| Easier to read version: View this email in your browser Community Events update, Clear Creek crowding, affordable housing, street lights, Highway 6/58/93 improvements and more… Hello neighbors! While the rains aren’t quite done with us, I can safely suggest we are more than ready to ramp up for summertime. Congrats to our recent 2021 School Grads and all who persevered through this last year and more… now let’s get out and enjoy life! Before getting to the updates, I want to highlight a few upcoming Golden events many have been waiting for: . Golden Farmers Market opens June 5th! (runs into October) . Golden Summer Jam June 24th (at Colorado RailRoad Museum) sponsored by the Golden Civic Foundation. Tickets on sale June 7th. . BGoldN addresses food insecurity in our community. Look for ways to help at their website, with upcoming June fundraisers in conjunction with the Golden Lion’s Club and Rotary Club of Golden. . Homestead Open House at Golden History Park weekly on Saturdays… . The City of Golden is hiring! As the Splash opens, Community Center starts accepting walk-ins, Fossil Trace is in full swing, and Parks & Rec ramps up generally, consider a youth or adult seasonal job with the City! . Golden Police Virtual Safety Academy continues! All are welcome to sign up, the June 9th topic is motor vehicle theft. . The Golden Bike Cruise is back in action! Last Tuesday June-Sept. New location near the Armory. . Foothills Art Center presents ArtsWeek Golden July 8-16. Yay Art! Note: There is (already?!?) discussion of Fall elections for Golden City Council ward seats. At a later date I will share an announcement on my status as a potential candidate. For now, I continue to enjoy the opportunity to serve you and fellow residents here in Golden and remain focused on the work. Until then, I look forward to the joys of getting out and seeing everyone in person this summer!  My thoughts are with our troops at home and around the world, and to those who have lost loved ones defending our country. Please celebrate carefully and have a peaceful Memorial Day weekend. Stay safe,  Bill Fisher, RN Ward 4 City Councilor Golden, Colorado City Council Updates As I noted in the last newsletter, progress with vaccine distribution means I’m excited to share news focused on more traditional city matters. But first… A shout out to our superb City employees who, over the past year, responded remarkably and with flexibility to maintain critical services such as fire, police, water, plowing and road maintenance and parks access… and so much more during an unpredictable and capricious pandemic. Thank you! Clear Creek Corridor Summer crowding, pollution, noise, and safety  This winter, I joined a group of 20 or so folks invited to participate in a community advisory group to help City Manager Jason Slowinski consider ways to manage crowding and environmental impacts along Clear Creek. While I think the results may feel weighted somewhat in favor of industry vs. residents, there are dozens of mitigation measures that have been proposed and I look forward to seeing how effective they are. Learn more and review the Council Briefing Powerpoint on Guiding Golden… More importantly, what do you think? Let me know! 2021 Clear Creek Strategies Presentation (1.65MB) Affordable and Attainable Housing Nationwide this issue is growing quickly. While there appears to be little momentum nationally, we are seeing interest at the State and local levels. In fact, Gov. Jared Polis just signed House Bill 1117 allowing local governments such as Golden the ability to require some affordability in housing for new developments, an important step.Separately, City Council, at Mayor Weinberg’s request, held a special working session recently on housing affordability and attainability. From this we are recommending that City Staff consider long-term plans to address this issue. For example, we have encouraged the hiring of dedicated affordable housing staff to assist in this effort and take advantage of state or federal dollars that may become available. I’ve joined with several Councilors, led by Mayor Pro Tem Brown, working alongside community organizations such as Golden United’s Housing Task Forceand concerned residents regarding recent events to maintain appropriate access to affordable mobile home parks opportunities. Please let me know if you’d like to learn more or get involved! Programming Alert: Golden United Presents “Housing is Preventative Medicine” via Zoom on June 3rd at 6pm. Learn more and register. Infrastructure – Highways 58 & 93 mitigation Many of us in the North Neighborhoods have lived for years with increasing pollution, noise, and accidents along highways 58 & 93. Even prior to knowing the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve called for two things: shovel-ready projects to take advantage of recovery funding, and a focus on helping North Golden with safety and noise mitigation equal to work already done or in progress for Central and South Golden.I’m pleased to report that multiple important priorities for North Golden are now included in Golden’s Investment Ready Projects list. View: Golden Investment Ready Project List We also made it onto the County’s radar for important projects: The Jefferson County Transportation Needs master list was released by the County in March and submitted to our Congress persons, and include the following Golden priorities: . Highway 93 realignment and safety improvements at the north end of Golden . Highway 93 multi-use path to Boulder (bike/ped/etc.) . Highway 6 and Heritage Road interchange improvements (in progress) I’m also excited that Congressman Ed Perlmutter has included a $2.3 Million request for improvements to Highway 93 in his District Projects Funding Request(not guaranteed, of course). We are still working to include improvements along Highway 58 and near the Village at Mountain Ridge (such as additional berms and other noise efforts). However, this news gives hope to all who wonder if it’s worth the conversation and effort on improving highways near our homes. There’s more to be done, and this is a start. If you’d like to talk more about these projects or additional mitigation, please reach out and let’s chat! City Street Lights update A couple of years ago Golden purchased all of our street lights from Xcel Energy. Unfortunately, Xcel has been fairly uncompromising in working with us, and thus I’m not thrilled that Staff presented a $1+ Million adjustment that came before Council last week regarding this purchase. Being on the forefront of taking ownership of our community has a cost. However, the reality is that we’ll still save money and have more flexibility down the road. The Good news? If you happened to see street lights coming down around town, don’t worry! Each of these will be repositioned onto a new pole over the course of the summer. About 125 of the lights we purchased are on Xcel power poles, and the City has to replace them as part of the agreement. We will be replacing lights with energy-saving LEDs to meet our community energy reduction and climate action goals (along with saving money). If you have questions/comments about a specific pole, you are welcome to touch base with me (as several residents have already) or speak directly with Public Works. City Council: Live and In Person starting June 8  No more zoom meetings? Well, not quite, but I’m excited to announce that City Offices and Golden City Council will be shifting to in-person visits and LIVE City Council meetings starting in June – another chance for us to connect in person. Meetings will still be broadcast on GCO.TV and online, and we are considering options for hybrid public comment – allowing both electronic comments and live comments from the public. Misc….Want to have a voice in our future? Golden is undertaking a Tourism Strategic Planning process. If you haven’t taken the survey, consider sharing your thoughts at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/visitgolden COVID-19 Vaccine Update Everyone 12 and up is now able to receive the COVID-19 Vaccine. There are many same-day walk-in clinics and vaccination sites available and appointments if you’d like to schedule one! State of Colorado: Where to get vaccinated JeffCo Public Health: COVID-19 case count and vaccine info Vaccine Spotter: www.vaccinespotter.org/CO/ JeffCo Public Health Vaccine Clinic information Mobility Issues? Check here for Denver regional resources. Uber & Lyft are also offering free rides for vaccinations through July 4th. State of CO voice hotline: 1-877-268-2926, staffed 24hrs a day. And thanks to everyone in Golden for staying safe! Wear masks if you are not vaccinated, continue physical distancing, and wash your hands.Until then, I look forward to the joys of getting out and seeing everyone in person this summer! Feedback?Email bill@williamfisher.com and visit www.WilliamFisher.com for regular updates and to communicate your thoughts, ideas and concerns.Copyright (C) 2021 Bill Fisher for Golden Ward 4. All rights reserved. Update Preferences |
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William "BilFish" Fisher for City Council