Courier Gold Rush > News
Makeover, tax holiday eyed
By Norma Engelberg
One day it was just an idea, three days later it snowballed into the project that has become the Main Street Makeover. On July 2, Tony Perry, president of the Park State Bank & Trust in Woodland Park, gave an overview of the project to the Woodland Park City Council.
The idea started when the Downtown Development Authority and the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Co. began offering $15,000 in beautification grants.
“I went door-to-door asking business owners to apply for the grants,” Perry said. “It snowballed from there.”
Business owners who didn’t receive grants came on board anyway and now 19 businesses are spending $350,000 plus to spruce up, upgrade and beautify their storefronts and back entrances, he said.
“The project is infectious,” he added. “People who aren’t even involved in the makeover are sprucing up their properties, too.”
He credits the hard work by Woodland Park planning staff, the county building department, business owners and the Colorado Department of Transportation. Loans were arranged quickly and permits were expedited. As its contributions, Park State Bank paid for the services of general contractor Chuck Mahoney and architect Chuck Severance.
“Some of the business owners started working on their buildings before the loans were even in place,” Perry said. “This was a ‘faith-based’ operation all the way.”
The project is scheduled for completion July 11 when 1,800 feet of ribbon will encircle the project for the ribbon cutting.
“We will get it done by July 11 somehow,” he said. “This is the blueprint for survival — communications, transparency, putting away petty differences and pulling together and supporting each other. Nothing like this has ever happened in Woodland Park.”
Woodland Park Chamber of Commerce President Debbie Miller gave council the results of a survey of local business owners on a tax holiday proposal floated at an earlier council meeting by Councilmember Betty Clark-Wine.
“The most common questions I heard during the survey were ‘Why are you doing this?’ and ‘What is the city’s mission?’” she said.
There also were questions on who markets the tax holiday. More than half of retailers who responded to the survey said it would be difficult or extremely difficult to reprogram their cash registers to recalculate taxes for one or two days. Most said it a blanket moratorium would be easier.
Of the 77 respondents, 42.7 were in favor of a two-day local sales tax moratorium, 36 percent were opposed and 21.3 percent were undecided.
County Commissioner Jim Ignatius said if the county were to be involved in a possible countywide tax moratorium it could create huge challenges.
“Our budget is very tight this year,” he said. “These are tough economic times. ... Any revenue decrease means a decrease in services.”
Mayor Steve Randolph asked city manager David Buttery to prepare an executive summary of survey and county findings before council makes the decision to allow staff to create the necessary ordinance.
Three ordinances were introduced and approved on initial posting for public hearings July 16.
The first was a conditional use permit for Black Hills Energy for a natural gas compressor the company has already installed at Stone Ridge Village.
The second was a loan agreement for an amount not to exceed $705,000 at an interest of no more than 3 percent for no longer than 21 years for phase 1 work at the wastewater treatment plant. Phase one would upgrade the headworks where large items such as rags and plastics and smaller nonsoluable items such as sand and grit are removed from sewage before it is treated.
“Right now screens are cleared manually and there is no grit removal,” said utilities director Jim Schultz. “It’s labor intensive for our crews and we have to shut down every few months to shovel out the grit.”
A headworks upgrade would be preliminary to a main plant expansion that will probably be required within the next three to four years.
The city applied for a federal stimulus grant but was denied. However, the city does qualify for a guaranteed low interest loan — perhaps as low as 2 percent.
“That is a good interest rate and this is a good time to bid a project,” Schultz said. “The work won’t make much difference to wastewater quality right now but it would allow us to use our people more productively and might cut down on the amount of overtime because crews won’t need to work weekends.”
He said it also makes sense to get phase 1 completed now and start phase 2 in three to four years when the debt for previous water system improvements is scheduled for payoff.
“Phase 1 is relatively inexpensive compared to phase 2,” he said. “That will cost at least 10 times more.”
The third ordinance would vacate a portion of Harrison Avenue between Boundary and Baldwin streets.
Council approved a liquor license transfer for the new owner of Danny’s Corner Bistro, former bistro employee Karen Smith.
Buttery was going to report on funding options for a YMCA recreation center but postponed it to the July 16 meeting to give time for the city comprehensive plan Citizen Advisory Committee to add its ideas.
Utilities department seeks loan
Day-long celebration planned for July 11
The day will start with a Native American sunrise blessing that will be reenacted at 9 a.m. This will be followed by other blessings and the ribbon cutting at 9:30.
Throughout the day there will be gold panning, a home-town services event at Charitable Treasures for businesses without store fronts, children’s activities at the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center and Help the Needy, food vendors, information vendors at Lion’s Park and artists at Bergstrom Park and the old All Star Gas Building.
Members of the Home Builders Association will auction off extra building materials. Local nonprofit organizations also will benefit from fundraising that day and shops will participate in a Strike Gold Contest, giving patrons a chance to win $1,000.
