Dear Castle Pines North City Council,

You have been bestowed the trust of the community and the duty to set the course for our future. Please value that trust with a steadfast understanding of the significance of your decisions. You are entrusted with rigorously qualifying and comparing professional advice. You must meticulously investigate and consider not only the content of the advice but also probe the motivation.

At the center of Douglas County, The Canyons will be the heart beat of our region. The Canyons zoning decisions you are preparing to make will shape not only CPN but all of Douglas County. The current proposed zoning will fundamentally and eternally change the character of the I-25 corridor from Castle Rock to Lonetree and from the foothills to Parker. The gravity of your decisions are ominous and must be based on research beyond the opinions of those who line their pockets with population growth.

Douglas County was built and allowed to grow on a limited supply of water that is now reaching its limit. Simply stating that Parker will supply water to the Canyons is short-sighted as all communities in our region are depending on the same groundwater supply and the same regional solutions. Further straws in the aquifers will not only use up our water faster but will stress all neighboring wells as each will have to work harder to deliver their required flows. These effects shorten the length of time each neighboring community, including CPN, will have to buy surface water and build their delivery system. Judicious decisions about population increases and land use must be collaborative and consider the entire regions water supply and not simply CPN.

Communities in all of Colorado and the American West are in an aggressive race to acquire the last remaining drops of surface water available from the Rocky Mountains. Douglas County is in this race to replace the water our current population depends on while all other communities are seeking water for growth. Douglas County communities are geologically bonded in this competition - this is not a race we can afford to lose.

With the knowledge that all communities in Douglas County must convert to renewable water any new development must be required to be built on renewable water OR required to front the money necessary to convert to renewable water in the future. Anything less only adds those same burdens to the backs of the current homeowners.

The zoning of The Canyons can be the turning point that leads our region in sustainable land use decisions. You have an opportunity to make an enormous difference not only for CPN but for all of Douglas County. Please embrace the magnitude of your choices, rally the effort for scrupulous due diligence, and summon the courage make the right decision.

Stacie Sneider
CPN Homeowner

CPN Mayor Dodges Questions About Audit

The city is in default on its 2008 audit with the state auditor. The city missed the deadline for filing on July 31. The city missed the extended deadline on September 30th. The state auditor may now order the state treasurer to withhold tax revenues to the city. A question concerning the status of the audit was brought up by a resident at the October 8th city council meeting. The resident received no response from anyone on council or the mayor.

When asked by the Castle Pines Connection today why the 2008 financial audit has not been filed, the mayor responded, "I regret that there has been misinformation and more confusing information on this matter disseminated, and hope we can answer all your questions in the article we are in the midst of preparing." Madam Mayor, there is no misinformation nor confusing information being disseminated. There is only the fact that the 2008 audit is 3 months overdue and your office continues to stonewall citizens who seek important financial information about the state of our city.

Jeff Huff
Candidate for Mayor
Castle Pines North

Huff Negotiates Tax Reduction for CPN Residents

CPN candidate for Mayor, Jeff Huff, secured a commitment from the board of directors of the Castle Pines North Metro District to implement a property tax reduction for 2010.

Huff presented his argument for lower taxes at the board meeting September 21. “The board agreed to reduce the property tax for debt service by 8.3%,” announced Huff after the meeting. “This is the right thing to do for taxpayers who are struggling under a heavy tax load combined with a weak economy, depressed housing prices and high unemployment.”

The property tax decrease to 22 mills from 24 mills will save taxpayers in CPN $313,526.00 in 2010. “The tax reduction will decrease revenues to the District but the board should be able to make up for those lost revenues due to lower interest rate expenditures in 2010,” Huff explained.

“This is only the first step I will take in lowering costs for residents. I will ask the board of the Master Association for a significant reduction in dues at the budget meeting next month. If elected, I will also review city expenditures and make prudent cuts where necessary. We need to make sure taxpayers are getting their money’s worth.”

Since moving to CPN in June of 2000, Huff has led many community initiatives. He was instrumental in negotiating a legal settlement between the Master Association and a member HOA. He serves as a director on the CPN Master Association, as president of the Hidden Pointe Metro District and as chairman of Colorado House District 45.

Visit his web site at http://www.huffformayor.com/.

Haste Makes Waste

Dear Residents,
Our Mayor and 6 city council members are taking the steps to annex The Canyons into CPN. This decision will not come to a vote of the citizens and will soon be decided exclusively by our council members.
Their plan includes significant deviations from the original zoning that began in 1996 and was finally, after a long period of due diligence and participation from neighboring communities, approved in 2000.

These changes will urbanize CPN and permanently change the unique character of our community. 36 Neighboring communities and organizations have submitted letters to our city council pleading a rational course of action. They cite a unilateral approach to zoning with a lack of concern for regional impacts. They can be read in their entirety at on the Castle Pines Connection web site.

