The Denver City Council’s agent of change and de facto
leader Candi CdeBaca is planning to have the City Council pass a bill to change
the City Charter to allow Denver voters to elect the city’s Sheriff as is the
case almost everywhere else in Colorado. Given the disaster the Sheriff’s
Department has become, the voters could not do worse than Hancock’s picks over
the last nine years. Even the union representing the Sheriff deputies believes
that such a reform is long past due.
It is difficult to catalog all of the scandals that have
befallen the office over the last few years, starting with the death of
mentally ill Michael Lee Marshall while in custody. The lawsuits alone have
cost the taxpayers a staggering amount of money, including the most recent $1.55 million
settlement paid to 15 female Sheriff deputies for “severe and unwelcome sexual
harassment by male inmates . . . fostered by the failure of the Sheriff’s Department
to take reasonable steps to prevent it.” The next big hit to the taxpayers will
be from the female inmate forced to give birth to a child alone in a Denver
jail cell.
Patrick Firman
Denver Sheriff Patrick Firman resigned effective October 14
after years of mistrust from deputies and community activists, who said that
was the price of filling the position with a man who was never the right person
for the job. “Nice guy, just wasn’t suited to be Sheriff,” said Lisa Calderón,
chief of staff for Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca.
If he were so ill suited for the job, why in the world was
he appointed by Mayor Hancock in 2015 after a long search process? Because it
was a workie, workie like everything else the Mayor does. If you think anything
is going to change as long as the Mayor gets to appoint the Sheriff, you would
be mistaken. For the interim Sheriff, Hancock has appointed a woman, Fran
Gomez, who is even more unqualified than Firman. She was briefly with the
Sheriff’s Department in the 1980s and then after years doing police work in
Aurora and Commerce City she retired. In August of last year she apparently
unretired and got the “no work” job in the Sheriff’s Department as the
“Director of Professional Standards.”
What caused the sudden hiring and incredible rise through
the ranks to the top in a little over a year? According to the Deputy Sheriff’s
union it is due to the fact she is the wife of one of Hancock’s security
detail. Hancock apparently counted on that fact being obscured by the fact she
is the “first” female Denver Sheriff of any sort and has a Hispanic last name.
Almost everyone expects that under Ms. Gomez things will go from bad to even
worse at the jail. This will be followed by the appointment of another gross
incompetent as the permanent Denver Sheriff.
Denver’s citizens really do not have to put up with this
pathetic hiring carousel for the Sheriff position. We should choose the best
candidate for Sheriff ourselves. Voters are not perfect of course, as evidenced
by the fact we have elected Michael Hancock three times. But candidates for the
office will have to at least try to convince us why they would be well-suited
for the job. We can’t do a whole lot worse than choosing as interim Sheriff a
person whose only qualification is that she is the wife of a man on the Mayor’s
security detail.
Fran Gomez
The positions directly below the Sheriff are also presently
political patronage jobs chosen by the Mayor for all of the wrong reasons. An
elected Sheriff could at least pick individuals he/she believes are best suited
to help do what is a very hard job, rather than simply to people whom a Mayor
owes a favor.
Having an elected Sheriff is only the beginning of the
process to provide some checks and balances in the City Charter over present
and future corrupt and out-of-control Mayors.
Lord Acton famously stated: “Power tends to corrupt, and
absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
It is time in Denver for a little less absolute power and a
lot less public corruption.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used
when we created them.”
— Albert Einstein
The importance of recycling seems, to some degree, to have
taken a back seat to the divisive nature of the global warming argument. Yet,
regardless of how you choose to process scientific evidence about carbon
emissions and the rising temperature of the planet, the fact remains that
civilization is producing massive amounts of trash. Further, some (not all) of
the elements which end up in the landfill do so unnecessarily, and can better
serve the greater economic good by being redirected back into the consumer
commodities market.
Garbage Piles: Piles of garbage create mounting concerns.
