http://denver.yourhub.comThe latest blog posts in The Denver Newspaper Agency YourHub.comen-usnews@yourhub.com(c) 2009, YourHub.com5Nine months ago the people of the Castlewood Ranch area honored me by electing me as their representative on this Council. Since taking office last April I have tried to be a voice for a more restrained approach to growth and a greater sensitivity to its environmental impact. And, like the ot...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Politics/Local-State-Politics/Blog~415592.aspx1/15/2008 8:20:09 PMHank Lacey Tonight I asked the Castle Rock Town Council to pass a resolution committing our community to the goals of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement . The following is the statement I made in introducing this measure: " As everyone here knows, climate change is a cl...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Blog~415588.aspx1/15/2008 8:10:14 PMHank Lacey During this holiday season it's sometimes easy to forget that there are people, even in prosperous Douglas County, who are poor, sick or dying. Not every child will get a present, and some children and adults won't get enough to eat. It's easy for you to give to those who are less fortunate r...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Blog~402952.aspx12/11/2007 1:29:10 PMHank Lacey As you know, the Town of Castle Rock commenced work on improvements to Ridge Road this summer. This is the first step in the planned Southeast Arterial Connection, which will connect Ridge Road to Miller Boulevard and Plum Creek Parkway. The town's public works department recently released it...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Blog~402886.aspx12/11/2007 12:37:19 PMHank Lacey Former Vice President Al Gore was formally awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Stockholm, Sweden this morning, along with the IPCC. Mr. Gore gave a passionate and convincing address about the imperative for governments at all levels to begin acting now to slow the pace of carbon dioxide emissions to...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Blog~402679.aspx12/10/2007 6:34:56 PMHank Lacey Acting on a request by Councilman Ryan Reilly (District 3 - Meadows/Red Hawk Ridge), the Castle Rock Town Council directed town attorney Bob Slentz Tuesday, Dec.4, to prepare an ordinance that would eliminate "study sessions." Study sessions are not explicitly authorized by the town c...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Politics/Local-State-Politics/Blog~402167.aspx12/9/2007 12:30:52 AMHank Lacey A few weeks ago the Castle Rock Town Council took a small, but I think symbolically important, step to reduce the community's collective greenhouse gas impact. The Council approved a resolution by Katie Kruger (District 1-Meadows) requiring that no more bottled water be provided to town e...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Blog~402165.aspx12/8/2007 11:46:58 PMHank Lacey The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, based in San Francisco, has invalidated a USDA Forest Service rule that permitted logging of up to 1,000 acres in "fuel reduction projects" and prescribed burn projects of up to 4,500 acres without preparation of an environmental analysis or enviro...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Blog~402163.aspx12/8/2007 11:20:08 PMHank Lacey As I wrote in an earlier post, Councilwoman Katie Kruger plans to ask the Castle Rock Town Council to impose a fifty-cent tax on each plastic shopping bag dispensed to a customer at retail and grocery stores. Ms. Kruger no doubt seeks to reduce the use of plastic bags. That is unquestiona...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Politics/Local-State-Politics/Blog~402116.aspx12/8/2007 6:16:46 PMHank Lacey Members of the Castle Rock Town Council will meet with Douglas County's state legislators Monday, Dec. 10, 2007 at Castle Rock Town Hall, 100 N. Wilcox, Castle Rock, CO. Legislators expected to attend are Sen. Tom Wiens (R-Castle Rock), Rep. Mike May (R-Parker), Rep. Victor Mitchel...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Politics/Local-State-Politics/Blog~402000.aspx12/7/2007 11:37:49 PMHank Lacey The Douglas County School District has started accepting applications for open enrollment for the 2008-2009 school year. The application period runs from December 1, 2007 through January 15, 2008. You can learn more about the application process here . Note that some schools are closed...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Education-General/Blog~401997.aspx12/7/2007 11:27:53 PMHank Lacey Douglas County's newest middle school, located just east of Mitchell Gulch here in Castlewood Ranch, is going to be called "Mesa Middle School." The school's mascot name will be "Bears."http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Blog~401994.aspx12/7/2007 11:19:56 PMHank Lacey As you probably know by now, Douglas County voters rejected a request by the library district for a small increase in its property tax levy at the election last month. The outcome was close, with all areas of Douglas County except Castle Rock in support of the library's request. About 200 votes s...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Politics/Local-State-Politics/Blog~401991.aspx12/7/2007 11:03:17 PMHank Lacey For the past couple of months Castle Rock's town manager, Mark Stevens, and town clerk, Sally Misare, have been repeatedly bothered by requests from other members of the Town Council for copies of my email communication, via my town-issued email address, with Mr. Stevens. The third such request, ...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Politics/Local-State-Politics/Blog~401987.aspx12/7/2007 10:41:32 PMHank Lacey As readers of my blog know, Councilman Doug Lehnen (District 6 - Crystal Valley/Plum Creek) and I do not often agree on the issues. This week, Mr. Lehnen served notice that he is concerned about the prospect of a proposal from the Castlewood Ranch Metropolitan District to contribute money to ...