Commissioners OK Fence to Remain in Right-of-Way

The Board of County Commissioners gave the OK for the Hiwan Hearth's Association to keep its six foot fence. The area is in Evergreen and near the Hiwan Golf Course. 

The six foot fence, which had been in the same location for more than 15 years, was replaced by the association in 2010. At that time, a citizen complaint was filed with the county's Planning and Zoning Division, which resulted in the issuance of a zoning violation to the association. The county's zoning resolution permits fences of no greater than 42 inches in height in a front setback.

Rather than requiring the association to lower the fence height to 42 inches, the county's Planning and Zoning Division processed a variance through the Board of Adjustment to allow for the taller six foot fence.

As part of the variance submittal requirements, a survey was required. The survey indicated that a portion of the fence was built within the right-of-way for Hearth Drive and was not on the property line. In order to keep the fence in its current location, the solution of a license agreement with the county was suggested by the Planning and Zoning Division.

The variance application was brought before the Board of Adjustment, which approved the variance on November 6, 2010 to allow the six foot fence height. The variance included a condition that the association would also need to obtain the license agreement with the county to allow the encroaching portion of the fence to remain within the Hearth Drive right-of-way. Staff evaluated the situation and determined that neither the fence height or encroachment in the right-of-way interfered with the county's road maintenance operations, nor did it present safety issues for motorists using Hearth Drive.   

Contract with ConEdison Solutions Approved

The Board of County Commissioners approved a contract between Jefferson County and ConEdison Solutions, Inc. The contract is for $1,509,196 and is for energy conservation and equipment measures identified in the technical energy audit conducted by ConEdison in 2009 and 2010.

The contract will allow for installation of measures identified in the audit at the Sheriff's Office Complex located at 200 Jefferson County Parkway in Golden.  Monies for the project will come from the general fund and will be reimbursed with proceeds from the sale of county issued tax-exempt bonds and Xcel rebates.

The ConEd Energy Performance Contract (EPC) Project at the Sheriff's Office parallels the project being undertaken by McKinstry for other county buildings. It was undertaken in partnership with the Governor's Energy Office to analyze energy consumption and equipment conditions in various county buildings, and determine whether energy savings could be achieved through implementing various measures. 

The results of the audit yielded a list of measures to be done at the Sheriff's Office through an energy performance contract.  The measures include the following: 

• Lighting and lighting controls retrofit (to be installed by county staff)
• Water retrofits, includes water closets/toilets, urinals, sink aerators, miscellaneous sink faucets
• Advanced irrigation controls to better control water consumption for landscape use
• New car wash reclamation system to reuse water for washing vehicles
• Ozone cold water laundry system to reduce hot water consumption
• Kitchen hood controls to more efficiently manage space temperatures in the kitchen area
• Retrofitting main building controls to a Direct Digital Control (DDC) System.  This will optimize the HVAC equipment, allow better monitoring of systems and reduce utility consumption.
• Install a new generator hood with dampers to better control space temperatures
• Add a waste oil heater in the Fleet Maintenance Building to utilize old oil changes from fleet vehicles for cold weather heating
• Convert the main jail air handling units to variable speed units to optimize efficiencies and reduce utility consumption

The project will start in the spring of 2011, and is anticipated to be completed by spring 2012.