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December 2023 Retiree Newsletter A group of nearly 60 City of Arvada Retirees (pictured above) convened at the annual retiree luncheon held at the Arvada Center in October! Greetings, City of Arvada Retirees It was great to see so many of you at the retiree luncheon. I enjoyed seeing your photos and chatting with many of you. It’s always nice to catch up with old friends. Our admin team is already discussing enhancements for next year’s luncheon, and we look forward to seeing many more of you then! As 2023 comes to a close, we are taking stock of the City’s many accomplishments from this past year. We are also looking ahead to 2024, as many changes and challenges lie before us. We are grateful for our strong, capable workforce. They continue to build on a solid foundation laid by all of you. We never lose sight of that. Thank you for staying connected to the organization you all helped build. Have questions? Change of email address? Email [EMAIL REDACTED]. 1 ---PAGE BREAK--- Arvada’s New City Council Pictured above left to right: Bob Fifer, District 4; Lisa Feret, At-Large; John Marriott, District 3; Lauren Simpson, Mayor; Randy Moorman, Mayor Pro Tem, District 1; Sharon Davis, At-Large; Shawna Ambrose, District 2. Learn about all Arvada Councilmembers. Swearing-in Ceremony The newly-elected officials were sworn in on Nov. 13 and outgoing Mayor Marc Williams and District 4 Councilmember David Jones were thanked for their service. If you missed the ceremony, you may view it on YouTube. Have questions? Change of email address? Email [EMAIL REDACTED]. 2 ---PAGE BREAK--- Recent News Around the City of Arvada Organization City of Arvada Receives Top 50 Technology Team Award The prestigious 2023 OnCon Icon Awards, a celebration of excellence in team achievements, recently announced that the City of Arvada has been recognized as a winner of the inaugural Top 50 Technology Team Award. The OnCon Icon Awards, known for their commitment to acknowledging outstanding teams, are unique in that they are decided by the public. In this spirit, the voters have chosen the City of Arvada as one of the top technology teams, recognizing the exceptional contributions our technology team has made to the organization. The selection criteria for the award included the team's demonstration of a successful blend of leadership and positive impact, notable thought leadership, innovative project contributions and outstanding team leadership. Arvada Recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy in Better Building Challenge The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has recognized the City of Arvada as the first Colorado municipality to achieve its energy savings goal as a part of the Better Buildings Challenge. The City joined the Challenge in 2013 with the goal of reducing energy consumption in City facilities by 20% in 10 years. The City is proud to have surpassed the goal to achieve a combined 28% reduction in energy consumption across all facilities. The effort was coordinated by the Public Works Department under the leadership of Facilities Manager, Kim Vagher. The team was also recognized for their achievement at a recent City Council meeting. Pictured left to right: DOE Fellow Bri Colon, Public Works Director Jacqueline Rhodes, Councilmember John Marriott, Facilities Manager Kim Vagher and team members Katie Will and Cory Hines. Have questions? Change of email address? Email [EMAIL REDACTED]. 3 ---PAGE BREAK--- Arvada Media Services Receives Government Programming Awards Arvada Media Services (AMS) was recently recognized at the 38th Annual Government Programming Awards sponsored by the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA). The awards program honors excellence in broadcast, cable, multimedia and electronic programming produced by local government agencies. Pictured right: AMS Videographer James Long and AMS Manager Sherry Nalbach. AMS received the following awards: ● Award of Excellence: "Arvada PD UAS Program" ● Award of Excellence: "Police Department Recruitment” ● Award of Distinction: "Camp Ember" ● Award of Distinction for Overall Excellence: "City of Arvada, Colorado" ● Award of Honor: "Arvada Code Enforcement" ● Award of Honor: "Snow Storm Road Treatment" Arvada Police Department’s Final Race-a-Cop Event In September, Arvada’s Sgt. Hirsch and Det. Tickel represented APD at the final Bandimere Speedway Race-A-Cop event. The Race-A-Cop program was started in 1987 by now retired APD Master Sergeant Larry Bennington as an educational tool for high school students to teach them about traffic safety-related topics. At September’s event, Bennington’s former student Tony Berens–the first student Benny ever raced–brought out his ‘69 Camaro for a final match with APD. Bandimere Speedway closed for good at the end of the 2023 race season. Have questions? Change of email address? Email [EMAIL REDACTED]. 4 ---PAGE BREAK--- APD Facial Recognition Software (FRS) Update In 2022, the State legislature passed Senate Bill 22-113, in reference to the use of FRS. Agencies are required to complete several steps before utilizing FRS, including notifying its governing body of its intent to use FR technology and preparing and providing an “accountability report” to the public. APD submitted its final report to the City Council in October. Council approved the report and APD will be authorized to utilize Facial Recognition in January 2024. New CED Director In September, Jessica Garner, AICP, was named the City of Arvada’s new Director of Community and Economic Development. Ms. Garner brings more than 23 years of local, statewide and national land use planning, transportation and public health experience to the role, including with the City of Commerce City, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the San Mateo, California County Health System, the City of Milpitas, California, and, most recently, the Town of Estes Park. She was born and raised in Colorado. She received her bachelor’s degree from Colorado College and master’s degrees in Urban and Regional Planning and Urban Design from the University of Colorado at Denver. New AEDA Executive Director Izabela Petrykowska (Iza) is the new Executive Director of the Arvada Economic Development Association (AEDA) and Economic Development Manager for the City of Arvada. Prior to joining the City, Iza worked as a consultant assisting cities in the Denver Metro Area and mountain towns with planning services including comprehensive planning, long range planning, and on-call planning. Originally from Poland, Iza moved to Colorado in 2016 to pursue a master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning at CU Denver. She lives in Arvada with her husband and daughter. APWA Re-accreditation The City of Arvada just achieved its 2nd re-accreditation with the American Public Works Association (APWA) in November! The evaluation and best practice review process serves to provide a means of formally verifying and recognizing public works agencies for compliance with the recommended practices set forth in the Public Works Management Practices Manual. Accreditation is a voluntary approach to objectively evaluate, verify and recognize compliance with the recommended management practices. The City of Arvada was first accredited in 2016 with re-accreditations in 2020 and 2023. Have questions? Change of email address? Email [EMAIL REDACTED]. 