CenCON Update

• Sorrells presented slides on current scams in the District.
  • A gift card scam is a big issue in Douglas County now and is moving into Arapahoe County.
  • Amazon scam stating your account is frozen. Delete or hang up and check your actual account on Amazon.
  • Unemployment fraud: If you get a 1099 in error or a ReliaCard card with unemployment benefits for which you haven’t filed, you must report it – Do NOT activate the card!
  • Any of these could end in ID theft.
• Contact credit agencies: www.annualcreditreport.com that you’ve been defrauded, file a police report, contact US Bank (see presentation)
• Contact Sorrells if you think you’ve been a victim of a financial crime.

View the Slideshow

• ACSO continues with day-to-day operations, same as pre-covid. They’re also still running covid operations.
• The Citizen’s Academy for Feb. is full & virtual. When they can meet in person, there will probably still be one a year that’s virtual. It’s working well.
• ACSO is having people in each division test positive for covid but, it’s not affecting the operations.
• Cummins: There have been break-ins in the neighborhoods between University & Holly, is there any word? Ken: ACSO recommends that you lock your doors, don’t leave valuables in sight, close all windows. If bad guys get into one car, they’ll check on others in the same area. Please, report occurrences, so deputies know the hot spots. We get doorbell cam footage on some of them.

• For APRD, 2020 was a struggle. They threw out the budget in Feb. & started over. They’re not sure how 2021 will be. The Trails Rec. Center has gotten the 5 Star rating, allowing more people inside.
• Exercise is very good for physical & mental health.
• APRD limited permits for parks last year; they don’t plan to this year as restrictions open.
• Athletic leagues are starting up.
• APRD held off on construction projects unless they were already in construction, to save the budget. Some projects are grant-funded from Arapahoe County Open Space with a window to finish date but, they’ll work with the county.

• ALD appreciates the generous gift & appreciates the partnership with CenCON. We don’t know when the public will be back in the libraries like pre-covid.
• Last Tues., ALD reopened for in-person services without an appointment but, they’ve dialed back hours for Park & Pickup and limited library hours. They’re closed every 90 min. for cleaning.
• Tuskegee Airmen on Active Minds
  • The issue of race in the military extends from colonial times to the present day.
  • Join Active Minds as we explore a chapter of this story from World War II: the Tuskegee Airmen on Thurs., Feb. 4, 1 pm via Zoom.
  • These African American pilots were the first black military aviators in the U.S. armed forces.
  • We will tell their story of struggle and triumph and bring this issue into a current context.
• Author Brit Bennett, Adult, Thurs., 2/11, 6pm, Zoom, New York Times bestseller
  • She will discuss her new novel The Vanishing Half about identical twin sisters who were once close, but ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds.
  • Even though the sisters grow up together in a small, Black southern community, one sister eventually chooses to live with her Black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape.
  • The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person’s decisions, desires, and expectations.
  • Copies of The Vanishing Half are available to order from BookBar at the website. Autographed bookplates will be included with any Brit Bennett book purchase while supplies last. Use the promotional code: BOOKPLATE in the Order Comments.
  • This book is also a “Good Morning America” Book Club pick.
  • For adults.
• Author Robin Farmer, Young Adult, 2/26, 5:30pm, Zoom, debut novel
  • Malcolm and Me
  • The author will discuss how the novel’s historical setting reflects today’s world as it deals with racism, injustice, activism, and family. At its root, it is a coming-of-age story about a teen learning to navigate all these issues.
  • Farmer will discuss how her work can be a bridge to difficult conversations through the role that fiction plays in truth and empathy.
  • Following the presentation and a brief reading, there will be a Q&A session.
  • For teens and their parents.
• Extraordinary Story of the First Africans to Arrive in Virginia, Mon., 2/22, 6pm, Zoom
  • Historian & author Ric Murphy will tell the extraordinary story of a group of 32 African men, women, & children who arrived on the shores of the New World colony Virginia in 1619.
  • He will explore how and why they were kidnapped and forced aboard a Spanish slave ship. In his book Arrival of the First Africans in Virginia, he documents a fascinating story of colonialism, treason, piracy, kidnapping, enslavement and British law.
  • For adults.
• Middleton: Where are the basic computer classes? Whelan: Typically, we do have a wide range of classes. They’re all remote now. Check our website.