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Politics/Local-State-Politics/Blog~398935.aspx11/30/2007 11:11:08 PMHank Lacey Castle Rock is a small community, but it's obviously growing fast. One of the challenges that comes with that growth is the need to expand the size of the town's staff, and keep the talented public employees we already have, in order to meet the increasing demand for services. Unfortunately, ...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Politics/Local-State-Politics/Blog~398930.aspx11/30/2007 10:34:36 PMHank Lacey Read this article in the Castle Rock News Press for a good look at the town's new snow removal policy, which will see our residential streets plowed far more often than in the past. The new policy, which the Town Council unanimously adopted earlier this autumn, will cost about $190,000 th...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Blog~398448.aspx11/29/2007 9:39:12 PMHank Lacey Centura Health, which announced a purchase of 50 acres for a hospital in Castle Rock on Oct. 11, has recently asked the Town to resolve concerns about certain zoning-related buildling height restrictions and impacts of the skyline ordinance that protects views of ridges, buttes and mesas in t...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Blog~398447.aspx11/29/2007 9:08:18 PMHank Lacey IREA Voices , a group of citizens working hard to bring accountability to the local electric utility, Intermountain Rural Electric Cooperative, is coming to Castle Rock to help IREA customers learn about the ways IREA can do more to generate renewable energy and reduce its large and growing gree...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Blog~398444.aspx11/29/2007 8:52:21 PMHank Lacey Castle Rock will hold its annual municipal election in April 2008. At this time it is not clear what referenda, if any, will be placed on the ballot by the Town Council. There will be four Town Council seats up for contest: districts 1, 2, 4 and 6, which correspond loosely to the Meadows,...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Politics/Local-State-Politics/Blog~398437.aspx11/29/2007 8:28:32 PMHank Lacey At its Nov. 27 meeting the Castle Rock Town Council directed town manager Mark Stevens to delete a planned $5,000 expenditure for drawing up an environmental sustainability plan for the community. The deletion, which passed on a 6-1 vote, was sought by Councilman Doug Lehnen of District 6 (Cr...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Politics/Local-State-Politics/Blog~398434.aspx11/29/2007 8:19:02 PMHank Lacey I delivered the following remarks at the special Town Council meeting held on Tuesday, Nov. 20: "I want to call attention to the last report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was released in Spain this past weekend. According to the report, the world's climate is changin...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Politics/National-Politics/Blog~397077.aspx11/27/2007 2:37:17 PMHank Lacey The Castle Rock Town Council will vote on whether to adopt my proposal to create a residents' Environmental Advisory Commission at its Dec. 11 regular meeting. The vote will happen after the Council gives interested members of the public a chance to share their views of the proposal in person. ...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Politics/Local-State-Politics/Blog~397071.aspx11/27/2007 2:28:42 PMHank Lacey Many residents of Castlewood Ranch have expressed a desire that the town park planned for the area just east of Mitchell Street and near Flagstone Elementary School be built as soon as feasible. Others have indicated a strong interest in seeing an aquatic feature, such as a swimming pool, hot...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Blog~397069.aspx11/27/2007 2:27:09 PMHank Lacey It's November and that means it's budget time at Town Hall. The Town Council will take up the 2008 budget for Castle Rock's local government on Nov. 27. Town Manager Mark Stevens and his staff are to be commended for the hard work that is very apparent in the draft budget. They have done an a...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Politics/Local-State-Politics/Blog~397067.aspx11/27/2007 2:25:34 PMHank Lacey The Town Council approved, on first reading, a new ordinance that will allow liquor stores to offer sample tastings to customers at its regular meeting on Nov. 13. The ordinance is a response to a recent state law that authorized municipalities to permit liquor tastings under certain circumstance...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Politics/Local-State-Politics/Blog~397066.aspx11/27/2007 2:24:18 PMHank Lacey The Castle Rock Town Council will take up a controversial "traffic calming" policy proposed by the traffic engineers in the Public Works Department on Tuesday, October 23. The proposed policy, which has been pitched by Town Manager Mark Stevens and his Public Works Director as a response to c...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Politics/Local-State-Politics/Blog~380732.aspx10/21/2007 6:59:05 PMHank Lacey Here is an update on some recent decisions and other activities by the Town Council and Town staff, along with my comments and thoughts: At an early September joint meeting with the Planning Commission, all six of my colleagues indicated a willingness to expend tens of millions of taxpayer do...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Politics/Local-State-Politics/Blog~373387.aspx10/5/2007 11:38:49 PMHank Lacey Since I have been on Town Council, I have heard a few people, including one or two of my colleagues, say that they view the role of a member of the Council as being part of a "team." I have heard some say that they do not think Council members should try to encourage the public to have a say ...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Politics/Local-State-Politics/Blog~358951.aspx9/7/2007 12:32:26 PMHank Lacey According to a story in today's Rocky Mountain News, Colorado will have a record number of residential foreclosuresthis year. The story says that a report issued by the Colorado Division of Housing shows that 19,460 foreclosures were filed in the state between January 1 and June 30. If that r...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Blogs/Archive/Blog~355624.aspx8/30/2007 11:49:19 PMHank Lacey