5 ---PAGE BREAK--- Significant Milestone Reached for Ralston Road Ralston Road has reached a significant milestone with paving and striping completed throughout the project corridor. All lanes of traffic were opened over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and many sections of sidewalk that were previously closed have also reopened. There will be ongoing segmented closures throughout the corridor for concrete and median work and project completion is still expected in the spring. Check out the aerial footage taken last week For more information on Ralston Road improvements, visit ArvadaCo.gov/Ralston-Road. Ralston Creek Improvements Remember the September 2013 floods? The Ralston Creek area near West Woods subdivision, just west of the Croke Canal crossing, was heavily impacted, resulting in damages to the stream corridor and surrounding property and breaches of the Croke Canal embankment. The City is partnering with the Mile High Flood District (MHFD) to make improvements to the area. Learn more about the project and the project timeline and view before and after photos. Holistic Health and Fitness Park Breaks Ground The City’s Parks and Urban Design team, in partnership with Red Rocks Community College (RRCC), recently broke ground on Arvada’s newest park. The park is located just north of the RRCC campus in the Arvada Ridge area, west of Kipling and south of the Lutz Sports Complex. One of the first of its kind in the nation, the park will focus on whole-body health and offer a variety of uses for all ages and abilities, provide interactive features, and improve community access to free health opportunities and solutions to chronic health issues. Construction is anticipated to be completed in the spring/summer of 2024. Visit the project page on ArvadaCO.gov to learn more! Have questions? Change of email address? Email [EMAIL REDACTED]. 6 ---PAGE BREAK--- Retiree Information and Resources Recent Retirees ● Larry Stewart, Streets Foreman ● Kirk Cadotte, Combination Inspector III ● Jason O'Keefe, Customer Information Manager ● Mike Wolkowski, Parks Worker II ● David Peacock, Municipal Inspector II ● Barry Crumrine, Streets Technician III ● Timothy Foust, Streets Technician III Retiree contacts 1. [EMAIL REDACTED]: If you wish to receive the City of Arvada Retiree Newsletter published three times yearly and an invitation to the annual Retiree Luncheon, please keep your contact information up to date at [EMAIL REDACTED]. Retiree Luncheon invitations will come through the City Manager’s Office. 2. Facebook: City of Arvada Retirees recently started a private Facebook page for Arvada retirees and former employees. If you’d like to join, send an email to retired City of Arvada employee Karen Smiddy at [EMAIL REDACTED]. She will send you a link (via reply email) inviting you to join. Once she approves your request, you’ll be all set to share posts, photos and updates! 3. Retired City of Arvada employee Shelly Erb maintains a retiree database to share news about significant life events. If you wish to be part of Shelly's database, email her at [EMAIL REDACTED]. Discounts and Deals for City of Arvada Retirees and Current Employees Did you know that as a retired City of Arvada employee you are eligible to receive benefits and rewards including discounted leisure, health and financial benefits? The company that provides the information is BenefitHub. You will need to create an account with them, and you will need to provide the benefit referral code to do so. If you are interested, visit benefithub.com and provide the COA REFERRAL CODE: 3Y782P. Keep up with City of Arvada News Arvada Report Download six times yearly ArvadaNews Subscribe to receive twice via email Follow us on social media Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn View Arvada Media Services videos Find current videos and ones that go back to 2007! Have questions? Change of email address? Email [EMAIL REDACTED]. 7 ---PAGE BREAK--- Items of Interest to Local Retirees Community Donation Drive Interested in donating locally this holiday season? The City of Arvada is holding a donation drive to provide urgently needed items to unhoused individuals. Items collected during this donation drive will be provided to either unhoused adults in Arvada or migrants to the Denver metro area. Donations are being accepted at all Arvada Police Community Stations. Learn what urgently-needed items are being accepted. Volunteers Needed at the Arvada Reservoir The reservoir won’t be open again until April, but our Parks team is already recruiting for new volunteers to help with next season’s daily operations. If you, or anyone you know, loves the outdoors and is interested in volunteering at the reservoir, refer them to the Arvada Reservoir webpage. Perks include a flexible schedule, valuable training, free fishing, and a great banquet at the end of the season! Recruiting for Boards and Commissions Retirees have keen and valuable insights regarding Arvada and the City organization–a key ingredient for City boards and commissions. Consider volunteering on a committee that speaks to your interests– festivals, parks, sustainability, human services and more! Learn which boards have vacancies and how to apply!. Deadline is Jan. 8. Hidden Gems Community Photo Contest After a wildly successful community photo contest in 2023, we are hosting a new one for 2024! We are looking for photos that reveal “hidden gems” in our community. What hidden gems do you see in Arvada? Snap a photo of your hidden gem and email to [EMAIL REDACTED]. Selected photos will be featured on the City’s social media platforms and in the Arvada Report. Visit the Hidden Gems website for photo submission guidelines and where to submit your photo by Dec.12. We hope you enjoyed the contents of the Retiree Newsletter. The next edition will be distributed in April. If your email address changes or you wish to stop receiving the newsletter, please email [EMAIL REDACTED] or call Cindy at [PHONE REDACTED]. Have questions? Change of email address? Email [EMAIL REDACTED]. 8