Understand The Economics
Recycling is a bipartisan-friendly notion. From a purely
fiscal standpoint, there are significant, trackable levels of energy savings
that occur with specific types of materials such as aluminum and paper. The
Reynolds Metal Company reports that making aluminum cans from their recycled
counterparts takes 95 percent less energy than manufacturing them from raw
aluminum bauxite. Meanwhile, the American Forest and Paper Association reports
that recycling one ton of paper saves 7,000 gallons of water and enough energy
to power the everyday household for six months.
Consider The Environmental Angle
From an anti-pollution approach, according to denvergov.org,
the average family can lower greenhouse gas emissions by 340 pounds of carbon
equivalent per year by simply recycling all of its mixed plastic waste. Also,
the Glass Packaging Institute offers further eco-friendly evidence by reporting
that glass recycling can reduce water pollution by 20% and air pollution by
50%. These stats are backed by the National Recycling Coalition, which reports
that eight to 10 major types of water and air pollutants can be reduced through
recycling. Plus, less garbage means less land that must be allocated for
landfills.
Choose Your Facts And Act
The key to reducing the financial and environmental burden
of unnecessary waste lies in the average citizen adopting a mindset of cyclic
thinking in exchange for cause-and-effect behavior. This means integrating
recycling into your long-term habits and routines rather than practicing it as
an afterthought once the trash has already been produced. Whether you are
driven by economic practicality or eco-friendly concern, here are seven ways
you can do your part to expand the effort to reduce waste that is unnecessarily
dumped into the ground.
Buy Recycled
Purchasing products that are made from or packaged in
recycled materials helps increase the demand within this segment of the
consumer product market. These can be paper goods, building materials made from
recycled plastic and steel, refilled printer cartridges, activewear, smartphone
covers and tote bags — just to name a few.
BYOB (Bring Your Own Bags)
Speaking of bags, you can greatly reduce paper and plastic
waste by supplying your own means of getting your groceries home. The Recycling
pages on denvergov.org repeatedly state that plastic bags cannot be recycled
because they jam up the materials sorting machinery. That’s right — all plastic
bags, even though you can reuse them once or twice around the house —
eventually end up in the landfill. If everyone stopped relying on them, demand
for landfill space could be systematically reduced.
Decontaminate Containers
Food containers that are placed in the recycle bin without
first being rinsed out introduce contaminants into the process as the organic
material begins to decompose. You can reduce the amount of items which end up
in the landfill because they are full of food residue by giving items such as
yogurt cartons, jelly jars, tin cans and juice bottles a sufficient rinse before
recycling. This scenario includes the ever-present and confounding pizza box.
While the box bottom, if covered in grease and residue, cannot be recycled — it
can be composted by cutting it into small pieces and placing it in your
backyard facility. Meanwhile, the box lid, as long as it is grease-free, can
always be recycled.
Purchase Less Packaging
Your shopping protocol can involve a “buy less packaging”
approach by making a plan ahead of time to curtail old habits in the produce
section. Specifically, by choosing to not place fruits and vegetables which you
plan to wash anyway into plastic bags as you pick them off the shelf. You can
also choose products in compostable packaging (as indicated on the label) and
you can buy items you consume regularly in bulk.
Donate Don’t Discard
Unwanted goods such as furniture, household items, cooking
utensils and clothing do not have to be thrown away — especially if they are
still functional or can be easily repaired. By taking them to your local thrift
store, they can be reappropriated by someone who needs them instead of winding
up in the landfill while still having value.
Maximize Organic Matter
According to the EPA, 30% of everything people throw away is
comprised of food and yard waste. Grasscycling and composting are excellent
ways of reducing the amount of plastic bags and fuel needed to haul away grass
clippings and uneaten scraps. In turn, you are helping to save landfill space
by placing organic matter in your own backyard — which enriches the soil, reduces
the need for synthetic fertilizers and lowers your carbon footprint by
decreasing methane emission from the landfill.
Go Out Of Your Way
Aluminum Cans: Properly recycled aluminum can be turned back into usable cans for a fraction of the costs of processing raw aluminum bauxite.
