WHAT’S HAPPENING IN GOLDEN TODAY?
9AM Golden Seniors – Coffee Klatch @ Golden Visitors Center
9-10AM Women’s Exercise and Bible Study @ First United Methodist Church
9:15-9:45AM Baby Time @ Golden Library
10AM and 1PM Wild West ShortTour
10AM, 1PM, and 4PM Wild West Walking Tour
10:15-10:45AM Preschool Time @ Golden Library
12-12:55PM All Levels Yoga (Virtual)
1-1:45PM Silver Sneakers Yoga (Virtual)
4PM Rock Climbing @ American Mountaineering Center
4:30-5:30PM Teen Advisory Board @ Golden Library
5-7PM VIBE@5 @ Golden Visitors Center
VIBE@FIVE is Golden’s Happy Hour! Come join other members of the Golden Chamber of Commerce for this “Very Important Business Event” – VIBE! This event is for members of the Golden Chamber of Commerce and their guests as well as for members of the Golden Young Professionals. Stop in for a quick hello and a refreshment right after work and a chance to get to know fellow members of the Golden Chamber of Commerce and Golden Young Professionals. This is a great networking and socializing event.
5:30PM Golden High School PTA Meeting @ Golden High School
5:30-8PM Exploring the Elements of Art @ Foothills Art Center
6-8PM Fireside Chat: Sex, Lies & Rattlesnakes! @ Dinosaur Ridge Discovery Center
Learn all about prairie rattlesnake biology, ecology, identification, and safety. Guest Speaker Mary Ann Bonnell is the Visitor Services and Natural Resources Director for Jefferson County Open Space and has been involved in rattlesnake research in Arapahoe and Jefferson Counties for years. She’s worked on PIT tag and radiotelemetry studies and has studied the rattlesnake-human interface at North Table Mountain in Golden. She has many tales to tell. Hear them, ask questions, and enjoy refreshments – seating is limited so reserve yours now! $12 per person.
7:30PM Fitness Clothes Swap @ Unite Fitness
Clear out your fitness closet and have fun swapping your clothes! @alythactive will have a pop up shop, including $10 bins!! (Unite members get 20% off all purchases, non-Unite members will get a discount with donation of old activewear). @truly_bohotique will have a pop up shop with discounted items and giveaways. @sanghajuice will provide juice samples and sell juices. All leftover items will be donated to Mother House in Boulder. More information
SEE THE COMPLETE CALENDAR OF EVENTS.
CITY MEETING
5PM City Council Study Session @ City Hall
Parking
Council will discuss City staff’s proposal that we hire an outside firm to police the paid parking lots and neighborhoods with parking permits. That firm would have strong incentive to write tickets. As the memo says, “The contracts tend to be revenue sharing arrangements whereby the operator manages the entire system, collects the paid parking revenue, paid permit revenue, and parking enforcement revenue with the city often receiving a predetermined amount and a negotiated share of all revenue above the base amount.”
Residents have been asking for relief from the rigamarole of signing in at the parking kiosks every time they visit downtown. I was a bit confused about the memo’s response to this request. They may have said that after the first visit downtown, residents’ license plates would be recognized and the residents wouldn’t need to check in at the kiosk. Or they may have said that if residents wanted permit-type privileges, they should buy parking permits priced at $180 for the first car, $450 for a second car, and $900 for a third car. I hope this will be clarified tonight.
Ever since the kiosks were installed, evenings and weekends have been free. The meeting memo proposes that we move to paid parking seven days a week, “for consistent management and operation, and consistency with the 10tth Street corridor regulations.” Learn more about the parking proposal.
Heart of Golden
A year ago, Staff was estimating that a new City Hall would cost $75 million. Since then, the projected cost has risen to $77-85 million, plus an additional $15 million to move the library near the new City Hall. This is still in the planning phase. Last year’s budget allocated $800,000 to planning this year and another $700,000 for 2024. Council hasn’t yet decided whether they will proceed with building a new City Hall.
The City did a space needs study before the pandemic and concluded that they needed more space for a growing City staff. Since then, many employees have changed to at-home work, so they might be able to share an office when they come to City Hall. In addition, the City Manager is hoping to move City employees to 32 hour work weeks. On the other hand, the City has increased the number of employees and plans to hire still more. They commissioned a new (post-pandemic) space study. This now shows that their available office space square footage is adequate, but they would still prefer to be in a single building rather than the campus-type arrangement of the current City buildings.
We already own a second fire station, near the Heritage Dells neighborhood, and the growing Fire Department is planning to move part of their force there. The police department, is crowded and in need of more space.
City Staff will be asking Council whether they should continue planning activities. Learn more about the Heart of Golden project.
Outdoor Seating
During the pandemic shut-down, the City implemented a program to allow downtown stores and restaurants to expand their operations onto the sidewalk, parking lane, or alley adjacent to their businesses. Council later voted to make that arrangement permanent. Last year, Council voted to restrict the programs to restaurants and bars, not stores. The season runs from late April to early November.
Last year, Staff proposed making part of the parking lot near the Astor House into “Common Consumption Area,” where all the nearby bars and restaurants could share a set of tables. The business owners were consulted, and they said they preferred maintaining separate outdoor serving areas. With a few minor tweaks, Staff proposes leaving the program essentially unchanged for the summer of 2024. Learn more….
6:30PM City Council Regular Business Meeting @ City Hall
Public Comment
They will accept general public comments at the beginning of the meeting. If you want to address them, be there by 6:30. If you prefer to email them, send a note to PublicComment@cityofgolden.net.
