WEBVTT
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00:00:09.119Hello and welcome to the Inside Arvada Podcast, the official podcast of the City of Arvada.
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00:00:17.920Our guest today is Parks Manager Steve Guftison, who joins us to talk about how our Parks Department has been navigating drought restrictions throughout the summer and now into the fall.
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00:00:26.800Steve has been with the city since 2017 and has been in his role of overseeing our robust parks, trails, and open space network since 2019.
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00:00:29.600And as always, I'm joined by my co-host, Katie Patterson.
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00:00:30.079Hi, Katie.
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00:00:31.440Hey, Sean, and hi Steve.
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00:00:32.479Thanks for joining us again.
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00:00:33.600Thanks for having me.
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00:00:39.679So folks know we've been in stage one drought water restrictions since April.
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00:00:41.039It's been a while.
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00:00:47.200And now we're asking folks to stop their lawn irrigation beginning on October 1st.
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00:00:49.200And you mentioned this offline a little bit.
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00:00:52.719That's when we typically start to shut down irrigation season.
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00:01:00.799But we will see parks and golf course using their variants to continue to water at some locations throughout October.
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00:01:04.480Why is it important to keep watering athletic fields?
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00:01:05.840It's about safety, right?
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00:01:06.560Yeah.
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00:01:14.560So basically what we're trying to do in that part is we're trying to keep a consistent playing field and we're also trying to make sure it doesn't become too compacted, right?
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00:01:19.760So we're worried about injuries not only to our youth, but also our adults that use those fields.
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00:01:21.760And so adults are injury prone.
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00:01:23.840So gotta be careful that unfortunately.
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00:01:28.480But when the heart of the playing surface, too, you really worry about concussions too.
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00:01:30.400And we really want to stay away from that.
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00:01:38.879So it helps those fields rebound quicker, and it also will help them coming out of the winter into the spring so they have a better playing surface as well.
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00:01:39.439Okay.
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00:01:44.159And then you mentioned there are a few like high traffic, high use um parks.
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00:01:45.599What are a few examples of those?
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00:01:50.000So a couple of those will be um homestead, we have football practice there.
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00:01:54.640Uh Westwoods, we still have football practice and some baseball and softball.
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00:02:01.040Um in Beaman, we also have football practice, and it's used as a playground for the kids at the school, too.
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00:02:01.519Okay.
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00:02:08.319And those high traffic um areas, pieces of grass need to be treated differently too, right?
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00:02:18.479It's not just like my backyard where, you know, my dog might run around a little bit, or occasionally the the grasses that get that high traffic also probably need to be treated differently, right?
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00:02:19.919Or taken care of a little bit differently.
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00:02:26.639Yeah, it'll help them rebound and we'll go in and we'll aerate that area as well to kind of help loosen that soil up a little bit.
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00:02:32.800But yeah, but the kind of traffic, high traffic is not your dog running back and out or your kids running back and out.
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00:02:42.080We're talking about hundreds of kids on that field daily, and it's thousands that are up there trapping or tracking all over that field for you know for a week.
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00:02:45.840And so it's it's really when we say high traffic, I mean it is high traffic.
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00:02:46.080Trevor Burrus, Jr.
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00:02:50.000Yeah, because you know, we ask some folks on Instagram, you know, what do you want to know about this topic?
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00:02:54.479And they're like, well, why are these you know parks, athletic fields, golf courses treated differently?
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00:02:55.759And it's exactly that.
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00:03:03.840They are shared community spaces, and so they kind of get treated a little bit differently than your residential lawn that we're asking folks to stop watering here in October.
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00:03:05.439So that's kind of the distinction there.
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00:03:17.520Take us back, though, kind of going back to when the restrictions were first put in place in April and all the things that you and your team have done to limit water use in accordance to Denver Water's restrictions.
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00:03:22.000So we were asked a little different than what the homeowners were asked.
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00:03:25.439So we were asked to cut 20% of our water usage.
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00:03:26.879And so that's what we have done.
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00:03:34.639And we've done that by either adjusting percentages on water times, and we've also done it by adjusting our weather stations.
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00:03:40.560So we have a computerized irrigation system that we run most of our sites off of.
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00:03:48.159Um and those weather stations would in the old days, if we got 0.12 of an inch or over, then we would shut down a park.
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00:03:51.360During this drought, we've dropped that down to 0.08.