If you’re already a proactive Denver recycler, you may have
more items than can fit in your purple recycle bin. If this is the case, you
can access the Cherry Creek Recycling Drop-off facility for overflow items that
do not belong in the landfill as well as compostable materials such as food
scraps and yard clippings. This is a service for Denver residents only, not for
commercial entities.
In the realm of environmental issues, there are some areas
where opinions are not unanimous. When it comes to recycling, however, any way
you look at it (especially not facing downward into the landfill) makes
practical, economic, eco-friendly sense.
Residents in the Huntington Estates neighborhood are crying
foul that two doctors are allowed to allow their property to continue to be in
disrepair and neither the neighborhood covenants nor Arapahoe County can stop
them.
No Response: Members of the HOA leadership team have tried to contact the Brauns on numerous occasions about the property but they have not received a response.
“All of us are tired of looking at the dilapidated and
unoccupied house,” Dick Pond, the treasurer of the neighborhood Home Owners
Association, told the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle in an email. “The HOA and
a few neighbors have tried to contact the Brauns about it, but we keep getting
the same answer, that they’ll be selling it soon.”
The owners, Tom and Carol Braun, left their house on East
Evans Way 15 years ago after purchasing a bigger home on the other side of the
neighborhood. Now, their old house sits on a plot of dead grass and overgrown
shrubs. Bits of glass from the windows litter the yard.
Pond and other members of the HOA leadership team have tried
to contact the Brauns on numerous occasions about the property. They’ve also
sent letters to their new residence warning the Brauns that if they hold on to
the property too long they might miss out on the wave of rising home values in
the area.
“Values in the city and our local area are on the rise and
several families in the neighborhood are trying to sell or will be soon,” one
letter dated April 28, 2013 reads. “This could again be a lovely home, if only
it were occupied and maintained. However, many solar panels are missing or
broken, gutters are falling off or missing, and the front yard is dirt and
weeds.”
The Brauns did not respond to repeated requests for comment
for this story.
Power Of Association
Broken Windows: Bits of glass from the broken windows litter the yard of the Brauns’ ome on East Evans Way. The Brauns abandoned their home 15 years ago.
State laws generally give HOAs vast powers to control the
aesthetics of their neighborhood. Each county adopts their own laws regarding
the powers of these associations as well.
However, those laws are only enforceable if the HOA is
registered with the state. HOAs that make more than $5,000 per year are
required to register with both the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) and
the Director of Real Estate (DRE). Those making less than $5,000 annually only
register with the DRE and are not held to the same standards of reporting.
Huntington Estates’ HOA is informal, as resident Paul Hanley
describes it. While this structure may benefit homeowners in that there are no
monthly HOA dues to pay, it also makes it difficult to take decisive action
against the Brauns.
“The covenant governing the neighborhood was written back in
the 1960s, and it’s weak compared to today’s standards,” Hanley said. “But,
this is what happens when you don’t live in a municipality. You may pay less in
taxes, but you get less government in return.”
Residents have contacted Arapahoe County about the Brauns’
house many times, but the County’s answer is never simple. Since Huntington
Estates is located in unincorporated Arapahoe County, local ordinances don’t
carry much weight. Instead, the county relies on the principles of fairness to
adjudicate disputes among neighbors.
“They’ve basically told us that because the farmers and
ranchers nearby can allow barns and other structures on their property to
dilapidate, then so can homeowners in Huntington Estates,” Hanley said.
Hanley also admitted that some residents had discussed
attempting to strengthen Huntington Estate’s covenants, but doing so requires a
unanimous vote among homeowners.
“It would really just be more trouble than it’s worth,”
Hanley said.
Living Trust
Abandoned Home: This home in the Huntington Estates neighborhood has neighbors upset as two doctors abandoned their property in 2004 and have allowed it to be in complete disrepair. Neighbors are concerned for their property values as some gear up to sell their property.
According to Arapahoe County property tax records, the Brauns’
house is currently owned by a living trust in Carol’s name. Typically, wealthy
homeowners put property into living trusts if they plan on passing it on after
death.
