By Hsun Chen
At
peak-use periods, it is not unusual to see traffic backed up halfway to
63rd Street on SH 119, as the glut of commuters funnels through the traffic
light at the IBM plant. A long line of cars also develops when a train
crossing the road temporarily blocks SH 52. In addition, the current intersection
lacks adequate accommodations for bicyclists and pedestrians.
In
response to these and other concerns, the Colorado Department of Transportation
(CDOT) has proposed renovating the intersection.
CDOT
stated that the purpose of the proposed interchange is to improve safety
of traffic flow and reduce congestion and delay on SH 119 between Boulder
and Longmont. The revision should also improve access for bicycle and pedestrian
traffic, while accommodating future facilities, such as an additional commuter
rail track and accompanying rail station, and/or a traditional Park-n-Ride
station.
Because there are no additional significant roadways planned in the area, CDOT stated that the resulting lack of alternative routes will result in an increase of vehicles using SH 119 and SH 52. Traffic volumes for the intersection are increasing as a result of significant regional growth. The current infrastructure is characterized as “over-capacity” and as having “undesirable design aspects for the existing and projected traffic volumes,” such as the at-grade railroad crossing.
The
average daily traffic flow on SH 119 between 63rd Street and IBM was 30,400
units in 1996, according to figures quoted from CDOT by civil engineer
Matthew Salek <www.mesalek.com/colo/r100-119.html>.
The average daily traffic flow on SH 119 northeast of IBM in 1996 was 32,800,
as compared to 24,800 southwest of Hover Road in Longmont, and 9,100 on
SH 52 at the Diagonal Highway.
Thirty-six
accidents were reported from 1996-2001 in the area of the intersection
of SH 119/SH 52/IBM Drive, according to CDOT, the Denver Regional Council
of Governments, and Boulder County. Additionally, three car/train accidents
at the crossing at SH 52 were recorded between 1992 and 2001, and 12 accidents
occurred during the same period in the vicinity of SH 52 and North 71st
Street.
The
goals of improved safety and efficiency are expected to be achieved by
adding more lanes of traffic along SH 52, eliminating the existing at-grade
railroad crossing, and constructing a new interchange that removes the
direct intersection of SH 52 and SH 119.
Other safety proposals
include eliminating SH 52 from bisecting the railroad crossing and SH 119.
One plan proposes elevating SH 52 over the railroad and SH 119, leaving
the railroad at its current grade. The second proposal calls for SH 52
to pass under the railroad and SH 119, with the railroad remaining at its
current grade and SH 119 elevated eight feet. Another variation is for
SH 52 to pass under SH 119 and the railroad, with both elevated eight to
14 feet from their current positions. The last proposal puts SH 52 over
SH 119 and the railroad, lowering the latter six to 10 feet.
In
addition, CDOT has proposed various interchange configuration alternatives.
In one series of proposals, SH 52 has been shifted in a southern re-alignment
between North 71st Street to East IBM Loop Road. This section of SH 52
would be expanded to accommodate two 12 foot-wide lanes for auto traffic
in both directions, as well as a five foot-wide bicycle lane for both eastbound
and westbound cyclists. Two additional 12 foot-wide lanes would provide
for left turn access. Both sides of SH 52 are to have new sidewalks for
pedestrian traffic (see diagrams).
While
these proposed changes are certain to help reduce traffic-induced head-aches,
it is uncertain when construction will begin. Many details of the complicated
construction have yet to be decided. CDOT stated that construction funds
are anticipated to be available in the fall of 2004.
For
more information on proposed plans for SH 119 and SH 52 go to <http://www.dot.state.co.us/StateWidePlanning/PlansStudies/PubOpnHse1.pdf>.
Bond Committee
to School Board: Show Us The Money
Citizens Group Wants to
See SVVSD Budget Plan
By Charmaine Ortega
Getz
Show us the money.
That’s what officials
of the St. Vrain Valley School District heard last month from members of
the volunteer community group that designed the $212,900,000 bond measure
that passed the Nov. 5 ballot. The Community Bond Review Committee met
for the first time, on Jan. 16, since the school district’s $13.8 million
budget shortfall was publicly disclosed Nov. 13 at a SVVSD Board of Education
meeting.