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00:03:56.560So if we get less than a tenth of an inch, those um parks will be shutting down.
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00:04:10.479And we have uh a drought plan for our parks and our um golf courses that help kind of guide our decisions and dictate what areas are prioritized, where we keep irrigating normally and what areas we can maybe back off some of the irrigation.
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00:04:12.080Did we do that in our parks?
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00:04:16.240Do we maybe water less in certain areas that are not actively used?
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00:04:17.920Yeah, we definitely do that.
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00:04:23.120So we will concentrate our water on the playing surface for like athletic fields and different things like that.
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00:04:29.600And then we will also concentrate water on trees and shrubs because they're uh what we call our green infrastructure, right?
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00:04:31.199That's a high value.
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00:04:33.839We have a lot of money in that infrastructure.
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00:04:38.560So we will target our water more towards athletic fields, more towards our trees and our shrubs.
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00:04:43.040And then even in our athletic fields, we'll even draw the water back on the outsides of the playing field.
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00:04:50.160So you can kind of see a difference when you drive by Stinger where the, you know, the sides of the park may not look as green as the actual playing surfaces do.
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00:04:53.680I think this is just a good like reminder too.
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00:04:59.519Like most people don't have access, you know, like at your home, you don't have this like computerized technology to help.
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00:05:03.120I mean, some like we have smart irrigations that help with weather and and things.
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00:05:19.040Some folks may have that stuff, but generally, like you'll have so much more training, knowledge, and technology to support your efforts to reduce in a like data-driven way by 20%, where that's just like not really re the same for the average resident.
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00:05:26.720So I'm just kind of, I don't know, throwing that together that it's a little that also is why you get a variance and do things a little bit differently.
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00:05:31.360Yeah, yeah, we definitely have a little more control over how much water we're putting out at one time.
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00:05:38.480And um, you know, we're tied in with the utilities on the smart meter, so we can t check through smart meters and then we have our own water meters as well.
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00:05:40.079So we can kind of determine that way.
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00:05:44.160And so we know on a daily basis exactly how much water we put out the night before.
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00:05:47.120That is a good plug for folks to get IOM water also.
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00:05:50.560So download the app and you might be able to track your own water use at home.
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00:05:54.240If you have a rubber, black rubber lid on your water meter.
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00:05:55.519And it'll tell you, right?
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00:05:57.120Like your compared to last year.
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00:05:58.72015-minute increments.
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00:06:03.120Um I think it it updates maybe hourly or something like that, might be daily.
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00:06:04.959Um, but it's super accurate.
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00:06:07.839They're still installing those across the city, so not available everywhere.
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00:06:09.839But um super good tool.
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00:06:16.319I know a lot of folks have gotten it downloaded since this year in the drought, and everybody's paying so much attention to their water use outdoors.
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00:06:24.639And you can learn more about this at arvata co.gov slash ionwater, which is E Y-E-O-N water.
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00:06:30.079Yeah, and that drought plan that we mentioned, it also includes uh prioritization for our golf courses.
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00:06:38.480We you know, we own and operate Westwoods and Lake Arbor golf courses, and you know, those courses have been prioritizing high-use areas just like the parks have.
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00:06:49.199So the greens and fairways and tea boxes have been watered more regularly, whereas we've cut back significantly on our rough and our native and our practice areas, um, really going back to the spring.
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00:06:53.759We've increased significantly the amount of hand watering that we're doing out on courses.
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00:07:03.519So if there's a little bit of dry spot, the most efficient way is to go out and get someone literally with a hose and water that area so that we're, you know, making sure it gets the water it's needed without wasting really anything.
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00:07:06.480Uh we've increased the use of wetting agents.
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00:07:08.240Um What's a wetting agent?
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00:07:11.279And so I believe it's essentially like a soap.
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00:07:18.560Steve might know a little bit more than I do, but I think it's like a soap essentially that trains the grass to maintain moisture better.
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00:07:19.120Yes.
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00:07:19.680Okay.
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00:07:20.639Wow.
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00:07:20.800Okay.
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00:07:21.439Pretty cool.
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00:07:25.680I was out there the other day and you could see the uh the soap on the fairways.
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00:07:26.079Yeah.
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00:07:30.399And so it is dyed so that we can tell just where we put the wetting agents down and whatnot.
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00:07:32.959I think it's similar to Revive, right?
