CLUB NEWS
"Welcome to Smoky Hill Rotary Club ...
the best place to be at noon on Monday!
Smoky Hill Rotary Club … serving the City of Aurora and the World!"
2018-19 President & PDG Talee Crowe
PE Hugh Radke asked everyone to look to their business contacts, friends and social networks for someone who can fill the role of Treasurer for the 2019-2020 Rotary year. Some Rotary clubs use non-members as club treasurer and some are paid for that role, but Hugh would obviously like to avoid having to pay someone. Think about spouses, retired accountants, tax preparers, etc. and let Hugh know if you have any suggestions!
SMOKY HILL ROTARY'S
9th ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT … Friday, August 2nd! Let the Tourney's Golf Shirt Guy PP Clay Fell know if you need a new golf shirt for the tournament. PP Mike Peterson was wearing THE requisite shirt at the meeting this week but had his back to the camera so here is a picture of some models in full attire at last year's tournament - note the requisite shirts and Khaki shorts, but also note those SHIRTS ARE NOT TUCKED IN!
SMOKY HILL ROTARVARIETY OF NEWS …
PP Betsy Jansen has a full team ready to prepare and serve dinner at the Ronald McDonald House this week on Tuesday, May 14th. Make sure you promptly arrive at 4:15pm since there is a lot to do on the front end to get the meal prepared!
Early in this Rotary year recording attendance at our meetings was not perfect, so if you think you had perfect attendance despite the lack of perfect attendance records, please let President Talee Crowe or Secretary Susan Aubin know so you can be recognized for your perfect attendance at the Installation Dinner on June 22. No one is perfect and neither is the Four-Way Test but it is a perfect tool to use when deciding if you had perfect attendance!
President Talee thanked those who brought in more nonperishable food items for Aurora Gateway Rotary Club's food pantry. You have one more week to bring items in the spirit of being a good neighbor to the Gateway Club who will have a member in attendance at our meeting next week! If you happen to have dinner at the Chick-fil-A located at Chambers & Parker Road (Pioneer Hills) this week, when you order tell them you are there to support Rotary and a portion of your purchase will go to support the Aurora Gateway Rotary Club as part of their Spirit Night (didn't catch which night - either Tue, Wed or Thu).
The FINAL BOARD MEETING for this Rotary year is this Thursday, May 16th at Susan Aubin's office. It is also the FINAL BOARD MEETING at Susan's office! Susan has been hosting board meetings in her office for 11 YEARS! THANK YOU SUSAN!!
The club's annual Installation Dinner will be held on Saturday, June 22nd at Heritage Club Eagle Bend! Please Note: No lunch meeting on Monday, May 27th (Memorial Day) and Monday, June 24th (Monday following the Installation Dinner).
NOTE: This Rotarian rarely wears any clothing but decided to wear the official Smoky Hill Rotary golf shirt, the Khaki pants … and … the SHIRT IS TUCKED IN!! Smart look! And it's a lot harder to tuck a shirt in when you are trying to tuck feathers in at the same time! Just a few reasons why they call this golfer the Big "Birdie". He will be in the first "flight" of the Smoky Hill golf tournament at 8AM on August 2, 2019. Big Birdie is a long hitter so he may "fly" a few greens.
Enough of trying to be a comedi-hen so in honor of all Mothers and Mother Hens, here is something I read at my Mother's memorial service in 2015: .jpg)
"Your Mother is always with you. She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street. She's the smell of certain foods you remember, flowers you pick, the fragrance of life itself. She's the cool hand on your brow when you're not feeling well. She's your breath in the air on a cold winter's day. She is the sound of the rain that lulls you to sleep, the colors of a rainbow; she is Christmas morning. Your Mother lives inside your laughter. She's the place you came from, your first home, and she's the map you follow with every step you take. She's your first love, your first friend, even your first enemy, but nothing on earth can separate you, not time, not space … not even death." - Author Unknown
THIS WEEK'S THOUGHT … "We are so often caught up in our destination that we forget to appreciate the journey, especially of the people we meet on the way. Appreciation is a wonderful feeling, don't overlook it." --- Anonymous
THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM
Jim Twom
bly is the City Manager for the City of Aurora and the topic of discussion was Capital Infrastructure Investment in Aurora. Jim is from St. Louis but has served in several capacities in city government in several cities including as the City Manager for Tulsa, Oklahoma. Jim said City Planners keep their jobs for quite a while but City Managers change quite frequently. Aurora is on the cusp of a lot of new development, in particularly in the area south of DIA. The developers are large and they each control anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 acres. The Koelbel development on the northeast corner of Peoria and Parker Road is a prime example of new re-development and within the next 3 years it will include a pedestrian walkway over Parker Road from the development to the Nine Mile Park & Ride.
A comprehensive planning document was recently prepared and it revealed Aurora has many goals including: diversity (20% of residents were born outside the U.S.), affordable housing, a "helping" community, a strong economy, a thriving environment, mobility/transportation and authenticity. There are some disparities Aurora needs to address such as the NW quadrant has a life expectancy of 61 years and the SE quadrant has one of 79 years.
Aurora is a relatively young city compared to Denver but it is maturing as is the infrastructure and facilities. The funding is inadequate to maintain existing facilities and reactive repair is very expensive compared to preventative maintenance. Road repairs alone cost $20 million annually. Ongoing building repair funding is not keeping up with the needs. Several ballot questions since 2005 for capital and operating needs failed. Aurora's 2019 capital expenditures as a percentage of the total city budget (18%) far exceed the average percentage of other Colorado and U.S. peer cities yet the percentage of debt service payments of the budget (3%) are far below those of the same cities.
To address the capital infrastructure problem the city updates the facilities master plan on a regular basis, updates and monitors capital impact fees (in process) and looks for support for new funding sources. Capital impact fees are currently $1,000 (since 2008) for each new home and a new study supports raising that to $6,000 per home in 2020 to support new infrastructure. Aurora's impact fees currently rank 6th from the highest in the metro area. If the fees were increased to $6,000 Aurora would be the 3rd highest but other cities are also looking at fee increases.
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