First Friday: June 2019

First Friday: June 20194 min read

Hello, neighbors! The temps haven’t been all that warm yet, but school is out and I’m declaring summer to be here. Even if it isn’t super hot yet, I’m loving the long daylight hours in the evening – perfect for after-dinner walks around the neighborhood and impromptu games of pickleball in Wildflower Park. This month, Trustee Sandie Hammerly and I co-hosted June’s First Friday at Sticks Coffee in downtown Superior. As First Fridays are casual in nature, and we often break into simultaneous discussions of different topics on the two sides of the table, it’s tough for me to fully recap the discussion. However, I hope it is still useful for me to give a short rundown of the topics I heard, which can help provide a pulse of the town.

Topics discussed at June’s First Friday include:

  • Town Center Access: Several residents expressed concerns with the current limited access to Town Center, via McCaslin; we discussed potential ways to open more roads to Rock Creek (Coal Creek Drive, Promenade Drive) and Louisville (Campus Drive bridge over 36). No decisions have yet been made on this, though some options have been discussed by previous Boards.
  • Coal Creek Crossing field landscaping issues: Several residents expressed continued concerns with the landscaping of the fields in Coal Creek Crossing, and how they believe Remington Homes has been shirking their responsibility. An invasive species called “cheatgrass” is currently filling the fields, instead of the native grass that was originally planned by Remington.
  • Roundabout art: The planned installation of Douwe Blumberg’s “Zephyr in Tryptich” sculpture in the roundabout at McCaslin and Main Street is delayed until August, due to footing issues.
  • Standing water in Original Town due to construction: A resident reported that there have been pools of standing water springing up when it rains after construction. She requested that the town check places where earth is being moved (e.g., Rogers Farm, Lanterns Lane) to prevent pools of water from forming and attracting mosquitoes
  • Riverbend / Zone 3 public engagement process: A resident suggested that for future public engagement, we first ask residents to coalesce on their own and formally support a project, before a committee takes up the mantle to move it forward. This would help avoid the perception that a committee or Town Staff are pushing something that residents don’t want. I agree wholeheartedly with this suggestion – it’s in line with a new process that we recently approved for the Transportation & Safety Committee, where the kickoff to requesting traffic calming measures is for a resident to collect signatures on a petition from five homes in the affected area.
  • Construction blocking sidewalks / bike lanes on 88th Street: A resident noted that while the construction on / adjacent to 88th Street is temporary, the construction crews need to avoid blocking the bike lanes and sidewalks with signs. Cars are not the only mode of transit on 88th, and we need to respect all those in transit.
  • Rocky Mountain Municipal Airport (RMMA) noise: Several residents asked for updates on what the Town is doing about noise generated from RMMA, which has gotten significantly worse in the last few weeks. On May 13th, the Board heard a presentation from the consultants we hired, who have completed their baseline report – more details here.
  • Statues around town being defaced with clothing: A resident complained that some of the beautiful statues around town are being dressed up in clothing. She removed the clothing herself, but Trustee Hammerly and I noted that “quick fix” issues like this (e.g., potholes, icy or damaged sidewalk, graffiti, missing or damaged street signs, abandoned vehicles, weeds or trash) can be reported through the Superior Click N Fix tool or app.
  • Water treatment plant smell: A resident complained about the smell coming from the Water Treatment Plant. At our April 8th Board Meeting, we signed an agreement with Dewberry Engineers for a new headworks system and odor control design to help mitigate this – more details here, and the signed agreement is here.
  • Budget overage on Coal Creek enhancements: Finally, a resident noted that our 2019 budget included a $200K line item for Coal Creek enhancements, and we have actually spent more than $700K to date. This is indeed a significant overage, which I’ve emailed our Town Manager to investigate.

Hope to see you at next month’s First Friday! July’s meeting will be held on Friday July 12, to avoid the July 4th holiday. In the meantime, our next Town Board Meeting is tonight, Monday June 10thIf you have thoughts on these or other topics, I would encourage you to attend the Meeting at Town Hall and speak up in public comment, or email the full Board at townboard@superiorcolorado.gov.

One Response so far.

  1. […] Park, and I haven’t yet heard clear support from residents asking for a park in Zone 3. At June’s First Friday, a resident suggested that for future projects, it would be beneficial for residents to first […]

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