Superintendent
of Schools Dr. Randy Zila opened the CBRC meeting at the Learning Services
Center in Longmont with an upbeat message that acknowledged the hard work
of the committee members and the devastation of the news that overshadowed
their victory, the first successful district school bond measure since
1997. Zila, hired only months before the budget crisis came to light, encouraged
the group to stay committed to the bond’s project goals.
“The needs haven’t
changed,” he said, a sentiment that was echoed several times throughout
the meeting and referred to the new schools, classroom additions, repairs
and upgrades needed throughout the district.
Before the budget shortfall
revelations hit the fan, the CBRC was asked to remain as a watchdog group
to oversee completion of the bond projects. Zila was among district officials
who now asked the members to advise the board on how the bond projects
could best be implemented under the new state-imposed financial recovery
plan.
The budget shortfall
allegedly stemmed from accounting errors committed by Director of Finance
Walker Neilsen, who claimed he forgot to include the salaries of 150 teachers
in his calculations. The resulting discrepancy was then met with a series
of rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul maneuvers, including loans from the state. Neilsen
resigned and his supervisor, Assistant Superintendent Ken Kirkland, is
on unpaid leave .
On Dec. 20, the SVVSD
was forced to accept a financial-recovery plan by state Treasurer Mike
Coffman that required across-the-board 7.125 percent staff salary cuts
and ended a preferential health insurance plan for administrators. The
plan projects a reduction in the current fiscal year deficit by $7.5 million,
and the 2003-04 deficits by $7 million.
Citing the projected
budget-reduction savings of the plan and an easing of fears that the district’s
downgraded bond ratings would be a liability, officials spoke of implementing
some of the bond projects to meet necessary repair, upgrade and expansion
needs with the least impact to the general funds. Rex Hartman, who is in
charge of construction projects, emphasized the necessity of keeping to
schedules with contractors who bid on the projects.
A budget of $82,657,530
for this 2002 building bond was proposed, covering the construction of
the Tri Town Elementary and Tri Town Middle schools to be opened in 2004,
the bulk of the rest going to mechanical renovations for various schools.
Committee members who
have fought to keep the bond viable reacted with caution. They peppered
Kathy Hall, president of the board of education, with questions as to how
the costs would be covered and the operating expenses of the new schools
assured.
“We need to be able
to explain to people, in real dollars, exactly how this can work,” said
John Gaddis, who represents the Longmont High feeder system of schools.
“This
is about credibility. We need to see the five-year plan,” said Joe Donahue,
who represents the Silvercreek High feeder system.
After some discussion,
it was decided the committee could not recommend the proposed initial bond
projects go forward until it was shown a detailed plan for financing. Hartman
was also asked to produce figures to prove the contention that building
the schools on the same schedule would be more cost-effective than separately.
Niwot schools representative
Debbie Lammers, who with Joe Donahue had written letters to state Treasurer
Coffman citing the viability of bond projects despite the budget crisis,
said after the meeting, “I wanted some assurance that the bond project
would get off the ground as soon as possible. But we also need to be able
to tell the public that a credible review and analysis of the plan has
been made.”
“The school board is
using the committee as a credibility check,” said Donahue, who was elected
to the chairperson job formerly held by Merrill Bohaning. “We are going
to continue to do our job, and we are going to move forward.”
For more information:
SVVSD web site —http://-www.stvrain.k12.co.us/
By Lisa Whitehead
Soon
after discovering its financial crisis, the St. Vrain Valley School District
cancelled middle school winter intramurals–
girls’ basketball and boys’ wrestling; it is, after all, seeking savings
in all venues.Community School,
however, is coming to the rescue, offering an alternative during this difficult
year.
Each
middle school with at least 25 young ladies registered will offer a basketball
program three afternoons a week, starting the last week of January and
continuing through the end of February, with a competition rounding off
the abbreviated season.If not enough
girls sign up at one school, those who do will be invited to join the fun
at a nearby school.
