The Monday after Thanksgiving, Boulder, and so begins the final push to the end of the year. I hope your turkey wasn’t excessively dry, and your vegan loaf came close to satisfying.

Today, John Herrick covers electric scooters. After completing a pilot program in East Boulder, Boulder officials want the e-scooters’ reach expanded across the entire city, with some restrictions. The scooters are becoming an integral part of a broader strategy to reduce the number of cars on the road. Policy changes will probably chaperone the expansion to make the scooters safer to ride and lessen the likelihood of them being strewn across sidewalks or hurled into Boulder Creek.

Also, your utility cost might be going up, but the city at least tries to justify the hike. Turns out, water infrastructure doesn’t build itself.

Enjoy your Monday.

— Tim, reporter

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What to know today

  • Snow imminent: Don’t be lulled into complacency by today’s 50s. Snow is coming tomorrow as temps fall into the 20s. A winter advisory is in effect, and we can expect about 4-6 inches in Boulder between Monday night and Tuesday.
  • Covid’s winter wave? Boulder County’s Covid-19 cases are trending upward, as we’ve been tracking — not unlike in Colorado as a whole amid a “tripledemic” (RSV, flu, Covid). Notably, local Covid cases among older adults have bumped up again, according to the Boulder County Health Department data. Chart here. On Nov. 21, the case rate for adults ages 75+ over seven days was 410 per 100,000. On Sept. 1, it was about 22 per 100,000. Many infections are not reported at all, resulting in an undercount of cases. The number of hospitalized Covid patients has risen in the county in recent weeks.
  • Beware of the fake Neptune website: With holiday shopping underway and Cyber Monday happening today, Neptune Mountaineering, the Boulder-founded gear shop in South Boulder, is warning shoppers of a fake website that looks like Neptune’s — but is likely a scam. “Make sure you’re on the authentic Neptune Mountaineering website when you’re ready to shop with us online.” The store offers tips for reporting this scam or others.
  • Where does your utility money go? City council recently spoke of potential utility rate increases, an average bump of a significant $7.60 a month. Boulder released an explanation of where money they collect is spent. Three branches of the utilities make up the bulk of the city’s spending.
    • Water utility: Boulder provides residents water at the cost of about 44 glasses of water for a penny. Behind those 44 glasses of water for a cent lie water treatment facilities that require upkeep, testing procedures to ensure water is meeting standards, and staffing to run the whole operation. Boulder especially has aging infrastructure — notably the Barker Gravity Pipeline, which delivers about a third of Boulder’s water and is more than 100 years old. Investment in rejuvenating those tired pipes means our faucets won’t run dry due to a rusty explosion.
    • Wastewater utility: Like its drinking water infrastructure, much of Boulder’s sewer lines are aging. In addition to replacing what needs replacing, wastewater requires treatment just like drinking water. Completed at the Water Resources Recovery Facility, wastewater is treated before returning to Boulder Creek, with biogas recovered in the process, part of Boulder’s climate work.
    • Stormwater and flood management: With Boulder at the top of the podium in Colorado for flood risk, maintenance of its 16 major drainageways, 160 miles of pipes and 4,800 catch basins is necessary. Education programs around flooding are also provided through the utility funds.
  • City’s Youth Internship Program reactivated: After a two-year break, the internship program is returning for summer 2023. The program is for rising juniors at high schools in Boulder who want insight into the workings of local government.
    • The internship runs for six weeks, from June 1 through July 31. Applications open Jan. 6 and close Feb. 20.
  • Weekend of healing: The Louisville Recreation & Senior Center will be hosting a series of events from Dec. 8 through Dec. 11 to help those affected by the Marshall Fire. Several walks, yoga and meditation sessions are intended to help fire survivors process and recover from the disaster whose anniversary is fast approaching. The weekend is part of the county’s ongoing Marshall Fire and Wind Event Commemoration that launched on Nov. 19, and includes counseling services, a holiday market and more.
    • An interfaith service of support and healing will be one of the few events open to the public, on Thursday, Dec. 29, at St. Ambrose Episcopal Church.

Go deeper

Boulder considers expanding Lime e-scooter program across the entire city

By John Herrick

City of Boulder transportation officials are considering allowing electric scooters across the entire city as part of a broader goal to help encourage residents to drive less. 

