Transcript Golden
GOLDEN 1/3/13
January 3, 2013
50 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourgoldennews.com
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 147, Issue 5
Another snag for beltway land swap Land plan remains contested in the courts By Glenn Wallace
gwallace@ourcoloradonews.com The long and winding story of the Jefferson Parkway took two sharp corners recently, as one federal court ruled in favor of allowing a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service land swap to move forward, only to have an appeals court announce a temporary injunction last week. A federal judge on Dec. 21 dismissed the lawsuit that sought to stop the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from transferring a 300foot right of way, 617 acres along the eastern edge of the Rocky Flats Wildlife Reserve. Five days later, an appeals court ordered the temporary injunction. That strip of land is proposed to become a 10-mile toll road called the Jefferson Parkway. The new road would connect Highway
128 in Broomfield to Highway 93, about three miles north of the city of Golden, as part of the continuing effort to complete a ring road around the Denver Metro Area. A year ago, the cities of Superior and Golden, along with two environmental groups, all filed lawsuits to halt the land swap, arguing that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had not done adequate environmental review to justify the sale, specifically mentioning the possibility of buried radioactive materials that could be disturbed as a result. Bill Ray, the interim executive director of the Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority (JPPHA), called it ironic that environmental groups were asking the court to halt a plan that he says would dramatically improve the Rocky Flats Wildlife Reserve. He added that the land swap, including a provision to add 600 acres of open space to the reserve, was vindicated by the ruling. “The decision is very comprehensive. It is very clear, very thorough that none of the arguments presented by the plaintiffs were
accepted by the federal government,” Ray said. According to Ray, the land swap deal, which includes about $17 million in funding from multiple agencies and municipalities, had been set to close escrow on Dec. 31. The city of Superior, along with the environmental groups WildEarth Guardians and Rocky Mountain Wild, immediately appealed the lawsuit to the 10th Circuit District Court of Appeals, and filed an emergency motion to stop the deal. According to the temporary injunction, the JPPHA and fellow defendants had until Dec. 27 to file a response to the injunction. After reading that response, the 10th Circuit court judges decided that the plaintiffs would have until noon on Dec. 28 to file a rebuttal, which they did. The court’s injunction was scheduled to lift one hour before the escrow deal is set to close, on Dec. 31. If the judges do decide to extend the injunction past the 31st, Ray said it could
imperil the entire land swap deal. He said more than one of the involved agencies had expressed doubts about sticking with the deal if there were any more legal delays. Ray added that even with the court’s blessing, the parkway would still be years and several environmental studies, away from breaking ground. “The granting of the injunction preserves the status quo for now, and Golden can review its options, which I think is a good thing,” said Golden Pro Tem Joe Behm. Behm said the Golden City Council would have to discuss whether to join in the appeal of the lawsuit, as well as how to proceed broader negotiations with the county and the Colorado Department of Transportation about future transit improvements. He said that the city continues to be concerned about 470 beltway plans. “It’s because out of the 150 miles of planned road, the five proposed miles in Golden are really the only section that bisects an established community, so it really is critical for us,” Behm said.
Tyler expects many bills on many topics
SLIP SLIDIN’
Legislator says 2013 will be ‘quite a session’ By Glenn Wallace
gwallace@ourcoloradonews. com
Brother and sister, William and Jessica Blackburn, slide down a slope Dec. 26 at Lions Park in Golden. Photo by Andy Carpenean POSTAL ADDRESS
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Life is sweet for Max Tyler, Colorado House District 23 representative, and not just because he beat Rick Enstrom (Enstrom’s Candies being his family’s business) in last November’s general election. Tyler, a Democrat, was appointed to Rep. Max Tyler House District 23 in 2009 — which includes portions of Lakewood, Applewood, Golden and Green Mountain — and won his election in 2010 to hold on to the seat. Now entering his fourth year at the Colorado state capitol building, Tyler said that he sees a lot of hard work ahead, even with Democrats in control of the House, Senate and the governor’s office. “We’re going to have a lot of bills on a lot of topics. We’re going to have a lot of tough votes on a lot of tough subjects, some of which will make civil unions look easy,” Tyler said during a recent phone interview. “What I hear from my district pretty consistently is education and jobs,” Tyler said. He intends for his first bill of the session to address the latter of those concerns, with a bill that supports small business development centers. For education, Tyler said he was happy to see Jeffco School’s ballot initiatives 3A and 3B pass. “I’ll continue fighting for the most education funding we can
with the budget we have,” Tyler said, adding that he was excited for a bill in the works “to make education funding more equitable across the state.” In his commission roles, Tyler will be chair of the Transportation and Energy Committee in 2013, a post he said would be especially busy in the coming months. He said he had already met with the ranking Republican on the committee to discuss items likely to come up, particularly concerning more public transportation options, and expanded roadway projects. Tyler said Gov. John Hickenlooper’s recent announcement of $300 million in additional transportation funding for the state was a major benefit. “It’ll create a lot of jobs, about 10,000 jobs over the next few years, and helps keep our roads in better condition,” Tyler said, especially since he does not see CDOT having the funding to build much of anything on its own. On the issues of energy conservation, Tyler said he was looking forward to pursuing new bills designed to lower Colorado’s carbon footprint, “after years of playing defense.” Tyler talked about two bills specifically, with one being a tax credit for home owners who make significant energy improvements to existing homes, or who buy high-efficiency new homes. The other bill, likely to start in the Senate he said, would be a proposal to let home owners use a portion of their property tax payments to pay off renewable energy infrastructure costs. And then there is the issue of civil unions, which Tyler said he still whole-heartedly supports. “It’s going to be quite a session,” he said.