the recovery

Special legislative committee will address September 2013 floods

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 20:22:20 +0000

Special legislative committee will address September 2013 floods Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 11/04/2013 - 13:22 Annie Melton

Download the agenda for the Flood Disaster Study Committee

A Colorado legislative committee organized to address various infrastructure and policy concerns in the aftermath of the September floods will meet for the first time on Tuesday, Nov. 5, in Denver.

The Flood Disaster Study Committee meeting will include the first in a series of open forums intended to give Coloradans the opportunity to speak with public officials about their personal experiences during the floods, which resulted in eight deaths and left thousands across the state homeless or without basic amenities.

“It’s a past, present and future look at what happened during the flood in terms of how the government and agencies responded,” Rep. Jonathan Singer (D-Boulder) said. “There are a lot of immediate needs, and we need to know how to prevent some of the things that went wrong from happening again.”

Public and private agencies estimate the flood’s economic toll will amount to more than $1 billion in property and infrastructure damage. Road closures on US-36, CO-144, CO-72, US-34 and CO-7 still affect daily commutes and access in and out of several areas along the Front Range; some towns are just now reopening to the public.

“The flood has really underlined some of the problems this state was already having,” Singer said. “We don’t have a particularly good track record on affordable housing, and things just got 10 times harder because now there are homes destroyed, and more people need that [affordability] because of their new financial situation.”

Singer said another issue, water contamination, will likely lead to a committee discussion about the industrial processes—particularly the storage of oil and gas—that kept entire towns without access to clean water for several weeks.

“I can’t imagine that we won’t be faced with some serious questions that will need a legislative response,” Singer said.

Singer and Senator Matt Jones represent Boulder County, the hardest-hit area. According to Jones, the county is suffering a “cash-flow problem” in its attempts to repair infrastructure. State laws prevent the county from distributing its general funds to its road and bridge funds, resulting in a long-term inability to cover the damage.

“They can’t spread these costs out over time,” Jones said. “That’s something we might be able to change. They could get reimbursed by FEMA—that would require state legislation.”

Leslie Irwin, a policy analyst for the Boulder County Commissioners' Office, said the road and bridge fund issue is a "significant concern" and that her office, along with Colorado Counties Inc., want to change the law to allow general fund money to be used for road and bridge projects in declared emergencies.

"The declared emergencies exception to the Road and Bridge prohibition would allow existing General Fund moneys to be used for Road and Bridge projects as soon as a bill is signed by the Governor, which would help address some of the considerable cash flow concerns," Irwin wrote in an email.

"There also is a need to work collaboratively with municipalities and the Colorado Municipal League to assure them that we are not seeking to take existing 'municipal' share of Road and Bridge money (in the normal course of budget actions, when we transfer money to the Road and Bridge Fund, municipalities get a .40 share of that in Boulder County)."

Irwin said Gini Pingenot from CCI will present that proposal to the committee Tuesday.

The committee is comprised of six state senators and six representatives, who break down evenly across party lines: six Democrats and six Republicans. Eleven of the 12 committee members are from the Front Range, including three each from Boulder County, Larimer County and Weld County. (Complete list at end of story.)

Though the first meeting will be held in Denver, the committee will be mobile, visiting communities across the state.

“Boulder County will be incredibly well-represented, and we have the State House Minority Leader from Larimer County and a strong Weld County contingent,” Singer said. “This is not only covering different, geographically diverse areas—we’re a politically diverse committee as well.”

Both Singer and Jones are hopeful in the committee’s ability to satisfy the needs of a still-reeling state with a long road back to normalcy.

“With this much destruction and heartache, it demands that the state recovery program work, and that’s what the committee’s about,” Jones said. “We have the ability to change laws.”

The committee members will facilitate discussion between the various state departments and can propose new legislation or changes to existing legislation. Tuesday’s meeting will include representatives from the departments of Transportation, Public Safety, Local Affairs, Natural Resources, Agriculture, Public Health and Environment, and Regulatory Agencies. Topics that are likely to be addressed include the National Flood Insurance Program, which is issued by FEMA, planning and zoning laws, urban drainage, flood control and water conservation.

“Colorado’s political divisions aren’t the same as D.C.’s,” Singer said. “We actually passed a budget this year. We can work together and when we disagree, we can do so respectably.”

“It gives you perspective on life and on politics when you see that the flood didn’t turn away when it was a Democrat’s home or a Republican’s home. The flood went where it decided to go. Our responsibility is to pay credence to that, bear witness to that. The least we can do is get along.”

The flood committee’s first meeting begins at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 5 in Senate Committee Room 356 of the State Capitol. Public testimony begins at 3:30 p.m.