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00:07:34.319Very similar, yes.
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00:07:44.000And so our golf courses are doing a number of different things to really just maximize every drop of water that goes on those courses because we know we get a lot of questions from community.
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00:07:45.120Well, what about golf courses?
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00:07:45.839They look so green.
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00:07:56.319Well, they're green because, you know, it's a service, and there's a paying customer, but also, you know, they are experts at, you know, really maximizing this water use.
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00:08:05.439They have weather station data, you know, weather stations throughout the course that take into account how much precipitation we get naturally, as well as how much evaporation is leaving.
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00:08:11.120And so they've got just tons of tools in their toolbox, which I know a lot of that you and your team have as well.
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00:08:21.600And then kind of going back to that prioritization is they shut off irrigation to the driving ranges and to the landscape around the clubhouses, um, really going back to the spring.
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00:08:33.919So you can see that very obvious when you go to the courses of the the grounds around the clubhouse and the driving range are all brown and dried out because we're using water on the courses on the tea boxes and in the fairways instead of areas like that.
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00:08:38.879So um just wanted to, you know, we get questions about our golf courses and want to kind of address that.
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00:08:43.279I'm sure a lot of the same techniques that they're using, you're using as well as with your team, Steve.
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00:08:47.120Yeah, definitely, especially with the use of the the weather stations, those definitely help.
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00:08:52.320And then um our computerized irrigation system is it's not the same as theirs, but it's but it's very similar.
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00:08:58.000And you know, it's important to know too, we can't send people out to to ham water all the parks that we have.
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00:08:59.360We have over 100 parks, right?
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00:09:01.279So that we couldn't, we're not able to do that.
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00:09:03.519But our golf course team is definitely able to do that.
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00:09:04.879And you see them out there every morning.
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00:09:10.320If there's a if there's a dry spot somewhere, it's with a hose and they're making sure not they're not wasting water anywhere else.
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00:09:11.919It's just that dry spot they're hitting.
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00:09:20.159Yeah, Joan Coonsey, the golf maintenance manager, uh equated it to like if you're touching up some paint on your wall, you're not gonna use a big roller, right?
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00:09:25.679You're just gonna go up with like a little paintbrush, and that's kind of a similar uh comparison there for what they do with the hand watering.
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00:09:26.879Good analogy.
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00:09:32.480So um we've talked a lot about what we've done to kind of cut back and conserve.
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00:09:34.960Um, what have the impacts of that been this year?
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00:09:38.240What are we kind of seeing around the parks and and things?
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00:09:41.919So we're we're definitely seeing more brown areas in the parks.
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00:09:44.639We're definitely seeing more bare dirt in the parks.
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00:09:49.039And unfortunately, with that, we're also seeing more weeds in the parks.
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00:09:54.320Um a good healthy stand of grass is gonna outcompete weeds, right?
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00:09:59.840And that's what we typically want because then we're using less pesticides around our parks and and our facilities.
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00:10:07.440But because of the drought, you're gonna see a thinner bluegrass, which is not necessarily a good thing, right?
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00:10:16.320Because that's gonna bring some of those weeds in and areas get trampled more down and it gets it starts just looking the way some of our parks look right now, unfortunately.
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00:10:20.000But if we can keep them green, then we're gonna choke those weeds out.
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00:10:29.120If we can keep them that turf thriving, um, we won't have those bare areas and we'll be much better off when we move into the spring.
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00:10:34.799And um, you were mentioning that bluegrass is a cool season grass.
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00:10:39.279So will it start to kind of do better as we get into colder weather?
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00:10:40.639Does it just go dormant?
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00:10:41.679So it doesn't really matter.
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00:10:42.320Yeah.
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00:10:47.039Uh that that's the one thing that's kind of the misnomer about about bluegrass is it is a cool season grass.
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00:10:49.679So it thrives in the fall and it thrives in the spring.
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00:10:53.200And it really doesn't like the hot temperatures like we get in the summer here.
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00:10:56.799So that's why the homeowners don't have to mow as often, and neither do we.
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00:11:01.279So we we try to cut back mowing when we can um during the hot summer times.
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00:11:09.840But but yeah, right now the bluegrass is loving the cold temperatures at night, and it's just storing all that excess energy that it can, and it's ready to go dormant.
