life in low-density residential zoning and therefore prohibited.  

Although this prohibition has been continuous in the zoning code since 2003, CCU with the help of the City, has done its best to circumvent it. Around 2012 when the City was doing a rewrite of the Municipal Code, CCU through private LLCs started buying up duplexes on Cedar St and S. Cody Ct. It is interesting to note that in the rewrite, without redlining, the more clarifying definition of Student Living Units was omitted. This wasn’t discovered till years later. In 2012 the purchases of 4 duplexes on Cedar (which they demolished) and all 6 duplexes on the west side of S. Cody Ct. were quit claimed to CCU and a zoning change was applied for and granted. Those properties were incorporated in the CCU campus. Additionally, between 2011 and 2021 CCU purchased 4 additional duplexes on the east side of the street which they also wanted to use to house their students ( in spite of telling the neighborhood that they would honor the 2003 prohibition of university use after their 2012 victory on the west side of the street). We learned that CCU could not be trusted and to make matters worse the City  

Staff including the past and present city attorneys and Travis Parker, director of the Planning Department,  told us this ordinance was unenforceable, unconstitutional and discriminatory.  

On April 12, 2021 City Council by a 6 to 5 vote chose to amend the ordinance by reinstating the Student Living Unit definition that had been removed in 2012. CCU almost immediately moved students into a duplex which had never previously housed students to challenge the law. The City filed a cease and desist order and CCU filed their lawsuit against the City on June 8, 2021. It has been exceedingly difficult obtaining information about this lawsuit in a timely fashion. The City Attorney was very secretive about the case and even withheld pertinent information from Ward 1 City Councillors where the university is located. By using various sources we learned that CCU had filed a Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order that the City did not oppose. When we read this Motion we were shocked at the amount of misinformation it contained and realized the Judge was making rulings based on this. It took months to find a way to get the facts before the Court. By the time, Lenore Herskovitz filed her Motion to Intervene at the end of September 2021 Motions for Summary Judgement from both parties had already been filed. Several weeks after my filing, Robert Baker also filed a Motion to Intervene. CCU was extremely upset claiming that the original parties had almost reached a resolution and now we were causing a delay in the proceedings. In spite of these protestations, the Judge granted Mr. Baker and myself intervenor status on Dec. 9, 2021.  

Now we must make sure that the City enforces its ordinance, something they have been reluctant to do for a decade. The Mayor has stated that “The city is prepared to enforce the ruling of the court if the city becomes aware of any violations of this ordinance”. To that end, Ms. Herskovitz phoned in a complaint to Code Enforcement on March 31, 2022 and followed up with a written Complaint to the City on April 4, 2022.  

The properties at 160/162 and 170/172 S. Cody Ct. are presently housing students in violation of the ordinance. The students can stay till this semester ends, but then CCU must abide by the law. At present, it is unknown what CCU plans to do.  CCU has filed a Motion to Reconsider so stay tuned     

Many thanks to Lenore and Robert for a great job with real impact for the residents around CCU

Candidates for the May election are announced!  

The next election for the Board of Directors will be May 3, 2022. I am happy to say that we have four strong candidates who know the issues and supported us throughout the recall.  

Jeff Baker and Todd Hooks currently serve on the Board, have an outstanding track record, and are running again.   

I will also endorse newcomers Nathan Davis and Robert Wilson.  They have experience with the issues and the skills to advance the district. Nathan Davis is in data analytics and is brilliant at finding the core of problems. Nathan is staunchly opposed to oppressive metro district practices. Robert Wilson has past experience fighting developers. He actually succeeded at fighting general contractors at a state level, stopping abusive insurance practices. Their skills will be a practical addition to District business. They also align with the vast majority of District voters, being against the recent and expensive recall. We are lucky to have them.  

The two other candidates running are well known in the community. They both ran against us in the recent recall campaign and lost.  