Some residents worry that there may be a financial incentive
for the Brauns to let their property dilapidate, and that this incentive could
negatively affect their home values.
“Many neighbors have expressed concern about your disregard
for the condition of the abandoned house and about the market values of their
own properties as a result,” the HOA letter reads. “In addition, the community
is concerned about any potential health or environmental impact as a result of
the continued declining condition and lack of care for the property.”
Colorado is one of 38 states that doesn’t charge an estate
tax. Even so homeowners can still be charged a federal estate tax after their
death. Under prime circumstances, married couples can protect up to $22.28
million under the federal exemption guidelines. A single homeowner can protect
an estate valuing up to $11.18 million, according to the IRS.
By allowing their home to dilapidate, the Brauns could avoid
paying estate taxes all together. They currently own two homes, one of which
was purchased for just under $600,000 while the median home value of the
neighborhood is close to a half-million. Factor in a few savvy investments and
they could be leaving behind a nice nest egg with no tax burden.
However, the majority of the neighbors just want the problem
to go away. They’re tired of seeing the home slowly crumble while homes that
are near it have had a tough time staying full.
“This is really a case of buyer beware,” Hanley said. “We’re
basically subject to the goodwill of our neighbors on this one.”
Denver Slips To 29th Place In National Park Ranking; City
Pays $5.1 Million For Park Property; Pair Launches New Trust
by Glen Richardson
Denver parks have skidded to 29th place in the latest
national ranking of 100 big city parks. That is for a city that hovered just
beneath the top 10 at number 13 in the park hierarchy in 2015, just four years
earlier.
Useful Greenhouse: The 0.63-acre greenhouse space on newly purchased city park site is likely to be used by Parks & Recreation to support department’s main greenhouse at City Park.
This year’s Trust for Public Land ParkScore® released May 7
reveals just how fast and far Mayor Michael Hancock and Denver Parks &
Recreation Director Happy Haynes have dragged down Denver, once known as the
city within a park. As the administration sells or gives away park space to
developers, the amount of Denver’s city land used for parks has dwindled to 8%
compared to this year’s national median of 15%.
The city’s acreage average is rated 52.5 out of 100 with
investments rated slightly higher at 60 out of 100. The only thing that buoyed
Denver’s ranking was the wide distribution of its 314 parks, giving the city an
access score of 82.5 out of 100.
Trust, Park Purchase
Park Rank Plunges: Rated nation’s 13th best city for parks just four years ago, Denver has dropped to 29th place in latest national park ranking.
The dramatic drop in Denver’s city park ranking comes as the
launch of a new nonprofit known as the “Denver Park Trust” was announced. It is
a joint venture by Denver City Councilwoman Kendra Black and Frank Rowe, a
member of the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board.
It joins the ranks of cities such as Portland and
Minneapolis that have park foundations that help raise money and keep an eye on
public parks. According to Black and Rowe the trust will have an annual budget
of $250,000. The trust will provide added revenue to the funds raised by voter
passage of Measure 2A that added a .25% tax increase for park projects and land
acquisition. Black says even that increase can’t support Denver’s parks system.
“That’s where Denver Public Trust comes in,” she explains.
Coincidently the Denver City Council has approved a
resolution for the $5,100,000 purchase of property at 4301-4307 E. Iliff Ave.
in Black’s district for future use as city park land using 2A funds. It is the
2.26-acre site of Groundcovers Greenhouse located two blocks south of Evans
Ave. and three blocks east of Colorado Blvd. The retail-wholesale
nursery-greenhouse owned by Alison Tyler and Gary Luster closed at the end of
July. It is the first piece of land purchased using revenue from the 2A park
sales tax.
Greenhouse Site
Kendra Black
Nestled in a quiet residential neighborhood just east of
Colorado Blvd., the property operated as a greenhouse for nearly 40 years. The
city approached greenhouse owner Gary Luster with an offer. “As many of you
have heard, our property is being purchased by the city of Denver and will be
turned into a park within a couple of years,” he reported on Groundcovers’
website.
