Mountain View held our first town-wide yard sale this past month and it was a rip-roaring success. Over twenty households participated in our twelve-block town, and many community members told me they earned more money than anticipated. In addition to the usual furniture, books, and kitchen items, Venezuelan snacks were sold on Chase Street, cookies and lemonade were sold by a five-year-old girl on Eaton “to fund a trip to Paris,” (entirely her idea, her parents tell me) and Jenny on Depew even sold a car!
Over the last two and a half years, we’ve come together in wonderfully creative and fun ways – planting trees, repairing sidewalks, holding yard sales, watching movies outside, and listening to the talented music of our local musicians as they served up tunes for Taco Tuesdays.
I am here to tell you that this is just the beginning. We have so many more exciting and wonderful things ahead, and the newly updated Comprehensive Plan adopted by Council has many strategies for achieving them. Thanks to all of the community engagement throughout 2023, the plan tells a story of a future Mountain View that is close knit, vibrant, safe, and filled with purpose.
The plan lists ten key priorities that are important to us, and that are integral to our core values. They are things like maintaining our safe, close-knit neighborhood, prioritizing long-term fiscal health, having vibrant and high-quality community facilities and services, plus healthy and accessible public spaces. There are many more. Each one is expanded on extensively and multiple examples are provided for ways to achieve success when it comes to each area. Our Town Administrator, John Beltrone, will be working closely with Council to craft a strategy for implementing the plan.
This will be an exciting time to be in Mountain View. But it is also a clear-eyed and sober time, because we (like other communities throughout Colorado) have seen a decrease in recreational marijuana tax revenue. This revenue has been a boon for our town for the last several years. We have always known that we need to be careful not to rely on only a single type of revenue in order to fund our operations. Now, we will be looking to diversify the town revenue as one way to maintain our stability while we head into the exciting work of revitalizing our commercial corridors to provide a stable source of operating revenues for generations to come. Our Town Administrator and other key staff members are working to propose a variety of solutions for Council to consider.
The funds we currently have in savings are like building blocks to help us achieve long-term goals. The funds can be matched with grants from multiple sources and paired together, they have the potential to help us implement strategies to increase pedestrian safety; revitalize our commercial streets; and continue to update our infrastructure. We also deserve a Town Hall and park that meets our needs better. I believe these are all things on our horizon. And I am thrilled to be a part of helping us find the path forward to achieve these goals.
had handmade crafts and beautiful plants for sale.
