Infrastructure + Public Safety: A safe and healthy town for all.
2023 saw the 10th anniversary of the devastating 2013 flood, and we marked the completion of flood recovery. Over the past ten years, infrastructure unaffected by the flood – roads, sidewalks, stormwater – has taken a necessary back seat as we rebuilt. Now, it’s time to refocus on critical projects that have been delayed, particularly streets and stormwater on 2nd, 3rd, and 5th Avenues.
The current Board of Trustees is being presented with a grant-funded Sidewalk Assessment, and we’ve set aside $175k to address sidewalk issues in 2024. A Safe Routes to School grant funded the 4th Avenue pedestrian bridge and new multimodal paths and sidewalks to the Lyons Elementary from the south side of town. This grant program is again available, and we’ll be pursuing it to create the same kinds of safety and mobility improvements to the school from the north side of town.
We should continue fire mitigation activities in cooperation with the Lyons Fire Protection District and Lefthand Fire, who are experts in the subject, and we should take advantage of Federal funding for wildfire mitigation as it comes online. The Board budgeted for two curbside limb pickups in 2023 and 2024. In 2023, we decided to forgo the second curbside pickup as Boulder County implemented their neighborhood chipping program. It didn’t make sense to pay twice for the same service. Ultimately, the Boulder County neighborhood chipping program did not see any local uptake, so this board budgeted for curbside pickup in the Spring and Fall of 2024.
To me, public safety also includes avoidance of harmful chemicals. Top-of-mind, especially for folks that live adjacent to County open space, is the aerial spraying of herbicides. I believe the Town should have control over what is or is not sprayed along our borders and will advocate for a louder voice at the table of those who make these decisions. I will be testifying in support of HB-1178 this legislative session, which will return authority over pesticide use to local governments.
Economic Vitality: Empowering us all to succeed.
To be sure, our local economy is under pressure. Commercial property taxes have sharply increased, leading to higher rents. Even prior to the pandemic, residents were ordering more goods online and spending less in town. Lyons lost our medical provider, our pharmacy, our laundromat, and our hardware store. Downtown hotel construction is on pause as interest rates remain high, and the fire-damaged 402 Main Street building is being deconstructed now. I don’t know anyone who wants to see Lyons become an even higher-cost, lower-service bedroom community of Boulder or Longmont.
So do we wring our hands or roll up our sleeves? I choose the latter.
We need to do everything we can–as a town government and as a community–to help our local businesses be successful, to revitalize our downtown commercial district, and to foster new development east of downtown. We are unlike any other town in the front range, with our wonderful, eclectic, independently owned shops, galleries, music venues, world-class restaurants, extensive outdoor activities, and incredible public art and gathering places.
To maintain our creative, funky, independent nature, we must encourage essential service businesses we’ve lost to locate in Lyons; this will increase our ability to provide the levels of service our residents want and deserve.
Housing Affordability: Have we done enough?
In 2017, the Town of Lyons Board of Trustees adopted a goal of attaining 12% permanently affordable housing by 2035. We care currently at 7.9%
Over the past two years, we’ve seen 40 new permanently affordable housing units come online, with 9 more temporarily affordable units nearing completion. Some will ask, “Haven’t we done enough?” It’s a fair question. We’re a small town. We have limited resources. We must address housing affordability in a thoughtful, methodical manner.
We love our neighbors. We love the artists, musicians, schoolteachers, tradespeople, restaurant employees and barkeeps that help make us the funky town we are. We would like them to be able to afford to live here. Creating more housing affordability, as is discussed in the recently adopted Lyons Thrive! Comprehensive Plan, is one giant step toward doing that.
Housing affordability is more than “Capital A” Affordable Housing, which is what the Lyons Valley Townhomes project is considered to be. Housing affordability also means housing that is attainable for people, but not subsidized or necessarily income-restricted. It means smaller, more modest homes. It means apartments or condominiums for one or two people, versus large estates. There’s a lot to consider when thinking about where new housing should go, such as proximity to transportation and services, wildfire risk and infrastructure needs.
