Video Description:
Longmont City Council – Open Forum – July 30, 2024
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Welcome everyone to our second Open Forum this year, and really happy to see all of you here. Can we have the roll call please?
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Mayor Peck, present council member Christ, present council member Hidalgo ferry here, Council Member Martin,
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Council Member McCoy, Council Member Rodriguez here, Council Member Yarrow here. Mayor you have a quorum. Thank you. Let’s stand for the pledge. I pledge
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allegiance to the flag of the
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United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, invisible with liberty and justice for all.
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So I have the sign up sheet. Let me tell you how we’re going to do this, everybody gets five minutes to speak, both for the counselors as well as for the presenter or the questioner or the resident.
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Once again,
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the seats appear empty, so I will call four people at a time so that you can sit up here and then it’ll it’ll go a lot faster for you, and you can look really important that way.
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So
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before we get started, I want to read this announcement. Council will not take public comment on modern west to annexation tonight, because it’s a quasi judicial action and it’s slated for a future agenda. If you’re here to speak on this item, I will not call your name. Also, if you’re here to speak about the airport,
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be careful that it doesn’t kind of morph into the
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modern west to annexation. So with that, the first four people I’m going to call are Audrey Atkinson,
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George Johnston, georgetta Johnston,
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Eric Brock and Marco Morelli.
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In and Audrey, would you mind you’re tall like me, so can you pull that up and turn on the microphone?
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Thank you.
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Are we ready?
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We are all right.
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Get my notes up here.
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Good evening, Madam Mayor and council members. My name is Audrey Atkinson, 1200 Fremont court. I want to start by thanking you for your support of public access television through lo mon public media. Lpm is a vital resource for our community. It offers a welcoming space for diverse voices and creative expression.
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As a transgender senior citizen, a Navy veteran, a filmmaker and a musician, I know a little bit about diversity and the importance of a safe and welcoming community.
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I’ve been a member at lpm media since before coming out. My experiences before and after my transition have been nothing short of wonderful.
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When I decided to live the rest of my life as my authentic self, one of the first people I told was Sergio Angeles, the executive director of Lo public media, the first thing he did was congratulate me. The second thing Sergio did was assure me that I was still in a very safe and welcoming space. He asked my permission to share the coming out video I made with the rest of the members of lpm.
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I was immediately accepted by the other members, many of whom went out of their way to reach out to me to offer their time and talents on any future projects I had. I also had several invitations to meet for coffee, and I made new friends and allies. Since then, I’ve worked with professional and award winning filmmakers, movie editors, music producers and sound and lighting designers, all of them members and volunteers at Longmont public media.
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Lpm means the world to me and to so many others. It’s the safest and most diverse community in Longmont
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from attending many of the weekly member meetings at lpm, I know that we have the city service provider contract to record Council sessions and other city sponsored events. We have the talent, the knowledge and the equipment needed to fulfill this contract. What we haven’t received so far is any feedback from Council. What kinds of programming or community engagement would you like to see more of are there specific areas where you believe we can improve your guidance will help ensure that lpm continues to meet the needs of our community, both in front of and behind the lens. Your guidance and support will help ensure that this powerful outlet for Community Voices continues to be heard for many years to come. Thank you. Thank you, Audrey. This is I forgot to say that the great thing about the open forum is that you can interact with council. So is there anyone on council that would like to
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respond to or ask questions of Audrey, or perhaps tell her what we would like, since she hasn’t heard from Council,
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seeing no one. Thank you very much. Thank you,
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georgetta, you’re next.
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Good evening, Council, Mayor and Councilman, and thank you for letting me speak. Georgetta, Johnston, 320, homestead Parkway, Spring Creek apartments, lo Colorado, 80504, and I haven’t been here for a while. I had open heart surgery. Some of you heard, some of you haven’t in March, but I saw some things in the paper that we need in this beautiful city, that I like, and I’m sure you like, and you agree, but how are we going to do it? You know, we our schools are getting bigger and better, but our kids don’t have the skating, indoor, outdoor and the
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the hike hockey. You know, that’s not good. The art and entertainment center, I was talking with somebody, and said, I just went to a ladies conference, and there was 500 women. We paid our money to Fort Collins instead of paying our money to long. But Colorado, somebody’s listening. You know, it’s a beautiful city, and we need better department stores. You look at Johnstown and you look at Loveland, they got all these gorgeous things are getting together. You know, seriously, it has a lot of nice things. If we’re going to have a nice city, where’s the money to help out with these things? Our senior sitter, I’ve gone to a lot of things, and it’s real nice, and it’s pretty good, really. It does wonderful things. I take computer and I went to a lot of things there. Our streets and roads are looking better. I’ll give you a compliment, and Harold’s not here in different ones, Harold needs to be here. Hope he’s listening. And you know, I guess I’ll keep coming and talking about this.
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In our buffets, because we should have choices. It’s nice to eat a hamburger Well, one place, and all they have is hamburgers chicken, but it’s nice to have a few different things.
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One of these days, I hope we’ll get that again, because it’s a big city of 100,000
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and we’re good people, and we want a city. And, you know, I’m getting older and precious. I’ve lived here lots and lots and lots of years, and I come and take my time, voice, my
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sweet mouth to, you know, to encourage experience, because that’s how we’re going to do it. And we just keep talking and talking some way, somehow, somebody’s going to do all this. You know, Lord, bless you precious people for doing a good job. I appreciate it, and keep doing a wonderful job, and I’ll be back so Georgette, you always talk about having buffets, and I agree with you, however, it is the restaurant owner that wants to put in a buffet we’re not saying you can’t, but the city’s not going to open a restaurant. So it is up to the owner of the restaurant
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to bring their business to Longmont. So if you know anybody who has a restaurant that has a buffet menu, tell them to come here. Another thing is, though, maybe, like that one time they had somebody that you appointed to bring people in. So, you know how people have to have a little bit of a love push or a tug to but anyway, thank you for sharing. Because, you know, seriously, and, like I said, the schools and stuff and, and I forgot I was talking to you about rhythm on the river we used to have that breweries and marijuanas. We don’t want that. We’ve got to encourage these children. We want them to young people. We want them to do good in this city as regular older you know, our goals is good goals, not goals. That goes nowhere in our city, going down. So thank you very much. Does anybody else have a comment? Yes, I see
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Council Yarborough.
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Thank you, Mayor Peck Thank you Georgia. You look wonderful after having surgery, and you are always precious. Thank you so thank you for coming up in speaking with us about buffets, there is another one on, as mayor said, we have no control over who wants to open up a buffet. We have no control who can open up skating rinks, either.
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But there is a buffet on. Kim Pratt, namaste. I think it is. They have lunch buffets. We now have our food hall on Kim Pratt, where Lucky’s used to be and there’s, it’s not a buffet, but there are many choices, so sometimes we just have to think outside the box. But there are some buffets. I think they’re still a Chinese buffet restaurant in long mine.
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There are many things now we are trying, you know, Bless you, bless you,
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but we are not the ones who are creating these businesses. So if people want to live in long mine
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and have these businesses here, we definitely hope that they would want to and I agree with you, with the 500 people,
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we need a convention center. I hate when our money goes elsewhere. I wish we could have a facility here that will hold that many people, maybe one day. But you know that was on the ballot, just saying,
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and people didn’t vote for it. So there were many opportunities that were on the ballot to have a facility that will hold over 300 people
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that was on the ballot, a rec center that could possibly be a ice skating rink and a skating rink.
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But those weren’t voted for, so we put it on the ballot in this the choice of the people. So, but we hear you, we hear you, and we appreciate you coming up and holding us accountable. Well, you know, I heard a lot too, and I, I heard him say, taxes, taxes, taxes. Well, I don’t necessarily want him to raise the taxes, but people together want to care, to work the city good, and so some way, somehow, it’ll come to pass. And thank you very much for complimenting because it’s all truth. We want a good city, and we’ve got young people, and we’ve got older people, and we’ve got in between better we’ve got the little kids and the housing. I understand all that’s important too, and the homeless, you know, but we gotta some way, somehow, that’s what all your jobs are to, you know, some way, figure it out where there’s gotta be people.
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On it anyway, thank you. I’m praying. I feel like, if other cities can do it, we can do it all right, some way, somehow, that’s a t shirt, sound like to me. Thank you, yeah, or a bumper sticker. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Lord. Bless you, precious people.
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Eric Brack,
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good evening, Mayor Peck council members. My name is Eric Brack. I live at 309, Barnard court, 80501, I want to thank you for your ongoing support of Lo and Mon public media
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and the platform is more than just a media outlet. There’s been a critical space for community engagement, allowing residents to stay informed, express their views and participate in lo government, governance
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like tell you about my story. I’ve lived in lo online for about 12 years now. A couple years ago, I wandered into lpm with a big idea about making a podcast. I didn’t have an idea for what it was going to be, but I wanted to do a podcast. I had no experience with digital media at all because of the depth of resources and available at available at free and low cost. Lpm. I now produce a monthly showcase for local musicians. I’m a member of a podcast, and I assist with monthly movie series, among other things. I also volunteer for every activity I can, because I like to share my knowledge with people the way that the professionals and volunteers at lpm shared with me when I was starting
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through the opportunities afforded me through lpm, I became interested in city government, and I’m a member of the senior advisory board. It wouldn’t have happened without lpm, I’d like to add that I work with a wide range of people at lpm. I work with people of every description, every ethnicity, every age, everyone from seasoned professionals to absolute beginners like I was. I call lpm the most vertically and horizontally integrated space in lo mon it’s a vibrant and welcoming community, and it keeps getting better, and we are keep trying to reach more citizens.
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So what I’d like to know from you, all of you, is what you would like us to do? How would you like to see us expand? What role do you see public access television creating
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your vision. Lo bus guide new next steps and ensure that public access media remains a vital part of Longmont civic life. Thank you.
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Thank you. Councilor McCoy, thank you. Mayor Beck Eric, thank you so much. I just wanted to compliment you on the fact that whether it’s
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at one of our board of commission meetings or like the prab or or the golf or the Callahan house, I see you. I see other members of the lpm team there, and they’re probably sitting through things that anybody else would consider watching paint dry or grass grow, and I think that’s really impressive. It really is and and I think when I first was on council in 2007 2011 we started this forum and we started the coffee with council. But I think maybe just an idea, you’re asking, and I’m a spit ball in here, the idea of maybe having a month where a different council member ranges to come in and is one of your
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like they do with The Daily Show. They have these cycling
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people that they get to interview people they might be interested in and asking questions of from the community or from the
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different parts of long monitor, Boulder County or even the state, to get some to get their input on on things. So just, just an idea, we can do that, and we’d be more than willing to
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thank you for your time. Okay, any other questions?
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I don’t see anyone else in the queue. Thank you so much. Eric, thank you. Marco Morelli, you
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Hello, Mayor Peck and council members. My name is Marco Morelli. I live at 409 Baker Street, and I’ve been living in Longmont with my wife, Kayla, for 18 years.
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We have two school aged daughters, many friends, and we love it here. I really believe that Longmont is a great place to call home.
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There are many reasons for this, but the one I’m here to speak about tonight is Longmont public media.
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I want to thank the city council for supporting lpm over the past four years.
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Yes, it is an amazing local resource, a truly diverse and dynamic community, and one of the gems that makes Longmont a uniquely attracted city for people like me. You see, I’m what you call a creative I’m a poet, a writer, an editor, and the founder of a cooperative publishing company called cosmos. That means I work with other writers, artists, media makers and people in adjacent industries such as technology all the time. Collaboration is a huge deal for me.
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So is having a place where I can go to meet other creatives, talk face to face, and work on projects together.
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Lpm is absolutely one of the best things about living in Longmont. For me,
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I’ve had authors fly in from Canada and from California so that we could host public events which could be recorded at lpm. I spent three weeks with an author in her 80s recording her audio book. There a very personal memoir of her life, starting with World War Two.
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I’ve had access to top notch equipment and gotten professional level help with lighting, video production, audio engineering, marketing and storytelling from LPN volunteers and staff. Literally, this would have cost me many 1000s of dollars, if not for LPN, and honestly, would have been out of reach.
