Today is the first day of Spring. Apparently we will observe it with a snowstorm. Check out the downtown planters. Some of the bulbs are surfacing!
Coronavirus Update
Public Health References
CDC * Jefferson County * City of Golden
The City Manager has signed “a declaration of local disaster emergency for the City of Golden in response to the COVID-19 crisis.” This allows us to request state and federal aid for help in dealing with the crisis. Learn more on the City’s Coronavirus page.
Many Golden restaurants are responding to the crisis by creating special to-go menus. Check the websites or facebook pages of your favorite restaurants to see if you can still get the foods you crave! Here’s that list of Golden restaurants again: goldentoday.com/dining. The page is divided into parts of the City–downtown, north Golden, etc.
As of last night, Jefferson County had reported five new people with Coronavirus, bringing the total to 24 in our County.
Tonight’s City Council Meeting
6:30PM City Council will meet in City Council Chambers, using a different seating arrangement than usual–one that allows them to sit ten feet apart. They will consider adoption of a Boards and Commissions Manual and change their rules of procedure to allow Electronic Participation in Council meetings in times of emergency (such as a pandemic).
They will consider an amendment to the City Manager’s employment agreement: as part of his package, the City gave him a low-interest loan to help finance his house. He also has a mortgage with a commercial entity. He wants to re-finance his mortgage, and this change will “subordinate the City’s housing assistance loan to Mr. Slowinski to a refinanced primary loan from a third party”
On March 17th, the City Manager declared a state of Local Disaster Emergency regarding Covid-19. Council will vote on whether to extend that state “indefinitely.”
Staff will provide a summary of feedback received on the Heart of Golden (the project to remodel to are along Clear Creek).
An organization called STRIDE is planning to put a community health clinic on the Golden High School grounds. The School District is asking the City to waive the $37,674 tap fee for hooking into our water and sewer systems.
In response to the increasing homeless population, Council will be asked to approve a Memo of Understanding (MOU) with Jefferson County, Arvada, Lakewood, Westminster, and Wheat Ridge to develop a regional homeless navigator system. The City Manager will brief council on the staffing implications of this change. The meeting packet says the 2020 budget included funding for staffing.
Council will vote on creating subcommittees, to allow small teams of councilors to study certain subjects and bring recommendations to the full council. Tonight, they will consider subcommittees for Legislative Advocacy, Appointee Evaluation, Boards and Commissions Oversight, and Policy Prioritization.
To learn more, read the meeting packet.
This Day (and Several Others) in Golden History
The March 19, 1953 Colorado Transcript included the article, “City Closes Dump; County Dump May Be Used By Residents.” City officials announced this week that the city dump would be closed and covered immediately. This action has become necessary because of the proximity of the dump to the new water treatment plant which the city recently completed at a cost of $300,000. The dump was considered to be a serious hazard to the water supply as well as a considerable expense to clean the raw water reservoirs from papers, boxes, and debris blowing in from the dump. A professional pest exterminator will eliminate the rat population before the dump is covered in order that the rats will not move on into the city.
The issue was also coming to a head at that moment because the state was building a highway into Clear Creek Canyon (now Highway 6). The City anticipated a lot of tourist traffic on the new highway, and didn’t want our City dump on full display to passing traffic.
The article goes on to tell Golden residents to take their trash to the County dump instead. It was located on South Table Mountain at the north end of Quaker Street. Apparently, Golden citizens didn’t want to drive that far. In October of that same year, the Transcript printed an article entitled “Rubbish Dumping in Gulleys Must Stop.” The story reported that there was a widespread problem with people dumping their trash in gullies and drainages all over town.
Why was there so much dumping? The City had been offering curbside garbage collection since at least 1945, but “garbage” was very narrowly defined as food waste, because it was used to feed pigs. Everything else–paper, cans, etc.–was considered “trash.” Residents were on their own for that. They burned some of it in backyard trash barrels, but apparently a lot of it was pitched into the nearest convenient gully. The idea of having trash as well as garbage collected was discussed, debated, and studied for many years. Finally in the late 1960s, both the state and the county enacted a law requiring that trash be collected.
City Council crafted an appropriate ordinance requiring trash collection in Golden. Many citizens were still sharply opposed to the concept. From the December 17, 1967 Transcript: “I want the right to haul my own trash,” said Morey Gibson. “I believe this is a dictatorship when somebody tells me I can’t haul my own trash,” stormed Merle Smith. Merle Smith said that he objected to the necessity of lids on each of the containers, “They’ll be all gone in three months.” Nonetheless, the ordinance passed and Golden citizens have enjoyed curbside trash collection ever since.
The Golden Transcript (originally called the Colorado Transcript) has been publishing since 1866. The Golden History Museum has been working on digitizing the historic issues. You’ll find old Transcripts online at coloradohistoricnewspapers.org. You can contribute to the cost of the digitizing project with a donation to the Golden History Museum.
