Tri-Cities Presentation on Aging 02/01/2012
Council's Tri-Cities (Littleton, Englewood and Sheridan) breakfast meeting on 27 January 2012 featured a presentation by the Denver Regional Council of Governments ("DRCOG") on the challenges faced by the region to effectively provide services that meet the needs of seniors as the percentage of seniors in the population continues to grow over the next 20 years. Following is a copy of the presentation along with information on senior services and programs as well as the Community Assessment Survey that DRCOG provided. 
Add Comment Littleton Community Health Snapshot 02/01/2012
Following below is a Tri-County Health Department summary snapshot of health related issues for Littleton. Thought this was an interesting compilation. For example, for the period 2007-2010, 61% of deaths in the City were from the top five categories including cancer (27%), heart disease (18%), chronic respiratory disease (7%), accidents (5% - be careful out there!) and Alzheimer's (4%). According to the summary, "The built environment - our man-made surroundings - directly influences public health. This means that Littleton’s transportation and utility systems, distribution of housing stock and retail/commercial services can encourage people who live, work or play in the City to stay physically active and eat healthy foods. The City’s built environment can help keep people safe and help them prevent illness. This snapshot is a compilation of data associated with a range of health-related measures within the City’s boundaries. It is intended to give planners, local officials, developers and residents a broader understanding of the current health of the community and the factors by which it is affected. The snapshot does not address every aspect of the built environment’s relationship to health. It includes relevant data that were feasible to collect at the local level. The snapshot is provided to inform discussion, and encourage adoption, of land use and other policies that will promote public health."
2011 Budget Update 01/24/2012
Doug Farmen, City Finance Director, reports that the City’s preliminary full year 2011 General Fund sales and use tax revenues were over $24.8 million, an increase of approximately $1.4 million or 5.8% vs. full year 2010 and $1.2 million or 5.2% vs. the 2011 budget. Additionally, Mr. Farmen believes it’s likely that General Fund expenses will be 3.0-3.5% below the final 2011 amended budget. Note that both sets of numbers are not yet finalized for year-end closing nor have they been audited. However, this is certainly good news and in keeping with Council’s well established priority of fiscal responsibility to the City’s tax payers. The full revenue report is attached below.
Fire Contract Agreement Approval 01/24/2012
Council approved a revised contract with our partners, the Littleton Fire Protection District ("District") and the Highlands Ranch Metropolitan District ("Ranch") on 3 January 2012. As liaison to the Fire Protection District, it was my privilege to serve at the direction of Council on the negotiating team with Chief John Mullin, Acting City Attorney Kirsten Crawford and City Manager Michael Penny at the conclusion of negotiations which spanned the better part of 12 months. The City's original agreement with the District dates to 1962 and the Ranch was added in 1988. Of course, the ultimate intent of the agreement is to provide high quality fire and emergency response services to citizens at a fair price. In the fire business, economies of scale achieved by spreading large fixed costs (e.g., fire stations, fire trucks, emergency medical vehicles and other equipment) over a large population base makes the service more affordable to everyone. The trick is to have the right numbers of equipment and staff in the right locations to minimize call out response times without overbuilding the system thus making it cost prohibitive. I think it's fair to say that the District and the Ranch will acknowledge that they have received good value over an extended term from both the exemplary dedication and skill of the men and women of Littleton Fire Rescue ("LFR") at the cost of the services supplied by the City. As well managed organizations should, the District and Ranch commissioned a study of fire and emergency service contracting options in 2010 as part of their fiduciary responsibility to their constituents. Ultimately some of the elements of that study were seen as negotiating points by them, yet it was also apparent that both the District and Ranch viewed LFR as their preferred partner. You can read the entire contract attached below. Here's a quick synopsis of the principal changes to the agreement:
Plastic Bag Fee 01/24/2012
Littleton retailers consume over 7 million plastic grocery style bags annually according to the Business and Industry Affairs Dept., many of which end up in land fills or the S. Platte River via storm drains. Elimination of these bags has traditionally been viewed as an environmental initiative but there's another dimension to the issue. Businesses have to purchase the bags and consumers most certainly foot the bill via some amount of incrementally higher product prices. I prepared the attached analysis in seeking to connect the dots between the economic and environmental issues by quantifying the potential value to local businesses from eliminating plastic bags as a cost component. Council will receive the analysis in February 2012 as part of the broader deliberation of sustainability goals in Littleton.
