Serving the community since 1903
WEEK OF JANUARY 16, 2025
VOLUME 122 | ISSUE 3
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NATIONAL WESTERN ON PARADE Scandal
clouds water quality tests
Cold greets stock show P7
Latest twist in an expanding scandal at health department BY JOHN INGOLD THE COLORADO SUN
Various horse-drawn carriages were a major attraction Jan. 9 in downtown Denver for the National Western Stock Show Parade. PHOTO BY ERIC HEINZ
Two ‘attainable housing’ plans approved City approves affordable projects near Orchard Church, and at Bromley Park
BY SCOTT TAYLOR STAYLOR@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Brighton City Councilors found the “missing middle” at the meeting on Jan. 7, approving two affordable housing planned developments. First, councilors voted 6-3 to approve the Kestral planned development, a mediumdensity single-family development on 28 acres surrounding the Orchard Church at 120th and Peoria. Developer Mike Cooper of Boulder Creek Neighborhoods said he expected those units to be on the market in 2026, if the city approves them. Developer Cooper said he
hopes the development would produce homes available for sale in the $400,000 range — considered “attainable housing.” Housing advocates say one problem with Colorado’s housing market is the lack of affordable homes considered “the missing middle” between multi-family apartments and expensive single-family houses. Cooper said the Kestral project is meant to fill that spot. Then councilors voted 8-1 to approve a new Planned Development for the Bromley Park neighborhood at 50th and E. Baseline. That would convert the open lot at the corner into attached housing that will be
VOICES: PAGE 6 | CULTURE: PAGE 8 | BRIEFS: PAGE 10
available for rent, according to developer Chris Bremner with Brookfield Residential. “I’m kind of torn on this one,” Councilor Tom Green said, regarding the Bromley Park plan. “It’s actually more dense than the last one, but I think it’s a better alternative.” The Kestral Plan
Green was one of the three to vote against the Kestral plan. The Kestral plan calls for developing land owned by the Henderson-area Orchard Church. The lot runs from Peoria Street to the church’s parking along 120th Avenue and up Peoria past Thunder-
hawk Place, the northwestern entrance to Prairie View High School. The lot wraps around the northwestern side of the church and its parking lot. Brighton Senior Planner Summer McCann said the plans call for 174 single-family homes on the 28-acre lot, almost seven units per acre. Developer Cooper said the lots would be a mix of twoand three-story cottages with six different building layouts and 10 color schemes. Most of the homes would be clustered around small green spaces meant to serve as yards for residents. SEE HOUSING, P2
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment suspended testing of drinking water at the state laboratory, the latest twist in an expanding water-testing scandal that’s been going on for a year. The scandal involves at least two chemists accused of cutting corners and falsifying data on quality-assurance tests — essentially practice tests run to make sure their machines are working correctly. The state says it has no evidence that public health was threatened through falsified data on tests of actual water samples sent into the lab for analysis. “At no time did we find levels that we knew would pose an immediate threat to public health,” Dr. Ned Calonge, CDPHE’s chief medical officer, said in an interview. While testing is suspended at the state lab, CDPHE has transferred testing duties to third-party labs that are certified by the federal government. Here’s what else we know so far about the testing scandal. What kind of tests are we talking about?
These are tests conducted on drinking water to look for harmful levels of various things like metals or toxins. The water samples could be submitted by a community or municipal water provider or they could be sent in by individuals whose drinking water comes from a well. The specific test at issue is known as Method 200.7. It looks for metals like barium, chromium and copper. Calonge said this is not the test the state uses to look for lead. To conduct the test, a lab chemist runs a water sample through a machine, which spits out a result. The result is then compared to federal water quality standards to see if it exceeds allowed limits. SEE QUALITY, P20
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