WEEK OF JULY 10, 2025
VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 2
FREE
Arvada to shut off residents’ water for overdue bills City council shutters COVID-era policy that kept water on for sanitary purposes BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Olde Town Arvada before there were murals even here,” Maxcy said. “ I lived in Arvada for a few years, and lived very close to Olde Town, and I remember meeting (Olde Town BID Director) Joe (Hengstler) at a mural festival in Fraser, Colorado. “And even back then, I was trying to pitch ideas to him for murals in Arvada,” Maxcy continued. “And I don’t think there were any. The first project we did was (painting) the electrical boxes to kind of get people used to the idea. I was part of getting that project going and working on that mural, and then it slowly grew from there into more murals.”
Arvadans who don’t pay their water bills can expect to have their water service cut off due to an ordinance passed by the city council that returns the city’s water bill payment policy to its preCOVID terms. At the July 1 business meeting, the Arvada City Council approved the ordinance by a 6-1 vote, with Councilmember Shawna Ambrose being the lone dissenter. Since 2020, Arvada has been using a lien system, which, according to the city’s Director of Infrastructure Jacqueline Rhoades, has placed a burden on city staff. “As of now, the shutoff process remains inactive, and instead, delinquent accounts are managed only through our annual lien process,” Rhoades said. “A review of our current practices indicates that relying solely on the lien process is inefficient, consuming significant resources and failing to effectively encourage timely customer payments.” Before the pandemic, the city saw about 1,700 to 1,900 water shutoffs annually, Rhoades said. While liens used to comprise a smaller percentage of delinquent water accounts, they’ve tripled since the policy change, going from 72 liens in 2019 to 572 in 2024. The City Clerk and Recorder’s Office said that processing those 572 liens in 2024 cost over $7,000. Based on data from November and December 2024, there were 1,267 delinquent accounts, representing $625,937 in unpaid water and sewer charges. The transition to a lien system was to ensure that all residents had access to water for hygiene purposes — specifically hand washing — to prevent the spread of COVID, Rhoades said.
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Rheinlander’s is offering limited edition cookies to celebrate the mural.
COURTESY PHOTO
Eclectic octopus mural livens up Rheinlander Bakery Olde Town Shindig Mural Contest winner adds to Arvada’s bustling public art scene BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
As a giant Pacific Northwest octopus climbs a tree stump in a forest, a western bluebird perches on its head while monarch butterflies fly around the octopus, which is also drinking a cup of coffee. It’s a scene that’s unlikely to be found in nature, but is now displayed, in mural form, on the north side of Rheinlander Bakery in Olde Town Arvada. For muralist Patrick Maxcy, who earned the mural commission by winning last year’s Olde Town Shindig Mural Contest, putting octopuses in unexpected places is
a vital part of placemaking. “The octopus is a character I paint often in my work,” Maxcy said. “I love painting them where they are least expected because visitors remember them, take photos with them, and my work is full of fun, whimsical storytelling.” Maxcy is an accomplished muralist who has painted 18 murals throughout Colorado and beyond, with other murals completed in Nicaragua and Uganda, to name a couple. He was one of the first supporters of public mural art in Arvada’s historic district, long before Olde Town became replete with sprawling installations. “I actually started pitching murals to
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