I've been meaning to post these for some time but following are the marketing and brand audit reports prepared by the DU Daniels School graduate students last summer as part of their Littleton project. Let me make a few remarks re: context of the study, if you please. The intent here was not to overtly create a business recruitment tool...at least not an active one. If it’s passive, in that individual businesses can see for themselves the advantages of locating in Littleton, then great. But I don't believe anyone viewed this project or follow-on activities as an attempt to create a direct recruiting environment. More to the point, the take away here wasn't ever a plug and play solution but rather an audit report to put a stake in the ground and challenge staff to raise the creativity bar so that we (i) better lever Economic Gardening / Business and Industry Affairs Dept.; (ii) improve the value proposition with citizens (i.e., help citizens have a better customer experience); (iii) encourage visitors to take a closer look at all Littleton has to offer re: sales tax growth; and, (iv) invite small and medium size businesses to consider the advantages of locating in Littleton due to relatively greater profitability vs. our competition (Centennial, Lakewood, Arvada, etc.). That last one isn't intended as a direct recruiting approach which has been deliberately avoided to date for a variety of reasons. Ultimately all this theoretically supports strong housing demand / property values and schools; potential job growth close to home; makes it easier for the City to provide high quality services using existing revenue collection mechanisms; and, results in a more diversified portfolio of businesses that better fit the character and culture of the community. Certainly this is something that will take time to work through but it's as much an evolutionary cultural shift and mind set for staff that hopefully provides energy and results. I think we can now have more substantive conversations between Council, citizens, businesses and staff for having gone through the exercise. For example, believe we've a better shot at updating the Web site now that awareness of the issue has been raised. Metrics will come as will information from the community and surveys may be an effective way to collect information broadly (I'm investigating the issue). I don't believe we're deficient in property values or housing demands but at the same time, I believe one of Council's fiduciary responsibilities is to safeguard those elements and seek out opportunities for growth therein.
The Littleton/Englewood Waste Water Treatment Plant ("LEWWTP") is the third largest publicly owned treatment works in the state of Colorado. The plant receives sewage from the cities of Littleton and Englewood, as well as from 21 connector districts in the service areas of the cities. The plant is a large, advanced treatment plant required to exceed secondary treatment requirements and remove ammonia from waste water. The design capacity is 50 million gallons per day (mgd) and is presently treating up to 27 mgd. The plant is jointly owned by the two cities and the operating staff are employees of the City of Englewood. More information is available at the LEWWTP web site. On 19 January 2012, the Plant staff hosted both city councils for a presentation by Steve Gunderson from the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission discussing the background and details of potential nutrient reduction regulations that could be imposed upon various waste water treatment plants around the state, including LEWWTP. In brief, modifications to the plant to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous in the discharge stream for the benefit of downstream reservoirs could easily cost tens of millions of dollars. There are many questions surrounding the potential regulations from a cost / benefit perspective given the substantial impact the required investment would have on City and sanitation district rate payers. It's important to note that the regulations in question are preliminary in nature at this time and nothing definitive has been finalized. However, City Council and Staff are acutely aware of the situation and paying close attention to the regulatory approval process in order to make sure Littleon citizens' interests are a priority. LLWWTP's Responsive Prehearing Statement was filed with the Commission on 20 January as a procedural step to the draft regulations consideration process. It sets forth the legal issues raised by the Division’s proposed nutrient standards and is included below. Sidewalk & Concrete Replacement Program 01/22/2012
As part of the annual budget, the Littleton City Council adopted a program that allows the City to assist property owners in the replacement of deteriorated sidewalks, curbs and gutters. The City will split the costs 50/50 with the property owners who desire these improvements. The City concrete crew works May through September. You may contact the Streets Division at any time during the year to request your repairs. For a free estimate or further explanation, call 303.795.3969 Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
This memo caught my eye not so much for the general topic as for a specific item in the appendix. The memo deals with the Colorado Department of Transportation's administration of the Federal Hazard Elimination Program. Basically CDOT is administering Federal funds for the elimination of traffic hazards and inviting municipalities to apply accordingly. However, the appendix offers a very precise description of the benefit / cost ratio they'll apply to any request. This is a good example of government being smart by allocating scarce resources where they'll get the biggest bang for the buck. The City is presently in the early stages of arguing with the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission that potential nutrient regulations they may apply to the Littleton / Englewood Waste Water Treatment Plant would not provide the requisite benefit for the likely substantial cost required in plant upgrades. Stay tuned on that topic as much more information will be forthcoming, I promise. But could the Water Quality people learn something from CDOT? Perhaps.
Housing Market Update 01/22/2012
Here's a presentation from the National Association of Realtors showing a variety of data for the US housing market. In general, much of the data through 2010 suggests that the broader housing market has stabilized and is not continuing to drop. Subsequent information in 201 likely confirms that the broader market trends are positive although the trajectory is It's my understanding from the City's Business and Industry Affairs Dept. and the S. Metro Denver Realtor's Association that Littleton has consistently fared better re: housing than the nation as a whole.
| Bruce StahlmanBruce was elected to Littleton City Council At Large in November, 2009. He was elected by Council to serve as Mayor Pro Tem in November 2011. ArchivesFebruary 2012 Categories | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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