For the actual listing, see https://www.greenmountainwater.org/RelId/657097/ISvars/default/2022_Election_Information.htm  (information not provided in coordination with any candidate or candidate committee)

Working on local issues    

I recently asked Lakewood residents what issues they are interested in working on. Below are the top five ideas that we came up with, ranked in order of interest:  1. City Manager/employee accountability  2. Development  3. Crime mitigation  4. Election integrity  5. Remove city emergency powers  If you have any interest in working on practical solutions to these issues, please let me know to be included in the next local issues meeting (karen4water@gmail.com).     

Planning commission goes in-person ONLY  

The Lakewood Planning Commission is moving to in-person only and will no longer be shared via Zoom, starting Wednesday, April 6.  For many residents, development is their number 1 issue in Lakewood.  The Planning Commission is made up of volunteer, resident appointees who have been working extremely hard at shaping constituent concerns into a practical plan for the Union Corridor development. City staff has been trying to limit the amount of input the Commission has. The job is so stressful that the low-density Commission Chair had to resign. New Commissioners will be appointed this month which may result in a change of direction that aligns more with the City's desires. The Planning Department is where the plans for all development originate and is key to understanding the future of our community.   If you are interested in watching the proceedings, or if you are interested in maintaining the ease of use and transparency of government, please go to the meeting this Wednesday and/or send a request to your City Council to keep this commission available by Zoom. 

What we have…Is a policy of growth pays for growth. However, with a lot of moving pieces sometimes things get missed. In January, I held up approval of a new development of 29 homes going in on Exposition Dr. I pointed out that a recent study showed that we did not have the capacity for this development. Knowing that, we can ask the developer to pay for required upsizing charges, rather than letting that fall on the shoulders of existing customers. In fact, I told the developer exactly that at the March meeting.   

Tap fees move forward without me… Tap fees are the fees the developer pays to connect to our existing system. The amount we can charge for this is guided by law. There must be a “rational nexus” between costs and OUR SYSTEM. GMWSD commissioned a study to provide this rational nexus, which showed us the highest amount we could legally justify for fees. I supported raising tap fees to that level.  

However, the motion that came from the Board was to raise the fees even further. Reasons cited include paying for infrastructure repairs, discouraging development, the rising cost of water, availability of water, and more. These arguments have merit, except they have no legal standing in relation to tap fees and, therefore, I could not support them.  

Tap fees have gone all the way to the Colorado Supreme Court (see Krupp vs Breckenridge Sanitation District). Existing fees were grandfathered in but moving forward I feel we should not invite trouble by raising them outside the given parameters.  

What we SHOULD do… Is put all the capacity issues, like the Exposition/Kipling segment, into a Capital Improvement Plan that would provide a new legal basis for increased tap fees. This is where GMWSD is behind the curve. The Board's decision to hire a staff engineer will help us get back on track.     

Welcome, Jeff Tyus! -  

 Jeff Tyus is the new manager for GMWSD and he is off to a great start. He came to us most recently from Arapahoe County Water and Wastewater Authority where he was Manager of Operations and Maintenance. He focuses on creating high-performance teams, utilizing lean concepts, and assuring compliance and safety. He has already shown a keen understanding of how we can improve our engineering staff. He also blew the ravine bridge situation wide open by offering the option of applying for a grant for burying the pipe, instead of leaving it hanging over the ravine. His experience is just what we need and I'm excited he accepted our offer. 

Did you know... When the Glen Creighton development was started by Cyrus Creigton in the 1920's he was considered ahead of his time. His plan, by landscape architects DeBoer and Pesman, used curved streets. Saco R. DeBoer was also responsible for the curved layout of Speer Blvd. Glen Creighton was an exclusive, residential development on what was once agricultural property. When it started, the development need a pump house and water tower. It was originally located at Glen Ayr Road and W 19th Ave but it has been relocated to the Lakewood Heritage Center and is available for viewing there.  See more information in Historically Jeffco.