Some changes included in the proposed zoning plan are:
• Increasing residential density from 1500 to 2500 homes. (Language exists in the plan to exceed those numbers.)
• Increasing commercial development by nine times what we currently have or 60% of that existing today in the Town of Parker.
• Commercial Building heights are approved to the level you currently see in the DTC area.
• The 2000 original zoning predicted an increase in traffic on Monarch and Castle Pines Parkway of 55%, with this intensified land use the transient traffic impacts will be enormous.
• Wringing out water from our drying water supplies to serve these additional land uses.

It is important that each member of our community take a minute to urge our council members to not lose sight of the reasons our community voted to incorporate. Implore them to consider the long term negative impacts of this approval and that those impacts are not worth a quick fix to stabilize the city finances prior to campaigns for re-election.

Comprehensive Plan information Meeting
6 - 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15, Community Center. The city asks that you review and comment on the proposed Comprehensive Plan and related elements by Friday, Sept. 18.

City of Castle Pines North
558 Castle Pines Parkway, Unit B4-208
Castle Rock, CO 80108

City manager – Alan Lanning, alan.lanning@cpngov.com

Wonderful 1st Candidate Reception

Thanks to all the home owners and especially the candidates who joined the meeting during last night’s Candidates Reception. As a resident it was great to get to know each of the candidates, Jeff Huff, Mark Shively, Dan Shatz, and Tori Willis who took the time to listen and join the conversations. More importantly it was wonderful to hear the many hopes and dreams the homeowners hold for our community. Hopefully the free-flowing format was as valuable to the candidates as it was cathartic to the homeowners to be heard.

A special thanks to the Bunt Shoppe for the wonderful bunt cakes.

Castle Pines Village Not Taking the Ride

On August 28, 2009 Castle Pines Village Homes Association filed a Motion to Withdraw Petition
for Incorporation, Judge approved, case closed.

Bill Kingery, President of the Castle Pines Preservation Association (CPPA) states “I agree with the dismissal. The facts have changed significantly since the petition was circulated. I believe there is very little support in the Village for incorporation."

MEET THE CANDIDATES RECEPTION

All candidates and homeowners are welcome to participate.

7 PM COMMUNITY CENTER

SEPTEMBER 13, OCTOBER 4, OCTOBER 18

Refreshments will be served.

Neighborhood Buzz

The neighborhood is buzzing once again. Please join your neighbors in an open comfortable forum to discuss, question, and understand, the impacts of issues that currently face our community.

Sunday, August 30th. 7:00 p.m. CPN Community Center

For more information:
"Home Rule City" analysis by the City of Castle Pines North - http://www.cpngov.com/
"Position Paper" From the Castle Pines North Metro District - http://cpnmd.org/

We are extending a special invite to the new candidates for election to our city government. This will be a wonderful opportunity to meet and understand the viewpoints of the homeowners as you begin your journey to represent our interests.

You’ll get the government you deserve - by Linda Nuzum

CPN’s upcoming election will choose our city’s leaders for the next four years. What kind of government will that be? The government we deserve! CPN citizens, it’s time to step up and get involved.

Listening to folks around town, I hear some rumblings and questions about some of the actions our city has taken. But talking with your neighbors won’t solve anything – the only way to fix things is to speak up. Sure, you’re busy (work, kids, whatever), so it’s easier to assume that someone else will do it. And frankly, some city officials would prefer that you stay apathetic and stay home.

Unfortunately, some of our city officials are prone to view any questions about their performance as a “personal attack” or being “against the city.” But this isn’t Iran. In our democracy, it’s quite possible to voice divergent views and still be considered a patriot. In fact, healthy debate leads to better decisions.

I truly appreciate all of the hard work that our city officials have put in this past year, and they have accomplished a lot to get the city up and running. But let’s hope the next phase of our city’s history will be marked by TRUE citizen involvement.

To accomplish that, we need two things:

1) city officials who will truly communicate the implications of what they are working on, and

2) citizens who will get involved.

What can the city do?
The city sends us an Annual Report, a monthly newsletter and periodic emails, and uses a website, Twitter and RSS feeds. But do they use these tools to tell you what YOU really want to know? Consider a few examples:

Did you know the city planned to adopt the fireworks ban? We got a flurry of emails a few days before July 4th saying that all fireworks are banned in CPN, but what did they tell us BEFORE they voted? Nothing. In fact, the word “fireworks” was never mentioned in any city documents leading up to the decision. The whole topic was buried in an agenda item about adopting international building codes, and the only notice of the public hearing was in the “legal notices” section of the Castle Rock News-Press.

Have you noticed new “city franchise fees” on some of your utility bills? The city adopted these new fees earlier this year. Did you get any notice from the city? Nope. (Hey, at least on this topic, you could have figured it out if you read the minutes.)