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And I’m only one of numerous members who make music, record podcasts, produce films, put on events, promote their local businesses and make invaluable connections, all because of lpm.
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But here’s the zinger,
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I pay my membership dues, which are very affordable, and it doesn’t cost the Longmont taxpayers a dime.
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This is an insanely great deal.
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That’s why I’m concerned about potentially losing access to this incredible community resource. And I’m really curious why,
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what could lpm be doing better?
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How could we be of greater benefit to the city?
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Are there some underlying issues that nobody’s talking about?
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I urge the council to provide us with more information about what’s going on and how we as the lpm community, can constructively address the situation, because every other member I know is also concerned. We’d hate to lose this place, which means so much to us, and I can tell you that there is a strong desire and great will to do whatever we can to keep it thank you for your time.
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Is there anyone on council that would like to address
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this? For the people, I just want to say we have a contract with lpm to
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record our meetings, as councilor McCoy has said, our board meetings, this meeting, etc. And every year that contract comes up for negotiation.
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And I, I, the way I look at it is that lpm,
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it is our contract that we have with you for the services that we want. I think it’s a great
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entrepreneurial business that you have in our city, and I want to see that to continue. It is the negotiation we’re in a budget cycle now, and it is a negotiation of that contract. That’s why people are coming up. And I’m glad that you are speaking about lpm and educating people in our city about what it has to offer. It’s a great resource, as we’ve heard. So we really can’t talk
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to anything because it would be a contract negotiations that we are, that we are dealing with. May I follow up Sure? So do I understand correctly that the the contract is part of also what enables lpm to
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occupy the Carnegie library space and to provide all the other resources and services that it does so to its members. So on the one hand, is that my time kind of is thank you very much. Yeah, okay, and I’ve appreciated all of the speakers that have come up and and explained to the public how great it is. All right. Thank you very much. You’re welcome. Counselor McCoy, well, I was just going to piggyback on what Mr. Morelle was saying in regards to the equipment there. My daughter is a recent graduate from MSU in media, communication and journalism, and she has her own little company, Lucky Ladybug. And they did. She did some help on in the film.
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Of of the
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of the Callahan
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house project that was going on. And it was interesting when I asked her, she says it’s got some of the best equipment around. She’s worked with Fort Collins. She’s worked with
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the equivalency of the lpm and Fort Collins and other places like that. And the level of equipment that lpm has for its members to to borrow is just incredible. So if you’re a young film maker or an old film maker, it doesn’t really matter. Get out there and check them out, because it’s some of the best in the in the state, I’m told. So,
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Okay, our next four is the four people. Phil, hey, line. JD, glitz, elle, manly and Mary. Lynn, you
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Sorry
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about
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that.
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Balance that
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over a over Mayor Peck council members, sorry, I need to get ranged in here. Hi. Phil hainline, here, 500 Lashley Street. I’m here to talk about magic. I was born in Brooklyn before it was hip. In an earlier life, I did sound and lights in New York City Theater, concerts, etc. Did a one woman show the life and times of Isidor Duncan. Most of the 500 seat audience had tears running down their cheeks.
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I did sound for Steve Martin when his opening act was a six foot five auto harp player, big guy, little harp. It
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was crazy. In two songs, he had a raucous audience of 1000 2000 people, getting up and down, singing rounds, doing Americana Hootenanny,
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who came to see Steve. It’s the biggest audience transformation I’ve ever seen in my life. And by the way, Steve is exactly as nice as everybody says he is. He hung out with a crew between shows, just down to earth talking life career. I was just incredible, solid guy. So all this is to briefly note I’ve seen a bit, and I know magic when I see it. And Longmont public media has the magic. Okay, as Eric Brock and others have noted, lpm is the most diverse, inclusive, welcoming public institution I found in Longmont, the collaborative spirit is off the charts, from professional media pros to young people getting started, it’s absolutely magic. Cable franchise fees, this is to the audience. Was a deal that cable companies struck with cities to permit public access in return for a monopoly. Okay, public access? Sure, there’s less need for today, there’s less need for a channel, but the public still needs access to gear, skills, space, software, and, most importantly, collaboration.
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Okay, I’m so grateful that the council has used cable franchise fees to build this space. No expense to taxpayers, no expense. That’s crazy. Okay, so in these digital days, almost every endeavor takes some media, new endeavors even more so,
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okay, this is just like a public library, public resource, but only for media. Now, the thing that I really know is that making media is collaborative, okay? And on top of that, being from New York, I know that diversity absolutely elevates the creative process, okay? So, however, the motives for the latest move towards an RFP do not to be appear on record. Can’t find anything on this. I’ve asked around. OPM has received no negative feedback. So why and how can the city’s procurement office produce an RFP reflecting Council’s priorities without knowing what you’re thinking? It would be perhaps wise and for the council to explore these questions and reach some kind of agreement before proceeding with a competition. Please make it public. I think you believe that this is the most important part. I generally hope the plan is not to remove the public and educational component from peg
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if you vote to remove.
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Is tax free, truly diverse, collaborative space, it will be a real loss to the community. I would hope you say a word or two on this particular point, and to close, a sincere thank you to you all to date for making this magic possible. Thank you. Thank you.
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Councilor, Yarborough,
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Thank you, Mayor Peck so those are some really good questions, and I would like, Sandy, do you mind speaking to
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responding to those questions? Please.
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Thank you. Don’t
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go
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far. Mayor Peck, members of council, Sandy cedar, assistant city manager, you know, I think you’ve all been asking some really great questions. You may remember that the council asked to put this on a future agenda item for that public discussion. So that’s scheduled for August 6. So that’s your very next meeting. That’s one of the topics that you’ll be considering there. And we’ll be asking questions around, how would you like to proceed with this contract? I think whoever it was that mentioned about the about Comcast coming to town, the I think it was universal before that, but, but they’re right. That’s why the city council actually runs this contract. Is because when they came to town, a public vote had to be had in order to accept their franchise agreement. Part of that public vote was that council would direct this contract. So so you’ll have that opportunity for weighing in on what you’d like to see and how you’d like for that to roll at the very next meeting. Hope to see you there, but thank you for bringing up the questions that we can think about before the august 6 meeting. So that’s great. Thank you.
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JD, guides,
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lights,
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good evening. Mayor Peck and council members, J, D, glyte, 1632,
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Sherman way Longmont, thank you for the opportunity to speak to you tonight. I’d like to share my personal experience of Longmont spans brand airport. It’s too bad that I usually only speak up when there’s something to complain about, but the fact is, this airport and its community has meant the world to me.
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I became interested in airplanes when I was very young and solid when I was 16, at a small airport in Delaware. I trained in small airports on the east coast during college, and started instructing at a local airport in Maryland. I really enjoyed teaching all walks of people to fly.
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Seeing them go from an interest to flying by themselves was amazing. In particular, it gives young people great confidence and humility at the same time, taking off and finding themselves responsible to get back on the ground on their own is life changing.
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I was able to solo two step kids here in Longmont in the same 1946 airplane I soloed, and could see the positive effect it had for them in their life.
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One did, one did continue and become a professional pilot. When I was flying chargers out of a small airport in Maryland, I flew all kinds of people in packages around and in large and small airports all around the East and West and East Coast and Midwest. It’s amazing how all these airports allow people and goods to get exactly where they need to be and when they need to be.
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There’s a lot going on at almost all of them. They provide transportation, training, research and development, medevac, emergency service, maintenance and so much more.
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When I moved to Colorado with United Airlines, I wanted to bring my airplane, since long wind airport was still holding the experimental aircraft Association Rocky Mountain Regional fly in, I knew of it and the beautiful senior around it. It was great to become part of an active general aviation airport. I started volunteering for the fly in, and the first year I was here and met some great people in the community,
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I decided to rebuild another old airplane from my youth, and enjoyed my time at the hangar meeting more friends, I was able to join with others in local youth outreach and to help kids work on restoring an airplane, as well as take them on flights. Those that caught the bug and continued ended up becoming aeronautical engineers, military pilots, instructors and airline pilots. They continued to tell us how this time in their life
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was so meaningful. I’m amazed at all the talented people with airplanes and businesses here in Longmont who are serving at the local and larger communities, doing maintenance, instruction, research, air taxi, helping youth, etc,
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all this, and we could do so much more with a little detention. We have a master plan, but haven’t done much on it. I’ve heard the LED P talk here at council about how the airport’s a great incentive to bring companies to long line. We have a marketing plan and a business plan, but it doesn’t seem like we’ve done much with it. There are lots of federal and state funds that have been available but not used. We could.
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To have a great fixed base operation, a nice terminal, restaurant and observation area, or many other things to make the airport more welcoming, so that everyone feels like it’s theirs. There’s tremendous opportunity. Now that there’s new air taxi and electric airplanes are starting to come online, the air taxis will be starting here at local existing airports. It would be great to have good facilities to accommodate the growth in this activity. In business, like everyone, you have some fixed ideas or views of the airport, and I would invite you to consider the many benefits and potential it offers. And I hope everyone will make the make it out to the Longmont Air Show and expo September 14. Thank you.
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Thank you. JD,
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I just want to underline what you’ve said. Our airport is has been a great asset, especially during the 2013 floods. We had pilots flying people in goods and services, and you now have pilots practicing taking water out of button rock and dropping it on putting out fires, which, as we know right now, is very important. So thank you. I thank you. I’d like like to if we do things that we could to make it so that everybody knows what’s going on. There’s a lot of people that don’t, and you have to spend a little time on the airport to find out exactly what does go on and what’s available to people and anyway, thank you.
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L manly, you
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uh, good evening. Mayor, council members, Al Manley, 940, range view lane, 80501,
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45, years ago, when I first visited Longmont, I went to the local airport. It was much smaller. Back then, only farms and Longs Peak were on the western horizon. It was beautiful, and it still is a beautiful place. I learned to fly there and currently share a hangar at the airport. I also have many longtime friendships that originated
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that originated there. The local EA chapter, which I’m a member of, has given approximately 700 young eagle flights. These these flights introduced kids under 18 years of age to aviation. I was also involved with the antique Aircraft Association, which has also done similar things with kids. And several youth have gone on to become professional pilots in the military and in commercial aviation. It’s extremely hard for me to think that this amazing little airport named after a distinguished lo citizen Vance brand, who went on to become an astronaut, could be in jeopardy of losing funding due to mismanagement of growth by the city. The majority of professionals in commercial aviation received their introduction to aviation at an airport just like this. This is a long term tradition that really can’t be duplicated. It all begins at small airports. Let’s keep the tradition alive the little air corps, little airport could be so much more was with some desired infrastructure investments.
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Please consider the future investments in the airport,
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because it helps the saint marine Valley, educational district, the innovation center works with the local EA chapter on an amateur build aircraft they’re building. And the relationship there is really good.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Okay, then we have Mary Lynn, Hi,
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good evening, council and mayor, I’m here tonight to speak about energy. I’m I’ve been reading the
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Platte River power authorities, IRPA and I’m increasingly concerned about what I see as a lack of a logical through line in the electrification process that the city is undergoing, in lockstep with many cities in Colorado and along the Front Range.
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I’ve been trying to figure out what actually makes sense in terms of economics and thermodynamics, energy input and output in the community. And
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it appears that
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prpa is building gas turbines, natural gas turbines to produce energy for people’s homes in a city that plans to be electrified, not allowing anyone to be heating their home with gas, which means they’ll be heating with electricity at a loss of 70% of efficiency, 60 to 70% efficiency to move the gas to the homes.
