Love my adopted hometown & feel like it’s time to give back.
Additionally, want a bigger voice for those of us who are tax-adverse. [We’ve had 2 tax increases recently – one I supported (funds ear-marked), one I did not (increases to ‘general’ fund).]
Not sure how a regular citizen gets involved, so I put myself out there to learn the process. Lucky for me Louisville hosts a fairly robust website which helped educate/navigate next steps.
Decided it best to serve on a Board & gain experience before running for a future City Council seat.
So many Boards…where would I be best suited?
Targeted a spot on our town’s Open Space Advisory Board.
Open space may be defined as an area of land or water that either remains in its natural state or is used for agriculture, free from intensive development for residential, commercial, industrial or institutional use. Open space can be publicly or privately owned. It includes agricultural and forest land, undeveloped coastal and estuarine lands, undeveloped scenic lands, public parks and preserves.
Land, trails, parks – everything outdoors – sounds right up my alley.
Read [town] Ordinance No. 1329, Series 2000 which defined the purpose & duties of the Board. Next, read the past year’s Board minutes. What does Open Space do?
Discussion Item: Flood Damage to Open Space Trail System
Staff was asked by FEMA to identify damage. Staff has mapped the
damage on all open spaces.
Coal Creek Trail, Davison Mesa and Coyote Run were the most damaged.
Staff estimates two miles of trail damage, if you were to add it all up.
Small repair projects are being done in-house.
Bigger projects are being done on a contract basis – Davidson Mesa and
Coyote Run will probably be done this way, although nothing has been
officially decided yet.
Staff will review these properties tomorrow and ongoing with FEMA, who
in turn will undertake their own review and determine whether the project
is eligible.
OSAB discussed the general contours of the re-building plans – how do
we rebuild? Stream bank restoration? Resilience v. restoration?
I actually USE our Open Space trails multiple times weekly for marathon training. On board with restoration.
Jean Morgan, 1131 Spruce St.: Ms. Morgan is interested in Open Space
and Historic Preservation. She reported that she spoke to Council last
night about the importance of these two Boards being involved in
decisions related to their respective funds.
o Ms. Morgan says that the budget did not include any line item for
open space acquisition either last year or this year. Her concern is
that this tax is not being used for acquisition. She believes that the
citizens voted for the tax with the understanding that there would be
acquisition, and thus far, there has been none.
o Ms. Morgan would recommend that a percentage of the fund
should be set aside for acquisition.
ALSO, concerned that the one tax increase I voted for is not matching its intention – acquiring & expanding Open Space.
Ok, I’m in. This is my Board.
Filled out all required paperwork (not a personal strength but a necessarily evil). Check, done.
Interview scheduled with City Council on December 10th. 10 minutes. Yep, that’s all you get.
Found our Mayor & Council members super nice & respectful. That said, also found them very human.
Why do we put politicians on pedestals? They’re just fellow Louisville residents, nothing crazy special. Downside – didn’t feel any inspiration. AND not so different from student council – only everyone’s older, seems tired & a bit beaten down.
Nope I didn’t get a Board spot on my first try. But I’ve been inspired.
In addition to representing my fellow town folk, I think we need to boost ENERGY & ENTHUSIASM into our town government. Granted I interviewed on an overcast 10 degree night, but jeez folks, we’re counting on ya.
Give me 2 or 3 years – aiming higher next go-around. LOVE LOVE my Colorado home! 🙂
(super nice rejection letter)
Dear Keenan:
On behalf of the Louisville City Council, I would like to thank you for your interest in serving on a City of Louisville Board or Commission. I regret to inform you that you were not selected to serve for 2014. The City Council interviewed a very large number of highly qualified residents, making the appointment selections difficult indeed.
Louisville is truly fortunate to have so many citizens who are willing to become involved in the community. Although we were not able to take advantage of your offer to devote your time and energy to serve the residents of Louisville this year, we appreciate your interest and encourage you to apply for vacancies in the future.
Sincerely,
Robert P. Muckle, Mayor
Kicked off Labor Day weekend by running our local Coal Creek Crossing 10M race. Only my 3rd time running since Alaska, felt strong & finished a respectable 59th. Far easier than last year when I thought I could run 10 miles with virtually zero training.
Again, not perfect (hadn’t run in weeks, letting my knee heal), crummy pace – but I finished & finished strong.
Gonna keep running both of my hometown’s races annually (Coal Creek on Labor Day weekend & Taste of Louisville in June).
Life is good, really good. Off to New Mexico – it’s a 3 day weekend and the mountains are calling! 🙂
Thanks for participating in the Coal Creek Crossing 10 Mile.
Results for K R Haga:
You placed 59th out of 107 finishers in a time of 1:29:12 for a pace of 8:56 per mile.
Out of 56 men you finished 39th. The winning time for men was 59:09.
Coal Creek Crossing 10M
Super proud of my Colorado hometown – AWESOME place to live!
Money Magazine – Best Places to Live (America’s best small towns)
2. Louisville, CO
Top 50 rank: 2
Population: 18,924
A two-time no.1, Louisville comes in strong yet again. It’s a great place to raise a family, with well-regarded schools and a safe community.
Louisville’s housing market has been on the rise since 2008, and its place in the technology-rich Denver-Boulder corridor has kept the job outlook solid, despite recent setbacks like Phillips 66 pulling the plug on a much-anticipated renewable-energy campus.
Locals say the work-life balance in Louisville is hard to beat. Come summer, residents can look forward to weekly events featuring food trucks from local restaurants, beer gardens, live music and much more. Then there’s the Colorado sunshine, 1,800 acres of open space, and, of course, the Rocky Mountains, just a 20-minute drive away. –Pieter Van Noordennen
Louisville ranks No. 2 on Money magazine’s ‘Best Places to Live’ list
City has topped the list twice in recent years
By John Aguilar, [Boulder Daily] Camera Staff Writer
Louisville has been in the top five since Money magazine began publishing its list of best small communities in 2005, a list that comes out every other year.
In the last few years, Louisville’s downtown shopping and restaurant scene has become the envy of towns and cities across the country attempting to recapture the bustling and charming community core of a long-ago America. The city’s Main Street is lined with a variety of casual to finer dining choices augmented by a popular summertime outdoor patio program, in which on-street parking is sacrificed so that diners can enjoy a meal outside.
Louisville has run out of large parcels of developable land, [Mayor] Muckle said, and can only add housing through infill developments. That alone will ensure home prices continue to rise in the city — good for current homeowners but a challenge for those trying to enter the market.
“Prices are definitely rising because there is not a lot for sale,” Wood said. “When they come on the market, they go really quickly.”
Some of the city’s new housing types can be found in Steel Ranch and North End, while Coal Creek Station is proposed for an 11-acre site at the southwest corner of Colo. 42 and South Boulder Road. It calls for 51 homes — and 34,000 square feet of commercial space. A little farther west, 111 high-end apartments are planned as part of the redevelopment of the old Safeway site on South Boulder Road.
Louisville No. 2 ‘Best Places to Live’
