Recap of Mayfair’s Fall General Meeting

Mayfair Neighbors’ held its fall general meeting at Palmer Elementary on October 14. A brief recap of presentations follows:

Board Update
Board President Scott Babcock shared that the Board and our association are involved at multiple levels—neighborhood and city—to provide input on issues that affect Mayfair. In partnership with Bellevue-Hale, we sent a letter to our city council representatives, traffic engineering and police, outlining various traffic concerns. See the article in the upcoming Winter edition of The Mirror for their response.

Palmer Elementary
Palmer principal Elizabeth Trujillo began by thanking Mayfair residents for the donation from the silent auction and wine tasting the year before that enabled the school to purchase much-needed books and maps for students. She then spoke enthusiastically about significant gains at the Palmer with the new school year.
Compared to 2007:
•Enrollment was up by more than 100 students, including the retention of 10 of 17 eligible students from those who attended last year
•Palmer has added new teachers to support increased enrollment for kindergarten, early childhood education, and gifted and talented students
•The after school enrichment program would continue, and a special tutoring grant would be applied toward a program to begin in the spring

Marcia Johnson, District 5 City Council
With the elections just around the corner, Councilwoman Johnson talked about the ballot initiatives of interest to the city, and urged residents to vote early, and take advantage of mail-in voting whenever possible to avoid long lines on election day.

Denver Police
District 3 liaison Officer Tony Burkhardt shared the good news that crime in the Mayfair area was down from the previous quarter. He reiterated the importance of citizen participation at the regular meetings where the Department reviews what’s happening on the crime front in every neighborhood of the city. Click here to view the latest crime statistics by neighborhood.

University Hospital Redevelopment
Marcus Pachner with Shea Neighbors explained that the project’s general development plan was awaiting city approval, with public hearings on the plan beginning in early December. He described the various zoning elements of the plan that support the area’s proposed mixed use of high density commercial and residential, including access to new commercial space that will be facilitated by the re-establishment of the street grid at Albion between 8th and 9th Streets. Construction begins in 3Q 2009, with an opening date in 3Q 2010.

Lindsley Park Update and Environmental News
Ray Allen, president of the Bellevue-Hale neighborhood association, talked about the $25,000 grant from Rose Medical Center for improvements at Lindsley Park, and that planning is underway for its use. Bellevue-Hale is also seeking supplemental funding from the City. He also spoke about the growing interest among consumers around energy efficiency and conservation. He suggested two sites with helpful information: Smart Energy Living and State of Colorado Energy Office.

The meeting closed with an invitation to all residents to become involved in the issues affecting our neighborhood. If you would like to get involved in one of our committees, e.g., Parks and Recreation, Transportation, Crime & Safety, please email info@mayfairdenver.org.

Next General Meeting
Mark your calendars now to attend the fall general meeting on Tuesday, April 14, 7:00 p.m. at Palmer Elementary School.
In addition, all are invited to attend the Board’s monthly meetings held the first Monday of each month at the East Montclair Community Center. 6740 East Colfax Avenue.

13th Street Closure

Starting on Monday, December 1, 13th Avenue will be completely closed from Colorado to Garfield from 8 am - 4:30 pm.  This closure will be Monday-Friday and will reopen in the evenings after 4:30 and on the weekends.  This closure will be for approximately the next 3 weeks.
There will be detour signs posted in many locations and drivers will be able to get back on 13th Ave. after Garfield.  The contractor apologized for any inconvenience that this may cause.
As a reminder, please obey the "No Parking 7 am – 7 pm" signs when they are posted.  If you park in these areas, this delays the work because they must call a tow company to move your vehicle to the nearest block and often this takes a few hours.

More details
Beginning in mid-October, Denver and Premier Paving began asphalt and concrete improvements on 13th Avenue from York to Colorado.  These much needed improvements were made possible because of the November 2007 bond approved by Denver voters.  The work will continue for around 7 months with work being suspended periodically because of winter weather.  If you have driven down this road in the last few years, I'm sure you noticed the large hump in the middle of the road with significant slopes down on either side to the curb.  This crown caused serious drainage and safety issues during bad weather.  As part of this project, the crown will be removed and a significant amount of curb and gutter concrete will be repaired and brought up to current standards.  If you live near this street, you have probably noticed the grated siphons that allow water from the gutter to flow into them.  However, once the water is in the siphons it sits there until it evaporates.  These siphons can be a health hazard because of standing water and this project includes significant drainage improvements to remedy this issue.  In total, 10 drop inlets will be redone and 6 siphons will be removed.  Additionally, the storm sewer along 13th from Elizabeth to Columbine and from Jackson to Harrison is being replaced with much larger pipes.  The new pipe and appropriate elevations from Jackson to Harrison will allow the pipes to be connected to the storm sewer during a project to the north of this project that is anticipated in the next few years.  By planning ahead, Wastewater will not have to cut back into the new pavement on 13th Avenue.  I have previously heard concerns from neighbors about this area and water troubles during storms; hopefully these larger pipes will make a difference.  As the work is completed, the asphalt will be replaced from curb to curb.  The project will, for the most part, be completed one half at a time (starting with the north side of 13th) which will cause some lane closures.  

 The following is a summary of the schedule for the next few weeks up through Thanksgiving:
• The concrete work will continue along with inlet structures that tie-into the curbs being installed
• Sidewalks and handicap ramps will also be repaired systematically as the curbs are installed
• Storm pipe improvements will begin Monday Nov. 3rd from Columbine to Elizabeth for approximately 3 weeks. This includes pipe installation, manholes and inlets related to this system. There will still be similar lane closures and short delays but the presence of larger equipment will be apparent during these operations

Denver Police Department
District 3 Criminal Activity Notification

Theft from Motor Vehicles
Washington Park & Cherry Creek Neighborhoods

In the past two weeks, there has been an increased amount of Theft from Motor Vehicle incidents in the Washington Park & Cherry Creek Neighborhoods. Suspect(s) are smashing vehicle windows and stealing purses, briefcases, wallets, electronics and other items left in vehicles. These incidents are occurring in the afternoon into the late evening during various days of the week. About 50% of the incidents are occurring on roads and alleys, 40% are occurring in parking lots and 10% at residences.

Theft from Motor Vehicle Prevention Tips
-Lock your vehicle doors
-Arm your vehicle alarm
-Put valuable items such as purses, briefcases, laptops, GPS units, Ipods + holiday presents in the trunk.
-Park in a busy, well lit area

**Reminder: The December CAB meeting will be held on December 4th at 6 o’clock in the district 3 community room.**

District 3 Tip Line • 720-913-1178
Crime statistics and offense reporting available at: www.denvergov.org

Series of Candidate and Issues Forums
Sponsored by: INC and the League of Women Voters of Denver

INC and the LWVD are sponsoring several Candidate Forums and an Issues Forum to provide valuable information for voters in advance of the General Election in November. Each Forum will be taped at Denver 8 TV, located at 8269 East 23rd Avenue in Denver's Stapleton neighborhood (near Uinta and East 23rdAve.).
The forums and will be played on Denver 8 TV on several occasions prior to the Election and voters can view these programs 24x7 online at www.denvergov.org/denver8tv.

 The public is enthusiastically invited to attend these Forum tapings. During the Issues Forum, audience members will submit questions to the Moderator, to be answered by both a supporter and an opponent of the Issue. Please pass this message along to everyone you know, and plan on attending!

Click here for dates, times and more details.  

Mayfair Neighborhood Association President Scott Babcock frequently posts news relevant to Mayfair at this site. Bookmark it and visit often to find out what’s going on in the President’s head!