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This is all predicated on PR, P, A’s statement, that we’re going to be able to translate trans,
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retro fit, or actually just use those turbines for hydrogen
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in the near term, using a projection that nobody in the national international punditry agrees with and in fact, the folks who were making these projections, the consultancy that was hired to make the projections for prpa and the owner cities, which long want is one of four
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have never, they have never predicted any future technology with any accuracy. And
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I’ve been speaking to power plant engineers that I personally know and other folks in the industry, and looking at what other folks say, and not only other No, even the folks who are willing to project that we will be using hydrogen soon aren’t projecting anywhere near as close as prpa is doing, and most are saying we don’t know when it will ever become viable, because it’s very expensive to produce and difficult to produce at scale. So I’m asking the council once again to slow its role when it comes to electrification and to focus in the areas in terms of the environment that we really can make a difference. And that is increasingly obvious, that it is soil that is the restoration of our soil and our farmlands growing food locally and rather than trying to decarbonize our
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energy resources at a cost of much higher electricity and potential grid instability for Our Community, let’s focus on getting food grown locally, the carbon going back into the soil, and in terms of biomass and regenerative agriculture, water then being held in the soil, which cools down the environment, which creates much more biodiversity, excuse me, and
47:18
is less it will it will actually be a cost savings for folks, rather than the expense of going to an electrification program, which, if I can use another E economics, doesn’t make sense as well, because the focus on
47:37
building these plants rather than going out To the open market means that we’re going to have more expensive energy, no matter how we look at it. So I I would like to hear from Diane and Sean, who in 15 months, will still be forging ahead with a new council, and see if either of you have any thoughts on this topic or these two interrelated topics. Thank you,
48:04
counselors, you’ve been called upon.
48:13
Chris, we’re arm wrestling over who gets to respond.
48:20
So I agree with a lot of what you have to say. I think keeping agricultural concerns going here in town are very important. I think we need to work on our tree canopy. And the thing about prpa is, the thing I know about them is those are some wicked smart engineers, and they’re pretty much telling it to us straight that they they there’s a transition there, and it’s not going to be a throw a switch, and that’s why I think they’re talking about the natural gas turbines that they need to bridge that gap for dark columns and
49:00
And then there are white papers out there about hydrogen. I agree with you. I’ve gotten a few of them, and I have to admit, I don’t understand all of it, and it is not ready yet, but nowhere near Yeah. But I know that if anybody can figure it out, it’s those prpa engineers, because they are, as I say, wicked smart.
49:20
I think what’s true is that we have to
49:26
look at, you know, where technology is going to take us, but I think we get a little ahead of ourselves by saying it has to be by a certain time. Because it’s kind of like saying you have to put the space shuttle up by a certain deadline. You know, always those deadlines keep moving, because they want to be safe, they want to, you know, be proven. And so I see that, you know, we have to march forward, but we have to do so
49:53
technologically sound practices. So I agree with much of what you’re saying, but, you know, let’s, let’s see where this Lee.
50:00
Needs us. And I also think in the meantime, we’ve got to build our business economy. We’ve got to build our agricultural, you know, make sure we have enough water to continue our agricultural activities and and so it’s a broad spectrum of things we need to work on. And so in the policy, I think the Council has adopted most of that. I mean in terms of, we try to keep all of that front and center, but we, when you tend to see the council sessions, you see us, you know, focusing on one thing at a time, but, but we do consider all those items. Well, I’m concerned about removing the possibility for folks to heat their homes and to cook with natural gas, and forcing them to do self electricity at a loss of 60% or 70% efficiency, to turn the natural gas into electricity, to get into the hopes. And I know there’s lots of things that are in the works, there’s heat pumps and there’s energy efficiency, but that right there sticks in the craw, and I think we need to slow our roll with the electrification. It doesn’t make logical sense, and it’s really frustrating many, many people in the community.
51:12
Thank you, Mayor Peck I
51:15
Mary Lynn, I don’t want to repeat what councilor Krista said, in regards to the things that I agree with and and the fact that prpa, you know, does know a lot about this, they’re the experts in this, in this category, and, but I remember long conversations with my former colleague, Sarah Levinson, talking about the other part of your your discussion here, in regards to where you get your food and the close proximity, because that was something that we were in on council. The first time in 2008
51:55
we had the greatest, one of the greatest recessions that around, and that was a time when people brought forward all kinds of ideas about how to feed their families and and some of the environmental aspects. And we had things like backyard chickens come out of that, and we had other things like that come forward, and people were seeing now, you know, some of the the practices that we came up with, then, about people wanting to have milking goats and other things like that, and, and, and there was a group here that wanted to talk about
52:32
grow your own meal, where they were doing hydroponics and and with salmon and stuff like that, and some of These sort of things, kind of, we’ve kind of brushed over and and haven’t had a conversation in a while about, and maybe we need to look at some of those to figure out we see the goats coming in and clearing vegetation that we don’t want right the rent to go programs are fun, and those are they. They have their merits and they have their upside and downsides, but, but these are sort of things that we probably need to have conversations. There’s car companies that only want to be within 500 miles of the people that they sell cars to, is to keep,
53:14
to keep that carbon footprint down. So there’s, there’s different things, and we just have to probably explore some of those. That’s why, when members of council go to places like the Congress of cities, for the National League of Cities group or the
53:30
Colorado Municipal League, we go because we don’t have all the answers. And so that’s one of the ways to get pick the brains of other communities that have tried some of these things. So, you know, I think that’s the the way we need to probably proceed here. So is there a department that is in charge of ensuring the local food supply, working with local farmers? I’ve been told Parks and Rec, but they throw it back and say, Oh, we’re not staff for that. We don’t have experts in that. So is there someone, maybe
54:02
the mayor can answer that. So yes, in a sense, we do. We just
54:09
had, we just leased some of our open space for agriculture. And my questions was, Are these going to be local farmers or big conglomerates that are going to be farming? Great, they’re local. Olin farms does soil sequestration and actually hires 12 interns high school kids every year. Yeah, there’s lots of Yeah. So we are working on it. I suggest you take those comments to the county commissioners. I’ve spoken to Ashley stoltzman about this great she’s very, yeah, she’s very interested in these ideas. So spoken to her personally. So we are working on it. And
54:48
a lot of times we don’t advertise everything that is happening. But because you don’t know that it’s happening doesn’t mean that we aren’t concerned and working in all the areas. Is there a department?
55:00
Particular that’s focusing on these issues, sustainability, division, yes, well, I sit on that committee, and I’ve yet to find out who that actually is. It sounds like they’re talking about a few of these things, but I don’t hear there’s nobody who’s in charge of farming. There’s nobody who’s actually working on that, other than the folks who are in charge of the leases. From what I hear from Mr. Bell, so
55:24
well, that is somebody Thank you. They’re just in charge of the leases. They’re not actually working on food sustainability. So thank you. So the next four people are Ryan Forbes, Rick basleri, Anna Rivas and Monica bunting. You.
56:03
Yeah, hello, hi. I’m Ryan Forbes at 2220 water song circle. First, I owe all of you a big thank you for because I’ve come in front of you several times asking for your help and support Oklahoma public media in the past, and I really, I want to thank you for that. So I might be coming up for first one request saying, you know, listening to everyone here tonight talk about lo mon public media, because I actually, as a member of Lo mon public media, I actually support putting the public media contract up for bid, and it’s not because I disagree with anything anyone said or contradicting anything I said in the past. Honestly, I want the best version of public media that we can get in Longmont, and I feel like having the contract up for bid allows for more people. I mean, just tonight, we’ve heard a whole bunch of people talking about public media, about learning about creating content, probably some people here tonight on out that you can learn about podcasts and
57:12
shooting video and things like that, all here in Lo and Mont and they may not have known about that. And I think more people need to learn. And I would love to see what type of content comes out of it. I would love to see and I also think whoever wins the bend
57:31
that they would also, you would also be able to see more clear metrics to measure
57:37
how they’re succeeding as a public media company as well. You’ll be able to see how accessible it is by seeing how many people are coming in, what type of new con content is coming on board, and in general, just you and the quality of the content as well, by seeing multiple people compete.
57:59
And this, this in general, and that’s a lot more information than just saying this video got a bunch of likes and this one got a bunch of dislikes. So that’s why I support putting it up for bid. And once again, I love, I love public media, and I think all the things that lo mon public media is doing right should maybe that should be part of the contract, like being able to
58:23
go there for free and learn how to do podcasting, TV have an open space, maybe that’s something that should be included, since people here clearly enjoy it and want to take advantage of it.
58:35
So the other thing I want to talk about is that,
58:42
you know, if I went to
58:45
Hoover and Ken Pratt and I just taped up the intersection because I wanted to fix a pothole, I feel like that would cause a lot of problems,
58:54
in part because, if you like one, that’d be a lot of traffic that goes through That intersection, and there’s really no way to get into Longmont or out, and it would take, there’d be miles of detours to get to it. And it’s the same thing is true for all the walking paths around it, all the way from pike to Nelson, because they all revolve around it. I live right off of pike and hover. My mom lives off of dry creek, and Nelson and I have to go. I walk over to help her out regularly.
59:28
And just the other day, I was going, I was walking, and there’s construction on dry creek and Nelson right now, and I found out that
59:39
I had to take a mile detour to get to her place because of the they closed off all the sidewalks, and then that was right as temperatures were reaching 100 degrees So, and this is
59:55
like where I’m at, and there’s a bunch of schools.
1:00:00
Uh, neighborhoods. I’m not the only one walking around in these areas. So it’s not it’s not just me. And I also know this is important, because long one is trying to go for vision zero as well. Um, and also, the three options when the sidewalk is closed off is you either have to walk around and you end up with a detour like that, cut through construction or go through one of these busy roads like Hoover pike or Ken Pratt, which are also not good options.
1:00:30
So to fix these issues, really, it just don’t have sidewalks. Like sidewalks should be closed, just like main roads for hours, like hours at most, not days, weeks and months, like they are right now,
1:00:47
if they’re that’s the main thing, or where my mom is right now, when the construction is finished, there’s not even going to be a handicap path. The sidewalk is even when they’re done with that, there’s no handicap sidewalk. You have to walk six feet through weeds to even access the sidewalk on dry creek right behind there. But anyway,
1:01:09
council Yap, Thank you, Mayor Peg, Thank you for bringing that up, because that’s very important. Is there any staff here that would like to address that those issues about the sidewalks and making sure that they should only be closed for hours, and why are they closed for days instead of hours? Is there any staff that can respond to those issues? Can it be that intersection explicitly what you said it was dry creek and dry creek and Nelson Dry Creek and Nelson. Good
1:01:52
evening. Phil Greenwald, transportation planning manager with the city.
1:01:56
I’m not in the construction biz, per se, but we do want to make sure that those sidewalks are always open and that we’re working on those detours. So we’ll talk with folks and make sure that we get those things open. Whenever you have an issue like that, we just have people immediately get on to any way you can contact the city, and we’ll somehow figure out a way to get the right things open for you so that you don’t have the mile walk around. We don’t want that kind of detour, so we’ll certainly work. I mean, sometimes there’s those reasons why we need to close the sidewalk. So those are obvious construction pieces, but we want to make sure that we have those things open. We have a service works portal that’s on the internet, and if, if those go through there, we get them and we try to fix them as quick as we can. So we’ll try our best. Thank you, Phil, I was going to mention that as well. Okay, so they, they answer those messages really fast. Okay, so I’ve had really good luck with them. So thank you for bringing that up
1:02:57
so you are all correct. Service works is the best way to get that information out, and you can find that on the city’s website, but you can also call their call center Monday through Friday. 303-651-8416,
1:03:10
thank you.
1:03:13
All right, Rick, and I think it’s best. Larry,
1:03:18
okay, thanks. Thank you.
1:03:22
My name is Richard basil. Here I live at 420 Nebraska Avenue and birth.
1:03:28
I’m the president of Lo PA, the Longmont owners and Pilots Association.
1:03:40
I was hoping to talk about what I’m not supposed to talk about. No, so no, we will not let you
1:03:47
know. And I want to be I want to be correct in that, so I that can’t be extricated from what I wanted to talk about. But I do appreciate
1:03:58
your appreciation for the airport and how it’s run and how things are done. So
1:04:05
yeah, appreciate what you do. And thank you very much. And sorry. Well, thank you for speaking up.
1:04:14
Anna Rivas, I
1:04:24
something. Oh, yes, hi, good evening, Mayor Peck and council members. My name is Anna Rivas, 4501,
1:04:33
Nelson road unit, 2306,
1:04:36
and you know what I’m going to talk about? Yes,
1:04:40
actually, this is more of a eulogy of sorts for me.
1:04:46
Let me just read what I have here,
1:04:49
although it’s not officially designated, open space. Dry Creek Park offers many of the benefits mentioned in last week’s presentation, including outdoor recreation.
