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From YouTube: Inside Boulder News - June 10, 2011
Description
Inside Boulder News covers Capital Investment Strategy group's efforts to understand maintenance needs, Xcel Energy's wind power proposal, police bomb training exercise and summer construction plans.
A
A
Unfortunately,
reduced
revenues
and
increased
construction
costs
over
the
past
decade
made
it
difficult
for
boulder
to
maintain
many
of
the
facilities
and
roads
that
add
to
our
city's
quality
of
life.
The
city
plans
to
catch
up
on
those
repairs,
with
guidance
from
a
citizen
task
force,
city
manager,
jane
bradigam,
appointed
a
cross
section
of
the
community,
including
business
people,
neighborhood
representatives
and
community
groups
to
prioritize
those
projects
that
boulder
can
repair
now
with
no
new
taxes
to
avoid
higher
costs
later,
the
capital
investment
strategy
stakeholder
group
has
been
meeting
since
may
16th.
A
This
week
the
group
took
a
tour
of
some
of
the
city
facilities
that
are
most
in
need
of
attention.
The
group
saw
an
example
of
needed
road
construction
at
20th
and
arapahoe
an
example
of
a
neighborhood
park
and
playground
that
needs
renovation
and
toured
sites
where
there
are
missing
links
in
the
transportation
system,
such
as
at
boulder
junction.
A
The
group
also
discussed
city
heating
and
ventilation
systems
that
are
beyond
their
expected
life
cycle
that
could
be
included
in
the
first
phase
of
the
multi-year
plan
and
some
of
the
less
visible
projects
like
software
and
information
technology,
issues
that
support
the
city's
financial
and
data
networks.
These
examples
were
located
throughout
the
city.
A
The
tour
was
representative
of
the
more
than
128
million
dollars
of
projects
under
consideration.
The
first
phase
will
focus
on
the
most
significant
needs
that
can
be
addressed
now
to
save
millions
of
dollars
later.
The
capital
investment
strategy
stakeholder
group
will
narrow
this
initial
list
of
potential
projects
to
60
million
dollars
of
shovel
ready
projects
and
then
advise
city
council
on
which
maintenance,
repair
issues
and
key
improvements
should
occur
in
phase
one.
Voters
will
have
the
final
say
on
whether
the
city
can
use
existing
revenues
to
acquire
bonds
to
fund
the
phase.
A
Remaining
projects
will
be
evaluated
as
part
of
a
second
phase
for
more
information
on
boulder's
capital
investment
strategy
visit,
boulder
colorado.gov
cis
concerned
about
the
possibility
of
losing
its
boulder
customer
base
excel
energy
has
presented
a
proposal
that
company
represent
representatives
say,
could
make
the
city
a
leader
in
green
energy.
The
utility
told
council
on
june
7
that
its
boulder's
specific
energy
plan
would
provide
up
to
70
percent
renewable
energy
in
the
first
year
of
a
new
20-year
franchise
agreement
and
and
90
by
the
year
2020.
A
This
would
represent
a
significant
increase
from
current
levels
of
about
11
percent.
Excel
would
accomplish
this
by
joining
forces
with
a
wind
farm
developer,
who
is
prepared
to
put
up
new
turbines,
but
the
cost
would
be
borne
by
the
city.
As
with
most
change,
there
are
potential
benefits
and
risks
associated
with
the
proposal.
A
A
Several
council
members
sought
to
understand
the
pros
and
cons
of
the
proposal
and
some
questioned
whether
it
would
accomplish
enough
of
the
community's
energy
future
objectives,
but
they
all
agreed
that
excel's
energy
plan
is
worth
exploring
more
fully
council
directed
staff
to
enter
into
negotiations
with
the
utility
and
voted
to
move
an
excel
franchise
forward
for
possible
inclusion
on
the
ballot
in
november
council
is
expected
to
hear
more
about
the
excel
possibility,
as
well
as
the
option
of
the
city.
Creating
a
local
power
utility
in
the
weeks
ahead.
A
Looking
ahead
and
preparing
for
possibilities
isn't
something
the
city
of
boulder
takes
lightly,
especially
when
it
comes
to
public
safety.
On
june
8
city
department,
the
fbi,
the
boulder
valley,
school
district
and
students
came
together
to
conduct
a
bomb
training
exercise
at
fairview
high
school
sergeant,
jeff
kessler
says
acting
out
emergency
situations
like
this
benefits
boulder
response,
crews.
B
Anytime,
we
can
do
practical
exercises.
I
think
it
benefits
us
in
our
jobs.
We
we
read
about
it.
We
do
tabletop
exercises,
we
have
policies
and
procedures,
but
until
you
can
actually
work
on
that
and
see
how
it
works
in
the
real
world,
you
have
no
idea,
so
I
think
today
we're
going
to
see
how
well
we
work
together
if
our
plans
and
protocols
are
in
place
and
if
they
work-
and
hopefully
everything
goes
well.
A
The
exercise
gave
school
officials
important
information
and
recommendations
for
dealing
with
potential
bomb,
related
incidents
on
school
grounds
and
gave
first
responders
the
chance
to
coordinate
a
multi-agency
response
and
fine-tune
their
tactics
and
protocols
over
the
next
several
months.
Construction
crews
will
be
working
to
restore
utility
infrastructure
and
improve
transit
options.
This
summer,
crews
will
be
making
intersection
improvements
at
broadway
and
18th
street.
This
is
part
of
the
bigger
broadway
euclid
transportation.
Project
broadway
will
be
reduced
to
one
lane
in
each
direction
and
the
street
and
multi-use
path
will
be
closed
down.
A
Occasionally,
improvements
are
expected
to
take
about
two
months
to
complete
and
the
work
should
be
done
by
mid-august
prior
to
students
returning
construction-related
underpass
work
has
been
rescheduled
to
start
in
late,
2011
or
early
2012..
That
work
is
expected
to
take
about
one
year
to
complete.