Transcript Wheat Ridge
December 6, 2012
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourwheatridgenews.com
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 29, Issue 24
WONDERING EYES
Outdoor Lab continues via 3A, 3B Outdoor Lab Foundation to receive expected $325,000 for sixth-grade program By Sara Van Cleve
svancleve@ourcoloradonews. com
Xander Kiefel gazes up at Santa Claus Sunday at Wheat Ridge Cyclery during A Holiday Celebration on Ridge at 38. Photo by Andy Carpenean
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For 54 years the Outdoor Education Laboratory Program has taken students out of the classroom to teach them lessons in nature. With voters’ approval of ballot issues 3A and 3B in November, Outdoor Lab will continue to receive support from Jefferson County Public Schools and keep the lessons going. In March 2011, program leaders faced the possibility of shutting down the program as part of Jeffco Public Schools’ budgetreduction program. Through a community fundraising effort, which was matched by district funds to generate about $625,000, the program was kept going for the 2011-12 school year. Outdoor Lab is a one-week program offered to all sixth-graders in the district . During the overnight camp-like experience, children learn science lessons and their real-world applications in a natural setting. The program has a sustainability agreement with the district to provide $350,000 in funding in 2012 and $325,000 for 2013, said Shannon Hancock, executive director of the Outdoor Lab Foundation. “What 3A did was solidify that money and solidify that the lab schools will get the $325,000 next year,” Hancock said. “If it had not passed, that money would be gone, and the foundation would have to make up the difference.”
Outdoor Lab is not receiving any additional funds through the approval of the $39 million mill levy override known as 3A. Funding from 3A will be used for the school district’s day-to-day operations, educational programs, maintenance, salaries and supplies. The $99 million bond package, known as 3B, will help fund maintenance for the district, including work at the two outdoor lab locations, Mt. Evans Outdoor Laboratory School at 201 Evans Ranch Rd. in Evergreen and Windy Peak Outdoor Laboratory School in Bailey. “Outdoor Lab has $2.3 million in deficiencies, which is maintenance and repairs at both sites,” Hancock said. “Our agreement with the district was, because the amount is so high, they would perform the repairs on an asneeded basis and we’d pay it back over 10 years. With 3B, they are paying for repairs upfront. It gave us breathing room.” Although Jeffco Schools will still support Outdoor Lab because of 3A and 3B, the program is still facing deep cuts next year. The program is funded in part by Jeffco Schools, tuition, city contributions and the Outdoor Lab Foundation. In 2012, Outdoor Labs had to cut its $2 million budget by 15 percent, or $329,000; in 2013, the budget will be cut by 5 percent, or $105,000. “The goal of 3A and 3B was to put a stop to the very deep, deep cuts,” Hancock said of the ballot measures’ effects on the school district as a whole. “It’s kept things where they were. The U.S. is looking at a fiscal cliff, and the district is looking at an equivalent. It’s so awesome that voters saw education as a priority. It helps everybody.”
City to widen 32nd Avenue in January Construction at 32nd and Youngfield will alleviate congestion at intersection By Sara Van Cleve
svancleve@ourcoloradonews. com The intersection of 32nd Avenue and Youngfield Street has been a busy one for years, espe-
cially during rush hour, but the city of Wheat Ridge will soon begin a project to change that. The intersection, which is near ramps connecting to Interstate 70, is very congested, said Wheat Ridge Director of Public Works Tim Paranto. About 13,700 cars travel through the intersection every day. To help reduce the congestion and make the intersection safer for motorists, the city is going to
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expand 32nd Avenue. “We’re going to widen the road under the interstate and end up with two lefthand turn lanes in each direction,” Paranto said. The widening of 32nd Avenue will begin at Wright Court and end at Alkire Street to the east, and of Youngfield at 31st Avenue and end north past 32nd. The additional turn lanes in each direction will help motorists get through the intersection faster, reducing the number of cars waiting at the lights to turn on or off of I-70. “It will make it easier for everyone,” Paranto said. “It’s been a concern for the community for at least 20 years, so we’re looking forward to making the improvements.” Though the widening will help solve some of the problems the intersection causes, the widening project is only phase one of a twophase project.
Phase two, which has been approved by City Council, but has no timeline for completion, would move the on-ramp to I-70 east to Zinnia Street, eliminating the light at Zinnia and allowing for a smoother flow of traffic onto the interstate, among other changes. Phase one has been in the planning stages since 2005, so it is not known when phase two will start, Paranto said. The city is still looking for additional funding possibilities for phase two. Construction of phase one, however, is slated to begin in January and be completed in the spring. The project will be done by Concrete Works of Colorado from Lafayette. Paranto said the city has worked with Concrete Works to establish a construction schedule that will minimally affect the flow of traffic through the already-congested intersection. “We’re trying to minimize the
impact of the widening,” he said. “We’ll maintain traffic at all times, so it won’t interfere with any one direction. We have an agreement with the construction company that they can’t close the road.” The project is estimated to cost upwards of $5.5 million. It is being paid for with a federal grant of $2.9 million and local funding. Wheat Ridge is responsible for picking up the remaining $2.6 million, but Jefferson County has agreed to reimburse the city for $1.25 million because part of the affected area is in unincorporated Jeffco. Paranto said the project was budgeted for $5.5 million, but he expects it to actually cost about $4.6 million.
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