Luster told area news outlets he had never put the building
up for sale and had vowed that he never would. In the past decade he reportedly
turned down at least a dozen offers. “But we got the right offer for the right
reasons,” he concluded.
Councilwoman Black and Parks & Recreation officials say
they had been scouting the neighborhood for a park location for the last seven
years. “Additional park access in the University Hills North neighborhood is
critical to supporting an active, healthy lifestyle for the residents who live
there,” says Black. The closest parks in the neighborhood are Observatory Park,
Eisenhower Park, McWilliams Park and Prairie Park. All would require a 20 to
30-minute walk.
Few Year Project
While there are parks near University Hills such as Mamie D.
Eisenhower Park, the goal of 2A is to have parks within walking distance of all
residents. Many residents in University Hills also had to cross major streets
like East Yale Ave. This is something many parents are hesitant to let their
children do, according to Black.
Black says it will be a few years before a park is built.
First, the city will look at logistics and clear any buildings that won’t be
used. Parks & Recreation’s Gordon Robertson says the city may keep the
0.63-acre greenhouse space to support the department’s main greenhouse at City
Park. Any garden equipment left behind also may be repurposed.
The new park will then go through a public process. Either
late this year or early next year, the city will host an open house with
residents to determine what amenities they would like on the two-acre space,
which is a decent size for a typical park with a playground, according to
Robertson.
Vision For Trust
Frank Rowe
According to Frank Rowe — the only staff member and
executive director of the new Denver Park Trust — “Our vision is to acquire
land for new parks in high-density and high-need neighborhoods. We’ll also work
on providing ‘gap funding’ for projects within parks.”
Rowe says the nonprofit will focus on communities where
there isn’t a park within a 10-minute walk. One of Trust’s first projects will
be raising gap funding for renovation of St. Charles Park in the Cole
neighborhood. Phase one is complete, but funds are lacking to begin phase two,
he explains. Another early project taken on by the nonprofit is the addition of
a shade structure at Lindsley Park in the Hale neighborhood.
Black believes donors feel more comfortable writing a check
to a nonprofit rather than a governmental body. The Trust also aims to garner
public support and awareness of the city’s parks, Rowe adds. “I think if you
talk to most folks, they love their parks. And a lot of people want to get
engaged in their parks, participate and give back, so we can be a conduit for
that.”
Pair’s Background
New Park Property: City has paid $5.1 million for the 2.26-acre Groundcovers Greenhouse site on E. Iliff Ave. Denver is using voter approved 2A funds to buy the property located two blocks south of Evans and three blocks east of Colorado Blvd.
Prior to launching the trust, Rowe worked for six years at
the nonprofit news outlet Chalkbeat. He was appointed to the Parks &
Recreation Board by Councilwoman Black when she was first elected to city
council in 2015. His wife Anne Rose represents southeast Denver on the Denver
School Board, just as does Parks & Recreation Director Happy Haynes. Anne
Rowe served as Vice President of the School Board from 2013 to 2015.
While pursuing a park in her district, Black has been less
aggressive in support for parks and open space citywide and is considered extreme
pro-development. She supported the controversial drainage project at Park Hill
Golf Course and along with two other councilmembers supported some development
at the golf course. Some bloggers have scolded her for voting to spend money to
tear up City Park.
A study commissioned by The Park People, Greenway Foundation
and Kaiser Permanente with Denver’s support, reveals city parks deliver $7.1
million of revenue to the city while increasing resident wealth by $48.7
million.
Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods (CHUN) has played a vital role in shaping neighborhoods by providing a unified voice to the City of Denver and Colorado state governments since 1969. Those who are not familiar with this organization need look no further than the trees that are planted along 13th and 14th Avenue. CHUN was instrumental IN having those planted.
Board Members: The Board of Delegates for Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods, Inc. is a group of 39 members representing 10 registered neighborhood organizations in Denver.