The city has already allowed about 300 e-scooters mostly east of 28th Street as part of a pilot program that launched in August 2021. The scooters, manufactured by Lime, a San Francisco-based company, are controlled by GPS technology that limits where they can go and how fast. 

City transportation officials presented the results of a preliminary study of the pilot program to the Transportation Advisory Board on Nov. 14. In doing so, they recommended greatly expanding where the scooters are allowed to go — across the entire city, with some new restrictions, including prohibiting them on Pearl Street. 

The e-scooters, the report states, “may be instrumental in significantly contributing to a shift from the dependence of motor vehicles.” 

Nearly half of scooter riders who completed a recent city survey said they used a scooter when they otherwise would have driven a car or requested a ride through a rideshare app. From March 2018 to November 2022, the city gathered 1,022 survey responses from residents about e-scooters. About a third of the respondents, 343, had ridden one. 

“There’s … an appreciation for shared e-scooters, as they provide a new alternative to driving and they are considered a more convenient mode of transportation, which are also fun to ride,” Dave Kemp, a senior city transportation planner, told the Transportation Advisory Board. 

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BRL picks

🚕 Sales taxes open house: On Tuesday, Nov. 29, the county is holding an open house on the recently passed Boulder County sales taxes that will fund fire mitigation and emergency services — ballot measures 1A and 1B. The open forum will allow the public to tell county staff what programs they think are most important when the time comes to decide what to fund.

❄️ St. Nick on the Bricks: The next four Saturdays leading up to Christmas will host a chance for kids to meet Santa. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday in December, except for Dec. 10 when it’s 11 p.m. to 3 p.m., the gift-deliverer will be outside on the 1300 block of the Pearl Street Mall.

🐧 Augmented reality downtown: Running through Jan. 31, downtown Boulder can be viewed through a series of Instagram filters promoting the winter season. Penguins, not normally seen in our town, will be available to meet, as will gingerbread folk, who have similarly not been seen in Boulder for several years. Signs along Pearl Street with QR codes will direct the self-guided tour. The city’s website has all the locations listed.

👩‍🎤 Storm Large’s Holiday Ordeal: “Intoxicating, fierce, a rock siren. What better way to experience the season than with Pink Martini’s punk goddess performing holiday rock and roll?” Intrigued? Check out the night of music, laughs and gifts at Macky Auditorium on Sunday, Dec. 11 at 7.30 p.m. Tickets $23-$90.

⛰️ Speaking of Neptune Mountaineering: At the store on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m., attend the release of IFMGA Mountain Guide Mike Soucy’s new book and guide, “Backcountry Skiing Rocky Mountain National Park.” For free.

👩‍🌾 Support local farmers — re-upping: When you’re shopping for the holidays, be sure to shop local. A prime opportunity to do that is the two-day Boulder County Winter Market. With farmers providing everything from kale to lamb, some of the more artisanal items will include coffee, soaps, and candles. The market will run Dec. 3 and 4 in Longmont at the Boulder County Fairgrounds (9595 Nelson Road).

Covid in Boulder County: Nov. 28, 2022

  • 98 daily new cases (7-day avg.) ⬆️ Up 16% over preceding 7-day avg.
  • 19 patients hospitalized with Covid (7-day avg.) Same as a high of 19 last week.
  • 74% percent of ICU is occupied. ⬆️ Up from avg. of 64% since July 2020.
  • Here’s a graph of the recent bump in COVID cases among Boulder County residents, as noted above.

What else we’re reading

  • A member of Boulder’s police oversight committee resigned in protest over the panel’s recommendations being ignored by the Boulder Police Department, Boulder Beat reported over the weekend. This comes after the panel’s debut report arrived with concern from members about overwork and little pay, causing early turnover. The Boulder City Council seated the oversight panel in February 2021, less than a year after body camera footage showing a Boulder officer drawing his gun on a Black student garnered national headlines and stoked calls for police accountability. 
  • Marshall Fire class-action lawsuit against Xcel moves forward. Despite investigators not releasing a known cause for the fire, Judge Christopher Zenisek of the First Judicial District (Jefferson and Gilpin Counties) allowed the lawsuit to continue its trot through the court system. The lawsuit was filed by lead plaintiffs George and Lisa Kupfner, owners of Eldorado Liquor. It alleges the fire was caused by downed power lines.

ICYMI

Tim Drugan was a climate and environment reporter for Boulder Reporting Lab.