By Julie Van Domelen Mayor

Redstone Review

LYONS – I have heard about Boulder’s Conference on World Affairs for years but never managed to attend. Well, this year I cleared the schedule to spend a few days checking in on the state of the world. I went wondering what relevance going to lectures about the bigger issues in the world might have from the perspective of being a Mayor in a small town. Sometimes integrating the issues of the global and national with the local level is not that obvious and can easily fall from our day-to-day local radar screens. I was interested to see what I could bring home from the discussions at the conference.

By Julie Van Domelen, Mayor

Redstone Review

LYONS – The Town has embarked upon a number of initiatives to improve the local economy, shore up our infrastructure, and make Lyons more sustainable. All of this effort begs the question of how we measure results. We have spent time and money, but are we achieving our intended goals?

LYONS – Economic sustainability has been a core objective of town policies for the last several years, stemming from the realization that a vibrant Lyons relies on a sustainable economic base. The 2010 Comprehensive Plan highlighted the importance of economic sustainability in terms of generating sufficient revenue to support town infrastructure and services and promoting a business-friendly environment that encourages commercial and job growth according to community members’ vision and desires. A core part of the strategy to achieve this was to coordinate with local landowners including the City of Longmont and developers to encourage the annexation and development of properties along the eastern Highway 36 corridor.

LYONS – In the late 1990s, one of the main land-use issues facing Lyons was how to control growth and in particular limit the expansion of residential growth.

The 1998 Comprehensive Plan called for the establishment of open space buffers around Lyons and emphasized the risks of sprawl. In that time period, there were several additional housing developments wanting to annex into Lyons, including upper Stone Canyon, other hillside developments and the potential for 500 new homes on the Olson property on Red Gulch Road. There were very few zoning and regulatory tools in place to provide safeguards. In response to an advisory question asked to the voters, in 2000 the Board of Trustees, BOT, put in place a restriction that any annexation over 5 acres would need to be subject to a vote, except for town-owned land.

LYONS – The budget is the main instrument we have to achieve town goals. In December every year, the Board of Trustees considers and approves the town’s budget for the next year. Staff and the Board spend many meetings throughout the fall assessing revenues and discussing expenditures and potential capital projects.

LYONS – I attended the Lyons Community Foundation, LCF, gala last weekend and was reminded of the amazing community we live in. People step up to the plate in many ways to make Lyons the great place that it is. That volunteer spirit is alive and well on our boards and commissions, so I want to devote this month’s column to the over 70 people who serve on town-related boards and commissions.