January 4: Ranked-Choice Voting for Loveland Elections
This meeting was a follow-up to the November 16, 2022 meeting with Robbie Moreland and Jody DesChenes regarding their successful path to place Ranked Choice Voting on the Fort Collins November 2022 ballot. For convenience you can access those meeting notes using this link.
RCV Meeting Notes 11/16/22
February 15: Loveland Community Partnerships
Our speaker was Alison Hade, Community Partnership Administrator for the City of Loveland. Alison has served in this capacity for the past 12 years and shared information regarding the affordable housing needs in Loveland, as well as plans and projects for addressing those needs.
April 12: Thompson School District Update
School board Vice-President Dawn Kirk provided an update and overview of the current work of the Thompson Board of Education.
May 17: Special Districts, Metro Districts, and You
The South Larimer Discussion Group of the League of Women Voters of Larimer County hosted a panel of Local Government experts to discuss the ins-and-outs of residential and commercial special and metro districts and how they can impact developers, government entities, and local residents differently. Our panelists included John Henderson from Coloradans for Metro Reform and Christina Manthey and Fayre Ruszczyk, who are members along with John on LWVCO's Local Government Group of the Legislative Action Committee. Local news articles related to this topic have been appearing frequently in recent years and this was an opportunity to learn more about it.
You can learn about special districts with this Denver Post guest commentary published on April 23, 2022. DP Special Districts Commentary
Here is more information about metro districts from the May 9 edition of Denver Gazette.
Denver Gazette Metro Districts Article
You can watch the May 17, 2023 presentation here: Watch Here
Chat Link Passcode: VX5C3f@A
Note: "Kristi" in the chat is the executive director of Metro District Education Coalition and represents the industry.
September: Loveland's Homeless Youth Shelter
In September, SLDG hosted Nicole Armstrong, Executive Director of The Matthews House, and her team from the Poudre and Thompson School Districts. The discussion centered around Loveland's Homeless Youth Shelter.
There are 800 youths in the Thompson School District who do not have a steady place to sleep every night. This can include those who are couch surfing, bouncing between friends' or relatives' homes, staying in shelters or hotels, or living in unsuitable trailers or homes.
The need for a youth shelter has been known for quite some time, but there was not a suitable building available until the Monroe Early Childhood Center moved to Peakview Academy at Conrad Ball, which opened this school year. The tentative opening date for the shelter is Fall of 2024.
The project is a collaboration between the state, Larimer County, the Thompson School District, Poudre School District, City of Loveland, CSU, and the Matthews House, which will operate the facility.
November: Update on Amendments to Loveland's Land Use Code
Kerri Burchett, a Principal Planner at the City of Loveland, joined the Discussion Group to share the 6 major amendments to the city Land Use Code and the impact they will have on future housing developments in Loveland. These amendments were approved 9-0 by the City Council in August 2023 and went into effect September 19, 2023.