Colorado General Assembly Flood Disaster Study Committee

State senators

Matt Jones (D-Louisville)
John Kefalas (D-Fort Collins)
Kent Lambert (R-Colorado Springs)
Kevin Lundberg (R-Berthoud)
Jeanne Nicholson (D-Golden)
Scott Renfroe (R-Greeley)

State representatives

Brian DelGrosso (R-Loveland)
Mike Foote (D-Lafayette)
Stephen Humphrey (R-Weld County)
Jonathan Singer (D-Boulder)
Jerry Sonnenberg (R-Sterling)
Dave Young (D-Greeley)

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National and local media focus their lenses on Lyons' re-population

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 20:22:20 +0000

National and local media focus their lenses on Lyons' re-population Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/28/2013 - 14:22 CU News Corps

Many Lyons residents moved back into their homes this weekend, and along with the Xcel workers who hooked up their utilities, local and national media were there to greet them.

The Longmont Times-Call wrote that "hundreds" of families in the town of about 2,000 started to move back into their homes on Saturday morning, and that today marks the first day that visitors will be allowed into town. The highlight for many was being able to take a shower.

The Denver Post reported that Xcel hoped to return full gas service to 700 of the 1,000 meters in town.

Not all was good news, though, as 7News reported that residents who had rented temporary housing may be stuck in leases. Some residents signed temporary leases through November and will have to honor those leases and pay rent even though they're moving back into their houses this week.

The Los Angeles Times dropped into Lyons and Estes Park last week to report on the general problems encountered in both towns, particularly the lack of tourism through the fall and how it has affected each town's economy. And although the story wasn't published until Sunday, 24 hours after residents started moving back in, the Times had no mention of that move forward.

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RMNP re-opens, rejuvenates tourism in Estes Park

Anonymous — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 20:22:20 +0000

RMNP re-opens, rejuvenates tourism in Estes Park Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 10/20/2013 - 14:22 Jessica Caballero

The U.S. government is back in business, and so are many Estes Park area entrepreneurs, especially since Oct. 12, the date Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper diverted state money to open some basic functions of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Estes Park business owners are hopeful the upward trend continues through the fall and into the winter tourist season now that Congress has ended its stalemate and started the flow of federal money back into RMNP.

Businesses started seeing results last week, after Hickenlooper's decision. The direct cause of that increase, however, is still a tough call.

“There is quite a bit more people now than there even were a couple weeks ago,” said Bryan Gillam of The Rock Inn restaurant, “but it’s hard to be able to attribute that to whether Rocky Mountain National Park reopened, or it’s because people are feeling more comfortable coming up here, now that there’s a couple of options to get up here and everything is open, rather than in the first two weeks after the floods.”

With both major U.S. highways coming into Estes Park closed, tourism and small, local businesses have taken the hardest hit from the floods in September.

“We had started getting some calls, but I think a lot of people diverted their attention elsewhere -- and their vacation plans elsewhere -- during that time,” said Jim Addison of Valhalla Resort near the national park. “Then we started to get calls whenever the town of Estes Park opened again, but when they closed the park [during the government shut down], all the calls stopped again.”

Tyler Lemirande of Estes Park Brewery on Prospect Village said things could have been worse, even though he said the brewery has lost about $350,000 in the past month, or about 90 percent of what it makes in a month.

“Thankfully [the flood] happened when it did,” Lemirande said. “If it had happened in the beginning of the summer, there would have been more people here. We were winding down the season in September anyway. Winter came two months early.”

Unfortunately, Estes Park -- including Lemirande’s home on the other side of town from the brewery - is still a no-flush zone, but he chooses to see the positive side, even as he's fighting for business.

“Community, local Front Range people, have come together to clean up and get some businesses back up and running," Lemirande said. "I appreciate everyone coming up from Denver to support our local businesses. Rocky Mountain National Park is a big employer and has helped bring tourism up."

Visitors can still enjoy the park along Bear Lake Road, Twin Sisters Trailhead, and Upper Beaver Meadows Road.

According to the National Park Service, a few areas of the park still remain closed due to flood damage. Endovalley Road is open only from Horseshoe Park to the East Alluvial Fan Parking Area. Old Fall River Road is closed to pets and bicycles. Both Wild Basin Road, as well as Fern Lake Road, are closed at their winter parking areas.

Through Oct. 31, areas of Horseshoe Park, Moraine Park, Harbison Meadow and Holzwarth Meadow are also closed. For more information, visit the Rocky Mountain National Park website through the National Park Service.

To get more up to date information about visiting Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park, you can call (970) 586-1206, or (970) 586-1222 for 24 hour updates on road conditions.

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CDOT, National Guard working to re-open U.S. 36 from Lyons to Estes

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 20:22:20 +0000

CDOT, National Guard working to re-open U.S. 36 from Lyons to Estes Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 10/17/2013 - 14:22 Annie Melton

Though scheduled for a reopening on Dec. 1, the 15-mile stretch of U.S. Route 36 from Lyons to Estes Park could be ready even earlier if a Colorado Department of Transportation and National Guard collaboration is successful.

