December 2021

Hey everyone — Here’s my update for December 2021. Read on for my takes on our top accomplishments for 2021 and what my top goals are for 2022. Do you agree? Disagree? I’d love to hear your feedback.

Thirsty Thursdays

Join me at the Superior Community Center on Thursday, December 16 for a drink between 5-7pm.

2021 Accomplishments

As we near the end of the year, it’s always a good time to take a step back and think about what we have accomplished over the past 12 months. Here are some of our top accomplishments from my point of view.

Community, Community, Community

Some of my favorite moments in 2021 involved community events at our brand new Superior Community Center. I really enjoyed the 4th of July dance competition, live music on Friday nights with Groove Holiday and Ultralowfi, J Will Pink Village Pillow Parties, musical bingo, and several events hosted by the Superior-Khandbari Sister City Project — including the art show and the Bazaar. My kids are regulars at the library annex and love the Super Smash Bros. gaming nights. All in all, the community center has been an incredible success for 2021 and I’m excited to see what’s to come in 2022.

We also brought back some fun events, like the 4th of July Parade and Chili & Beer Fest. It’s great that we’re finally able to gather again as a community, despite the challenges that COVID continues to cause.

Transportation & Public Works
We repaved a significant stretch of McCaslin Blvd. and completed a multi-year project at our Waste Water Treatment Plant. In 2022, Promenade Drive and the Marshall Bridge in Downtown Superior will be completed. We’ll have two new entrance points which should make it easier going to and from Downtown Superior. Outside of Superior, the Town is participating in the construction of the Chimney Hollow Reservoir as part of the Windy Gap Firming Project, which will ensure our Town’s access to drinking water into the future.

Sustainability
Our ACES Committee and the Town’s Sustainability Analyst drafted a Sustainability Action Plan, which we’ll be considering for formal adoption in early 2022. This plan will provide the Town with a blueprint to a greener and more sustainable future. This past year and for the first time ever, the Town purchased all of its energy from renewable sources (at the direction of the Board). Target recently installed solar panels on its roof and several EV charging stations as well. Going forward in 2022, all residents should start having access to composting which will further help Superior meet our sustainability goals in the future.

Economic Development
The Town is doing great financially. This year, we encouraged support for our local businesses with the Superior Cash program and provided several rounds of grants to our local businesses (funded by the Federal CARES ACT). Our Economic Development Manager is creating an economic incentive program while also building out a new Superior business website (https://superior-business.org/). We saw several new businesses open in Superior (Tequila y Mezchal, Boss Lady Pizza, Angry Horse Eatery, & Vetka Flowers) and worked to expand patio dining options in the Rock Creek Village shopping center. Other businesses like Fearless Motion Dance relocated to a new space in the Superior Marketplace and Safeway just completed an interior remodel. It’s always great to see businesses continue to invest in our community for the long haul.

Parks & Rec
In addition to all the work related to the Superior Community Center, our Parks & Recreation Department has been overseeing the construction of Parks 1 & 2 and a new playground in Downtown Superior. In 2022, we’ll see the design and construction of Central Park, as well as improvements to Purple Park’s playground.

Public Art
Our CAPS Committee continued to stay busy in 2021 and they brought us a lot of public art. Highlights included: the ARTery, Oerman-Roche Trailhead Rings (featured in this month’s blog post with my kids), Grasso Lights, several murals and various temporary art experiences. CAPS also created the first ever En Plein Air Fest in Purple Park. My family continues to have fun searching for and relocating the little porcelain birds that were painted by residents and are hidden around Town.

Planning & Development
2021 saw the start of construction by Carmel of the commercial core project along Main Street in Downtown Superior. We also saw the completion of the new Verizon Wireless macro tower in Community Park that hopefully will improve cell phone coverage in Superior. And the Town Board approved various Code amendments that will allow Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and the operation of Food Trucks in Superior.

Finance
The Town Board continued its 19-year long practice of lowering at least one Town controlled property tax rate (and will continue doing so in 2022). Internet sales tax revenues have increased dramatically since 2019 and our outstanding Town debt is $33 million (down from a high of $71 million in 2006). Over the 2022 – 2026 financial planning horizon, outstanding debt principal balances will be reduced by over $17.6 million, or on average more than $3.5 million annually.

Miscellaneous
In addition to all that is listed above, the Town joined several of our neighboring municipalities and counties in forming the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport Community Noise Roundtable (RMMA CNR) which will hopefully find solutions to the growing noise concerns that our residents have been dealing with originating out of RMMA.

2022 Goals & Priorities

There’s a lot to look forward to for Superior in 2022. Here’s an overview of some of my goals and priorities for the new year:

Downtown Superior – Continue to push for significant vertical construction for the commercial uses along main street as well as completion of Parks 1 & 2, Marshall Bridge, and the start of Central Park.

Transportation – I’m asking the Town Board to accelerate repaving/reconstruction of Rock Creek Parkway using excess Town reserve funds, and doing so will not require any tax increase. We’ll also complete Promenade Drive into Downtown Superior via 88th Street.

Landscape – At our November Town Board meeting, the Board selected Vargas as our Town’s landscape contractor for 2022. We need to fix damaged areas, replace aging plants and trees, and bring Superior back into the lovely place it should be. And we’ll be planting even more trees than we’ve ever planted and implementing design improvements at Wildflower Park.

Economic Development – The Town Board will soon consider adopting an economic incentive program to encourage businesses to invest in Superior. We also hope to improve resident telecommunications services by identifying a location for an AT&T Wireless macro facility as well. New businesses will come to town — one of which will be Santiago’s Mexican Restaurant which will open next to Wayne’s Smoke Shack in the Superior Marketplace and Target will be completing a interior remodel of their store as well.

Community Center – I’m pushing for a dedicated Community Center Facebook page/website to better communicate all of the programming happening at the Community Center to our residents. I hope the Town will Implement monthly/quarterly mailers to better communicate events as well.

Sustainability – We’ll implement our Sustainability Action Plan, continue to purchase our energy from renewable sources, and transition more of our vehicle fleet to EVs.

Pools – Our pools are beginning to show their age and are in need of some improvements. Next year, we’ll hopefully move forward with a plan to invest in and update/upgrade our pools.

Airport – The Town will continue to serve as a member of the RMMA Community Noise Roundtable (CNR). Through the RMMA CNR, I hope we can work with our neighbors to build consensus on arrival/departure flight path changes that will better avoid flying over residential areas. For more information about the CNR or to view past meetings, agendas, meeting materials, and upcoming agendas, please visit the CNR website.

Final Thoughts

Thank you as always for reading and I wish you and your family the happiest of holidays this season! We are so blessed to live in such an amazing place. See you in 2022!