Consent Agenda
The following items will be approved all at once without discussion, unless a councilor requests that an item be separated out for discussion.
They will allocate some of our bonding capacity to Wheat Ridge, to be used for affordable housing projects in that city.
They will give Volunteer Firefighters a choice of funds for the Length of Service Awards.
They will appoint Chris Davell to the Volunteer Firefighter Pension Board.
They will jointly fund, along with the USGS, a stream gauge on the West Fork of Clear Creek near Empire.
They will approve the plan to hire an in-house City Attorney at a starting salary of $215,000-$223,000. They have chosen local attorney Sandra Llanes.
The will engage our current law firm to provide legal services on an interim basis, until the new in-house staff is able to take over. Hourly rates will range from $120/hr to $335/hr.
Proclamations
National Preparedness Month
National Suicide Prevention Month
Constitution Week, September 17-23
Bike and Pedestrian Plan
They will discuss and approve a resolution approving the “Pedestrian and Bike Plan that proposes policies, programs and capital projects to support and expand walking and biking as viable transportation modes and recreation options.”
Appeal Regarding a Planning Commission Decision
They will consider an appeal to a decision by Planning Commission to deny a major adjustment for 914 19th Street (map). The owner had hoped to exceed the maximum allowed floor space by 520 square feet.
PUB GAMES
6PM Trivia Tuesdays @ Golden Mill
6:30-8:30PM Team Trivia Tuesdays @ Buffalo Rose
6:30-8:30PM Bar Bingo Night @ VFW Post 4171
LIVE MUSIC
6PM Karaoke with Linda @ Dirty Dogs Roadhouse
6PM Open Bluegrass Pick Night @ Over Yonder Brewing
GOLDEN HISTORY MOMENT
38 Years Ago
The September 12, 1985 Golden Transcript includes an editorial praising the Golden Civic Foundation for having invested $250,000 in the community. In doing so, they describe Golden in unflattering terms.
It counteracts the discouragement I sometimes feel when I walk through town and see run-down homes and apartments with old car bodies and waist high weeds in their yards. It balances the frustration I feel when I see so many tacky, converted apartments and other problems that seem to be benignly ignored.
The list puts into focus for me who has really led the fight against blight here for 15 years with something stronger than talk, who has acted to give us our green, clean areas and a better quality of life.
This led me back to the September 10, 1985 article that detailed those early projects. It said the Foundation’s very first contribution was $500 to Foothills Art Center in 1971. The Foundation had subsequently invested more than $50,000 in the Art Center, including $25,000 to enable them to buy Foothills II, the building next door to the old church.
As of 1985, the Civic Foundation had invested “more than $100,000 into parks, including $17,500 for Lions Park improvements, $64,000 to build Ulysses Park, and $25,000 for the corner of 10th and Washington.”
They had also put $25,000 into refurbishing downtown, including $20,000 to build a parking lot on Jackson Street.
Much of the money they gave away was raised through their annual auction. Local merchants, particularly the Foss family, also made significant contributions. Individual donors sometimes provided funds for specific improvements. One local woman contributed $15,000 to make improvements to the Golden Cemetery.
Fast-forwarding 38 years to the present, according to their website, “The Golden Civic Foundation has invested more than $6.1 million to nonprofit, government, and school organizations that make the greatest positive impact on ‘doing good’ for our community of Golden.”
This year’s fund-raiser–the Wild West Oktoberfest–will take place on September 22nd and 23rd. The Friday night Bavarian Banquet has already sold out, but tickets are still available for Saturday’s family-oriented Wild West Oktoberfest. In fact–until midnight tonight the tickets are discounted ($25 instead of $30, with kids under 12 free).
Thanks to the Golden History Museum for providing the online cache of historic Transcripts, and to the Golden Transcript for documenting our history since 1866!
GOLDENTODAY IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
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!
SEPTEMBER SPONSORS: Buffalo Rose, Buglet Solar, Foothills Art Center, Golden City Brewery, Golden Cultural Alliance, Golden History Museum, Golden Super Cruise, Miners Alley Playhouse, The Golden Mill, Golden Chamber of Commerce, Golden History Tours, Morris & Mae Market, Miners Saloon, Joy and Jack Brandt, Tom Reiley, and Gail Strout
Contributors: Greg Poulos, Vic DeMaria, Cynthia Merrill Tamny, Barry & Liz Bettis, and Katherine Leith Porter
Ongoing Monthly Supporters:
Tall Pines Painting, Baby Doe’s Clothing, Golden Community Garden, Carol & Doug Harwood, Jennings & Litz, Bill Fisher, Brian Quarnstrom, Casey & Gina Brown, Cheryl & Tom Schweich, Robert Storrs, Karen Smith, Sandy Curran, Paul Haseman, Michele Sannes, Kathy Smith, Crystal Culbert, Pat Madison, Donna Anderson, Ann Pattison, Carol & Don Cameron, Tom Hughes, Emeline Paulson, Susan Gray, David Smith, Karen Oxman, Laura King & Scott Wilson, Bill Sedgeley, Mariane Erickson, Carol Abel, Dot & Eric Brownson, Ann Norton & Jonathan Storer, Deb Goeldner, Rosemary Coffman, Jim & LouAnne Dale, Francine Butler, Elaine Marolla, Dixie Termin & Ron Miller, John & Andi Pearson, Chris Ball, Tom Hoffman, Patrick & Lisa Vitry, Alice Madison & Jim Kalivas, Lora Haimes, and Nancy & Carlos Bernal
PREVIOUS ARTICLES – SUBSCRIBE TO WHAT’S HAPPENING IN GOLDEN