CDOT spokeswoman Ashley Mohr said that section of the highway, used by an average of 8,000 vehicles daily, will ideally open days before the December deadline.

“If the weather cooperates, we’ll be ahead of schedule,” Mohr said. “We’re in the process of stabilizing the roadway, filling in areas that were washed out.”

The road closed on Sept. 26, with 18 different sites needing repairs. Four have been completed so far. Like other areas along 36 with severe flood damage, the Lyons to Estes route is currently permit-only, with a checkpoint at the intersection of 36 and Highway 66.

This specific project is one of a kind in the collaboration between CDOT and members of the National Guard from Colorado, Utah and Kansas. CDOT usually works with private contractors.

“It was really just happenstance,” Mohr said. “The Guard stepped in to help us enforce the road closures after the flooding. They became familiar with the area and said, Hey, we’re already up here and have the equipment. They jumped at the opportunity for the partnership.”

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Colorado communities unite to help Boulder County resident save home

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 20:22:20 +0000

Colorado communities unite to help Boulder County resident save home Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/14/2013 - 14:22 Emilie Bierschenk

Volunteers stoke and tend the bonfire near Jeremy Barnes' house between Boulder and Lyons, Colo., Oct. 12, 2013. Barnes' house was nearly destroyed in the September flood that devastated the town. Photo by Emilie Bierschenk.

Jeremy Barnes moves from bonfire to bonfire, as nearly 100 volunteers pick up and burn the debris that covers his flood-damaged property.

Since last month’s floods devastated Barnes’ home near the intersection of Middle Fork Road and U.S. Route 36 in Boulder County, hundreds of people have come to help. On Saturday, Lutheran and Latter Day Saints church groups worked side-by-side with University of Colorado Engineers Without Borders students and other community members.

“It’s wild,” Barnes said. “It’s amazing. These people - what they’re doing just today would take me more than three months of labor. They come out, they do this for a day or two days and they’re passionate about it, they’re having fun, they’re thorough. We’ve had at least 400 people put a day's work into this.”

Jeremy Barnes looks on as volunteers from across the Front Range help him rebuild the house that was nearly destroyed in September's flood. Photo by Emilie Bierschenk.

When Left Hand Creek flooded on Sept. 11, Barnes and his family made it only as far as their white Volkswagen before realizing they were stuck.

“We had to be rescued with our cat,” Barnes said. “He was in a laundry basket, and he didn’t like that at all. The fire department walked us out, and the deepest water I stepped into on the walk out was about six feet deep, but it got deeper after we left.”

Students from CU’s Engineers Without Borders group, an organization normally devoted to international relief work, said they jumped at the opportunity to lend a hand close to home.

“It’s not that we feel obligated to come, we just genuinely want to help,” said Madori Patterson, an Engineers Without Borders freshman. “The core of the program is all about helping people and especially when it’s right in our own backyard.”

University of Colorado freshman Madori Patterson helped stoke the bonfire with remnants of Jeremy Barnes' heavily damaged home. Photo by Emilie Bierschenk.

Naomi Doerr came with nine other members of St. Philip Lutheran Church in Littleton to offer her assistance.

“Sometimes Lutherans are not quick to get out there, but they’ll stay for the long haul,” Doerr said. “Bad things happen in our lives, but it’s a matter of what we do with it and how we choose to respond. We all have a need for belonging to something larger than ourselves.”

When Nathan Segovia heard about the flooding, he said he left New Orleans and made his way to Boulder as fast as he could to help with disaster relief, and lucked into meeting Barnes. He now lives in the empty skeleton of a house that remains, and Barnes has hired him to oversee volunteers and help with manual labor.

“I came to Boulder on Sept. 20 and worked in a few places around the city,” Segovia said. “I ended up here about a week later and I’ve been here since. I’ve been [Barnes’] right-hand, doing a lot of the heavy labor and organizing. There’s so much to do. If I had the ability to do all this without getting paid I would.”

Nathan Segovia left New Orleans to help Coloradans recover from September's floods. Photo by Emilie Bierschenk.

Segovia plans to work with Barnes through the winter and as long as he’s needed.

“I feel like I was brought here for a reason, and it’s incredible to meet all these people,” Segovia said. “I got a hotel room last night and had a real shower for the first time in a week or two. It’s just been crazy with so many people. There’s been three days in a row with 100 or more people out here.”

Barnes, who was self-employed doing crisis mitigation for companies before the flood, has had to devote all his time since the devastation to overseeing repairs on his home and property.

“I haven’t been able to work,” Barnes said. “This is my job. I have to save my house.”

The immediate goal, Barnes said, is to eliminate as much debris as possible and minimize fire hazard. He hopes to secure the house and seal the outside walls so he and his family can move back before winter.

This story was also published by the Boulder Daily Camera.

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Photos: Highway 119 damage

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 20:22:20 +0000

Photos: Highway 119 damage Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/08/2013 - 14:22 Robert Denton

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