Winter Sunset
Photo by Joyce Davell
Click to enlarge
What's happening in Golden today?
Events for Tuesday, Jan. 28th
- All day - CURRENT EXHIBITS AT THE MUSEUMS
- All day - Live Workouts with Community Center Pros
- All day - Golden History Tours
- 9-10AM - Women's Exercise and Bible Study
- 9:15-9:45AM - Baby Time - Registration Required
- 10:15-10:45AM - Preschool Time - Registration Required
- 1:30PM - Triad - Senior Safety
- 5:30-7:30PM - Exploring the Elements of Art
- 6:30-8:30PM - Team Trivia Tuesday
- 6:30-8:30PM - Trivia Tuesdays
- 6:30-8:30PM - Bar Bingo Night
- 7PM - Trickster Tuesday Magic Showcase
For more information, click the item above or visit the Golden Today Calendar
6:30PM City Council Business Meeting @ City Hall
- Meeting Agenda
- Watch the meeting streaming live starting at 6:30PM
- Attend the meeting @ City Hall Council Chambers - 911 10th Street - (map)
- Send comments on any of the following topics to PublicComments@cityofgolden.net BEFORE 3PM, or
- Provide in-person comment (limited to 3 minutes) during the meeting, at 6:30PM.
Public Comment
The meeting begins with public comment. If you want to address Council, you will have three minutes to speak. Any public comments received by email before 3PM will be posted in the meeting packet after 3 (so check back then!).
Consent Agenda
The following issues are considered non-controversial, not needing discussion. All items will be approved at once, with one vote. Any councilor wishing to discuss one of the issues can request that it be removed from the consent agenda and discussed and voted on separately.
- The contract with the City's concrete replacement vendor is being increased by 7%. The new total is $1.6 million for 2025. More.
- The Golden Cemetery will award a sole-source contract for $140,408 to purchase more columbaria (for cremations). More.
- The City will amend the agreement with their parking management company to enforce until 7PM (instead of 5PM) in the neighborhood permit zones. They are also adding a new permit neighborhood--Parfet Estates. The current agreement specifies that the management company pays the city a base rate of $250,000 plus 50% of the proceeds from parking tickets. The new agreement will give the city $250,000 plus 46% of the take. This 4% reduction is expected to equal about $24,000 in 2025. More.
- The City will purchase another firetruck for $1.2 million. More.
Proclamations
Changes to the Special Events Policy
The Special Events Committee will be enlarged, with more groups represented. Their agenda will now be posted before meetings. The meetings will be broadcast and recorded and will include an opportunity for public comment. More.
Public Hearings
- Conveyance of Easement to 711 12th LLC
Banks Insurance, long housed at 711 12th Street (map), negotiated a deal with GURA when the south parking garage was built. They agreed to sell some of their property so GURA could build the garage, but they would six parking spaces for the exclusive use of their business, plus a side entrance to the garage for their use. The door was added and the parking spaces reserved, but it was recently discovered that the agreement was never signed. The Banks building is now about to be sold, so they want the agreement to be officially signed off. - Adoption of 2024 Model Traffic Code and Re-Adoption and Clarification of Adventure Van and Food Truck Definition Language
This document goes into a lot of detail about where and whether you can park vans, trailers, RVs, or food trucks on the street, so if those are topics of interest to you, review this document. - Housing Covenant for 1211 Avery Street
The company building 43 apartments at 1211 Avery Street (map) agreed to keep the rents affordable for low (zero percent to 50 percent AMI), moderate (51 percent to 80 percent AMI) or middle (81 percent to 120 percent AMI) income tenants for 15 years. They have learned that they can get extra "sustainability" points if they extend the time to 20 years, so they are requesting that change. - Creating an Arts & Culture Commission
Council plans to create a new Arts & Culture Commission with a 9-member board. Only 5 of the members would need to be Golden residents. The Mayor would appoint the members. They plan to hire a new half-time staff member to support this commission. The Public Art Commission would be folded under this new group, but the current $80K allocated for public art would remain earmarked for that purpose. The new Commission would allocate a portion of the lodging tax to Golden Arts & Culture organizations. The Golden History Museum has been under the purview of the Parks & Rec Board, which has always been a strange connection. They will now be moved to this new board. - Phase 3 Zoning Code Rewrite - Process, Procedures, and Notice Requirements
This lengthy document details when building projects can be approved by staff or when they must go to the Planning Commission, when they must have a public hearing, or when they must go to City Council. It proposes to eliminate the need to publish public notices in a newspaper (The Golden Transcript) in favor of publishing them on City websites. It describes how affordable housing projects will be fast-tracked. - Phase 3 Zoning Code Rewrite – Use Regulations
This even more lengthy document details requirements for many comfort and quality of life elements such as density and parking requirements and details what uses will be allowed in each zone.
12-1PM Lunch 'n Learn - 2025 Payroll Compliance & Employment Law
Janice Holmes with Connect Payroll Services will present: "What Every Small Business Owner Should Know About Payroll." This will include the fundamentals of payroll for Colorado small business owners, including updates as of January 1 for payroll compliance.
Pamela Drake of Lighthouse HR will present an overview of Federal and Colorado employment law changes for 2025, as well as Department of Labor updates in regulations and unemployment law.
More information
On Tap Credit Union
816 Washington Avenue (map)
Live Music for Tuesday, Jan. 28th
- More Live Music
6PM Karaoke with Linda @ Dirty Dogs Roadhouse
6PM Open Bluegrass Pick Night @ Over Yonder Brewing
For more information, visit the Golden Today Calendar
Golden History: The Loop
Early views of the Lariat Loop Trail
Click to enlarge
Automobiles were just coming into wide use in 1915, and the newly-completed Lariat Loop Trail was an exciting new place to drive. Local business owners were feeling optimistic that the road would attract thousands of visitors to Colorado (and to Golden in particular!).