Crossing guards will be on hand to help pedestrians cross U.S. 24. Live music will be provided as part of the Woodland Park Music Series 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and a Woodland Park Saddle Club dance will end the day.
The idea started when the Downtown Development Authority and the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Co. began offering $15,000 in beautification grants.
“I went door-to-door asking business owners to apply for the grants,” Perry said. “It snowballed from there.”
Business owners who didn’t receive grants came on board anyway and now 19 businesses are spending $350,000 plus to spruce up, upgrade and beautify their storefronts and back entrances, he said.
“The project is infectious,” he added. “People who aren’t even involved in the makeover are sprucing up their properties, too.”
He credits the hard work by Woodland Park planning staff, the county building department, business owners and the Colorado Department of Transportation. Loans were arranged quickly and permits were expedited. As its contributions, Park State Bank paid for the services of general contractor Chuck Mahoney and architect Chuck Severance.
“Some of the business owners started working on their buildings before the loans were even in place,” Perry said. “This was a ‘faith-based’ operation all the way.”
The project is scheduled for completion July 11 when 1,800 feet of ribbon will encircle the project for the ribbon cutting.
“We will get it done by July 11 somehow,” he said. “This is the blueprint for survival — communications, transparency, putting away petty differences and pulling together and supporting each other. Nothing like this has ever happened in Woodland Park.”
Woodland Park Chamber of Commerce President Debbie Miller gave council the results of a survey of local business owners on a tax holiday proposal floated at an earlier council meeting by Councilmember Betty Clark-Wine.
“The most common questions I heard during the survey were ‘Why are you doing this?’ and ‘What is the city’s mission?’” she said.
There also were questions on who markets the tax holiday. More than half of retailers who responded to the survey said it would be difficult or extremely difficult to reprogram their cash registers to recalculate taxes for one or two days. Most said it a blanket moratorium would be easier.
Of the 77 respondents, 42.7 were in favor of a two-day local sales tax moratorium, 36 percent were opposed and 21.3 percent were undecided.
County Commissioner Jim Ignatius said if the county were to be involved in a possible countywide tax moratorium it could create huge challenges.
“Our budget is very tight this year,” he said. “These are tough economic times. ... Any revenue decrease means a decrease in services.”
Mayor Steve Randolph asked city manager David Buttery to prepare an executive summary of survey and county findings before council makes the decision to allow staff to create the necessary ordinance.
Three ordinances were introduced and approved on initial posting for public hearings July 16.
The first was a conditional use permit for Black Hills Energy for a natural gas compressor the company has already installed at Stone Ridge Village.
The second was a loan agreement for an amount not to exceed $705,000 at an interest of no more than 3 percent for no longer than 21 years for phase 1 work at the wastewater treatment plant. Phase one would upgrade the headworks where large items such as rags and plastics and smaller nonsoluable items such as sand and grit are removed from sewage before it is treated.
“Right now screens are cleared manually and there is no grit removal,” said utilities director Jim Schultz. “It’s labor intensive for our crews and we have to shut down every few months to shovel out the grit.”
A headworks upgrade would be preliminary to a main plant expansion that will probably be required within the next three to four years.
The city applied for a federal stimulus grant but was denied. However, the city does qualify for a guaranteed low interest loan — perhaps as low as 2 percent.
“That is a good interest rate and this is a good time to bid a project,” Schultz said. “The work won’t make much difference to wastewater quality right now but it would allow us to use our people more productively and might cut down on the amount of overtime because crews won’t need to work weekends.”
He said it also makes sense to get phase 1 completed now and start phase 2 in three to four years when the debt for previous water system improvements is scheduled for payoff.
“Phase 1 is relatively inexpensive compared to phase 2,” he said. “That will cost at least 10 times more.”
The third ordinance would vacate a portion of Harrison Avenue between Boundary and Baldwin streets.
Council approved a liquor license transfer for the new owner of Danny’s Corner Bistro, former bistro employee Karen Smith.
Buttery was going to report on funding options for a YMCA recreation center but postponed it to the July 16 meeting to give time for the city comprehensive plan Citizen Advisory Committee to add its ideas.
Utilities department seeks loan
Day-long celebration planned for July 11
The day will start with a Native American sunrise blessing that will be reenacted at 9 a.m. This will be followed by other blessings and the ribbon cutting at 9:30.
Throughout the day there will be gold panning, a home-town services event at Charitable Treasures for businesses without store fronts, children’s activities at the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center and Help the Needy, food vendors, information vendors at Lion’s Park and artists at Bergstrom Park and the old All Star Gas Building.
Members of the Home Builders Association will auction off extra building materials. Local nonprofit organizations also will benefit from fundraising that day and shops will participate in a Strike Gold Contest, giving patrons a chance to win $1,000.
Crossing guards will be on hand to help pedestrians cross U.S. 24. Live music will be provided as part of the Woodland Park Music Series 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and a Woodland Park Saddle Club dance will end the day.
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