Monthly Archives: May 2009

Want to learn how President Obama’s Recovery Act has financial incentives to help you save money on your energy bills? Attend the Home Energy Solutions Training tomorrow at La Alma Rec Center, 1325 W. 11th Avenue, in District 9. The workshop runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

This meeting is part of a series of free workshops dedicated to energy activism has been put together by the Sierra Club’s Cool Cities campaign. It’s intended to educate residents about the various tax incentives, rebates, and renewable energy options available under the stimulus plan.

Snacks will be provided, but feel free to bring a bag lunch. To RSVP or get more info, send an e-mail to Jonah.Fruchter@SierraClub.org or call 303.861.8819.

District 9-based Mile High United Way is launching a series of community conversations next week. There will be six of them, held June 2-4 and June 9-11, with four of them taking place within District 9.

United Way is looking for feedback from the community about how citizens and organizations can partner more effectively throughout metro Denver area. The agency is also looking for input about how best to move forward its community impact plan, which is built around our three interconnected initiatives: School Readiness, Youth Success and Adult Self Sufficiency.

The goal is for each conversation to include a broad range of constituents and community stakeholders, including service providers, community experts, business leaders, funders, donors and other interested individuals.

To RSVP, click on this link and choose the date and location that best fits your schedule. Each conversation will last approximately two (2) hours and will be limited to the first 100 responders for each session.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Dale Flanders, Director of Community Partnerships, at Mile High United Way at 303-561-2333 or dale.flanders@unitedwaydenver.org.

Mark your calendar for next Tuesday, June 2. The City will be hosting a public meeting about the 41st and Fox Station Area Plan, with important public implications for District 9.

At the meeting, city planners will present the draft land-use and mobility concept plans for the area surrounding RTD’s future 41st and Fox Street Station. The draft concept will address important goals developed through community workshops, as well as the objectives of citywide plans (such as Blueprint Denver) and policy documents. These goals include:

• Improving pedestrian connections to the station, between neighborhoods, and along major corridors
• Creating opportunities to add more housing, jobs and services
• Incorporating plazas, parks and open space
• Capitalizing on station’s proximity to downtown and the Gold Line corridor
• Balancing the needs of new development vs the needs of existing uses

The workshop will run from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. and be held in the community room of the District 1 Police Station, at 1311 West 46th Avenue . Come share your thoughts and ideas and learn more about the opportunities for transit oriented development.

For more information, visit the city’s TOD/station area planning website (www.denvergov.org/tod). If you have questions regarding the station area plan, please contact Thomas Hoaglund, the station area project manager, at thomas.hoaglund@ci.denver.co.us or 720-865-2930.

You may have missed it, but the Denver Office of Economic Development launched two new programs this month to assist homeowners who are facing foreclosure.

The Office of Economic Development launched a $25 million Mortgage Credit Certificate Program to help people with high-cost or sub-prime loans, as well as two partnerships to redevelop foreclosed properties through the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

A Mortgage Credit Certificate reduces the amount of federal income tax a borrower must pay, thereby increasing the borrower’s ability to make his or her monthly mortgage payments. The Mortgage Credit Certificate Program will benefit approximately 180 households throughout Denver, targeting homeowners with adjustable rate single-family mortgage loans that date to between 2002 and 2007. It’s funded through $15 million from Denver ’s Private Activity Bond capacity and $10 million from the state of Colorado Private Activity Bond capacity, provided through the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

The Neighborhood Stabilization Program is providing Denver with approximately $9.6 million to acquire, redevelop and resell foreclosed properties that might otherwise become sources of abandonment and blight. The City is contracting with two separate teams, led by the Denver Housing Authority and the Denver Urban Renewal Authority, to administer the Neighborhood Stabilization Program throughout roughly a dozen Denver neighborhoods, including two (Elyria Swansea and Villa Park) in District 9. Additional neighborhoods may eventually be added to the program.

More information about both programs is available online at the OED Web site, www.milehigh.com.

If you’re not busy Saturday morning, head on up to Chaffee Park for a cleanup day. From 8 am to noon, volunteers will be planting, mulching, and cleaning up in the park.

Homemade muffins, sweet rolls and coffee will be provided, and Denver Parks will provide the tools. All you need to bring are your gloves and your willingness to work.

If you can make it, please RSVP to Stephen at spwilson@earthlink.net.

If you’re in the job market, set aside some time on Friday for “The Skills Clinic,” a job search skill-building resource fair sponsored by the Denver Workforce Centers. The clinic will be held on May 22, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Community College of Denver , South Classroom, 1111 W. Colfax Ave. , and at the Colorado Community College System Lowry Campus, located at 1061 Akron Way.

The Skills Clinic will offer one-on-one resume evaluations with workforce development professionals, as well as a series of workshops on interviewing skills, green jobs and sector-transferable skills, layoff survival and networking, local labor market information navigation, business culture customer service, financial education, and community re-entry services.

