Del Mar Neighborhoods United

Aurora and Area News & Local FYI

May 05, 2009

Contents:

Aurora receives over $4 million from HUD.
Sprinkle yourself in savings with a free irrigation audit.
Commission for Seniors seeking community input.
Aurora Residents for Recreation Task Force
looking for ideas.
Metro Area media contacts.
Arapahoe County Govt.
Colorado & County Govts.
Aurora makes the right call, 64 counties are enough, Rky Mtn News, Saturday, 1/19/2008.

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Aurora receives over $4 million from HUD.

In recognition of the city?’s proactive efforts to maintain strong neighborhoods, Aurora became the
first city in Colorado to receive federal
funding for neighborhood stabilization projects through a $4,474,097 grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. These funds will
be utilized to stabilize neighborhoods that have been impacted by foreclosed,vacant and abandoned residential properties.

The fund allocated to the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, not only help stabilize
neighborhoods affected by vacant or abandoned homes, but they also serve to create new
construction jobs, bring new residents to Aurora, promote new businesses, and provide additional
housing counseling for home buyers.

Aurora currently has 2 homes under construction, 1 recently purchase property and an additional 13 properties under contract.

The Community Development Division?’s goal is to
purchase and refurbish up to 50 properties within 18 months. All proceeds of the sales will go
to fund an additional four years of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program and this important
rehab work.

You can learn more about the Neighborhood Stabilization Program at www.auroragov.org, or call the Community Development Division at 303-739-7900.

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Sprinkle yourself in savings with a free irrigation audit.

Most of your summer water usage occurs outside when you water your lawn and garden, so efficient
irrigation can save you money and help conserve.

In partnership with the Center for ReSource Conservation, Aurora Water is offering free sprinkler system audits to Aurora Water customers. A trained irrigation specialist will evaluate your system for efficiency, list any items that need to be repaired, and identify a customized watering schedule that will meet your individual needs. The program is part of the CRC?’s Slow the Flow program, which works with residents to reduce outdoor water usage through Xeriscape landscaping and efficient irrigation.

CRC is an environmental non-profit organization that provides assistance to residents, businesses, professionals and policymakers about resource conservation issues.

For more information, visit us on the web at aurorawater.org or call 303-999-3820, extension 217.

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Commission for Seniors seeking community input.

The Aurora Commission for Seniors is interested
in hearing the concerns of Aurora?’s seniors. The
commission, which meets at 1 p.m. on the first
Monday of each month at the Aurora Center for
Active Adults, 30 Del Mar Circle, is composed of 9
volunteers appointed by and responsible to the Aurora City Council. Meetings are open to the public, and the commission welcomes citizen input in identifying unmet needs and issues of concern in the community.

To be more effective, the commission needs to be
made aware of developing and major issues related to Aurora?’s seniors in order to recommend plans of action to the council, to advocate and lobby legislators and to network with other senior agencies. Its mission to support existing programs and develop new ones benefiting a senior population can best be accomplished with suggestions from the community.

To learn more about the commission or to have a guest speaker visit your community organization, call 303-739-7945 or send an e-mail to acs@auroragov.org.

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Aurora Residents for Recreation Task Force
looking for ideas

The Aurora Residents for Recreation Task Force is looking for new ideas and input on recreation needs for Aurora residents. The diverse task force is comprised of almost 50 members who are committed to assessing the community?’s recreational needs and making recommendations to City Council.

It all started when a group of concerned citizens began meeting to discuss what could be done to improve recreational activities in Aurora. The Task Force is working with the city to focus on documenting and quantifying the community?’s needs for recreation services, programs, and facilities, and exploring new funding for expanded resources.

The Task Force needs the community?’s involvement. Please take the time to go to their website at www.arrtf.com and email your comments, suggestions or concerns. For more information, call 720-351-8429. Make plans to attend one of their upcoming meetings:

?• May 14, 6 p.m., Moorhead Recreation Center, 2390 Havana Street

?• May 28, 6:30 p.m., Central Library, 14949 E. Alameda Parkway

?• Jun. 10, 6 p.m., Beck Recreation Center, 800 Telluride Street

?• Jun. 23, 6 p.m., Meadowood Recreation Center, 3054 S, Laredo Street

?• Jul. 2, 6 p.m., Tallyn?’s Reach Library, 23911 E. Arapahoe Road

?• Jul. 28, 6:30 p.m., Aurora Center for Active Adults, 30 Del Mar Circle

?• Aug. 6, 6 p.m., Tallyn?’s Reach Library, 23911 E. Arapahoe Road

?• Aug. 27. 6:30 p.m., Central Library, 14949 E. Alameda

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Metro area media contacts:
http://www.denver.org/Contacts.aspx?type=Media

Aurora Govt:
www.auroragov.org

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Arapahoe County Govt:
www.co.arapahoe.co.us

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Colorado & County govts:
A frequently updated directory of official Colorado state and local government websites. Includes links to cities, counties and state agencies.
www.statelocalgov.net/state-co.cfm

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Aurora makes the right call, 64 counties are enough, Rky Mtn News, Saturday, 1/19/2008

Maybe it's the pioneering spirit, the sense of satisfaction that comes from building something out of nothing or forging new out of old, that drives the irresistible urge some residents of the metro area feel to carve out new counties and cities.
Whatever the explanation, that doesn't mean it's always a good idea to break away from an established governmental unit. We're pleased that, in the most recent example, a Citizens Advisory Panel voted overwhelmingly against formation of a new "City and County" of Aurora, as proposed by councilman Steve Hogan.
One need look no further than 2 recent governmental creations in metro Denver to see how differently such declarations of independence can work out.
The creation of Broomfield County some years ago has been a resounding success. A reliable tax base has supported the services and infrastructure and residents receive better services than when fragments of the city were parts of 4 counties.
The City of Centennial, while also successful, has struggled financially since it became the largest city to incorporate in American history (although it had good reasons for pursuing its goal given Greenwood Village's annexation plans for the Interstate 25 corridor).
Councilman Hogan argues that Aurora as a county would command a larger share of homeland security funding to guard against a terrorist attack at Buckley Air National Guard Base. But Aurora residents would have to foot the bill for the infrastructure necessary to provide services now supplied by Arapahoe, Adams and Douglas counties.
Hogan, however, makes a good point when he says, "If you happen to live in the Arapahoe County section of Aurora, you'll get different services than if you live in the Adams County portion - whether it's roads, social services or satellite county courts." Aurora might indeed be better served if it were consolidated into 1 of the 2 major counties it straddles - Arapahoe would be the better bet, since a large majority of the city's 300,000 citizens already reside there. But that would involve a major land swap or other difficult deal - a long shot, to put it mildly, given political realities. Aurora's 3-county dilemma came about, in part, because of its aggressive annexation policies. And since it seems to have thrived despite its awkward location in 1st 2 and now 3 counties,we see no reason why it can't continue to propser under the same contraints in the years ahead.