LIFEST Y LES AN ADVERTISING SECTION OF COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA | VOL. 16 ISSUE 11 • NOVEMBER 2024
ELF works to improve safety from one end of Evergreen to the other
ELF board members view the shoulder area along Meadow Drive that will soon have a sidewalk extending to the Hiwan History Museum.
By Anne Vickstrom Special to Lifestyles
A lot of folks in Evergreen don’t know about the Evergreen Legacy Fund – ELF – but certainly benefit from its hard work. ELF is making Evergreen a safer place to live. In a nutshell, because Evergreen is unincorporated, it is considered rural; therefore, Jefferson County is not required to fund infrastructure such as crosswalks, sidewalks, or shoulders. That’s where ELF steps in and works with Jeffco, CDOT, Evergreen Parks and Recreation (EPRD), and other governmental agencies to see projects completed — much like the role of a Town Manager in an Incorporated town. ELF raises funds from voluntary contributions from customers of participating ELF member businesses, based on 1% of sales — an idea borrowed from Crested Butte where 1%
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OF THE MONTH is collected to protect open space. Of course, individuals and businesses can also make donations and bequests. When ELF requests projects be addresssed, it comes with funds to back them, resulting in governmental entities becoming enthusiastic partners. In 2012 Evergreen downtown business owners and community leaders, Dean Dalvit, Gail Riley, Richard Touissant, Bob Cardwell, Kathleen Davis, and Rachel Emmer formed what eventually became the Evergreen Legacy Fund, to improve the historic area of Evergreen. Over the years, the scope of the organization expanded to include all five activity centers across Evergreen. In 2020, Jeffco County Commissioners endorsed
Photo by Ellen Nelson
formation of the Evergreen Local Improvement District (ELID), enabling Jefferson County to make important public safety improvements on county roadways across Evergreen, funded by ELF funds. ELF seeks grants providing seed money, leveraging every contributed dollar tenfold. During a two-year process of intensive community engagement, 45 priority projects were selectively reduced to 17 improvements in Jeffco rights-of-way to increase safety in our community. Projects like the crosswalks and sidewalks near Wilmot Elementary School have taken five or more years to come to fruition. ELF has learned to be patient. Project timing and scope is at the discretion of Jeffco. Delays can occur through the bid process, and occasionally projects may be scaled-down to keep costs down. Please see ELF, Page 2