What is the city’s true financial condition? Some of our city councilmen have been asking this question since the day they were sworn in, but even they had trouble getting an answer. Finally, a few months ago, the city council voted to change how financial information is reported, and some financial statements are now available on the city’s website. Did the city inform you of any of this? Nope, you just have to be watching the website. Is this the “transparency” we were expecting?

Did you know that candidates for the upcoming election need to have their petitions filed by August 24? The City published a web page about the upcoming election on June 4, but more than a month later, the topic still hadn’t been covered in the city’s newsletter or email alerts.

What can YOU do?
The best way to get responsive government is to have active citizens. You can:
Run for office. All city officials are up for election this fall – Mayor, Treasurer, Clerk, and all 6 city council seats. I think some of the incumbents have done a great job and hope they run again, but mixing in some new blood is always a good idea.

Get involved. Campaign for good candidates. Go to a meeting – and speak up! Join a committee. And it’s not just the City – also pay attention to the other CPN organizations that still control much of what is done in CPN – the Metro District, Master Association, and Parks Authority.

So, step up, do something! I was active in CPN for several years; it was rewarding and I still have people come up to me and thank me for some thing that I did while in office. I’ve done my turn, now it’s your turn! Figure out something you can do – big or small – to make our community a better place.

Linda Nuzum

CPN city Council - "Behind the Scenes"

"The initial intent was to do this behind the scenes so that our residents don’t have to see what goes on." ...City Council Member Kim Hoffman

I popped into a city council meeting last Wednesday. It was a joint meeting between the CPN Master Association and the City Council and about twenty residents were in attendance. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss repayment of approximately $200,000 of incorporation expenses loaned by the Master Association to support the incorporation effort in Castle Pines North.

Not long into the meeting, Council Member Kim Hoffman stated, “Just so you all understand, the Master and the Council were supposed to have a meeting and this got publicized and that’s why everybody is here. But the initial intent was to do this behind the scenes so that our residents don’t have to see what goes on."

I was stunned. Council Member Hoffman, the residents DO want to see what goes on.

A little research revealed that just last Thursday, city council held an executive session (no public allowed) to hear advice from its attorneys on strategy and negotiation tactics to be used at this very same meeting. (CPN City Council Agenda 7-23-2009) Your city council is now spending taxpayer funds to deflect citizen inquires about unfulfilled campaign promises.

When asked why only two council members were in attendance, it became clear that the City had failed to post notice of the meeting, providing a legal loophole for city council members to dodge the meeting. We suspect that the lack of notice was intentional, in order to shelter certain city officials, notably Mayor Shul, the prime proponent of the "loan" concept, from public scrutiny.

After an hour of discussion, nothing was really resolved at the meeting other than the city expects a report from their attorneys as to the legality of the now disputed loan repayment scheme and the Master Association board members expect to hear a report from a city official at their next meeting.

Power Politics in Castle Pines North

After the demotion of the CPN City Treasurer, which was extensively reported on in the last edition of the Castle Pines Connection, recent inquiries have revealed that the City owes over $1,500,000 to various entities, most of it in contractual obligations to consulting firms and lawyers. Read more at Castle Pines Politics

Rueter Hess Update

Recent coverage in the Douglas County News Press and Parker Chronicle has highlighted the impact that the economic decline has had on the Parker Water and Sanitation District’s ability to satisfy its debt service for the construction of the Rueter Hess Reservoir.
To ease any concerns that residents of Castle Pines North may have about CPNMD’s involvement with the Rueter Hess Reservoir project, the Metropolitan District would like to assure our customers that our monies invested in this project are secure.
When agreements were finalized in 2008 with the Parker Water and Sanitation District to provide future water storage space in Rueter Hess Reservoir, PWSD elected to give CPNMD a storage easement deed in the reservoir. Language in the agreement states that the storage easement will not be terminated if the reservoir is not constructed nor completed. If the reservoir is not completed by the contractual date, CPNMD would at that time be able to access our investments.
The financial standing of CPNMD is very strong at this time and through diligent planning and forward thinking of past and current board members, we have placed ourselves in a position in which we are able to satisfy any outstanding debt obligations. Due to aggressive prepayment of long-term outstanding debt and a history of strong financial performance, last month Standard and Poors granted CPNMD a AA rating.
We trust that Parker Water and Sanitation District will weather this economic fallout we have all been experiencing and will be able to continue as anticipated with this very important project that will serve as a renewable water source to a large portion of Douglas County residents.
Please contact Jim McGrady, General Manager, at 303-688-8550, with any questions or concerns you may have. For more information - http://cpnmd.org/renewable_water.php

Pipe dreams: Solving the region’s water dilemma

Years of strategic water right acquisitions have put the Parker Water and Sanitation District in good shape for the future, but the purchases raise a big conundrum: how to get the water back to town.
Read the rest of the article at The News Press