“In response to the rising number of job seekers visiting the Denver Workforce Centers, we’re proud to develop this community event to assist Denver residents with navigating through the challenges of a job search,” said Paula Gomez Farrell, director of workforce development for the Denver Office of Economic Development. “We’re offering a forum for job seekers to expand their knowledge and sharpen their career development skills.”

You are encouraged to pre-register for this event at www.ConnectingColorado.com. To receive a resume critique, bring a printed copy of your resume. For more information on the event, including a workshop schedule, visit www.MileHigh.com.

Come on down to Fairview Elementary (2715 W. 11th Ave.) tomorrow night to kick off the next phase of planning for the Decatur Station of FastTracks.

In 2007 and 2008, local residents and businesses took part in a public process to create a long-range vision and set of principles to guide land use and development around the station. Now Denver Community Planning and Development (CPD) is taking things to the next level of detail.

The doors open at 5:30, and the meeting proper will begin at 6 p.m. sharp with a welcoming statement and a presentation of where things stand at the moment. Questions and answers will follow, and the meeting will wrap up with a discussion of next steps and a schedule for moving forward. Adjournment will take place at 8 p.m. Refreshments and child care will be available.

You can get more details at the Decatur Station Area page of the city’s web  site. If you have any other questions, contact Kristin Krasnove at kristin.krasnove@denvergov.org, or (720) 865-2942.

Weekend events in/around District 9:

• Friday, May 15: Muse Doll Art Exhibit, 6 to 8 p.m., CHAC (8TH & Santa Fe ). These dolls were donated to Denver ’s Road Home and painted by youth from the Family Crisis Center, with the volunteer help of two local artists. There will be a short program to introduce some of the youth who painted the dolls, and someone from the Crisis Center will describe their programs. The dolls will be sold via silent auction, with the proceeds going to the Crisis Center and to the youth who painted the dolls.
• Saturday, May 16: Valdez Elementary Plant Sale, 2525 West 29th Avenue. You’ll find many varieties of annuals, perennials and vegetables; all proceeds go to Valdez Elementary. For more information or to place an order, you can contact Mary McManus at sunnysidekin@gmail.com.
• Saturday, May 16: Highland Neighborhood Garage Sale, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. HUNI will coordinate information about locations and place an ad in the Denver Post and on Craigslist. HUNI will also be putting out perimeter signs on major streets coming into the neighborhood. The night before, each participating family can pick up fliers with a map and addresses indicating the location of each garage sale. There will be designated drop-off spots for charity pick-up of any leftover items.
• Sunday, May 17th: RiNo Open Studio Tour & Sunday Brunch, Upper Larimer Side, 10 a.m. – 3p.m. Tour RiNo locations on the East side of the tracks. Light brunch will be served at each location, as well as pancakes served by RiNo Neighbors at the RiNo party tent, 32nd and Blake Street. Get information on the tour, pick up maps, and park here. Coffee provided by NOVO Coffee. OPEN LOCATIONS: RedLine, Lisa Kowalski Studio and Gallery, Plus gallery, The Pattern Shop, Studio Mai Wyn Fine Art Inc., Viviane Le Courtois and Christopher Ray Perez Studios, HINTERLAND, Post Modern Company, Walnut Street Woodworks, Cashi Gallery, Dry Ice Factory, Studio/Artist Laura Lee, Nines, Art Partitions, Jared Steinberg’s Studio.

If you live along the East Corridor of FasTracks and haven’t voiced your opinion about the Communter Rail Maintenance Facility (CRMF) yet, you still have time — barely. The public-comment period for the CRMF Supplemental Environmental Assessment for the East Corridor ends tomorrow.

Judy and District 9 residents from many different neighborhoods fought a long, hard, victorious battle to get an acceptable CRMF siting. RTD ultimately settled on Judy’s and residents’ preferred choice, the Fox North site, located at 48th Avenue and Fox Street (just north of I-70 and west of I-25). The Supplemental EA summarizes the impacts the CRMF may cause and proposes mitigations where appropriate.

The Supplemental EA also evaluates the shared commuter rail tracks from Denver Union Station to Pecos Street.

You can review the Supplemental EA online here. Comments can be submitted via e-mail to crmf@rtd-fastracks.com or via this online form. All Supplemental EA comments, regardless of how they are submitted, will be published and responded to in the East Corridor and Gold Line Final Environmental Impact Statements that are scheduled to be released in the summer of 2009.

Parks and Rec will host a public meeting tonight to begin writing a new master plan for Dailey Park, in the Baker neighborhood of District 9. The same process took place up in Swansea last year and is underway at various other parks throughout the city, including Highland Park (just outside District 9) and Civic Center.

Tonight’s meeting will take place at First Avenue Presbyterian, 120 West 1st Ave., and run from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The goal is to gather input on preferences and priorities for future park improvements.