1:05:00
Wildlife habitat and corridors biodiversity and mental health benefits. Outdoor Recreation in the form of walking is something almost everyone can do, and Dry Creek Park is a pleasant, easily accessible place to go for a stroll. With regards to wildlife habitat and biodiversity, local birders help me identify some 40 different species of birds there, Coyote coyotes wander through, and last week, I spotted a mink, cottontails, toads and bull snakes live there, but it’s the prairie dogs, an underappreciated, highly social keystone species with a complex language, who give dry creek its character. They are its heart and soul, though they have largely been killed off in Longmont, they thrived at Dry Creek Dry Creek Park providing a unique opportunity to be among them and observe them up close. The yips and Yahoos of the prairie dogs provide a gentle, soothing soundtrack while the prairie dogs go about their lives, eating, playing, digging, affectionately, greeting each other and relaxing. The mental health aspect effects of a stroll through Dry Creek Park are similar to the effects produced by a Japanese practice known as forest bathing, or meadow bathing. In this case, the goal is to be present in the moment and immerse yourself in the sights, sounds and smells of nature, which can help improve your well being. Dry Creek Park and the prairie dogs have been a part of my life for the 21 years that I have lived here for myself and many neighbors, it has been a priceless oasis of serenity. Tragically, the city plans on destroying it, starting with the trapping and relocation of prairie dogs that’s currently underway, cautious prairie dogs who avoid the traps will be killed via carbon monoxide pumped directly into their burrows without the prairie dogs. Dry Creek Park will become silent, soulless and joyless,
1:06:55
and it will remain that way for years, until funds are available to turn it into something resembling a tawdry theme park filled with artificial turf parking lots, unnatural elements everywhere, and noisy maintenance equipment. Instead of the yips and Yahoos of the prairie dogs, there will be no more meadow bathing, no connection with nature, no oasis of serenity, no escape from constant human created noise, as was pointed out last week, the majority of long months open space areas are to the north and east. Dry Creek Park would have made a great addition on this side of town. It’s a tragedy that the city doesn’t see the value of this understated bit of nature in our neighborhood. It will be a tremendous loss for those of us who treasured it.
1:07:40
So I don’t really expect, you know, anything to change much, but I felt that they deserved a eulogy. And they’ve been, like I said, a part of my life. I love them. You know, it’s a I love going there, and it’s going to be gone soon, so the least I could do is give them a eulogy, so that people know what it meant to people, to others, like like myself, who live there, and there are other people who I’ve been in contact with who weren’t able to be here tonight, but they feel just as strongly as I do, like neighbors in the area, and we’re All just extremely sad about what’s happening.
1:08:19
Councilor Martin, I
1:08:23
you. Thank you, Mayor peck on this subject, do we have anyone from the park staff, David Bell or one of his reports here this evening?
1:08:36
So David’s coming down Marcia, yeah. Thank you, David.
1:08:40
I’m wondering. I know that the amenities list for the Dry Creek Park, including the artificial turf and other stuff, was determined by the standard public engagement process for
1:08:59
you know, what goes into a park when, when we are ready to develop one? So I have two questions. One is, how long ago was that public impression engagement process conducted Mayor Peck and councilor Martin, that was completed in 2008 so the process probably started about a year or so before that. So it has been a while, and as we move forward those plans, we always will reach back out to the community as we start doing our projects, and still do stakeholder engagement. But again, we have a pretty well set
1:09:35
piece in place right now that has all those elements you talked about in place. But also, I think even back to 2008 that really recognizes a lot of the natural elements in an area and works really hard to include those. And as we go forward, I think we have started looking at how we do a better job even incorporating those natural elements, things like dry land areas, things that don’t have as much blue grass, so we can keep as much of that natural piece as possible also balance.
1:10:00
That with the natural resources and the needs of the community for a community park,
1:10:05
I hope that answers your question. Yes, it does. I have two more.
1:10:10
One of them is, is, how far in the future is the development of Dry Creek Park? It was my understanding that it’s beginning now
1:10:21
again with this, with this park, when there are this goes back to our eight and five, and with eight and five, we really had some substantial amount of funds sitting there to kind of move forward with dry creek as one of those parks. However, as we start looking at the cost of new parks, those funds are not going or stretching as far as we thought they would. So it really was set for design in 2000
1:10:41
and our 2025,
1:10:44
within really no funds for construction at this point. I think as we look at that timeline, and knowing that if we can get the funds, if we can just things, we find different ways to do it. We want to be able to move forward. And having the chance to relocate prairie dogs, as opposed to just going in and doing the euthanizing them in the future, was something we were trying to balance with the uncertainty of knowing when that park would actually get completed.
1:11:07
Okay? And then the last one is there are prairie dog populations in on land that are
1:11:16
managed by
1:11:19
the city. How many colonies, roughly, would you say are managed and maintained by the city or curated by the city? Now, not counting the one that’s slated for relocation because it’s going to be in too close proximity to people, but the ones that are on actual open space, so the ones on actual open space and some other city properties that are not slated to be removed. Now, how many colonies that is? How many coteries? I’m not quite sure, but it’s over 100 acres that we have right now of prairie dog habitat and areas that are not slated to be removed. I think one of those was, you know, that we’ve talked about in the past with the mayor’s direction, really was out at Lake McIntosh, where we actually went ahead and we put in signs to talk about prairie dog life histories, to talk about the role in the ecosystem. We have partnered with Boulder County, that comes out from the Ag Heritage Center, to utilize that area for their educational programs to help the kids better understand the role of prairie dogs in the in the Front Range.
1:12:19
Thank you.
1:12:22
Thank you, David, thank you. Ann. Anna,
1:12:27
Monica bunting,
1:12:30
oh, there you are.
1:12:33
I was holding the sign, and I’m speaking. My name is Monica bunting. I live at seven to seven Thornwood way, and I’ve lived in Longmont for over 10 years, and I’m a public school teacher, and I’ve been a public school teacher for over 20 years. Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak to you. I like Anna, I’m going to speak about Dry Creek Park as well, and I’m here to specifically speak about the parts that have been funded, from what I understand. And David Bell just addressed this. The comments
1:13:03
were last taken from the surrounding neighborhoods, and those residents in about 2007 2008 2009
1:13:11
and the Master Plan was passed in 2014
1:13:14
that’s over 10 years ago. Since then, the climate crisis has only worsened. We are now facing a massive water shortage. There’s water wildfires. There’s two right now burning in our neighborhoods, and there’s immense population growth, and our resources are scarce. I personally believe that it’s time for city council to re examine the master plan, including Dry Creek Park, and complete a thorough climate impact survey and study and to make the necessary changes, we can be a leader in climate protection climate change and protecting our environments and the animals that live there. Currently, Smith environmental is trapping the prairie dogs in Dry Creek Park and relocating them to pueblo. I believe every day the trapping is only happening for two weeks. From what I understand, from nine to 11, we asked for a number of the prairie dogs that are in this area, and it was reported back to us that there are over 500 prairie dogs in this area. Currently, we feel that that number is probably pretty lo there’s no way that you can with efficacy trap the a decent amount of prairie dogs in two weeks, two hours a day, right? There’s a lot of prairie dogs that will die as a result of just that small amount of trapping period. We talked to a couple of different council members. We did talk to David Bell, and we made a simple request to make the trapping period longer, to extend it so that we can maximize the amount of prairie dogs that can be saved at this moment to be taken to pueblo.
1:14:58
And we were told that that wasn’t possible.
1:15:00
So additionally, we would like to see, since this project is not slated to be developed and there’s no funds right now for four to five years, potentially
1:15:09
to keep those boroughs open. As you know, we have snakes, birds, coyotes, foxes, rabbits that use these boroughs. So if you close them up now and the development doesn’t happen for four to five years. You’re going to kill off so many animals, not just the prairie dogs, but so many others that live there.
1:15:29
So because it’s not slated to be developed for so long, why, you know? Why not let the burrows be open?
1:15:38
I know that it’s likely that we cannot stop this project, but honestly, how many volleyball courts and tennis courts and ball fields do we really need? As a public school teacher, there was a study that just came out. I see this every day when I’m in my classroom, kids on their phones constantly, eight to 10 hours a day,
1:15:59
our communities, our kids, our adults and our communities are in a mental health crisis. We need quiet spaces. We need spaces to go and reflect and to sit and appreciate nature and taking away this in space and developing it with all of these things, water features and volley bar courts, it doesn’t allow for any natural space, none. I mean, if you look at this master plan, there’s very little natural space. So
1:16:27
please help protect some open space, some peaceful spaces. We need it now more than ever, and we need it
1:16:37
for our mental health. Thanks and for our animals too. Thank you. Monica,
1:16:45
all right, the next four. Lance Whitaker, Gary Hodges,
1:16:50
Beverly Stokes
1:16:54
and Tara Mensa, you.
1:17:04
Well, looks like I’m first. My name is Lance Whitaker. I live at 1750 Collier Street. Been living in Longmont for 44 years. Now, as you all know,
1:17:16
I think it’s sort of ironic that the
1:17:20
mascot for open space is a great horned owl. I’d like to remind mayor and council that you displaced a family of great horned owls when you expanded County Line Road one, and now McLean’s has got a rabbit problem.
1:17:42
That being said, let me get to my normal stuff. Today is National cheesecake day. National,
1:17:53
national Father in Law Day. Love you Ron. National,
1:18:02
oh no, just drawing a blank.
1:18:05
I’ve got so much to say today, and I just,
1:18:13
well, I
1:18:17
I’m just, I’m in a blank today, so
1:18:21
I’m sorry about this, and have a nice day. Thank you, Lance. I forgot the right note. Lance, yes.
1:18:30
Councilor McCoy has some statements. Lance, I wanted to thank you.
1:18:38
I’m a high school civics teacher, and every now that I’ve been on council for two years, and after seeing you come up here and talk about the special days, I went in and I found where those special days were, and I put them up every day on my on the front of my board, so that my students can see that, and they get a real kick out of it. And I And when they’ve come here to council and seen you speak, they go, Oh, that’s where you got that from. So thank you very much. Well, and speaking about my father in law, it just chokes me up, and
1:19:16
my memory is just going crazy thinking about all the times I had with him,
1:19:22
but flying over Longmont, being the solo pilot, was one of my hot air balloon you know, greats, and I love Longmont. Like I said, I’ve been here for 44 year old. Whistleblower, that’s the big one I wanted to get over is, even though I’m for cannabis hospitality, I’m going to be a whistle blower today, because today is National whistleblower day, and that’s probably why I was forgetting about it.
1:19:57
So today is National whistleblower.
1:20:00
Day, and I would like to remind everybody that any product with THC in it will is consumption, whether you smoke it, vape it, eat it or put it on your skin. So that was my blank.
1:20:22
Sorry.
1:20:25
Anything else, mayor and council, I don’t see anyone else in the queue. Thank you very much for those
1:20:32
wonderful moments that you give us.
1:20:36
Yeah, national whistleblower, that of course, that’s going to go through my mind. Okay,
1:20:44
Gary.
1:20:48
Thank you, Mayor, council members. Gary Hodges, 2148 Stewart Street.
1:20:54
How many of you have only one stock in your retirement portfolio? I’m sure none of you. And why not? It’s because it would create, it would cause great uncertainty in retirement. Instead, rational people build a diverse mix of investments to prepare for a stable and predictable future. The same is true for energy. Modern societies achieved unprecedented energy security by exploiting multiple inputs. A few years ago, I had a 96% efficient furnace installed, that means a mere 4% of the energy contained with within the natural gas is lost to the environment. Meanwhile, converting gas to electricity is about 45% efficient, according to the US Energy Information Administration, further Inside energy.org, states that Colorado’s average line loss is 7%
1:21:41
the cumulative losses mean almost 60% of the energy stored in gas that is burned for electricity is lost by the time it reaches our homes. For those keeping track, that’s like installing a 40% efficient furnace. So who would do something so foolish?
