Left Hand Valley Courier - All Local, All The Time

Want a break from cooking dinner at home one night? Love drones, K9 dogs and good music? Then come to the National Night Out event starting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 6, on Murray Street between Second and Third Avenues in Niwot.

The National Night Out event gives Niwot area residents the chance to meet and mingle with deputies and staff from the Boulder County Sheriff's department, Mountain View Fire & Rescue, the Longmont Emergency Unit and the Colorado State Patrol. The Boulder County Sheriff's department will bring SWAT team members, and there will be demonstrations by the K9 team and law enforcement officers flying drones.

In addition, the Niwot Community Association is providing free food for attendees, while the Niwot Community Semi-Marching Free Grange Band under the direction of Lee Shaw will perform at the event, including such event-appropriate tunes as "Stayin' Alive," "Hold On, I'm Coming," "Would I Lie to You" and "Light My Fire." The event is sponsored by the Boulder County Sheriff's Department in partnership with the NCA.

"This is a really good chance for our community to meet their first responders and mingle with their neighbors," NCA Board member Kathy Koehler said.

National Night Out events are designed to build community relationships with local law enforcement and first responders. It began in 1994 and since has spread to all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canada and military bases worldwide.

NCA meeting

At the July 10 meeting, NCA board members voted to make donations to the Niwot Nifties 4-H Club and Niwot Boy Scout Troop 161 for the groups' help at the Niwot Clean Up Day and the July 4 parade and pancake breakfast.

"We really rely on our youth to help, and these groups are wonderful," said NCA Vice-Chair Tom Sesnic.

Streets

NCA board member Liz Marr reported that Boulder County Commissioners had thanked the NCA for its letter regarding the public health element of the Boulder County Comprehensive Plan. The NCA suggested that commissioners should add a policy goal of "complete streets" as a public health measure. Complete streets signifies that streets are "designed and operated to enable safe access for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities." Crumbling county subdivision roads do not meet that standard, the NCA contended.

"While the commissioners thanked us for our letter, they said that the complete streets concept is adequately reflected in the current language of the comprehensive plan and that they have no plans to add another goal," Marr told the board.

Postcard

Charlie Copperberg

A deputy from the K9 unit gives a demonstration during last year's National Night Out, held Aug. 7 in Niwot.

NCA members spent some time last week investigating a report on the social networking site Nextdoor by a Niwot resident who said he had received a postcard from the NCA asking him to store his garbage cans "out of sight from the street view."

NCA President David Limbach said that the postcard did not come from the NCA and that the NCA is asking its members to report any others that may have shown up in the mail. "We take member data VERY seriously, and I assure you this postcard did not originate from the NCA," Limbach wrote on Nextdoor.

Limbach added in a later email that the postcard seems to be an isolated event. However, he said the next NCA email to members will include a notice about the postcard and a way for members to report any others and send feedback.