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Blog Entry 50 of 58 Northglenn Revealed

The City of Northglenn has a unique character for the North Metro Area. It seems it is always out of step with the neighbors. Sometimes ahead and sometimes not. I hope my efforts and some meaningful dialog will keep the community stable, secure and an asset to the area.

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Northglenn Rec. Center survives and lives again

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Contributed by: Gene Wieneke on 11/23/2007

The new $55 recreation center proposed by the city council was defeated for a second time and not by just 12 votes; try 67%. The residents also elected new representatives who intend on stopping the unreasonable spending binge that has plagued the residents since 2001.

The existing building is newer than almost every single home in the city. Home owners have been busy replacing roofs and upgrading and repairing their various mechanical systems. Our council has wanted a new building so bad that they have intentionally let the building languish. They have ignored a leaky roof and troublesome mechanical systems for several years.

In order to help their campaign for a new building supporters even made it known that should the bond issue go down, the existing building would probably be destroyed. Wrong!

I hope the new council is going to make the long neglected repairs. Last year the city manager canceled the $100,000 repair to the HVAC system. Before the end of January, hopefully the new council will ratify that with more will come.

Since I was one of the fortunate candidates to win a seat on the council, I would like to go further. Our building is obviously deficient when compared to the new structures in the north metro area. To offset that, I have publicly suggested for years that the city enter into agreements with Westminister and Thornton. I'm suggesting that the city pick up that portion of the fee applicable to nonresidents when our residents use their facilities. Our residents would then be able to use the other centers at the normal resident rate. Recreation needs in the community will be better served.

To make this financially responsible, I'm suggesting that the organized recreation programs be cut back substantially at our building. According to last year's survey, only four percent of our residents participated in recreation programs monthly or more. We are subsidizing the building operations and programs by over a million a year. Picking up the portion of the fees charged to nonresidents will be a small expense compared to the annual subsidy.

I also think it is time to consider using the building for much more than recreational activities. Maybe even an eventual name change to reflects it new future.

These are just my thoughts and I look forward to a detailed analysis by the new city council.

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Showing 1-5 of 5 comments

Submitted By: Any Mann

posted on 12/11/2007 @ 1:19:43 PM

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gene- so you want to use our money to pay our residents to use other cityies rec center. brilliant. a masterpiece of fiscal responsibility. i think my city is in big trouble if this is an example of our new leadership. hey gene- how about saving me a trip to federal heights and go ahead and post the contents of your termination letter. i understand it is a doozy. you failed at fed heights. do not drag northglenn down too. on november 6 we weren't paying attention. we are now. you are under the microscope and on a short leash. you will will make it easy to recall you and bring back rosie.

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Submitted By: Judy Connell

posted on 12/7/2007 @ 10:11:21 AM

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If all the city council members in Northglenn talk like you then our city is in a world of hurt!! I thought that city council members were supposed to support the city not publicly announce that we should send our revenue to other cities. What a disgrace!! I bet you haven't even used the recreation center. It is busy all the time with church groups, theatre programs, children's activities, etc. Personally I would rather exercise in a smaller facility than what Thornton and Westminister have. You also propose cutting back the existing programs at the recreation center. So that means the employees who have averaged about 10 years loving their job at the recreation center have to find a new job. Way to support the loyal employees of Northglenn Mr. Council member. Maybe the council members should come spend a day at the recreation center and see how many happy faces pass through the doors.

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Submitted By: DR. SEAN REIF D.C.

posted on 12/6/2007 @ 7:25:37 PM

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You can drive a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. You can continue to provide a Rec Center but you can't force anyone to attend. If the Center is 6 miles away for me, it may be 1 or 2 miles to a Thornton or Westminster resident, but we are intent upon getting OUR 50 cents extra non-resident fee, because they do it to us. As a 3 time winner of the President's Council on Youth Fitness Award, it is a great program to access the youth in the schools. In my home town, the school WAS the Rec Center, with community activities, weight lifting, adult basketball, banquets, prom, craft fair, etc. Do you think we might have some duplication of service, and more choices to our consumers? Yes.

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Submitted By: Ann Employee

posted on 12/6/2007 @ 2:58:53 PM

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As a fitness employee, I can't believe you are saying this!When JFK started The President's Council on Youth Fitness he said,The need for increased attention to physical fitness is clearly established.The Government cannot compel us to act, but freedom demands it.A nation is merely the sum of all it's citizens, and its strength, energy&resourcefulness can be no greater than theirs.Promoting fitness and recreation in Government is necessary&important.Yet you want to make it harder for your residents to fulfill their fitness needs.This message is wrong.Have you also considered the accounting issues for all cities involved?Or what your resident will have to do to get compensated for going elsewhere?The additional costs of gas&time?children who don't drive but use the facility?Perhaps you should try releasing a little of the negative energy you carry for the Rec Center AT the Recenter, I think it would do you a world of good.

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Submitted By: Deb DeMay

posted on 11/26/2007 @ 10:38:47 AM

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You and your "new council majority" are a scary bunch of people. You talk about releasing funds for building repair, and for the city helping our residents pay for application fees to other city rec centers. You also say that you want to cut back substantially on programs our rec center offers. Your actions are going to end up having less and less people come to our rec center. Have you ever heard of the domino effect? I'm very concerned that your actions will cause the death of our rec center and death of our home town. I have never been afraid to live here in Northglenn. I've always felt that our homes will hold and increase in value. But not any more. You and your "new majority" are going to cost the home owners of Northglenn. I just hope I live long enough after you all get off of council to recoup our losses.

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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Gene Wieneke

Northglenn , CO

Gene Wieneke has posted 58 blog entries and 3 comments since joining on 7/27/2006. Gene Wieneke 's average blog rating is 3.54.

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