• Calendar: Virtual meetings
  • February 1 – City Council Meeting, 6pm
  • February 2 – Meet the Mayor, 10-11am
  • February 2 – CML Census Webinar, noon – 1pm – U.S. Census Bureau will present information regarding the 2020 Census
  • February 4 – Denver South Partnership Meeting, 8 – 9 a.m. (virtual)
• Centennial is ranked #8 in Retailmenot’s, “One of the Country’s Best Cities for Remote Workers” list. (More on the City’s website)
  • Centennial’s rankings for this list were: – Overall work-from-home score: 86.21 – Community & safety: 90.13 – Housing & living costs: 79.52 – Health & weather: 88.98 – Metro area: Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO
• CDOT and Parker Rd.: CDOT plans to complete a project to fix the pavement on Parker Rd., Arapahoe -> E470. The preliminary construction schedule indicates work between March 15 & Nov. 4. It is anticipated the Broncos/Parker Rd intersection will be one of the major impacts for traffic in the corridor.
• Foxfield gates: The Town of Foxfield has started to install gates at 2 main entrance/ exit points to block access during the morning & evening rush hours to eliminate cut-through traffic, reduce speeding, and protect pedestrian travel on streets without sidewalks. Additional information on the installation of the Richfield/Fremont gates is available on the Town of Foxfield website.
• The FoxRidge GID: construction officially began on the Foxridge GID fence replacement on 12/14. It’s expected to be completed this summer. Split Rail Fencing was awarded the contract for $1,600,528; in the 2021 adopted budget, $1,850,000 was budgeted. FoxRidge has several options for how to utilize the approximately $250,000 in anticipated cost savings, including paying down the debt sooner, managing any fence or landscaping issues that may arise, reducing the mill levy for operations & maintenance in the future, or begin saving for the next fence. Staff will return to the GID Board at a future date to discuss the final financial impacts and make a recommendation. All homes in FR have been notified with info on the project.
• Willow Creek GID: recently contracted with Alfred Benesch & Co. for wall engineering & design services in the amount of $336,450. This is scheduled to be completed this spring, with construction of the new wall to follow in late spring or early summer. Construction could take 8-12 months and cost approximately $4.5M.
• Centennial Center Park: working with Design Workshop to develop construction documents to implement the Centennial Center Park Master Plan. To date, Staff has reviewed 75% of construction documents and anticipates 100% design to be completed by March. Once construction documents are finalized, Staff will work with Design Workshop to release an invitation for bids. At this time, the invitation for bids will include the planned infrastructure improvements such as the installation of all utility items, (gas, electric, water & sanitary sewer, and drainage). An update on this project will be provided to City Council at their 2/8 meeting.
• CDOT/DRCOG Safer Main Streets Awards (all complete by 6/2024)
  • Arapahoe & Clarkson Traffic Signal and Bike Lane Construction ($400,000): Install a new traffic signal, including pedestrian signals, lighting & striped crosswalks at Arapahoe & Clarkson. Bike lanes will be painted north of Arapahoe to extend the network currently present along Clarkson south of Arapahoe.
  • Holly St. HAWK Signal and pedestrian improvements: ($250,000) – Install a HAWK signal to increase pedestrian visibility & safety while crossing Holly just south of Easter Ave. The HAWK will be paired with a raised median & accessible curb ramps on both sides of Holly to ensure all users feel safe crossing this street. There are 2 “goat trails” through the grass where pedestrians are accessing the Willow Creek Trail. With approval from property owners, we can formalize and pave this connection so users of the Easter bicycle lanes can easily access the trail.
• Lone Tree Creek trail:
  • Phase 1A of the Lone Tree Creek Trail: The City’s contractor has constructed the trail from E Caley Ave to the former Cochlear property. – construction of the retaining wall along the west side of the former Cochlear property – removal of the existing 5’ sidewalk and cobble on the south side of the Civic Center building along E Arapahoe Rd – installation of a new 10’ sidewalk on the south side of the Civic Center building that will eventually connect Vaughn St to Revere Pkwy. – installation of trail along the west side of the former Cochlear property
• The Village at Centennial: just northeast of City office, 203 DU, 7 3-story buildings with parking inside.
• The Centennial Tree Program: Sign up on City website/tree-program.
  • 9 types of trees are available for purchase for only $70 (plus tax), while supplies last. The application is available starting today.
  • Trunk diameter of 1″-1.5″, height from 5-10’, none weighing more than 40 lbs.
  • Must be planted on residential private property within the City of Centennial, limit of 1 tree per household.
  • Not warrantied, though they are grown specifically for the climate and soil conditions found in most parts of Colorado and generally have a high survival rate.
  • Participants must make arrangements to pick up and plant their own trees and are responsible for all maintenance, pruning, and watering. Prior to picking up your tree, please, review the detailed preparation & planting instructions found on our website for advice on selecting a location, preparations required prior to picking up your tree. o Trees must be picked up from the Centennial Civic Center (13133 E. Arapahoe Rd.) on April 17, 10am-2pm.
• Centennial Community Grant Program:
  • Neighborhood Engagement Grants: smaller amount, smaller neighborhood activities
  • Large Community Improvement Grants: larger amount for larger neighborhood projects
  • Not a done deal, yet, City Council has to hear the final details and approve.
  • Lambert: How do we find out about the grant program? Sheehan: Check the website for the Council agendas. I don’t know when it’s coming up.

• Stewart Meek, Senior Economic Developer, Jenna Campbell, Planner II, and Ryan Thompson, Neighborhood Services Manager.

  This slide show presentation is included below in the email with the minutes.

  • Middleton: Zoning must have had good reason not to allow drive-thrus, what has changed? Meek: Drive-thrus are no longer only fast food, different types of restaurants are interested in this.
  • Suhaka: Is the bank property on the northeast corner Arapahoe/University being redeveloped? Meek: It has the same zoning as the others. Nothing happening, yet.
  • Jane: Right now, there is a large housing demand. Meek: The current zoning allows for 20% of the area of the commercial property to develop with residential. I can talk with you more offline.

   

  View the Presentation

  View the City Answers to Questions in CenCON Meeting Chat

• February 1, 7pm: The City Council Regular Meeting will hold a public hearing for a Kum & Go Gas Station at 11901 E Arapahoe Rd (Arapahoe & Paris St.). They propose operation of a 24-hour commercial retail use (gas station & convenience store). In the Land Development Code (LDC), a 24-hr. use means a land use whose hours of operation exceed 18 consecutive hours in any 24 hour day.
• Kum & Go gas station: I encourage you to write an email. Middleton: There’s a terrific amount of light pollution along Arapahoe east of I-25. Livingston: That lighting encourages kids to hang out at a gas station & then go into the neighborhood. Meakins: Experience speaks of trash & panhandlers.
• Write to: councilcomments@centennialco.gov, 303-325-8087 (noon on 2/1)
• Middleton: Why have a land development code if you’re going to keep changing it. Livingston: If they don’t change the code, then everything happens on a case-by-case basis. They need some rules.