Thursday, September 29, 2016

6 The Johnstown Breeze

2534 from page 2

STORYTIME
Monday, Tuesday or
Wednesday
October 3rd, 4th
or 5th @ 9:30 a.m.

district, we wouldve had to

figure out how to pump
sewage back to the main plant
back in Johnstown.
After purchasing the land,
Johnstown and the landowners

Wonderfall
By Michael Hall

SPANISH STORYTIME
Wednesday, October
5th @ 6:30 p.m.
Fiesta en la zoologico!
INTRODUCING:
LITTLE DUCKLING
STORYTIME
Friday, October 7th
@ 9:30 a.m.
This story time is dedicated
to those young tots age birth to 24 months.
400 South Parish Ave., Johnstown
587-2459
HOURS
Mon. & Fri. ................. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Tues., Wed. & Thurs. 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Sat. ............................ 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.

began negotiations for construction costs for the plant

that runs a half a million gall o n s d a i l y, a n d w h i c h w a s
eventually paid for by
landowners through metro district funding. The plant is
owned by Johnstown, however.
The sewer plant was key
to getting everything built,
Gerrard said.
An instrumental cog into
that agreement, orchestrated
b y Wa t e r A t t o r n e y S t e v e
Williamson, was the creation
of the 2534 water bank for the
landowners. A water bank essentially holds a certain
amount of water available for
owners to purchase. In Gerrards eyes, he said the water
bank not only provides for the
development, but without it
there would be no 2534.
If the owners wouldve
been required to buy all the
raw water for the entire project, we wouldve never developed it, Gerrard said. I think
that was a key piece that needed to happen. I think Johnstown had a lot of foresight to
do that.
Metro money
The tale of 2534 has the
town of Johnstown rightfully
justified and painted as the
spearheads of creating new
Johnstown and reaping the
benefits from it.
But the landowners of Gerrard, Wiens and Boehner are
the unsung heroes in the story,
because they bore the greatest

My name is Charlie. (ID. #33274691)

Im a 2-month-old, male,
Domestic Shorthair/Mix.
I am very lovable!
Come by the Humane
Society and visit me today!

If you would be interested in

adopting Charlie or one of
his friends, call
the Weld County
Humane Society.
970-506-9550
1620 42nd, Evans, CO 80620
www.weldcountyhumane.org

risks when it came to getting

the development off the dirt.
The risk on them was getting the land to development,
Mellon said.
With all costs, and risks,
upon the landowners, it led to
the creation of metropolitan
districts.
Its a quasi-governmental
entity used to fund public improvement through bonding.
Lauricello explained. Its
very autonomous.
When the landowners paid
for the Low Point sewer plant,
it also encompassed having to
put in six miles of piping from
north of Johnstown to the area
and acquiring easements do to
so. The process was financed
by the first of six metro districts in the area: Thompson
River Crossing. The initial investment into it for owners
was $12 million of their own
money according to Gerrard.
Like the first district did
for water and sewer, district
two financed construction
costs for all the infrastructure
in 2534, while districts three
through six financed infrastructures in Thompson River
Ranch. Each district has its
own board and source of income.
Metro districts, Gerrard
explained, a lot of people
dont understand that metro
districts have to be funded privately by a developer. They
really cant be paid back until
theres enough assessed value
to sell the bonds.

It was the great Russian author Leo Tolstoy who made the
following sage observation: A
man is like a fraction whose numerator is what he is and whose
denominator is what he thinks of
himself. The larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction.
The Gunfight at the O.K.
Corral, which took place in
Tombstone, Arizona, at about 3
p.m. on Oct. 26, 1881, is probably the most famous shootout in
the history of the Old West. You
might be surprised to learn,
though, that the gunfight didnt
actually happen at the O.K. Corral, or even next to it the gunfight took place in an empty lot
six doors down.
A futurist in the 1950s made
the following prediction: There
will come a time when every
country in the world will have a
computer.

Johnstown permits the

landowners to sell these bonds
that are fueled by mill levies,
thus putting all the risk on
Gerrard and company and
whoever purchases those
bonds.
The risk is still held by
the developer and by the bond
holder, James said. The risk
isnt on the citizens of Johnstown or the municipality itself.
In 2008, the risk reared its
head when the worst financial
crisis since the Great Depression hit the country. Gerrard
said he along with the other
landowners still carry the cost
of the sewer plant plus accruing interest on it.
We paid for everything,
Gerrard said. All the towns
costs and our costs. We built
everything to their specifications. When they asked for it,
we gave it to them. So this is
really development paying its
own way. The town paid nothing.
It (the financial burden)
was on us and its still on us,
he said.
Im told by the people
who work for the major production builders that they simply will not build in a community unless metropolitan district funding is available,
James said. The good oldfashion days where the developer paid for everything right
up front, put all of that (financing up front), its gone. It
just doesnt exist.
Etymology the study of
words history, their origins and
how their form and meaning
have changed over time is
fascinating. For example, take
the term shilly-shally, meaning to vacillate. In the 18th century, shill was another form of
shall, and people trying to
make a difficult decision might
ask themselves Shill I? Shall
I? Over time it was shortened
to the form we use today.
If your scissors are getting
dull, dont waste time and effort
with sharpening stones; all you
have to do is cut up sheets of
sandpaper to hone the cutting
edges.
Those who study such
things say that if you added up
the body masses of all the people on the planet right now, it
would amount to roughly 750
billion pounds.
Thought for the Day: In
any free society, the conflict between social conformity and individual liberty is permanent,
unresolvable and necessary.
Kathleen Norris
(c) 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.