NCA discusses "Lovely bench" and roads

A “very lovely” park bench donated by the Niwot Community Association remains “rather homeless” in Niwot as NCA members work to find an agreed-upon location for the bench, NCA Board members were told at their Jan. 11 meeting.

The metal park bench, which was donated by the NCA in 2016, is in storage until a permanent location can be found. Originally the NCA had discussed locating it near 1914 House restaurant on Second Avenue, but that location turned out not to be suitable. So now the NCA is working with the Cottonwood Park West Homeowners Association to determine whether the bench could be placed near the Left Hand chairs or near the tree sculptures at 79th Street and Niwot Road.

“It’s a really nice bench, but it requires a concrete pad for installation and it will take some work to find the proper site,” said board member Kathy Koehler. “We’d really like to find it a permanent home.”

Roads, Niwot pot survey

NCA President Dick Piland informed board members that the group finds itself “right back where we started in 2009” on getting Boulder County to repave subdivision roads in Niwot. Last month Boulder County Fairness in Road Maintenance saw its litigation bid ended to force county commissioners to repave county subdivision roads, and a ballot tax proposal to raise funds countywide for road improvements was defeated in the November election.

“We’ll have to see what happens with our roads,” Piland said.

NCA Secretary Lance Goff reported that a lawsuit filed to appeal Boulder County’s approval of a pot dispensary in Niwot is proceeding. Opening briefs are due in March, and responses are due about 6 weeks later.

Goff added that he has had some Niwot residents ask why the NCA did not formally present its marijuana survey results to Boulder County Commissioners during the public hearing on the dispensary application.

Piland responded that the results had been formally given to the Boulder County Planning Commission at their hearing and that packet was also passed along to commissioners.

He said he also referenced the latest survey results during his remarks to commissioners at the hearing, and added that survey results had been passed along to the commissioners at the time the survey was conducted.

In other business, NCA members voted to pay $100 for an annual membership in the Niwot Business Association, and authorized a grant of $150 to the Niwot Historical Society.