All of this does not mean that the Town should or will focus on building large developments or use taxpayer monies to fund projects. There are other ways of increasing affordability to investigate, such as:
- Preserving the little market-rate housing affordability that exists today
- Making accessory dwelling units (ADUs) a by-right use in certain zoning districts
- Increasing density when redeveloping properties in certain zoning districts
- Encouraging the development of smaller, less costly housing units such as paired homes to address the needs of “empty-nesters”
- …and other, but not all, strategies outlined in our recently completed Housing Needs Assessment Plan.
It’s important to remember that Lyons is subject to the pressures that affect our neighboring towns and cities, the county, and the state of Colorado. As population increased and supply dwindled, housing costs rose (and continue to rise) sharply. So much so, that during the 2023 legislative session, a bill (SB-213) was introduced that would have stripped local municipalities such as Lyons of our right to make local land use decisions. Thankfully, that bill did not pass. One of the arguments for this bill was that local governments were not doing enough to address the housing crisis. The 2024 legislative session will see the bulk of SB-213 return, but this time in multiple smaller bills, some of which will likely include the preemption of local control. We should make sure that we–not the State–direct our own destiny.
Climate and Environment: No time to waste.
In the face of the climate crisis, it’s understandable to wonder, “What can Lyons really do?” in the face of a challenge so enormous. I believe the answer to that question is, “Whatever we can.” Every step we take to address the climate crisis, no matter how small, makes a difference.
Over the past few years, this Board of Trustees has updated building and electric codes and taken the next step in procuring 100% renewable energy from the Municipal Energy Association of Nebraska (MEAN), our electricity provider. The Town procured (through a grant) an electric riding lawnmower. We’re also upgrading our electric vehicle charging stations. Trustee Tanya Daty and I both signed a pledge to do whatever we can to promote electrification in Lyons. What more can we do? A lot.
We can continue to budget for and incrementally complete the undergrounding of electric wires across town. Not only does this address wildfire risk, but it reduces line loss, enhances viewsheds, and decreases necessary maintenance. We can encourage more ridership of the Lyons Flyer bus while we advocate for increased access to the public transportation our RTD tax dollars funds. We can encourage more golf car trips and fewer gas-powered vehicle trips in town via potential grant-funded golf car subsidies. These are arguably small things that collectively can make a big difference.
What makes an even bigger difference is pollution control at the 1969-era CEMEX cement plant just east of town limits. CEMEX is the biggest polluter in Boulder County, burning seven tons of coal per hour, every hour of the day, every day of the year in their kiln. We, along with many others, successfully lobbied the Boulder County Commissioners to deny renewal of their Dowe Flats mining permit. We argued before the EPA Air Quality Control Commission that CEMEX should be held to the highest possible emission reduction and independently verified measurement standards. The EPA decision regarding renewal of the CEMEX Title V Air Quality permit is expected over the coming months.
Responsibility + Transparency: Making decisions clear.
You trust the Board of Trustees with your tax monies and your town. You should be able to know what we’re debating, contribute your thoughts and opinions, watch us have conversations, know what we’re deciding, and understand how that will affect you and your families.
Outreach: Starting in May of 2024, look for quarterly town-hall style meetings at the library so you can ask questions of and give feedback to your governing body.
Accessibility: When the COVID pandemic Zoom era ended, we decided to retain enhanced accessibility to Board of Trustees meetings by implementing a policy that allows public comment via Zoom attendance absent the statewide emergency declaration.
Budget: Every fall, the Board of Trustees and staff begin discussions about the budget for the following year. Typically, we have a half-day workshop, two or three discussions during open meetings, and then a public hearing before adoption. Rarely, if ever, do people attend or speak at the public hearings. This year, for the first time ever, the Board directed staff to proactively solicit input on budget priorities. And then the Board translated those public priorities into the budget that was ultimately adopted.
Communications: This year also saw the introduction of Board Recap emails; we understand that not everyone can or would like to spend alternate Monday nights watching YouTube streams of Board meetings. That’s why this Board directed Staff to begin offering Board Recap emails, with more detailed information available on the Town website.
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