University Park

February 2nd General Meeting Minutes

Minutes

University Park Community Council Mtg
General Meeting
February 2, 2005

Prior to the meeting there was a neighborly get together in the school hallway where cookies and beverages were served.

Rosemary Stoffel called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. She introduced Bill Winn who presented the budget for UPCC. A motion to adopt the budget passed unanimously.

Pat Cashen gave a zoning report. He noted that Tom Best, the City Planner said the Albertson’s land was sold to a developer. The new owner plans to use 73,000 sq. ft. of retail space as allowed by the PUD. Retail currently is about 56,000 sq. ft.

The project at the northeast corner of University and Evans is on hold while the developer negotiates existing leases.

Another developer has had preliminary talks with the City Planning Department about building a rather large structure on the west side of the 1900 block of S. Josephine. The north 1/3 of the west side is currently zoned for multi-unit use by right.

Hunter Sydnor and Allison Hodges of T-Rex addressed construction issues. Hunter noted that Denver Water had to perform some work and would reduce traffic lanes to one in each direction on University Blvd between Jewell and Evans beginning 2/14. In March, T-Rex begins the paving process for a SPUI (Single-Point-Urban-Interchange) and again, traffic on University between Jewell and Evans will go to one lane in each direction. Closures will continue throughout the summer. She also noted that Light Rail would be testing news cars from University to Broadway as they have to have a certain number of miles on them before being placed into service to transport people.

Hunter gave updates on other planned projects and urged attendees to call with questions (303) 786-TREX or visit the website for up-to-date information http://www.trexproject.com.

Councilman Charlie Brown gave an update on work being performed on Iliff. He noted this project had generated a great many calls to his office. Charlie noted there were no storm drains in the neighborhood and introduced several City employees who explained specifics of the project.

In attendance were Mike Anderson, Sr. Planning Engineer, Brian Roecker, Construction Engineer, Mike Flick, Project Designer. The project currently underway was a result of the 1989 Storm Drainage Master Plan which identified the work required. Though bonds were issued to fund the project, we can expect to see a slight increase in our Wastewater rates. A separate urban drainage and flood control project will also be done this summer to remove sediment in Harvard Gulch. Paving on Iliff will be completed in March as they must wait for warmer weather.

Charlie noted that crimes in the neighborhood were down though there had been a robbery at Key Bank the prior week. He said the City expected 60,000 visitors between 2/17-2/21 for the NBA All- Star game. He noted the City is considering placing photo radar at major intersections to cut down on cars running red lights. In March, there would be a meeting about homelessness at the District 3 Police Station. March will also signal the grand opening of the Police Station.

Neil Krauss of DU noted there would be a DU Good Neighbors Meeting the following Tuesday at the Newman Center, 3rd floor from 7-9 p.m. He said to check out all the free activities at the Newman Center. Please call 303-871-4365.

Neil noted that two old residence halls, including Pioneer Hall, would be torn down and replaced with one large building plus a 600-space parking lot.

Joan Harms, the acquisitions specialist with Denver Public Library gave a very interesting presentation about how to find out more about our neighborhood and how to access the archives. She had several interesting handouts and suggested we go online to gather more information. She suggested visiting the library or going online to research further.

Diana Helper noted that the Buchtel Trail was dedicated in October and is now part of the Parks Dept. The City Naturalist asked Diana to get a show of hands at the meeting of those who thought Buchtel should be preserved as open space. There was a unanimous show of hands. Diana noted the Buchtel Trail Committee would meet with Parks Dept. representatives in late spring.

Cindy Wallace, a parent at UP Elementary noted the UP PTA was sponsoring a house tour on 4.17. Five homes will be on the tour and tickets can be obtained at University Park Elementary or King Soopers.

Connor Meridan, a landscape student at UCD is onsite at UP Elementary. He is working on a new playground for the school. He urged folks to not let dogs on the playground.