The January 28, 1915 Colorado Transcript included an article titled “Tourists Will Swarm Here Next Season.”
That Golden, the Williams Highway and the mountain park system will see a record breaking tourist travel next summer is the prediction made at the annual meeting of the Colorado Good Roads association, held in Denver last week.
The Good Roads association predicted that 100,000 “automobile tourists” would visit Colorado that year, and they were expected to spend $12,000,000.
Tourism was an emerging industry in the United States. Not many years earlier, an American who wanted to travel for leisure would have headed to Europe for the Grand Tour. The growth of railroads in the U.S., along with the new National Park System, gave Americans new and interesting places to visit. A nationwide tourism campaign appealed to patriotic pride by reminding Americans to “See America First.”
Automobiles brought a new level of freedom, so states and communities were eagerly building new roads and new attractions to entice tourists and their money. Golden resident “Cement Bill” Williams undertook the challenging task of building a road (the Lariat Loop) that would take automobilists to the summit of Lookout Mountain.
The Denver Mountain Parks system (formed in 1912) provided a wonderful new destination, and the Lariat Loop was a beautiful and amazingly convenient way to get there.
Weather
Overnight: Mostly clear. Low around 25, with temperatures rising to around 29 overnight. West southwest wind around 7 mph.
Tuesday: Sunny. High near 46, with temperatures falling to around 41 in the afternoon. North northeast wind 2 to 6 mph.
Tuesday Night: Mostly clear. Low around 25, with temperatures rising to around 28 overnight. West northwest wind around 6 mph.
Tuesday Night: Mostly Clear, 25°F
Wednesday: Mostly Sunny then Chance Light Snow, 45°F
Wednesday Night: Chance Light Snow, 28°F
Thursday: Chance Light Snow, 45°F
Thursday Night: Mostly Clear, 27°F
Friday: Mostly Sunny, 54°F
Friday Night: Mostly Cloudy, 35°F
Saturday: Partly Sunny, 56°F
Saturday Night: Mostly Cloudy, 40°F
Sunday: Mostly Sunny, 59°F
Sunday Night: Partly Cloudy, 38°F
Monday: Mostly Sunny, 57°F
Supporters
Many thanks to the people and organizations who support What’s Happening in Golden? If you would like to support local news, please CLICK HERE!
Sponsors:
($100/month and up)
Buffalo Rose, Buglet Solar, Foothills Art Center, Golden City Brewery, Golden Cultural Alliance, Miners Alley Performing Arts Center, The Golden Mill, Golden Chamber of Commerce, Golden History Tours, Miners Saloon, Golden Hayride Outpost, Unite Fitness, Tom Reiley, and Michael Mason
Friends:
($50-99.99/month or $550/yr)
Tall Pines Painting, Baby Doe’s Clothing, Goozell Yogurt & Coffee Paul Haseman, Donna Anderson, Carol & Doug Harwood, Beth Bidwell, Stephanie Painter, Greg Poulos, Ann Norton & Jonathan Storer, Mary & Don Parker, Saré Merrigan, The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, Joy Brandt, and Vic DeMaria
Supporters:
($25-49.99/month or $250/yr)
Laura King and Scott Wilson, Bobby German and Alison McNally, Forrest Jones, Barry & Liz Bettis, Cheryl & Tom Schweich, Marjorie Sloan, Chris and Joyce Davell, Rick Flint, Forrest Jones, AC Development, Cynthia Merrill Tamny, Stephen Pero, Meg Van Ness & Steve Kalasz, Steve & Karla Schaefer, Bud Rockhill, Steve Enger, Kristie Brice & Mike Schwartz, and The Golden Hotel
Members:
($10-24.99/month or $110/yr)
Brad Miller & Julie Bartos, Holly Thomas, Jim and LouAnne Dale, Ann Pattison, Thomas Hoffman, Carol Abel, Brian Quarnstrom, Sandra Curran, Bobby German and Alison McNally, Kathy Smith, Karen Smith, Carlos & Nancy Bernal, Robert Storrs, Michele Sannes, Elaine Marolla, Dixie Termin & Ron Miller, E Tom Hughes, Crystal M Culbert, Patrick A. Madison, Alice Madison & Jim Kalivas, Deb Goeldner, Christopher Ball, 6th Chair Home Services, Dot & Eric Brownson, Rosemary Coffman, Emeline Paulson, Sandy Schneider, Mark and Cathy Pattridge, Cheryl G Leidich, Jen Rutter, Frani R Bickart, Jennings and Litz, Bill Sedgeley, Nancy Hughes, Justin L Wade, Kathi Eggers, Traci Case, Donna Owen, Leslie D Lutz, Karen Oxman, Catherine Skokan, Ross Fraser & KC Gilliland, Lynne Haigh, Elizabeth Hilliard, Frank Young & Terre Deegan-Young, Kathy Hirons & Jack Markin, Jess & Anthony Monasterio, Ella Lyons & Jeanne Fritch, Heather Duncan, Lee Ann & Pete Horneck, Carol Cameron, Cheryl Williamson, San Daugherty, Jim Garner, John and Carol McEncroe, the Golden Welcome Center, the Golden Transcript, Koshare Eagle, Ken and Colleen Krantz, Traci Neuman Lacey, Jo Barber, Jamie Cookinham, Kermit Shields, Meridee Cecil, Vicki Olson, Colleen & Michael Ramey, Nancy & Pete Torpey, Jax Baker, Simon Maybury, John & Carol McEncroe, and Rose McLaughlin
Followers:
($5-9.99/month)
Golden Community Garden, Lora Haimes, Mariane Erickson, J.J. Fraser