1:21:56
Using natural gas directly is more than two times as efficient as electric
1:22:01
No wonder natural gas is so popular in homes, and so the point is not lost. This means an all electric home will emit more than two times the CO two is one that uses natural gas directly. But wait, by 2035 we’re going to be using hydrogen to produce 50% of our electricity and 100% by 2040
1:22:20
this assertion with rather hefty qualifiers, is found on page 141 of Platte rivers, recent board of directors meeting
1:22:28
a claim. I claim that is wildly optimistic. The following uses numbers for the commonly installed GE, 9f, point 04, gas turbine. So for simplicity, I put everything in terms of solar, to achieve 50% hydrogen by electrolysis for electric generation, would require 1564
1:22:47
megawatts of installed solar in excess of baseline needs. So we generate it during the day. We burn it at night. Currently, Platte River has 52 megawatts installed, so a mere 3.3%
1:22:58
of what would be required. We also assume no increase in demand between now and 2035
1:23:05
this year, electric rates are increasing by 6.8% and another 6.8% next year, largely to fund the misnomer we call green energy. So imagine the rate increases we will face to reach such a massive excess capacity of installed solar by 2035
1:23:20
the vote last week to divert funding from the Longmont Economic Development Partnership to instead assist those having difficulty paying bills. Utility bills is tacit acknowledgement what we’re doing is driving up rates to unaffordable levels. It’s cutting off our nose to spite our face, and so for the all of you behind me and online wondering why I’m talking about this, council is considering banning natural gas taps to new developments and redevelopment because Senator Bennet has dangled the prospect of a few bucks in grant money to cities that do so. We already cannot relieve ourselves of the unpopular grocery tax because New York investment banks hold a bond rating over our heads, and the Bennett money surely includes punishments if we don’t tow his line with this money. So so much for our home rule ideals. Energy is everything. Without it, society collapses. For some energy is literally life or death. So why would we purposefully impose Energy and Security on residents of Longmont while simultaneously driving up utility rates, especially when it drastically increases the emission of CO two. How much are we willing to increase rates chasing a dream when 43 10,000th of a percent is the absolute maximum CO two reduction in global emission lo mon can achieve? I suspect the answer may lie with ubiquity of energy availability. It has become such a natural part of life, we simply think it will always be there like water flowing from a faucet, which itself is an engineering wonder. Such thing as thinking has encouraged a fast and loose approach with the single most important component of modern society, which is, of course, energy. So that concludes my talk, but I think I should still have a little bit of time. So earlier this week, I worked with no.
1:25:00
In Boulder. And an email came out advertising a seminar that I think you all will be interested in, and I would like to invite all of you on council, Mayor, to attend the seminar as my guest. And that includes everybody behind me, and everybody online. So anybody wants to talk to me, I invite everybody here to attend as my guest. So it’s by Jeffrey slice, PhD Department of Geology and geological engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. The title is understanding the potential for natural hydrogen resources. And
1:25:32
the abstract, I won’t read it, but it touches on many of the topics that is presented here by Platte River and that we’ve heard by many people. And so I have no idea who this is or what he’s going to say, and but if you attend, maybe we’ll all learn something new together. And after the presentation,
1:25:51
we can go see Science on a Sphere and a tour of my laboratory.
1:25:59
Councilor Martin,
1:26:03
thank you, Mayor Peck,
1:26:06
I think that Mr. Hodges needs to explain if I understood him correctly, his analysis about the efficiency of burning natural gas directly, as opposed to heating homes with electricity that was generated by natural gas, assumes that the electricity was generated using all natural gas or up some other combustible fuel. But in fact, that’s not the situation we expect to have.
1:26:39
We expect in the 80% range of of the electricity that we generate coming from solar and wind sources which have zero carbon burden. So in fact,
1:26:55
the that that
1:26:59
computation thought experiment about how inefficient using electric heat for homes is is is incorrect. So I just would like to point that out that we are, in fact, already with the installation of our new solar farm at at Platte River Power Authority,
1:27:23
not to mention the
1:27:26
the
1:27:29
carbon mix of the of the fuel that we buy on the on the spot market, or of the electricity that we buy on the spot market, we’re already above 50%
1:27:41
non carbon generation. So
1:27:44
I wouldn’t put too much weight on that gas to gas to electricity thought experiment, because it just has incorrect assumptions in it.
1:27:56
Respond,
1:27:58
Yes, okay, well, I stand by everything I’ve said, and as I mentioned in earlier talks,
1:28:05
photovoltaic panels and wind are not carbon free. I accept that the energy produced by them in the moment doesn’t result in any CO two release. But because of the inescapable truths of mining and refining, and the amount of resources and materials that are required to install wind and solar, all the CO two is released on the front end, not on the back end. Where is if we burn hydrocarbons, it’s released slowly along the way. So one of the assumptions is that we are going to transition to hydrogen, and that previous speaker spoke to the futility of that and the wildly optimistic assumptions of the consulting firm that Platte River contracted with on that front. I’m sorry, Council Member Martin, I’m trying to remember all of your critiques, but
1:29:03
I only had one, okay, well, burning burning gas, most certainly is, is for electricity is inefficient. I accept that it’s worth doing because it’s a reliable way of producing electricity. Of watch, Modern society
1:29:19
has to have
1:29:21
Carrie, yes, can you wrap it up? Okay, I thought we had time used your five and councilor Crist would like to respond as well. Councilor Martin is that the end of what you your end of your questions.
1:29:40
I just wanted to comment that all forms of generation have carbon burdened on the front end because they all use industrial equipment that has to be manufactured. So, you know, you can’t really,
1:29:55
I haven’t seen a study that says it’s more expensive to make. So.
1:30:00
Than it is to make turbines. You all manufacturing those. Thank you. Councilor Crist, I just
1:30:08
want to give you an opportunity to repeat the date for that seminar. It is August 14. It’s at 130 to 230
1:30:17
I would need to know by the end of this week, well, ideally so I could get everybody on the guest list, and that cues everybody behind me. I can give flyers out to anybody behind me, and I’ll give one to Michelle so that that you guys can have it. And I would love to have all of you there, Council Member Martin, I assume you wouldn’t be able to attend in person, but there is a virtual link that you can get. You could, you could watch the seminar virtually, and at the conclusion of it, I’ve already arranged to have all of us go see a presentation of Science on a Sphere, which was invented at the building where I work at it’s installed in science museums around the world today. And if there’s time afterward, we’ll go to the global monitoring laboratory where I work, and we’ll talk to some of my colleagues that do trace gas, carbon, ozone, water vapor, and some of them. All right, thank you.
1:31:07
Beverly. Beverly Stokes.
1:31:13
Beverly Stokes, Claridge, 1760, sunlight. Drive Longmont, Colorado. I’ve been a residence of long months since 1972
1:31:26
that’s a long time. It is. A lot of things have changed, some very good, and some, from my perspective, not so good. One of the things that’s concerning me is the discussion that we’ve been having reference the all electric community that we’re trying to introduce. Well,
1:31:50
are we going to add new transmission lines in order to accommodate this, all electric community that we’re trying to build,
1:31:59
because natural gas is 25% less than electricity, but if we have no new transmission lines, from my perspective, then we don’t need an all electric community. That’s all Thank you. So I would like to address that. Okay, the electricity produced does not need more trans transition lines. We are producing electricity from different resources, but they will use the same transition transmission lines. So you’re not our grid currently cannot sustain the kind of growth that we’re anticipating. So we’re not so how are we going to satisfy the grid usage if we’re not going to create new transmission lines? I have not heard from any engineer or from Platte River that we would need more transition lines. I don’t know where you got that information. Well, I think you should ask that question. Okay, thank you,
1:33:01
Tara.
1:33:06
Hello, good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Tara Mensa. I live at 20 to 35 Parkview drive here in Longmont. My husband and I own two airplanes here at Longmont airport. My husband, Matt, grew up with a dad who flew c1, 23 in the Air Force.
1:33:28
My husband, after he was commissioned into the United States Navy, flew fighter jets for 20 years. He graduated from the Air Force Test Pilot School and worked at Boeing as a 737, test pilot. He now flies commercially, and we own an aerospace startup here in Longmont, aviation is our family’s passion, and we love to share that passion with anyone interested in aviation. We have even helped local Longmont Nonprofits Fundraise through our love of aviation all here at the Longmont airport. I am strongly urging council to continue its support of the Longmont of all operations at the Longmont airport, our airport is critical to the vitality, the health and the success of our community. Vance brand airport provides tax revenue, jobs and is a critical node for our community in the event of a natural disaster, stuff that you talked about this evening already, the
1:34:31
secondary effects of having a healthy and thriving airport supports growth in our community through mutual business collaboration and access in and out of the north, northern Colorado region. Business collaboration with the airport will bring businesses to the area and increase revenue for our small businesses here in Longmont, which I believe are the heart of our community. Additionally, the airport is the centerpiece for the academic interest of Saint brain Valley School District students.
1:35:00
As well as adults in our community who are interested in aviation and aerospace careers. Two of my five children plan to go into aviation careers. As an aircraft owner, I often meet community members who come out to see airplanes in the airport and ask questions about the aviation community and how to get involved in aviation. I would love to see City Council incentivize more aviation businesses to relocate to Longmont and develop more infrastructure, including a runway extension, instead of threatening airport closure. Locally, up and down the front range, especially as seen in Boulder, we are seeing city councils, mayors and boards attacking the aviation community. I would love to see Longmont continue to support Vance brand airport and make it a shining star in our community. You city council, have an opportunity to grow our airport, make it the Center of Research and Development, technology, education, all of which will benefit our community. Please consider all the airport currently does and can offer before making any permanent and negative changes against it. And if you’re ever interested, please come and visit us at our hangar and see our airplanes, and maybe you might even get to go up in an airplane. Thank you. Thanks for the invite.
1:36:18
Councilor Martin Tara. Councilor Martin has a comment.
1:36:26
Yes, I’d like to ask Miss Ben so which negative changes to the airport she anticipates are being complete contemplated by council, because I don’t know of any. I’m not allowed to speak about that.
1:36:42
Thank you. I’m glad that you recognize
1:36:47
counselor Crist. Hang on.
1:36:51
You
1:36:54
want to go flying? Cheryl, thank you flying.
1:36:58
I’m not gonna I’m not gonna ask you twice. I’m gonna show up.
1:37:02
So we’ve had several people talk about the airport, but I, I wanted to ask you, since you’re so involved with it, if the boulder airport closes, is the Longmont airport able to take over that business that’s currently going to Boulder, or is that going to be a big issue for Longmont? I
1:37:22
honestly, I don’t know how much operation goes out of Boulder airport. Matt and I talked about that, and yes, it would grow the long one airport, but again, we need more of that infrastructure, and an extension would be really great on that runway. Yeah, so we’d have to, we’d have to invest in the airport in order to the airport needs a lot more investment. I would really love to see City Council invest more in the airport, because it can truly be a shining star in this community. There’s so much that Matt and I would love to do with that airport that it just takes collaboration to do that in support with the City Council. Now, will the air show? Do you think it’ll bring funding in for the airport, or at least funding in for the city,
1:38:12
and as far as just people coming to visit, coming to
1:38:17
visiting, 1000s of people? Absolutely.
1:38:22
Yep. And I And there’s so much interest in aviation, and it is.
1:38:29
Kids all over the community love it. Adults come out just to sit and have lunch at Alexa’s little food truck and watch all the airports or all the airplanes landing at the airport. So it, I mean, it is a hub for people to come and see and get involved. We’ve taken many people flying in our airplane, and we’ve gotten people into the military to go and into flying couriers. So it’s just, it’s what we love. We love that our airport, and we love aviation, so we’d love to see you guys continue to support it. Okay, all right, great. Thank you. Councilor Martin, do you have your hand up for this question? Yes, I do. Okay, I would like to clarify that it’s not a matter of Vance brand airport taking over all of the business that would
1:39:21
be lost to Boulder by the closure of the boulder Municipal Airport, rather run race spaces is
1:39:30
in in essence, a product that is offered on the free market so that air Traffic would would be
1:39:39
spread among many general aviation airports in our general vicinity, from from Greeley to superior south, Erie south,
1:39:52
I’m sorry, Broomfield Not, not just Vance brands. So it’s, it’s not a question of thinking.
