Thursday, September 30, 2010
Acting Manager's Presentation to Transition From Outsourcing to Hiring City Employees
Here's a link to an audio file of the City's acting manager making a presentation about moving away from outsourcing to hiring employees. There's about 20 seconds of silence as he prepares to begin his 17 minute talk.
http://kiwi6.com/file?id=q4dhino7i3
If you click on this link, you can then download the file in ten seconds, and even listen to it on iTunes or your iPod.
It took about a minute to upload the file to the Internet, and about a minute to link to this blogsite. Cost was virtually free.
http://kiwi6.com/file?id=q4dhino7i3
If you click on this link, you can then download the file in ten seconds, and even listen to it on iTunes or your iPod.
It took about a minute to upload the file to the Internet, and about a minute to link to this blogsite. Cost was virtually free.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Parker's vacant retail space worries business leaders
Some say the rents for Parker retail space may be too high, but the town will host an event for real-estate brokers Sept. 30 to promote what's available.
Parker's vacant retail space — there are more than 65 spaces for rent or sale — is concerning community leaders and Realtors.
"It really is a black hole of retailing," said Tim Danahey, a Parker community activist.
There are 15 buildings for sale, according to the third- quarter 2010 Real Estate Resource and Development Report from the Parker Economic Development Council.
"What I'm afraid of in Parker from just looking at all the vacant storefronts is that there will be owners that walk away from their buildings because they don't have tenants," said Carole Schumacher, executive vice president of BRC Real Estate in Parker, which handles commercial properties.
Schumacher and Danahey say rental rates for retail properties are too high. She said that could be simply because building owners or developers don't understand what the market is like.
"Is Parker an island unto itself? I think some people that own real estate out there think that it is," Schumacher said. "It's their world, and they don't go out there very much."
Mitch Trevey, executive director of the PEDC and owner of a commercial-real-estate company, Trevey Co. LLC, said Parker has been slow to drop its rental rates but that many landlords also are in a bind because of the weak economy.
"Some of them are accountable to investors or partners, etc., who are not necessarily so willing to allow them to drop the rates just to get somebody in there because that also affects property value," Trevey said.
Joe Maxwell, co-founder of the Metro Parker Small Business Alliance, said he thinks business owners sometimes need to be smarter when they sign leases.
"I think it's a deeper problem," Maxwell said. "Any time you start failing in business, you start looking for a scapegoat: 'My rent is too high.' " (Other excueses may include, "My CAM charges are too high, or we need a URA, or the Metro District did it." - MS)
Becky Hogan, Parker's economic-development director, said there's not much the town can do about the rents, but she thinks the rents are very competitive.
On Sept. 30, the town of Parker will be participating in a virtual broker tour at the Wildlife Experience, which will show about 100 commercial-real-estate brokers properties in Doug las County.
"It's a matter of educating people (on) what's available," Hogan said. "We haven't really done that down here in the south metro Denver area. And that's always going to help. It may not help that next day, but it's always going to help in the future."
Read more: Parker's vacant retail space worries business leaders - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_16119526#ixzz104a1QUZv
Parker's vacant retail space — there are more than 65 spaces for rent or sale — is concerning community leaders and Realtors.
"It really is a black hole of retailing," said Tim Danahey, a Parker community activist.
There are 15 buildings for sale, according to the third- quarter 2010 Real Estate Resource and Development Report from the Parker Economic Development Council.
"What I'm afraid of in Parker from just looking at all the vacant storefronts is that there will be owners that walk away from their buildings because they don't have tenants," said Carole Schumacher, executive vice president of BRC Real Estate in Parker, which handles commercial properties.
Schumacher and Danahey say rental rates for retail properties are too high. She said that could be simply because building owners or developers don't understand what the market is like.
"Is Parker an island unto itself? I think some people that own real estate out there think that it is," Schumacher said. "It's their world, and they don't go out there very much."
Mitch Trevey, executive director of the PEDC and owner of a commercial-real-estate company, Trevey Co. LLC, said Parker has been slow to drop its rental rates but that many landlords also are in a bind because of the weak economy.
"Some of them are accountable to investors or partners, etc., who are not necessarily so willing to allow them to drop the rates just to get somebody in there because that also affects property value," Trevey said.
Joe Maxwell, co-founder of the Metro Parker Small Business Alliance, said he thinks business owners sometimes need to be smarter when they sign leases.
