By Shari Phiel While many are still recovering from overindulging at holiday
celebrations or working on taking down all those holiday decorations, the
Boulder County Parks and Open Space department is already planning for the new year’s projects.
At a Dec. 17 open house at the Left Hand Grange Hall, staff
members from BCPOS, the City of Longmont and the City of Boulder were on hand
to answer questions, provide information and take comments from members of the
public about three proposed projects, all part of the Longmont-to-Boulder (LoBo) Trail Connection project.
The three projects include the 95th Street bridge replacement over
Left Hand Creek, a new trail from 83rd Street north to 95th Street and an IBM
connector trail.
Niwot LID Continues Funding Community
Work
The Niwot
Local Improvement District Advisory Committee met on Dec. 2 to consider several
requests for funding. Treasurer Harris Faberman opened the session by reporting that $21,000 remained in the original $37,000
LID budget for 2008, prior to considering any new requests.
During the
session, the nine-member committee approved invoices submitted by marketing
sub-committee member and Niwot Business Associations Promotions Committee Chair
Robin Abb.
These
invoices encompassed costs to support the NBA’s current Niwot branding and
marketing campaign, including design fees for both an ad running in the
December issue of the Left Hand Valley
Courier and a tote bag being distributed by local merchants in conjunction
with another ad currently running in the Boulder Magazine.
RMCC Pushes For Permission To Proceed With Expansion
Noelle Abarelli Rocky Mountain Christian Church filed a request on Nov. 25 asking
Judge Robert Blackburn of the Colorado U.S. District Court to direct Boulder
County Commissioners to approve the church’s 2004 expansion application within
30 days.
The request came on the heels of a Nov. 19 ruling by a jury of
nine people stating that the Boulder County Commissioners violated the federal
Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) when they denied
the church’s expansion application in February 2006.
At the close of the trial, it was left to Judge Blackburn to
decide if Rocky Mountain Christian Church can expand and, if so, by how much.
No date was set for that decision, but the county asked Blackburn for a
deadline of Dec. 19 to file its own post-trial motions.
From Horseman To Statesman
Colorado’s Honorary Consul of the
Republic of Poland
By Noelle Abarelli Polish Independence Day, celebrated every year on Nov. 11, marks
the restoration of Poland’s independence in 1918. On that day, after 123 years
of partitions, Poland officially reappeared on the map of Europe as a sovereign
democratic state.
According to a recent Colorado census, 64,000 Coloradans claim
Polish decent. Many of them celebrated this year’s Polish Independence Day in
ceremonies across the state, including several attended by Colorado’s Honorary
Consul of the Republic of Poland, Tomasz Skotnicki.
The Courier was granted
an audience with Skotnicki the day after Independence
Day to learn more about his work and how an Honorary Consulate of the Republic
of Poland ended up in Prospect.
Boulder County Purchases Haystack Property, Considers
Spencer Options
Boulder County Commissioners approved a proposal to buy back the
32 acres that Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy purchased two years ago. The dairy
had intended on expanding its operations, but when those plans fell through,
the dairy put the property on the market.
Boulder County Parks and Open Space staff proposed that the county
buy it for $825,000. The Parks and Open Space Advisory committee voted
unanimously to recommend that the county act on this proposal. At the meeting
on Dec. 4, the county commissioners approved this plan.
The county plans to create a one-and-a-half to two-acre lot around
the residence currently on the property, and sell this to an organic farmer
with an option to lease five to eight acres of adjacent land to the same farmer
for a period of five years.
|
When he started his career with Wells Fargo, Niwot resident Ken Zelie probably didn’t know that a hefty dose of community
service would come with the territory.
Growing up in a middle class family in Wisconsin, Zelie said his family wasn’t all that involved in
philanthropy or community service. “For me, it really was a matter of corporate
values influencing my personal values.”
Wells Fargo has a corporate culture that emphasizes the value of
community service, and throughout Zelie’s 30-year
career with the company, community service has been part his life.
LACROSSE
Niwot lost one of its most inspirational athletes when Jenny Martinez, class of 2008, died in a motor vehicle accident Dec. 14. Martinez, who served as captain of the Boulder Valley Girls Lacrosse team while in high school, had just made the lacrosse team at St. Mary’s College in California, a Division I program. The website for the Boulder Valley Girls Lacrosse team, which includes her younger sister Emily Martinez, opens with a tribute to Jenny Martinez. <Read Full Article>
Defenseman Michael Sdao of Niwot helped
the Lincoln Stars to ashutout victory over Green Bay Dec. 12, with the Stars
winning 1-0. Sdao had an assist on the fourth goal in a 6-2 win over Tri-City Dec. 5. He added another assist a night later in a
5-1 victory over Sioux Falls. The Stars lead the West Division of the US Hockey
League with a record of 15-8-1 after 24 games.