1:40:00
Of it is as as if it’s a controlled economy where we would be required to take over the business from Boulder doesn’t work that way, no, but we would definitely need a lot more hangers.
1:40:14
Thank you, Tara, all right.
1:40:19
Greg Morrissey Molly,
1:40:26
his key
1:40:29
in Huss and strike
1:40:33
I think I butchered some of those names, and I apologize in advance.
1:40:42
Greg, yeah. Greg Morris, 17 six. I mean, 1648, Harvard Street here in Longmont. And I’m to here to talk about and ask some questions about Longmont going completely electric on the existing infrastructure in Longmont, the older homes. Is it talking about doing way of their gas and making them electric. Also,
1:41:03
that would be extremely expensive, because a lot of those places don’t have the electrical
1:41:09
infrastructure capability of the house to handle that extra electrical.
1:41:14
And if you’re going to do that like that’s been brought up in the past,
1:41:19
it’s much more efficient for a house to have two energy sources. Is that
1:41:24
being brought up? Is that being brought up because you can run it the natural gas comes in, you can still run that if you had the correct equipment to heat your house. So let me explain a little bit
1:41:34
what we are. Look discussed. I discussed it with David horn Bucha as well as our city manager of having solar farms, some solar farms to create electricity through solar and wind in our city, which would then be sold, we would store it, and it would go onto the grid, which will feed into homes that can’t afford to put solar on their homes. So it isn’t that,
1:42:08
it isn’t that we’re trying to put more solar and wind on the grid and less gas to simplify it. So it’s not like
1:42:21
we would like it to get off of gas completely at some point. That isn’t going to happen real soon, because it’s it’s a technically, very difficult to do, correct and Exactly, yeah, my house, I have electricity and gas is built in 1983 I’ve been in the electric field all my life. If you want to pull it out and put an electrical you’re talking a bigger distribution box, bigger wire, bigger distribution wise, all around the sea to handle that extra current, extra power to do that, which is why we were also going to have,
1:42:57
I’m not saying this correct solar farms, so that the homes wouldn’t have to do it. It would be the electricity that we would feed through the lines to the homes, correct? But if you’re going to feed those lines through the homes, if those homes are still going to require that amount of energy, especially in winter time, to keep warm and not use gas, your electrical lines and infrastructure has to be increased to handle that extra load, and that’s going to be a lot of money and a lot of costs, especially for some of the older homes. And we are looking at transformers, upgrading some of our transformers, replacing the old ones that are they’re just not efficient, even with what we’re using gas for, right? So some of the infrastructure has to be done anyway, regardless of whether we transition. But if you go to a transition where you want to go to all electric and no gas, the cost is going to go
1:43:56
up, possibly because if you go you have to increase your distribution system to handle that power.
1:44:04
The person buying the power is going to take up the cost with higher costs. I
1:44:10
wonder if that’s been looked at, especially for the older homes and the older places here in Longmont.
1:44:16
Councilor Martin,
1:44:18
thank you, Mayor Peck, I’ve been noticing this misconstruction on social media a lot, where the mayor’s proposal that we look at accelerating
1:44:32
the end of new natural gas connections for new construction has been interpreted by many people as saying that we were going to end natural gas use in the city, which would mean that, I mean at least that you couldn’t replace a natural gas appliance with another natural gas appliance, which nobody has proposed, let alone taking out natural gas.
1:45:00
Appliances before their end of life and replacing them with electric no one has proposed that. The only thing that’s been proposed
1:45:09
is is in new construction, not allowing new natural gas feeds to the building. And I believe the mayor said, and you can correct me, Joan, you said really only residential buildings correct is that? Am I correct? Yeah, correct. So it’s a much smaller change that the mayor has proposed and what Mr. Morrissey and many other residents are assuming. Now, I would also like to add that the things that the mayor is talking about about putting more locally generated electricity on the grid and upgrading our transformers and all of that stuff is good work that has to be done, but that is to allow the voluntary electrification of existing homes, which is a whole different thing, because nobody’s forcing the issue. We’re just allowing it because people like to do the civic minded thing, and we have to get ready for that, but we’re not forcing it.
1:46:12
And the other thing about the new development, from another perspective, is that it is
1:46:18
a smaller cost to the developer putting in gas lines. It’s more expensive than just having the infrastructure for electricity. Well, see, that’s what I was coming across here. Because the way it came out across the press, gas is going to go away and lo, it’s going to have electrical period. No, no, okay, okay. It was just for new development. Just for new development. Okay, that’s not him. What? That’s the stuff I read. It didn’t come across the same as new development. So my place where have natural gas, and I heat my house with it, natural gas is going to stay, more than likely, for quite a while. Yes, thank you. I’m sorry that that came across that way. Yeah, thank you,
1:46:56
counselor McCoy, and we were also just going to have a conversation about this too. It wasn’t, it wasn’t like we were setting anything in stone. We’re just going to have a conversation in the future, right? That the motion was to bring it back on a another agenda, to put it on the agenda at another meeting,
1:47:18
and to see if we can do this beginning January 2025
1:47:22
for new permits for development.
1:47:27
Just looking to the future,
1:47:32
let’s see who is next. Molly.
1:47:41
Good evening members of the council. My name is Molly hissy, and I’m a resident of the quail Ridge subdivision. I’m here to express my concerns regarding the proposed construction of pickleball courts in the Nino Gallo park near our homes, specifically within 200 feet, 250 feet of property lines. While I understand the growing popularity of pickleball and the benefits of recreational spaces. I’m concerned about the noise impact these courts may have on and will have on our neighborhood. Recent developments in nearby cities such as Denver have highlighted significant issues related to pickle ball noise. Centennial, for instance, has introduced new ordinances to address these concerns, including a prohibition on permanent outdoor pickleball courts within 250 feet of homes property lines. Additionally, courts situated between 250 and 600 feet from homes require permits and must adhere to a maximum noise level of 47 decibels. The sound generated by pickleball can reach up to 70 decibels, far exceeding acceptable residential noise limits. This level of noise can be highly disruptive, affecting our daily lives and overall well being. It is important to note that continuous exposure to noise pollution can have had adverse effects on health, including increased stress levels, sleep disturbances and even cardiovascular issues. In fact, there are ongoing lawsuits between the residents and city of Lone Tree due to the unbearable noise that these courts can generate, which underscores the seriousness of this issue. I have a visual representing the prop are showing the proximity of the plan courts to our homes. As you can see, these courts fall within the 250
1:49:11
foot threshold that Centennial is found to be problematic. Furthermore, there are over 130 homes within 600 feet of the courts. Another number that Centennials found to be problematic, meaning hundreds of families that could be impacted impacted by the noise that these courts could generate. Many people with homes that will be most affected by the pickleball noise did not get a say in the park. Amenities as these homes, they as the homes that they would purchase, hadn’t even been built. This is clearly illustrated by the Nino gala plan images found online, and the case for me, where we didn’t know we were going to purchase the home when the plan sets were being created, the proposed location is simply too close, and we believe it will lead to significant noise disturbances in our community. I’ve spoken with some of my neighbors, and we share a unified concern about the potential impact to our quality of life.
1:50:00
We are not opposed to the development of recreational facilities, but we strongly urge the council to reconsider the placement of these courts. Ideally, we would like to see the courts relocated to a more suitable area further away from residential properties. Alternatively, we request that the city implement effective noise mitigation measures such as enclosures or structures to ensure that the impact to the nearby homes is minimized. In conclusion, we ask the council to prioritize the well being of its residents and take these concerns into serious consideration. By working together, we can find a solution that balances the needs of the pickleball community with the rights of the homeowners to enjoy a peaceful living environment. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.
1:50:39
Thank you, Molly,
1:50:43
thank you for bringing up those concerns.
1:50:47
Ian Hus
1:50:53
Good evening, everyone. Ian Huss, 31 10/19, street, Boulder, Colorado,
1:51:01
my mom and I moved to her house in Longmont in 1977
1:51:06
she’s still in that house
1:51:10
after a gap year in
1:51:14
Aspen. After graduating high school, I came back to Longmont and started working.
1:51:20
I got a job at DFM engineering in Longmont in 1981
1:51:26
I retired from that job in after 39 years, in
1:51:32
2020
1:51:34
while I was in Longmont,
1:51:38
I started taking flying lessons in 1987
1:51:45
in 1993 I bought an airplane to resurrect and started working on that
1:51:52
there were no hangers available in Boulder. Boulder wouldn’t let you buy a hanger, and there were none really for rent either. So I rented a hangar in Longmont in 1993 and started working on the plane
1:52:08
in
1:52:10
probably 2002
1:52:13
my wife and I bought a couple of hangers at Longmont airport. I’ve been out there working on airplanes and flying ever since. The flying in the Front Range is just magnificent. It’s it’s like nowhere else in the world. You’ve got the mountains and you’ve got the planes and you’ve got everything but the ocean. But the flying is just fantastic. Here I go,
1:52:36
25 years later, or 30 years later. I still go up two or three days a week for the sunset. It’s just magnificent.
1:52:45
I can’t tell anyone what this airport has meant to me over the years,
1:52:54
and I would just like to thank you all for getting the airport running, and I would like to strongly encourage you to keep it running. Thank you. Thank you. It’s great to hear so many positive comments about our airport.
1:53:11
Strider,
1:53:21
I’m not that tall.
1:53:24
Yeah. Strider Benson, 951,
1:53:28
17 Avenue,
1:53:33
there’s a lot of nuance that’s come up tonight, and I hear some pretty good responses that some of the points you guys have already dealt with very well, there needs to be more dialog and communication, but
1:53:51
real issues are coming up, and
1:53:56
that’s What we’re facing the abolition of in our country, depending on how the the election goes this year,
1:54:09
people from lo public media were here, and I learned things I hadn’t known.
1:54:17
Marco actually helped me get my computer finally working today after eight years, maybe I’ll be able to get my hands to learn how to type again, where I can do writing or something, but I’m that far behind on almost everything. LPN,
1:54:42
some of the previous people were friends of mine, so I had three years of misinformation, and I’ve only in the last year learned about how much really good LPN is doing. LPN on lo Public Media, and they.
1:55:00
Have my talk at the Senior Center, which wasn’t permitted to advertise, but a lot of people came anyway. My churches wouldn’t even let me mention it, but you can find it google.com or youtube.com
1:55:21
and then look under my name, Strider, Arkansas, benston. And it was June 20 of this year.
1:55:32
I put 60 years into the civil rights movement. It was 60 years ago this month that I joined up, I even have my my snack button on my hat, still, it’s one of the few things I haven’t lost in the last 60 years,
1:55:52
poverty, never being allowed to have a real job, especially after I got my Master’s in philosophy and history and humanities and degree in political science. So
1:56:08
being in the poverty class, I can’t much have access to many things, one of them being
1:56:16
in two days in Boulder, they’re dedicating a Martin Luther King Drive part of highway 36
1:56:24
but I’m not allowed to speak because I’ve only put 60 years into the movement, and it’s hard to understand things, but we know what’s happened with this country. Everything has gotten into war and chaos and hatred, and
1:56:44
the county clerk in Mesa County is on trial today 14 felonies for help. They stole the hardware of the of the voting machines, and she got taught to do that by
1:57:02
Steve Bannon and the pillow guy and so that’s kind of what’s going on. The Supreme Court has already abolished the Constitution by saying the President is a king that he can
1:57:20
disregard or violate any law, and it’s okay for him to do that. And then you got Citizens United, which said that any rich person can buy any election. And they bought they bought JD, Vance, Peter Thiel bought him. And this guy, Tim Mellon, of the Mellon family, has put $227
1:57:51
million into buying senators. And if we don’t get rid of that, we will not have a country anymore. And our former president declared a couple of days ago, if I get back in, you don’t have to bother with elections anymore. We’ll fix that. He said precisely that, which he means, abolishing the democracy that we fought for 250
1:58:26
years ago. Thank you.
1:58:29
Stay awake.
1:58:33
Thank you. Strider,
1:58:35
all right, the next I’m going to call on five people, since there are only five left. Steve all Shuler, Vic pizzo,
1:58:44
Eric serrani,
1:58:46
David Roederer and Stephanie. You Lo.