00:11:11.519 -->
00:11:24.080And it's just another thing you mentioned offline before we started recording is the history of the land use and the park and the soil conditions will also really dictate like how well grass grows.
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00:11:32.159So we might be watering two parks equally, and one might look really dried out and maybe some weeds, whereas the other one might be thriving.
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00:11:33.200And and why is that?
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00:11:34.799Yeah, it's really interesting.
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00:11:42.240But yeah, you can see if if say a park was built on farmland, it probably has really good soil underneath it and not a whole lot of rocks, right?
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00:11:47.279And so those areas are gonna thrive because you're this the roots can get much deeper into the soil.
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00:11:54.799Whereas a park, if it was built on really the hard clays with a bunch of rocks, you're gonna see that when it gets hotter, it's gonna brown out quicker.
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00:12:01.440And it has to do not only because the soil heats up quicker, but also we don't get those roots down as deep as we do in the better soils.
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00:12:04.799So what will will we need to do more?
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00:12:09.360Um, and you may not totally know this yet, but like reseeding, resotting.
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00:12:13.840What will that what's kind of like the future looking like to the point you know?
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00:12:16.320So a couple different things.
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00:12:22.879For one, if you look at some of our newer parks, we we have both bluegrass and we have more native areas, right?
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00:12:26.879So native grasses really thrive in the kind of soils that we have out here.
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00:12:31.200So that's why you kind of see a little bit of both within our new parks, and we use less water.
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00:12:35.279But another thing we can do is start looking at different types of of grass.
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00:12:42.799And so we'll be putting more fescues um into some of our parks, which are more drought tolerant and they actually get deeper rooted.
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00:12:47.759Whereas bluegrass is not known for getting really deep roots, they kind of go sideways.
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00:12:55.679Um whereas the um the fescues will go deeper in, and then they can it can take some of that moisture that's down deeper in the soils.
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00:12:56.799So they do better.
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00:13:05.039They don't get as green as the bluegrass will, but they do better in the in the droughts like we're having right now and definitely require a lot less water.
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00:13:05.679Cool.
00:13:06.399 -->
00:13:16.159And so, you know, we mentioned the the lawn watering will uh come to an end starting October 1st, but not all watering is, you know, banned starting October 1st.
00:13:16.320 -->
00:13:20.879We still want folks to water their their trees and their plants and shrubs when needed.
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00:13:22.720Parks, your team will be doing the same.
00:13:22.799 -->
00:13:28.399We'll be going out watering our trees because we don't want those trees to, you know, those are tough assets to replace.
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00:13:31.759Once you lose a tree, it takes years and years to replace.
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00:13:39.600And so um, I guess just help some folks give them some tips about how to take care of their trees into the fall and into the winter.
00:13:39.919 -->
00:13:41.440What should they be looking for?
00:13:41.519 -->
00:13:42.879Um, what are some tips?
00:13:43.519 -->
00:13:49.519So for us, uh what we're doing is any tree that was planted within the last five years, we will be winter watering.
00:13:49.679 -->
00:13:49.919Right.
00:13:50.000 -->
00:13:55.200So we have a couple large um water tanks that we'll take out to all of our parks and we will water those.
00:13:55.440 -->
00:14:06.080Kind of the rule of thumb is that for every inch of diameter, you put down 10 gallons of water underneath that the drip line or the tree canopy.
00:14:06.320 -->
00:14:08.320And you kind of spread that water throughout.
00:14:08.399 -->
00:14:13.600So you can start close to the trunk, probably six, eight inches away from the trunk, and then move that water out.
00:14:13.759 -->
00:14:16.960And you kind of want to have it water what we would say a trickle, right?
00:14:17.120 -->
00:14:24.559So you don't want to put it all down right at once because it's gonna run off, but you want that water to get slowly into the soils and you move it around.
00:14:24.639 -->
00:14:30.639Um, and then you put, like I said, 10 inches per um or 10 gallons per caliper inch.
00:14:31.200 -->
00:14:39.039And we um put some of these tips in the October, November Arvada report as well as the September, October utility bill insert.
00:14:39.120 -->
00:14:42.320So if folks need a refresher, um, those are good resources too.
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00:14:54.960Yeah, and typically if we get you know the moisture that we normally get, um, not like what happened last year, but um, you know, they may need to do some watering October, November, maybe into December.