CROSS COUNTRY
David Perry, Alex Paul and Kevin Harris of the Niwot High School boys cross-country team were named first team All-Conference
in the Northern League. On the girls side, Kaiti Shepperd of Niwot High was named
to the first team. Nick Kadlec and Kelly King of
Silver Creek were also named first team All-Conference on the boys and girls
teams, respectively.
University of Minnesota swimmer Christine Jennings (Niwot) swam a
leg of the winning 800M Freestyle Relay at the Ohio State Invitational. The winning time of 7:09.74 set a new meet
record. Jennings also finished second in
the 500M Freestyle, and placed in the top eight of the 200M Freestyle for the
ninth-ranked Golden Gophers.
Michael Melillo of Gunbarrel has helped
the Fairview boys get off to a 10-0 start and a No. 2 state ranking in Class
5A. Melillo is
a steady scorer for the well-balanced Knights, and has the ability to hit from
3-point range. He had 21 points,
including four field goals from beyond the arc in a 103-59 win over Canyon
Springs in the first game of a doubleheader Dec. 20, and added nine points when
Fairview beat No. 3-ranked Regis, 77-69, in the championship game of the Cherry
Creek Holiday Classic. <Read Full Article>
Several Niwot High boys tennis players earned All-Conference
honors in the Northern League, including Michael Ogez (No. 1 singles), Stephen Lammers (No. 3 singles), and
T.J. Ross and Adam Gang (No. 2 doubles).
The Niwot High Girls Tennis Team, which won the state 4A title
last spring, has been named the Colorado girls high school team of the year by
the Colorado Tennis Association. The
team will be honored at the USTA Colorado Annual Awards Celebration Jan. 30 at
the Marriott Denver South at Park Meadows.
Jessica Hamlin of Niwot signed a letter of intent to play softball
at Colorado School of Mines next year. Hamlin, a third baseman, led the Cougar offense this fall, earning
All-Conference and All-State honors while posting a .370 batting average. She has also been selected to play in the
2009 Colorado High School Coaches Association All-State softball game next June
at the University of Northern Colorado campus. Hamlin was named to
the Honorable Mention by the Rocky Mountain News for All-State Softball.
WRESTLING
Niwot’s Paco Retana finished fourth in the University of Northern
Colorado Christmas Tournament Dec. 20, posting a 4-2 record. Retana lost the
third-place match in the 189 pound division, 7-6, to Longmont’s Scot
Coyle. Jacob Arellano finished in eighth
place in the 215 pound division with a 3-3 record.
Matt Braman (Niwot) saw action as a
reserve for Georgia Tech in the then 18th-ranked Yellow Jackets’ thrilling
45-42 win over rival Georgia, which came into the game ranked 13th in the
nation. Braman,
a senior linebacker who also plays on special teams, will travel with Georgia
Tech to the Chick Fil-A Bowl to play LSU on Dec. 31.
Thomas Bauer (Niwot) had one solo tackle for Montana in its 31-13
win over Texas State Nov. 29 in the first round of the championship subdivision
playoffs. Bauer also broke up a pass for
the Grizzlies. Montana eventually advanced
to the championship game, losing 24-7 to Richmond.
Ryan Meske (Niwot), a sophomore
midfielder for the University of Dallas, was named to the second team
All-Independent Men’s Soccer Team. Meske was also named to the North East Athletic Conference
third team (erroneously reported last month as the second team).
Curtis Stecyk and Cameron Tolooee of Niwot High were named Northern Conference first
team All-Conference. Santiago Velez,
Connor Wood, and Michele Corbet were named to the
second team for the state runner-up Cougars. Johnny Mercer of Silver Creek was also named to the first team, while
Nathan Schemmel, Rory McGarry,
and Scott Hardy of Silver Creek were named to the second team.
Niwot High’s Cory Gansar was named
All-Conference first team for the Northern Conference. Amanda Apodaca of
Silver Creek also received All-Conference honors.
|
|||
*Past Issues of LHVC * LHVC Masthead * Niwot Community * Niwot Youth Sports * Niwot Recycling * Niwot Business Association*