"I think it's a deeper problem," Maxwell said. "Any time you start failing in business, you start looking for a scapegoat: 'My rent is too high.' " (Other excueses may include, "My CAM charges are too high, or we need a URA, or the Metro District did it." - MS)
Becky Hogan, Parker's economic-development director, said there's not much the town can do about the rents, but she thinks the rents are very competitive.
On Sept. 30, the town of Parker will be participating in a virtual broker tour at the Wildlife Experience, which will show about 100 commercial-real-estate brokers properties in Doug las County.
"It's a matter of educating people (on) what's available," Hogan said. "We haven't really done that down here in the south metro Denver area. And that's always going to help. It may not help that next day, but it's always going to help in the future."
Read more: Parker's vacant retail space worries business leaders - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_16119526#ixzz104a1QUZv
Thursday, September 16, 2010
It's Your Dough, Water Slow!
Douglas County Water Resource Authority (www.DCWater.org) has just been awarded a grant for $250,000 by the Colorado Water Conservation Board to retrofit 1,000 yards with more efficient rotary sprinkler nozzles over the summer of 2011. The nozzles are about 30% more efficient that current designs, and that means a good deal of water demand can be reduced by use of these devices. The roots of the grass in our lawns will still receive the proper amount of water. It just takes less water to get to the roots. Traditional designs are prone to misting, as well as impacts of windy conditions and evaporation. Rotary nozzles shoot streams of water that are heavier, not as susceptible to these other problems, and so do a better job of irrigating our lawns. Use of the nozzles also means your water bill can be lowered by about 15% from what it would otherwise be with the old design sprinkler heads.
Water providers in the area are looking at migrating to a renewable surface water system in the near future. To give you an idea of cost savings, our community uses somewhere around 2,000 ac-ft of water every year. (Ac-ft is a common measurement for a lot of water, and every family of four uses about ½ an ac-ft of water every year.) If we have to pay $17,500 per ac-ft for renewable water rights to replace our existing water supply, we could be talking a lot of money. Saving 15% could reduce the cost of our renewable water future by around $5,250,000. While the City Council has not expressed interest in this sort of savings, the Metro District has. Rebates are now available through the Metro District for your installation of rotary sprinkler nozzles.
The DCWRA retrofit program will create several dozen summer jobs for high school students in the area. To get ready for this project, a pilot program featuring 50 yards is currently underway. Partners on the pilot project include the Douglas County School District, Arapahoe Douglas Works!, the Center for Resource Conservation, and DCWRA. DCWRA members participating in the pilot project include Town of Castle Rock, City of Lone Tree, Castle Pines Metropolitan District, and Castle Pines North Metropolitan District.
For those do it yourselfers who can’t wait to participate in next summer's retrofit project, go ahead and ask your local retailer now for money and water saving “rotary sprinkler nozzles”. For more information, please check out: http://www.dcwater.org/pages/sprinklers/sprinklers.html. It’s your dough, water slow!
Water providers in the area are looking at migrating to a renewable surface water system in the near future. To give you an idea of cost savings, our community uses somewhere around 2,000 ac-ft of water every year. (Ac-ft is a common measurement for a lot of water, and every family of four uses about ½ an ac-ft of water every year.) If we have to pay $17,500 per ac-ft for renewable water rights to replace our existing water supply, we could be talking a lot of money. Saving 15% could reduce the cost of our renewable water future by around $5,250,000. While the City Council has not expressed interest in this sort of savings, the Metro District has. Rebates are now available through the Metro District for your installation of rotary sprinkler nozzles.
The DCWRA retrofit program will create several dozen summer jobs for high school students in the area. To get ready for this project, a pilot program featuring 50 yards is currently underway. Partners on the pilot project include the Douglas County School District, Arapahoe Douglas Works!, the Center for Resource Conservation, and DCWRA. DCWRA members participating in the pilot project include Town of Castle Rock, City of Lone Tree, Castle Pines Metropolitan District, and Castle Pines North Metropolitan District.
For those do it yourselfers who can’t wait to participate in next summer's retrofit project, go ahead and ask your local retailer now for money and water saving “rotary sprinkler nozzles”. For more information, please check out: http://www.dcwater.org/pages/sprinklers/sprinklers.html. It’s your dough, water slow!
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