1:59:00
Okay, Steve. Hi, Steve. Steve altriller, 1555, Taylor Mountain Drive,
1:59:08
I can’t remember everything Strider was saying, but I gotta conflate some of that, or stand up against it, or whatever.
1:59:15
The Supreme Court did not say that a president, President can do anything that they want, they would only not be held guilty in regards to something that was within their purview as president. So if the President goes out and kills somebody, that’s not one of his presidential duties, and he could be found guilty. Same with some people like Clinton that were raping women, they should be held guilty. And if you look at Joe Biden letting in 15 million illegals invade our country, he should be held guilty for being
1:59:48
for being treasonous.
1:59:52
So I wanted to touch on that, because some of these things are just not true. And I know George.
2:00:00
Lo spends billions of dollars to try to get everybody be more liberal, and to get judges and da s will not prosecute people, and those are things that are destroying our country. But to bring it home,
2:00:14
I would like to say that there are issues in Longmont. I
2:00:19
think I’m moving away and and they’re they’re all conflated with each other. Okay, last year, property taxes went up about 35% 35 to 40% in Boulder County. So if you’re a landlord and your taxes went up like that, you’ve got to raise your rent. Insurance is going up like crazy. So if you’re a landlord, you have to raise your rent. Gas is one quarter the cost of electricity, and that’s right now. As someone pointed out earlier, it’s going up another 6.8% this year and 6.8% again next year, which is on top of the 6.8 this year. So you’re going to have almost 15, 18% increase in the next two years on electric rates.
2:01:10
Natural gas prices have been coming down because winters last year around the world were calmer than they were expecting them to be. So there’s actually an abundance of natural gas now. So you’ve got electricity going up, gas coming down, and you want to drop you want to stop people from having gas and make them use more electricity.
2:01:32
You’re talking about solar. If you’ve driven outside of Las Vegas, I’ve got to remember, I have three two extra minutes tonight. If you drive outside of Las Vegas, they have solar farms that are like five miles by five miles, all you see is this a mountain of solar panels. They’ve actually tested the heat, and I believe the heat under the solar panels is 15 degrees hotter than above the solar panels. So you’re ruining the environment. You’re killing animals that are underneath the solar panels. As you’re generating more solar electricity. Solar electricity is not very efficient. The most efficient is natural gas. You want to get rid of that. The next most efficient is nuclear, and a lot of people want to get rid of that. Wind power and solar power right now only take up about only provide about 8% of what we use as a nation, and it’s unreliable, because on a cloudy day, your solar doesn’t work. If it’s not real windy, your windmills aren’t working. And there’s been dozens and dozens of reports that with windmills, you’re getting 1000s of dead birds that are running into the windmill fans. So I know for now, and I’m going to emphasize for now,
2:02:56
you’re only talking about new construction or remodels, if you have any success with that, that’s going to change. You’re going to you being people that want to make these changes. Because I know by time this comes along, half or 100% of the board will have changed. But if you put things into place that are going to be happening for the next eight to 10 years, it’s going to keep progressing further and further. So
2:03:22
you are raising the cost for everybody. More. People can’t afford their rent, they can’t afford their mortgages, they end up being homeless. Then you raise the cost again by taxing people more to provide low income housing. When is it all going to stop? And it is all connected. We have a lot of homeless people in Longmont that can’t afford living here already. And by the way, people moved here because boulder was so expensive, or boulder was doing so much construction, people wanted more open space, and now you’re just trying to follow boulder. People don’t want that here. They want what they moved here for anyhow. So my question is, basically, have you guys thought about all these prices that you’re increasing? Thank you.
2:04:10
Is
2:04:11
there anyone in the queue that would like to engage in this conversation?
2:04:17
Seeing no one drafts. Thank you.
2:04:23
Vic,
2:04:29
thanks. My name is Vic, biz. I live at 1910 Clover Creek drive in Longmont.
2:04:35
I want to talk here about
2:04:38
I work for what’s called a space Prediction Center in Boulder, and that has to do as part of the Weather Service, and it has to do with predicting
2:04:50
potential dangers from the sun, basically, and additionally, covers things like the power grid and dangers to the power grid through we work with FEMA.
2:05:00
Lot and that kind of thing. And I’ve been doing this for like, 50 years or more. Okay, so I’ve been around for a long time, and know kind of the whole picture very, very well. And one of the first big threats, electric wise, is cause. Is from a natural cause. It’s called cargo mass egestions. These are storms from the Sun that propagate out from the sun and hit the Earth, impact the magnetosphere, squish it around, create big currents, which drive electric currents on the surface of the earth. Now they first became aware of this as far back as 1859
2:05:39
there was a big white light flare. That’s all they could see from from,
2:05:45
from the earth at that time. That’s all they the way. They could see the sun very well. And within about 12 hours, something happened, basically, the tele telegraph lines, which are the were the only kind of electrical thing available at the time, or that any use electricity, they started burning up. And it had to do that came from this intense solar storm having an effect at the Earth’s surface and driving big currents at the Earth’s surface. In 1989
2:06:16
The sun was particularly active. At that time, there was a big change in the solar structure, a lot of CMEs, and so there was a big
2:06:23
power outage up in Canada. There was a Transformers burned out in certain power stations up there, and was an outage for a long time in Canada. So we look for those kind of things. There’s another thing that has been in the news lately I want to kind of cover. You’ve heard of the thing called the electro, the EMP you know,
2:06:43
which call it.
2:06:45
It’s a it’s an electromotive thing where you set off, and if you set off a nuclear weapon in the up above, and like in the ionosphere, that puts a pulse down to earth. It’s electromagnetic pulse. And that also can destroy things. We found this out the hard way. I don’t know if any of you heard Does anyone in the room know where Johnston Island is? You get a free trip there, if you do. But anyway,
2:07:12
but you want a free trip out of there is what you want, because it’s horrible place to be. But anyway, 1962 there was a test done there, and it was in near there, and that’s about 1000 miles southwest of Hawaii. Well, clear up in Hawaii, suddenly, when they set this off, a bunch of lights blew out like crazy. Now it’s 1962
2:07:35
all right, you don’t have cell phones. You don’t have any half the electrical stuff you have now. I mean, your refrigerator now has tons of electricity on it. All of these things are kind of very vulnerable to that kind of pulse, and they did that just before the test ban treaty hit just after that. But the point was that there are plenty of bad players out there at the international scene right now, and they know all about this, whether you guys want to know about it or not, they know about it and they want to take advantage of it. Places like, say, North Korea might just set one of these off if they were crazy enough to do it, and they might be. Who knows. So anyway,
2:08:16
the point is that if they do, that’s enough to kind of knock out the whole electrical system, at least temporarily. And I don’t mean like temporarily, like overnight. I’m talking about weeks or months, possibly, because depending what gets burned out, that stuff can take years to replace. There
2:08:33
just aren’t that many places on the on the planet that build big transformers.
2:08:39
Finally, the US grid that everybody wants to hang all their all their appliances and everything on is very rickety. It’s actually over, over stressed as it is, and it’s and it’s not. It doesn’t have sufficient capacity. You’ve seen this happen in places like, like even in Texas. It goes the grid goes down easy. It’s hard to get it back. And if it goes off in winter or something, or have a big problem, if it goes down in a big way, and there are, there are also bad people that want to but might use that to attack the United States. You don’t have to do blow out more than there’s a couple, maybe seven or eight key intersections of all these different grids, just like 100 different electric companies on in the US, but they all intersect in various places, and if you blew out about half a dozen of these, you would be in big trouble for years. Literally, you could, you could wipe out the system. So anyway, I want to point out that going all electric is not a good idea.
2:09:45
It’s like having your all your eggs in one basket.
2:09:49
Thank you.
2:09:54
Eric serrani, you.
2:10:03
Thank you Mayor Peck. City council members, I’m sorry.
2:10:09
Council member Marsha Martin has her hand up, so hang on. Don’t go away.
2:10:16
Councilor Martin,
2:10:19
thank you Mayor Peck, just, just quickly.
2:10:25
I think probably people still remember when we had the big wind storms a couple months ago, and
2:10:33
Excel Energy took power down in a bunch of neighborhoods because they were afraid that they were going to have catastrophic power losses that would cause fires and stuff if there was damage to the grid
2:10:47
because of the wind storm, and Longmont didn’t have that problem because Longmont had built built safeguards and redundancy into its distribution grid, so there was no danger of that sort of thing happening. And sure enough, it didn’t happen, and long line had no outages because of the wind storms. So that principle of redundancy and safeguards applies to the whole power grid, and it’s not necessarily fair to say that the grid is as rickety as it was in the 1950s when we didn’t depend on it the way we do now.
2:11:28
I’m not saying that it’s good enough yet, but I will say that lo mon in particular has had money in its budget for grid hardening for the last five years. So let’s be more quantitative about and less alarmist about the way that we talk about those problems. Thanks. Yeah, I think you know your windstorm has a lot of hot air, in a sense, you know at least you’re talking about really minor little disturbances. I’m talking about really big things which we haven’t had and just because hasn’t happened in our lifetime like this 1859 storm, that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen, and when it does happen, it’s going to be a heck of a big blow to the country, and we need to really get ready for something like that. It may not happen immediately, but if it does happen, you’re out for a long time. Okay? Thank you. Applause.
2:12:23
You’re up.
2:12:27
All right, mayor, city council members, thank you for the opportunity at this open forum to speak. I just wanted to come tonight. Oh, my name is Eric, surrounding 2705, long lane and Erie. I just wanted to come tonight to share my positive experiences with small airports and and the many benefits of them and why we need to keep them around.
2:12:51
My grandfather took me for a ride when I was three years old in his 1946 aranca champ from a grass strip just outside of Chicago that ignited a spark inside me that has yet to be contained.
2:13:06
I went on to get a scholarship to achieve my private pilot’s license when I was a teenager, it’s a very expensive thing to do. A group of aviators helped me achieve that dream so that I could follow in his footsteps, I attended CU Boulder, got my Bachelor and Master’s degree in aerospace engineering, and have flown 120
2:13:30
plus youth through EA Young Eagles program and started a youth engagement organization out of our hangar to continue to pass that spark along to the future generation.
2:13:43
Currently, I own a
2:13:46
aviation themed restaurant in Denver, just another way to inspire people to go chase their dreams. And who knows if the city of Longmont is friendly to aviation, I might come start George buffet out here. So
2:14:04
we would all like that. Yeah,
2:14:06
there’s many benefits to small airports, many of which have been discussed already today. You know, economic benefits flying goods and services and money into the city,
2:14:17
firefighting and rescue, good example of what’s going on outside today, a lot of fire, small firefighting activities take place out of these airports.
2:14:27
You know, for example, the boulder airport, which may not exist anymore, hosted the second largest airlift in the country when the floods happened in 2013 second only to Hurricane Katrina. And then many research operations take out, placed out of Longmont. I previously was an engineer for the National Ecological Observatory Network. They create sensors around the country to monitor climate change, get an apple to apple comparison, put that on the internet.
2:15:00
For free for scientists to use. They also fly many airplanes over these research areas to see what’s happening to the earth below it.
2:15:09
Currently there’s a massive pilot shortage. There’s a large number of baby boomers retiring from the industry, and the overall demand is growing. These small municipal airports are key to keeping air travel alive and affordable, with affordable and accessible flight training to everyone. Currently, there’s a lot of not in my backyard, attitudes in Boulder County towards these small airports. You know, why don’t we just go fly somewhere else? Is basically what we hear a lot.
2:15:39
If everyone shares these attitudes, the shortage will continue to grow. Your $300 ticket to go visit a sick family member will suddenly cost 1000s of dollars. This scenario disproportion disproportionately affects low income families and makes the already high barrier
2:15:56
of entry to flight training even higher, which will just further increase the wealth gap in our country. Safety is another issue. I’m sure you’ve seen a number of news headlines recently regarding safety and aviation. This is just because we’re pushing many people into flight training quicker, or into the airlines quicker than we ever have before, and if we keep shutting down these small airports, the shortage of pilots will only continue, and we’ll only see more and more of these unfortunate headlines. So thank you everyone for your time today, and please support the airport. Thank you. Eric
2:16:38
David Roederer, Hi,
2:16:44
good evening, Mayor Peck and council members. I’m David Roederer. I live at 708, blue grass. I would like to thank you for having this forum where we could speak. I’m able to speak because I could get here. I basically had three choices to get here tonight. One would be public transportation, but it wasn’t very feasible, as my bus would have stopped at five o’clock. I would have to get here hours early. David, would you mind pulling that mic closer to your boat? Sorry, is this better much? Would I keep going or start over? No, keep going.
