NCA discusses additional holiday decorations

Contributing to Niwot’s festive holiday decorations around town was on the minds of Niwot Community Association board members at their Dec. 5 meeting.

The NCA put up holiday decorations this year at the Niwot Road entrance into town and board members agreed that they would like to add to that display. An informal subcommittee group, headed by Pat Murphy and Julie Breyer, are planning to hit the post-holiday sales to snap up decorations.

In addition, board members expressed interest in working in conjunction with the Niwot Business Association’s Streetscapes subcommittee to add decorations to the Niwot holiday tree. To that end, the board approved spending up to $250 to purchase additional decorations for both the Niwot Road display and the holiday tree.

“Maybe we can also figure out a way to connect the children in our community with our tree,” Murphy commented. “Maybe we can get Niwot Elementary students or our Girl and Boy Scout troops or our 4-H group to create decorations for the tree.”

Keeping Niwot families involved in the Niwot community is a priority for the NCA. Murphy commented that she has noticed several Niwot families have open-enrolled their children into other St. Vrain Valley School District schools or private schools instead of sending them to Niwot schools.

“This can be a barrier to keeping families connected to Niwot,” Murphy said. “The kids have their friends at other schools and so they and their parents are more involved with activities that happen in those communities, not Niwot.”

Murphy suggested that interested NCA members could meet with Niwot High School principal Eric Rauschkolb, Sunset Middle School principal Anthony Barela and Niwot Elementaty Principal Nancy Pitz after the holidays to discuss how to attract more families back to their local schools. “I really think it’s a matter of marketing, of getting the word out that our local schools have superior programs to offer,” she said. Board members agreed to reach out to the schools to start the discussions.

In other matters, the NCA enthusiastically approved spending up to $150 to purchase pizza for all three shifts at the Mountain View Fire Rescue District Niwot Station as a thank you for the crew’s efforts. NCA President David Limbach pointed out that the NCA and other community groups use the community room at the fire station for meetings. “We also appreciate the timely responses we receive when we need their fire and paramedic services,” he said. The NCA also was treated to a tour of the fire station prior to the meeting.