To commemorate 50 years in the community, CHUN will host a
fundraising event at Denver Botanic Gardens to celebrate its half century. The
50th Anniversary Celebration and Wine Tasting is open to the public and its
members and residents of the Capitol Hill community on Wednesday, September 18,
2019, 5:30-9 p.m.
In addition to an evening with Denver leaders and
neighborhood advocates, the event will feature a wine tasting, light hors
d’oeuvres from local restaurants, and a silent auction, showcasing goods and
services from local businesses. CHUN is seeking help from local businesses to
sponsor the event WITH silent auction donations, underwriting support, and
other in-kind goods or services.
Fifty years ago, CHUN was founded to take on the most
pressing issues facing Denver and its neighborhoods. Since then, the organization
has evolved into one of the Mile High City’s largest registered neighborhood
organizations (RNO) dedicated to strengthening and elevating the voices of
residents and neighbors.
The Board is comprised of members of 10 different RNOs,
including Congress Park, Cherry Creek North, Country Club, Cheesman Park and
Uptown. The boundaries of CHUN are 22nd Avenue to 1st Avenue, and Colorado
Blvd. to Broadway.
“I’ve served on a lot of boards,” said Bruce Caughey, CHUN
Board Member. “There is more commitment to this board than almost any board
I’ve ever been on in terms of participation and expressing opinions. It’s
really a great opportunity if you want to get involved in your neighborhood and
make a difference. That’s what CHUN represents.”
This board is rolling up its sleeves to come up with a plan
for the Tears-McFarlane House, a 120-year-old mansion that was gifted to CHUN
by the City of Denver a few years ago. The building requires some restoration
and ongoing upkeep,” said Travis Leiker, President, Board of Delegates for
Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods, Inc. “We tapped the experts in this work to
help us revitalize this property. We’ve done focus groups, surveys on the park,
and engaged the community to help us reconceptualize and visualize what can be
done with this space. We just released the results of that research which
indicates that most people want this to remain a community gathering space but
with additional amenities. The next phase of this will be how we revamp this
property to both fuel CHUN’s operations as a community group, but also activate
portions of the property for the betterment of the community.”
Renovation Plans: The Tears-McFarlane House is a historic house located at 12th and Williams in Denver, that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 11, 1976. It was gifted to CHUN a few years ago and now is embarking on a revitalization project that will require approximately $2 million to complete.
CHUN advocates for smart zoning and land use, innovative
transportation systems, the protection of historic landmarks, promoting
community safety and championing city beautification. As Denver moves further
into the 21st century, this organization is committed to being collaborative
and solution oriented, by building strong relationships with community
stakeholders and serving as a go-to resource for Denver citizens.
Membership to CHUN is $75/year per household, $180/year per business, and $30/year for individuals. For a list of benefits, visit www.chundenver.org/membership. For more information on the 50th Anniversary event visit www.chundenver.org/chun50.
The sweltering months of 2019 were bumper-to-bumper trouble
for U.S. Highway 36 commuters.
Questions Raised: Residents began to ask how long it would take to fix and who was going to pay for it?
If you are one of the 107,000 motorists or public
transportation customers who traverse this corridor daily, here’s hoping your
vehicle has air conditioning, your playlist is extensive, and your boss knows
you’re going to be late.
A considerable crack in the surface layer appeared July 12,
2019, prompting Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) crews to close the
eastbound lanes at Church Ranch Blvd. The decision was indeed prudent, as the
fissure soon gave way to a gap that eventually ruptured into a ditch-like
sinkhole in the road.
By July 15, 2019, traffic in both directions had been
diverted to two respective lanes of the westbound corridor — resulting in a
bottleneck effect in an already heavily congested zone. This allowed some
traffic flow, however sluggish, so that CDOT crews could access the area,
analyze the damage and embark on a massive repair project.
Meanwhile, the event sparked several issues, as area
residents, CDOT personnel and daily commuters began to ponder the obvious. How
long would it be before the damage was fixed, why had a new stretch of road
caved in like the top of a half-baked cake, and perhaps most importantly, where
would the money come from to pay for the reconstruction?