2:17:19
I was saying that public transportation wasn’t very feasible. As it ends at five o’clock, I
2:17:24
would have had to get here very early and be walking home in a few minutes. The second choice would be to drive, which was very feasible. This is a very car centric city, a little bit too much, in my opinion, which is why I’m here. And my third choice would be human powered, which I chose to bicycle here,
2:17:42
driving would have taken me about 10 minutes. It’s about three and a half miles. Bicycling would have been about the same, except there’s not really very many safe routes. So I actually had to go west to get to safe roadways to come back east downtown from Southwest Longmont. So it took me almost 30 minutes to get here, driving, I would have to turn three or four times. Bicycling, I had to turn. I’ve lost count at 17, so I’m going to round it off to about 20. Each turn is a conflict point. Actually, every roadway is a conflict point, but a turn is a conflict point where I have to stop,
2:18:18
engage traffic, figure out what’s going on. So it’s not very safe. So I would like to encourage all of you to please give us transportation alternatives in the city, because there really aren’t any.
2:18:31
Phil and Ben, I’m on the big committee too. They’re doing great work. Please support them. We need alternatives to transportation here, because it’s very difficult to get around without a car. Thank you very much. And just FYI, we do support them wholeheartedly. We do. We need more we need more active. We need things to happen. Things so changing very quickly. There. I’ve heard about the micro transit that is coming. I’ve heard about it. Okay? So we have a vendor, and they will be starting in September. Yes, and thank you for that. And we need more. We need bus service. We expanded. We did it more times, and it’s expensive. I agree. We need to disincentivize cars, incentivize alternative transportation. We’ve got fires burning here. We all know it. People have been mentioning it tonight, automobile traffic, or the external combustion mission engine, pardon me, as you know, I’m sure is one of the major contributors to CO two, which is the major greenhouse gas, which is why we are having a climate crisis, and these fires that are burning people’s homes. It’s crazy what we’re doing. We don’t have enough. I agree completely. I think this whole council can say we’ve been working on it as hard and fast as we can. Work harder. Please. Okay,
2:19:59
you.
2:20:00
Yes.
2:20:01
Stephanie,
2:20:09
good evening. Thank you, Mayor and Council.
2:20:14
I know that I’m the last one and it’s late and you’re tired. I get that, and I’m sorry,
2:20:20
and I would have prepared something more, except that I actually have an elder who’s being evacuated from lions right now, and so dealing with all of that while I’m sitting here.
2:20:32
But actually what I really intended there’s two things that I wanted to say, and one of them was about the airport, because I wanted to support the airport was, I heard horror stories, you know. And I think, wow, why is boulder tearing down their airport? What’s the point? Why are they doing that? And then the next thing I heard was, we’re going to do that in long one too. I’m like, What? What is going on here? So I’ve lived here for 25 years, and I have to say, I just don’t see things going the way that they used to. I don’t feel like a lot of citizens have a lot of voice here in this community anymore, and maybe it’s because I don’t come here as often as I used to. But I feel like, you know, things are changing really rapidly, and a lot of people here tonight, I give them a lot of credit. I’ve spoken to many of those issues, and I feel like a lot of things have been forced on me in the past couple of years, just for example, having to have the new electric meter that I really didn’t prefer. I would not like to have an EMF meter, but I was forced to. I felt the same way about the water meter. I’m feeling the same way about the whole idea of electrification. I’m watching all of these changes happen, and I recognize that people are are saying, oh, we need more bike lanes and all of these things. But I’m watching what’s going on in Boulder, and I’m thinking that Longmont is actually very similar now. And I hope that you recognize this, because, you know, a lot of people live here because they didn’t think it was going to be that way. And so it feels like we are going down a very fast road to making it something where people that have lived here for a long time don’t want to be here anymore. And maybe you’re, you’re happy that we’d like to go but I don’t, I don’t really feel that way about, you know, I’m like, I feel like I’m being pushed out, to be honest. And I just look at this, you know, I a lot of these things that you’re talking about, feels like, like, long months selling out to the developers, frankly, and that there’s a lot of development that’s going on here under the ruse of affordable housing. And what is affordable? Affordable? Three or $400,000
2:22:41
that’s not affordable. I could never have come in at that price point. I don’t think most people can. So I’m not sure how you’re actually envisioning this. Who are the people that you’re catering all this to? And I think about, how many minutes do I have? Oh, two. Okay, so one of the things I noticed from an environmental perspective is when we used to have the monsoon. Why are these things not happening in Morocco? Now people can say there’s all of these different factors that you’re putting into this, but another reason is so much development, so much blacktop, so much concrete, so many houses. I noticed when it first started developing on the eastern plains how the rain would only come to the places that were still agricultural, where their water cycle was able to actually function. And I don’t know if people really understand this, but these things are actually affecting how we have a climate problem here. We can’t, we can’t take so many people. There’s like, a principle of you know that we, we really, I’m sorry, I’m too tired right now to actually think about all the right language, but we can’t have another 150,000 people here. It won’t work. So that’s all I’ve got to say.
2:23:59
First of all, I don’t think that anybody on this council is trying to close our airport. I don’t, I don’t know where that started. So I just, I just, I get the feeling I’m not allowed to talk about it, because that’s what everybody said. So I’m not going to talk about it. So so we can, we could have a private conversation, but I I gather that there’s something going on. So I’m, I’m going to shut up.
2:24:25
Yes.
2:24:27
Sandy cedar, our assistant city manager will explain that.
2:24:34
Oh, you get a private conversation.
2:24:39
Okay, I didn’t see anybody else on the list. Is there anyone else that didn’t have a chance to sign up?
2:24:59
Oh.
2:25:00
Yes, I don’t know your name, so I can’t call on you,
2:25:05
okay,
2:25:09
yes, but I don’t know his name, sorry, yeah, sorry about
2:25:13
that. Okay, let’s see if I can. Okay, yeah. My name is Jonathan hoffland, 1036 Willow Creek circle, Walmart, Colorado. And
2:25:22
I want to reiterate some of the things that were stated by JD and Tara Menza and Eric and a bunch of bunch of the other pilots about the airport. Support for the airport is really important.
2:25:37
I’m not a pilot, maybe someday, hopefully,
2:25:41
but worked as an engineer in town for 25 years, been here like 25 years, just like Stephanie. And when I
2:25:52
was let go from my previous job, I looked and
2:25:56
a number of the jobs that were available that paid halfway decent money right now our aerospace and aero in defense and so having an airport in town is vital to the economy in a much broader way. And then not as a pilot, but just
2:26:17
have just a new grandfather two years. Last two years when and having my son in town once in a while, I mean grandson in town, walking around the park and watching airplanes fly over, I live in the flight pattern, and
2:26:35
I love it okay.
2:26:39
And I love it when my grandson looks up and sees the planes and is excited, and there’s something about that, that boulder is going to lose, okay, if they keep on the path they are. So that’s the one thing I want to speak speak about. The other thing is, I think that there, what I’ve seen is there’s been a significant push towards affordable housing
2:27:07
at the expense of affordable living. Okay,
2:27:12
I think we need to talk about affordable living. Okay?
2:27:16
This all electric idea isn’t going to help affordable living, in my opinion.
2:27:24
And other people have spoken to that.
2:27:28
When it comes to the increases in water prices, in electric prices in the last few years. And I know that the electric prices have gone up. There’s a
2:27:40
majority of the increases in the utility rates is due to the conversion over from
2:27:50
the historical energy sources to the supposed green energy sources, and that is not helping affordable living at all. So I want to, you know, suggest that we look at the unintended consequences of some of the things we’re doing. Another thing that’s happened is
2:28:12
corporate apartment complexes popping up everywhere in the name of affordable housing. And what this does is it sends all the money for this rents out of town and out of our economy, to Black Rock, to Atlanta, Georgia, to all over and it doesn’t keep it here in town. And similar thing that happened in the past is,
2:28:41
I know 10 years ago that the city decided to not they changed their insurance company to where the insurance
2:28:51
for the city employees once let people go to its get their medical service At lo H, a local hospital. All that money city, out of the city to corporate interests. And I think that’s it’s very short sighted. Say, Oh, we can save some money here on on this, and, oh, we can make affordable housing. But what we’re not doing is making affordable living. And
2:29:20
I’ve lived here 25 years, and I’ve seen a lot of things happen. I’ve moved here for a lot of things. Wonderful city. I love the city.
2:29:29
They’re putting a
2:29:32
proposing the quail annexation near near my house, and they’re talking about putting 310
2:29:40
keys on like 16 acres. It’s insane, okay? It’s nothing. It’s like nothing else in the area. It’s going to change the whole community in a negative way. What we want is
2:29:56
stable communities, and I don’t think this will do it. And I’m speaking.
2:30:00
As a developer, after I’ve lost my job, I’m actually developing a piece of property, not here in town, but in the in the state, and I can build legally up to 11 units on that property. I’m building about half. That is what I’m planning on, building 310, units. That’s insane. Thank you.
2:30:30
The next gentleman,
2:30:32
sorry, I don’t know your name.
2:30:37
Hi, thank you for letting me have a couple minutes. My name is Edward Greif. I live at 6024 st Vrain Road in Longmont.
2:30:45
I lived there for about seven years, and I guess I’m the only one that’s going to come up here tonight and talk a little bit bad about the airport. I know the airport’s important. I don’t disagree. It does a lot of great things. I just think the airport needs a little to be a little more considerate of the neighbors and the residents that live around the airport. Last Monday, from 1030 in the morning to 1130 in the morning, 25 airplanes flew over my house or next to my house. It was constant noise for an hour, and sometimes they are so low you can’t even have a conversation.
2:31:20
So I’m not here to say we, we want to close the airport. All I’m asking is that is the council to be to try to get the airport to be more considerate of the residents.
2:31:32
You guys have the V nap. The voluntary noise abatement procedure. It says it’s designed to minimize the exposure of residents to airport noise. It says the city strives to be a responsible airport, airport operator. So all I’m asking for is the council to ask the airport to stop just letting planes fly around in circles. That’s one of the things on your website. It says they’re not supposed to fly around in circles. It seems that that’s all that’s happening. I can’t imagine that many planes are coming and going from the airport without flying around in circles to be over my house all day.
2:32:11
It’s a big sky out there. There’s lots of mountains and planes. They can go all different places. I don’t understand why they’re flying around in circles.
2:32:20
It’s taking a lot of our quiet, beautiful space that we have in Longmont. We chose to live out there because it’s quiet, and all we hear right now are airplanes. And I know the airplanes do great things, and I know I’m really happy that the airplanes are taking care of the fire, and those are actually very quiet, but all I’m asking is for you guys to get involved and try to let them to be more considerate of the people that live in Longmont. Thank you. Thank you very much.
2:32:50
Thank you everyone for coming tonight. It was really educational on both parts, I think, and truly enjoyed it.
2:33:02
You can contact any of us through our the website, through emails, through phone, if you would like, one on one, or to meet with us or talk with us. Please take advantage. We’re here to represent you, and I don’t know about the rest of the counselors, but I’ve taken a lot of the things that you have mentioned to heart and hopefully Together, we can continue to build a great city.
2:33:42
No we’re gonna have mayor and council comments. If you have any.
2:33:51
No, it’s not.
2:33:53
I mean, the comments, they’re different. Never mind.
2:33:59
You can if you have something you want to say,
2:34:01
Oh no, and we don’t have any remarks from city attorney or city manager, so All right,
2:34:10
it’s been moved by councilor McCoy, seconded by councilor Chris, that we adjourn All those in favor say, Aye. We are adjourned.
2:34:22
You
Transcribed by https://otter.ai