Community
School is proud to be a self-supporting program, meaning it pays its own
way, excluding the school roof over its head.So
any programs need to pay for themselves.The
intramural program is not self supporting at its traditional fee, so this
basketball program will be smaller in scope – but just as fun-filled.
High
school coaches depend on intramurals and private sports programs to produce
students with good basic skills, raising the baseline of high school programs.
With this in mind, high school coaches will take over intramural wrestling for this season.Details are still being worked out, but an alternative to intramural wrestling will be available.The district plans to reinstate all intramurals in the 2003/04 school year.
Photo by Lisa Whitehead
By Donna Currie
Windows doesn’t like
to let you throw things away. Click on a file, and click the delete key,
and it will ask, “are you sure you want to delete this file?” It reminds
me of my dogs hovering over the kitchen trash asking me, “Are you sure
you want to toss these tasty leftovers?” Yes, I’m sure. Otherwise I would
have put them somewhere safe.
And much like the kitchen
trash, anything in the Windows recycling bin isn’t really gone. It’s still
on your hard drive, still taking up space and still retrievable if anyone
still wants to look. Sooner or later, you should empty that recycling bin
to permanently get rid of whatever resides there.
If you right-click
on the recycling bin, a menu will pop up, and you can choose “empty the
recycling bin” to get that trash off of your hard drive. If you double-click
on the recycling bin, you can look at what’s in there and retrieve things
you might have thrown out by mistake. Once open, you can also choose to
empty the recycling bin rather than restore files.
Want to get rid of
things right away, without them detouring to the recycling bin? Hold the
shift key at the same time you hit delete. Windows will still ask, but
this time the question is whether you want to permanently delete the files.
Say “yes” and those files are as good as in the garbage truck, trundling
down the street away from your home.
Of course, nothing
is really gone when it’s on the garbage truck. It’s still retrievable,
albeit smelly and difficult to find, unless it’s been incinerated or it
has decomposed on its own.
Your hard drive is
like that. Files aren’t really gone, they’re just hidden from view. When
you empty the recycling bin, the file names are changed slightly and the
files are tagged so that the hard drive space they are occupying can be
used again. But until that space is overwritten, an undelete program (or
the FBI, I’m sure) could still get those files back.
If you have any sensitive
documents or you’re just plain paranoid, you can find “shredder” programs
that will overwrite those files with a series of 0’s and 1’s that will
obliterate the data pretty thoroughly.
The recycling bin isn’t
the only place you’ll find junk. If you really want to clean out your computer,
there are several other places you can look. At home you’ve probably got
a few places trash accumulates. How about the bathroom trash bin, the lint
tray in the dryer…and if you start looking in the junk drawer, you might
find some dried-out pens, bits of string, and other odds and ends that
you can toss.
Windows has nooks and
crannies like that, too. And if you don’t hunt down and get rid of those
bits and pieces, you’ll find your hard drive filling up with things you
have no use for.
Most of the junk on
your hard drive resides in your “temporary” directories. These are files
that are supposed to be deleted automatically, but that often remain behind.
Look for folders named “temp” or “tmp” and feel free to delete anything
in those folders.
When you cruise the internet, your computer stores files from each web page you visit. The general idea is that by having those files on your hard drive, you won’t have to download them each time you view that page and thus your surfing will be faster. Of course, that also means that you’re storing a lot of stuff you’ll never look at again.
Look for a folder named
“temporary internet files” and feel free to delete anything there as well.
You can also find these internet files through the toolbar on Internet
Explorer.Click on Tool, select Options,
then look for the buttons (they’re in different places in different versions,
but you’ll find them) that will allow you to delete temporary internet
files and cookies.
While you’re deleting,
you might as well hunt down individual files that are taking up space.
Do a search for files ending in .tmp. These are also temporary files, but
for some reason, they sometimes end up scattered on the hard drive instead
if neatly nestled in folders. Delete them.
You can also do a search
for files ending in .chk. These are the bits and pieces of files that are
restored when you run checkdisk or scandisk (depending on your version
of Windows). Your computer has no idea what these files are, and neither
do you. Just delete them.
Now, don’t you feel
cleaner already?