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00:15:02.080And then typically by then we're starting to get snow and we're starting to get the moisture, and they may not have to water in from January, February, and March.
00:15:02.240 -->
00:15:06.799Well, we can hopefully rely on Mother Nature, but if not, we can definitely do that.
00:15:07.200 -->
00:15:07.360Yeah.
00:15:07.440 -->
00:15:08.960So kind of just keep an eye on weather.
00:15:09.039 -->
00:15:14.720If it's feeling like things are abnormally hot and dry again, make sure those those trees you have get some get some water.
00:15:15.039 -->
00:15:18.320And younger trees um don't have as deep of root systems.
00:15:18.399 -->
00:15:21.519So that's a part of why you're prioritizing the five-year and younger.
00:15:21.919 -->
00:15:22.240Correct.
00:15:22.480 -->
00:15:23.039Yeah.
00:15:23.360 -->
00:15:30.480Um, okay, so w last question, what are any like misconceptions or common questions that you get that we can clear up?
00:15:31.279 -->
00:15:46.480I I'd say probably the the biggest one we've gotten recently is I walk this park every day and the sprinklers are on every day or four days in a row, or some of our parks are so big that we can't water the whole park in one day.
00:15:46.639 -->
00:15:49.679So we'll split it up north and south or east and west.
00:15:49.759 -->
00:15:53.200So we water half the park one night and then the other half the next night.
00:15:53.360 -->
00:16:00.480So if you see a park watering four days in a row, truly we only watered it for two days because we had to do half it each time.
00:16:00.559 -->
00:16:04.080Or if you see it watering for six days, that was really only three days.
00:16:04.480 -->
00:16:08.639Um, and they need to know that that we're still going off that 20% reduction.
00:16:08.879 -->
00:16:13.279So they see it watering, but they think it's at 100% and it's not, it's at 80%.
00:16:15.200 -->
00:16:24.000As we mentioned earlier, we did um take to Instagram and and ask folks, you know, uh what they want to know specific to drought restrictions and impacts to our parks.
00:16:24.080 -->
00:16:27.679And so we do have a couple of questions we wanted to ask you before we move on to trivia.
00:16:27.759 -->
00:16:34.159And so one of them you touched on earlier, Steve, is about the use of more native plants in some of our parks.
00:16:34.320 -->
00:16:43.600And so um, can you just kind of expand on that and um how that's one of the ways that we're you know conserving water in our park system?
00:16:44.000 -->
00:16:58.320Yeah, if if you look at more of our newer parks or parks that we've gone in, gone in and and we've done kind of a refurbishing of, you'll notice that we have a lot more native grasses in those areas uh simply because our soils can withstand it better.
00:16:58.480 -->
00:17:03.759Um also we were putting a lot of bluegrass down and those areas weren't necessarily being used as much, right?
00:17:03.919 -->
00:17:08.640So we tried to concentrate our bluegrass areas into areas where people, kids can play.
00:17:08.720 -->
00:17:12.720Um, and then outside of that, we're trying to do more native uh planting.
00:17:12.799 -->
00:17:16.960So we'll water those in for the first two, maybe three years if needed.
00:17:17.119 -->
00:17:22.000And then those native grasses can just flourish and they'll be just fine without the added water.
00:17:22.400 -->
00:17:22.640Yeah.
00:17:22.720 -->
00:17:25.119Um, Serenity Ridge Park is a great example of that.
00:17:25.279 -->
00:17:26.799Mard Roberts Park as well.
00:17:26.880 -->
00:17:37.200Those are kind of um two examples of you can see there is a, especially Serenity Ridge, they've got like kind of a small patch of the bluegrass there in the middle, and then everything else on the sort of exterior there is all native grass.
00:17:37.519 -->
00:17:46.400Yeah, we're definitely trying to keep our our bluegrass footprint smaller than it was before, but still trying to have active areas so people can enjoy these parks.
00:17:46.799 -->
00:17:47.039All right.
00:17:47.119 -->
00:17:54.720And then another question we have of um, you know, do sprinklers in our data parks have any kind of audit measure to ensure consistent watering?
00:17:54.880 -->
00:17:58.960And so, like you mentioned, we do have computerized irrigation in most of our parks.
00:17:59.119 -->
00:18:06.799How does that computerized irrigation help monitor things like leaks and breaks and alarm systems and so that we're not wasting a whole bunch of water or something?