A Dubious Timeline
Lateral and aerial photos revealed a multi-dimensional
calamity, as the horizontal depression in the road was countered by a vertical
eruption of retaining wall concrete slabs, debris-ridden soil and mangled
rebar. On July 15, 2019, CDOT chief engineer Josh Laipply was quoted by several
news outlets including Colorado Public Radio (CPR) as stating that it would be
“weeks” before the highway would be returned to an operational condition.
Several days later, that statement was amended by CDOT Executive Director
Shoshana Lew, who offered that it would be “a matter of months” for the repair
to be completed.
Meanwhile CDOT Communications Director Matt Inzeo via phone
interview declined to comment on a projected timeline. He pivoted instead and
offered that the retaining wall-supported embankment upon which the highway was
built sits next to a “wetlands area that used to be a lake.”
A Sinking Feeling
Crack In The Surface: A considerable crack in the surface layer appeared July 12, 2019, prompting Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) crews to close the eastbound lanes at Church Ranch Blvd.
The aforementioned information, perhaps inadvertently,
placed a certain gravity on a statement issued by CDOT spokesperson Tamara
Rollison, who explained “It appears water has gotten underneath the section
that’s collapsing. It looks like it’s unraveling.”
At this point in the story, the term “collapsing soils” was
introduced as a possible culprit. A blog published by CPR offered a statement
from professor of construction engineering management at CU Boulder, Cristina
Torres-Machi. It states: “[Torres-Machi] said it looks like a nearly textbook
example of what she called ‘slope failure,’ essentially a landslide … She
said it’s likely because of collapsing soils.”
Just in case (like most folks) you are not a geology major,
collapsing soils are comprised of dry, low-density particles which can
withstand significant impact without losing volume. Once water is introduced,
however, the particles break apart, densify and undergo a significant reduction
in volume. Oftentimes this results in the sudden appearance of a sinkhole.
In early August, a phone interview with Colorado Geological
Survey Senior Engineering Geologist Jonathan White revealed contrary
information that seemed to muddy the waters. Professor White explained that the
embankment supporting the highway was comprised of “highly saturated, already
wet soils” and the sinkhole was “most likely caused by a lateral landslide” and
“was not the result of the presence of collapsing soils.” Professor White
explained further that the wetlands adjacent to the highway were inherently
responsible for the preliminary presence of moisture in the soil beneath the
highway. He finished by stating that sudden influx of more water did not cause
a collapsing soil situation and the disaster was more likely attributable to
“an engineering issue.”
Who’s Going To Pay For This?
If Professor White is indeed correct, then upon whose
shoulders gets foisted the blame? If it is neither the cause of collapsing
soils or the effects of plain ol’ gravity, then by default, human error takes
the spotlight. Regardless, the road must be repaired. A massive reconstruction
project was launched as soon as engineers determined the debris and soil had
ceased to shift and collapse.
This section of highway was completed just over five years
ago in a joint venture between Granite Construction of California and Ames
Construction of Aurora. By all estimations, it should most certainly not be
crumbling, yet until engineering failure on the behalf of the contractors is found
to be the cause, other monies have been allocated to pay for the
reconstruction.
With Colorado’s massive influx of marijuana-based tax
revenue, it is clear the $20.4 million repair and reimbursement estimate should
be easy to meet by this revenue stream alone. After all, in 2019 alone, total
tax revenue is projected by the Colorado Department of Revenue to be somewhere
around the $30 million mark. Some experts believe it stands to reason that
coffers swelling with monetary influx that was virtually nonexistent when that
section of the road was built should rightly be tapped to remedy its untimely
demise. Yet, when pressed for information on where the “contingency funds”
allocated by the State Transportation Commission were being siphoned from,
representatives of CDOT, Colorado Department of Revenue and Colorado Department
of the Treasury declined to elaborate. A representative of the latter (who
refused to be named) offered only the tersely toned retort “… well, first of
all, treasury is not revenue.” Whatever that is supposed to mean, it sounds
about as solid as collapsing soil.
