Edgewater Councilmember John Beltrone
From Edgewater Councilmember John Beltrone:
Happy New Year, Edgewater! It has been an honor to serve on City Council for the past year. I want to take a moment and highlight some accomplishments at the City in 2018.
Civic Center Opening
2018 will largely be remembered as the year the Civic Center opened—and for good reasons. Our previously underserved community now has a state-of-the-art library and recreation center, as well as new facilities for police and city offices. Stop by and take full advantage of these services by getting a library card and signing up for a rec center membership.
Selling City-Owned Real Estate
Another highlight of the year was closing on the sale of City-owned property at 20thand Depew. Council also authorized the sale of the property that includes the former Edgewater Library, Rec Center, and Fire Station on 25thand Gray in August. Finally, the City is in the process of selling the old Civic Center building at 24thand Sheridan, with hopes of completing the sale in 2019. It will be exciting to see new businesses come to Edgewater as a result of these transactions.
Sustainability Plan
In May, City Council passed a Resolution to form a special committee to write Edgewater’s first Sustainability Plan. This plan will help our community identify and achieve our sustainability goals. Mayor Keegan recently appointed seven volunteer community members to make up the committee. Members of the public are encouraged to attend these meetings starting soon.
Saving Instead of Scraping Homes
With help from our public boards, City Council passed an Ordinance to allow more flexibility for additions on non-conforming structures. Prior to this change, many homeowners had few economically viable options for upgrading their homes other than scraping them. This legislation allows Edgewater to modernize our housing stock while preserving historic aesthetics.
Additional Code Enforcement Resources
The City hired an additional staff member in order to dedicate more time to code enforcement in 2018. This came as a direct response to requests from many community members.
Competitive Police Salaries
City Council’s 2019 budget calls for significantly raising the salaries of our police officers. New facilities and competitive salaries will allow us to retain our existing officers as well as attract talent to keep us safe in the future.
Updated Building Codes
Effective March 1, Edgewater will be moving from 2009 to 2015 building codes. These changes include important updates to energy efficiency and safety requirements, and brings our code up to the same standards of many neighboring municipalities.
More Transparency
People are often prevented from attending City Council meetings due to other commitments or physical limitations. In 2019, it will be easier than ever to get caught up. The City Clerk will post a link to the audio recording of meetingson the City’s website within 3 business days of the meetings. Please note that City Council meetings will move from Thursday to Tuesday (starting January 15).
If you have questions on any of these issues or ideas on areas that should be addressed in the new year, please feel free to reach out to me.
Contact Councilmember John Beltrone at jbeltrone@edgewaterco.com or 720-643-6077.
Joel has been a resident of Edgewater, Colorado with his family since 2012. He is the Executive Director of local education nonprofit Edgewater Collective and Editor of the Edgewater Echo.
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