00:18:07.359 -->
00:18:08.880Yeah, it's it's a it's a great question.
00:18:09.039 -->
00:18:17.200So all of our sites that are on the computerized irrigation, which we're we're close to 90% now, um, they have a water meter.
00:18:17.359 -->
00:18:23.440And so when a zone turns on, that computer knows how many how many gallons per minute it should be putting out.
00:18:23.680 -->
00:18:32.799And so if it's over that or even under that by a certain percentage, and I think we're at like 8% or it might be 5%, um, then we get an alarm.
00:18:33.039 -->
00:18:42.880Now, if we get two alarms of high flows back to back, it automatically assumes there's a mainline break and it shuts that irrigation system down until we go out and we clear that alarm.
00:18:43.119 -->
00:18:45.359So we do have kind of checks and balances.
00:18:45.440 -->
00:18:48.799Um so we know we don't always know if a sprinkler's not going left or right.
00:18:48.880 -->
00:18:51.759So if you see one stuck, please use the Ask Arvada.
00:18:52.240 -->
00:18:56.000But if it comes to breaks, we do have a way of determining that.
00:18:56.400 -->
00:19:01.279And then our final question was about weeds, you know, um, how to control weeds, weed mitigation.
00:19:01.359 -->
00:19:06.720What are some tips you have for some folks who might have a little bit more based on, you know, the conditions that we've been talking about?
00:19:07.119 -->
00:19:15.519Yeah, and it it basically if you can get a healthy stand of bluegrass, um, that bluegrass will outcompete the weeds.
00:19:15.839 -->
00:19:18.960Right now, that's hard to do because of the drought, and I understand that.
00:19:19.119 -->
00:19:29.119But a good thing going into the winter is we're still gonna aerate our parks like we're gonna have a normal winter, and we're still gonna overseed our parks like we're gonna have a normal winter, and that will help.
00:19:29.279 -->
00:19:37.440Um, there are other ways than than spraying um chemicals, which none of us like to do, to control weeds, um, and that is by pulling them.
00:19:37.599 -->
00:19:39.920Not always the funnel, but you can pull weeds.
00:19:40.079 -->
00:19:41.759Um, integrated pest management.
00:19:41.839 -->
00:19:50.240So you can pull weeds, you can spray reeds, or you can mechanically use a weedy and cut them down low, and then eventually that bluegrass can actually outcompete them.
00:19:50.720 -->
00:19:52.240You can also burn them.
00:19:52.640 -->
00:19:53.519You can burn them.
00:19:53.680 -->
00:20:00.480Um I don't want anyone to light their their yards on fire or anything, but you can burn them if they're in, say, a rocky area.
00:20:00.720 -->
00:20:04.559That might be a good place or your driveway or something like that.
00:20:04.720 -->
00:20:06.000Yes, you can do that.
00:20:06.160 -->
00:20:13.599Um, vinegar is also something you can use, but it it's a high concentrate of vinegar, so it's something you have to be extremely careful with.
00:20:13.920 -->
00:20:18.240Yeah, use the uh personal protection there if you're gonna use the high concentrate vinegar.
00:20:18.640 -->
00:20:20.720All right, one last segment before we let you go, Steve.
00:20:20.799 -->
00:20:22.240We got trivia this time around.
00:20:22.319 -->
00:20:28.240We got three questions loosely related to this topic, most mostly on the athletic fields realm of things.
00:20:28.319 -->
00:20:31.119So I'll ask you a question, provide you some multiple choice options.
00:20:31.279 -->
00:20:34.160If you happen to know the answer, let the other person guess.
00:20:34.720 -->
00:20:34.960All right.
00:20:35.599 -->
00:20:39.920Question one: what year did the city acquire Stenger Sports Complex?
00:20:40.160 -->
00:20:44.2401978, 1988, 1998, or 2008?
00:20:45.519 -->
00:20:46.400Well, I know the answer.
00:20:46.559 -->
00:20:47.200You want me to tell you?
00:20:47.519 -->
00:20:48.880I'll see if Katie has a guess.
00:20:49.599 -->
00:20:49.920B.
00:20:50.480 -->
00:20:50.96088?
00:20:51.200 -->
00:20:51.359Yeah.
00:20:51.759 -->
00:20:52.559Uh no.
00:20:53.200 -->
00:20:53.92078.