Donna Currie owns B.C. Computer, 633 Frontage Rd, Longmont, CO. 80501.Phone: 303-651-7433, Fax: 425-799-5042.Email: <donna@computertoyz.com>. Web: www.computertoyz.com
By Sonja Geoghegan
According to Niwot
general contractor Ken Botts, “September 11 and the declining economy have
dramatically changed the housing market in Boulder County. Prior to 9/11,
the market was thriving and there was lots of planning for new houses.
“Afterwards, many folks
decided to stay where they were and remodel their existing homes, remaining
in familiar neighborhoods, with schools and services nearby,” Botts said.
As a result of this nesting instinct, many homeowners are choosing to increase
their living spaces as their children grow by adding storage space, finishing
a basement or completing other remodeling projects.
A longtime Niwot resident,
Botts is based in Boulder County and is proud of the integrity and the
personality he adds to the jobs he contracts. He places great value on
the quality of the work done in each house which, he feels, translates
into a satisfied client.
When considering remodeling,
Botts wants clients to be prepared.“It
takes four to six weeks to secure a remodeling permit in Boulder County,”
he said.He also recommended that
if you are considering a remodel or an addition to your residence, you
should interview the contractor and ask for references. Then thoroughly
check those references.
Botts places great
importance on the client/contractor relationship, and is on-site at each
step to answer the client’s questions and address concerns. He works with
a great team, including an architect, a draftsper-son/designer and a structural
engineer. They help him ensure safety and facilitate project completion
within the scheduled time. Even with all of his preparation, Botts knows
that 95 percent of the time there may be changes during construction that
could not have been be predicted.
For
more information, contact Ken Botts of Innovation Home Design at 303-772-0721.
By Bruce Warren
Niwot Youth Sports kicks off its 36th season with baseball and softball registration Sat. Feb. 22 and Sun. Feb. 23 at Niwot High School, 8989 Niwot Road, in the New Commons area.Saturday’s registration will be held from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and Sunday’s from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
A new feature,
online registration, will be available beginning Feb. 7 at www.-niwotyouthsports.org,
according to NYS president Steve Jones. Parents and players must sign a
Sportsmanship Code of Conduct to participate.
NYS offers baseball
programs for players ages 5-14, including T-Ball for beginners, Coach-Pitch
(89ers), Minors, Majors and Seniors.Competitive teams for older players
provide opportunities for travel and tournament play, while recreational
programs at all levels stress fundamentals, enjoyment of the game, and
plenty of playing time for all players.
Mark Lamach returns
as Baseball Director.Dave Cowen will be T-Ball Commissioner and Carolyn
Sutherland will be the Coach-Pitch Commissioner.Commissioners are still
needed for the older age groups.
Player evaluations
for Minors and up will be held in mid-March under Coordinator Tony Dageenakis.
"We have had to cancel
the baseball tournament this summer due to concerns about the field conditions
as a result of the drought,” Lamach noted. “We will have to watch our watering
very closely.We may not be able to use the elementary schools this spring.”
Recreational Softball
is offered for girls ages 5 to 18.Teams will play in the Indian Peaks Girls
Softball Assoc. league, with games held at Monarch Park and in other nearby
communities.
Brian Quiram takes
over as Softball Director this season. Former director Julie Breyer will
continue to assist with the program, which includes competitive teams selected
last fall at the 12 & under, 14 & under and 16 & under Class
B levels.Rob Haas is coaching the 12’s, Bill White and Patty Kiel are coaching
the 14’s and Steve Wolfe is coaching the 16’s.
The recreational program
offers T-Ball/Coach Pitch for 8 & under players, Player-pitch/T-Ball
for 10 & under, and regular softball for 12 & under, 14 & under,
16 & under and 18 & under players.“We always have a need for coaches
and assistant coaches,” Quiram noted.“I’d behappy to have help on the administrative
side too.”
Registration fees remain
at $60 for T-Ball players, and $90 for all others.Family maximum is $180.
An additional $10 is charged for registration after March 5. Full or partial
scholarships are available upon request. For more information, contact
Mark Lamach at 303-652-3216 or Brian Quiram at 303-652-8568.