One of the most important topics for citizens at this time was discussed during the city council meeting-the budget. Every government, whether it is federal, state or local is trying to decide what projects are worth the cost and that will benefit the community the most while trying to not drown in debt in the process. Unfortunately it is not as simple as just removing some projects to curb the debt. Many projects are actually required on every level of government. The federal government has medicare and social security, two entitlement programs which the government must fund, even if it sinks the government into further debt. The Greenwood Village City Council also had to deal with similar situations during the meeting on August 20th. The council had every funding program on The Capital Improvement Project listed with the numbers 1-4. Programs with a 1 were a requirement that the council had to fund no matter what whether it was for a legal requirement, contract obligation, or other reason. A 2 was what the city needed to do, a 3 was what the city wanted to do, and a 4 was to be removed from the Capital Improvement Project. Some projects that may not seem like a big deal were considered to be a 1 due to a legal requirement. These projects included High Line Canal Trail Crossing Signage Improvements, Pavement and Concrete Rehabilitation Programs, and the I-25/Arapahoe Road Interchange Reconstruction Design. These projects were just some that most of the council labeled as category 1. Many more were labeled as 2 and 3, with very few being labeled as 4. This made it difficult for the council to decide what to keep and what to eliminate. While the council did cut off a good amount of debt during the meeting, there was still debt remaining at the end, which will have to be cleared up at a future date. The difficulty that the city council encountered is a stark reminder of urgency and direness of the financial problems in the United States. As one of the richer cities in not only in Colorado, but the in country it shows that even cities that are better off than most still have trouble dealing with debt in this financial crisis. This council meeting shows how hard it is to reduce debt when the government must pay for so many required programs and it shows how much reform is needed in the United States’ budget

There were two major issues during the city council meeting on the 16th and those issues were park regulations and the Capital Improvement Program (CIP). The staff recommended that natural open areas be defined as O-1 and parks be defined as O-2 (O-1 standing for natural open space areas and O-2 standing for active and passive parks). Both parks and natural space areas had closing times to prevent congregation after dusk. However, there was no closing time for trails. The city allowed trails to stay open after dusk to facilitate other means of transportation other than automobiles. This trail policy caused confusion as many trail networks passed through parks and natural space open areas. The council allowed citizens to travel through the parks and open space after hours as long as they did not linger and stayed on the trail. The police department also recognized the difficulty of enforcing these regulations and decided to only send officers to a park or patch of open space if there was an issued complaint. The issue of trails being open after dusk made the situation even more complex when the council looked at a section of the High Line Canal Trail. This trail was only open during dawn to dusk; this concerned some councilmembers as it was not consistent with the rest of the city’s trail times. These councilmembers wanted to negotiate with the company that owned this section to eliminate the closing time, but other councilmembers brought up problems with this idea. They argued that there was a very small chance that the company would agree with the city council and the company was large and powerful. Even more than this fact is that having this section of the High Line Canal Trail open will not be consistent with the rest of the trail that is outside of Greenwood Village’s jurisdiction, which would still have a closing time. The council decided to not negotiate with the company as there would be inconsistency whether there was a closing time or not.

The CIP for 2013-2018 was also overviewed by the city council with the improvement of one of the city’s maintenance facility, which had cramped working quarters, not enough storage, site circulation for vehicles and other flaws which hindered its efficiency. Many other issues were discussed for funding such as traffic, lighting, road, and park improvements.

Through the discussion of the CIP and park regulations, the city council continued to emphasize its concern of efficiency and consistency.

The argument of whether the DTC apartments should be built continued on June 18, with many residents from the surrounding apartments and neighborhoods showing up to the council meeting. The site is located at 5455 S. Valentia Way and the plans of construction at the site sparked discontent with the city council and with the neighboring population during previous city council meetings. One problem that concerned the neighboring apartment complex is that the DTC Apartments would obstruct the view of their residents. Another concern was that the neighboring complex’s view would also be hurt as residents would be able to see the newly constructed DTC apartments, which concerned the apartment residents and the Planning and Zoning commision. The Council was also concerned with the length of Building E and with the amount of green space on the apartment complex. Along with all the concerns about the appearance of the apartments, there were also worries about the amount of parking space and how the DTC apartments would not hinder the ability of the residents from the other apartments to reach places such as the Orchard Light Rail Station.

The applicants for the DTC apartment complex, made many changes to accomodate the demands of the city council. They made Building E shorter, along with cutting a story off the building so the neighbor’s views would not be obstructed. The applicants also planted a row of trees to hide the view of their apartment from the neighboring apartment. The amount of green space was increased generously, far exceeding the demands of the zoning laws. Parking space was also increased along with a path that was made through the DTC apartment complex, allowing neighboring residents to travel throught the DTC apartment complex to reach their destinations without having to walk around the entire complex.

The city council voted unanimously for the applicants, allowing the DTC apartments to be constructed. While some residents were still worried about the high density of residents in the apartment complex, most were satisfied by the applicant’s adjustments. I agree with the council’s decision as the applicant went far beyond the demands of the Planning and Zoning commission, and the local community will benefit from the construction of the DTC Apartments.