00:20:54.799 -->
00:20:57.119Um I've got 98 here.
00:20:57.519 -->
00:21:00.720Um, did we manage it before?
00:21:01.119 -->
00:21:05.680Um so the uh the information I found was 1998.
00:21:05.759 -->
00:21:10.960It was originally constructed and managed by the Arvada Soccer Association through a lease with the Stenger family.
00:21:11.119 -->
00:21:15.440In 1998, the city of Arbata received open space funding and acquired the complex.
00:21:15.839 -->
00:21:16.240That's true.
00:21:16.400 -->
00:21:16.960That part's true.
00:21:17.200 -->
00:21:18.079So it was built then.
00:21:19.440 -->
00:21:20.640But it was being used prior to that.
00:21:20.880 -->
00:21:21.359Yeah, sorry.
00:21:22.960 -->
00:21:25.200I I actually couldn't find when it was built, so there we go.
00:21:25.359 -->
00:21:26.559Complete complete the whole thing.
00:21:26.720 -->
00:21:27.599Uh question number two.
00:21:27.920 -->
00:21:31.759Speaking of the Stengers, the complex is named after Reese Stenger.
00:21:32.079 -->
00:21:34.480What was Reese's occupation?
00:21:34.960 -->
00:21:38.400Uh real estate broker, teacher, coach, or banker?
00:21:39.519 -->
00:21:41.119I thought he was a farmer.
00:21:42.720 -->
00:21:43.519Banker.
00:21:44.240 -->
00:21:44.960I don't know.
00:21:45.200 -->
00:21:46.160I'll go coach.
00:21:46.559 -->
00:21:47.279Uh banker.
00:21:48.160 -->
00:21:51.119He was the uh the president of First National Bank.
00:21:51.440 -->
00:21:51.680Oh.
00:21:51.920 -->
00:21:52.319Yep.
00:21:52.960 -->
00:22:01.279So and then question three, Harold Lutz, Lutz Sports Complex, right there next to Stenger, um named after Harold Lutz.
00:22:01.759 -->
00:22:03.599What was his occupation?
00:22:04.079 -->
00:22:13.839Was Harold a lawyer, a judge, one of the founders of North Jeffco Park and Rec District, now called Apex, or is one of the founders of the Evergreen Park and Rec District?
00:22:15.039 -->
00:22:16.799I'm going Apex founder.
00:22:17.119 -->
00:22:17.440I don't know.
00:22:17.680 -->
00:22:19.519I can't guess the same thing, so I'll go judge.
00:22:19.920 -->
00:22:20.640It's a trick question.
00:22:20.720 -->
00:22:21.680He was all of the above.
00:22:22.240 -->
00:22:23.200There we go.
00:22:23.680 -->
00:22:30.640Um yeah, he was an attorney who helped was the original organizers of North Jeffco Park and Rec District in 1956.
00:22:30.960 -->
00:22:34.079He continued as the district's attorney until 94.
00:22:34.559 -->
00:22:38.480The Harold Lutz Sports Complex was named after him in 1981.
00:22:38.640 -->
00:22:46.400And it was said that he was motivated to begin the park and rec district in the 50s after there were several drownings actually in the Arabic community.
00:22:46.480 -->
00:22:49.519So he wanted to build some pools for kids to swim and learn on.
00:22:49.680 -->
00:22:55.200I think we uh originally found that out when we had Hillary from Apex back uh several years ago on the podcast.
00:22:55.839 -->
00:22:56.480Good memory.
00:22:57.680 -->
00:23:01.920All right, that wraps it up uh for trivia and for uh the interview with Steve.
00:23:02.079 -->
00:23:02.960Thank you so much for joining us.
00:23:03.279 -->
00:23:04.720Thanks again for having me.
00:23:08.720 -->
00:23:11.039As a reminder, we love hearing from our listeners.
00:23:11.200 -->
00:23:18.079You can stay in touch by texting us using the link at the top of the show notes or emailing us at podcast at arvata.org.
00:23:18.240 -->
00:23:22.799We love hearing feedback about what you enjoy, what you'd like to see differently, episode ideas, and more.
00:23:23.039 -->
00:23:32.400Our final movies around town series wraps up on Friday, October 9th at Clear Creek Valley Park with a free showing of our People's Choice movie poll winner, The Nightmare Before Christmas.
00:23:32.559 -->
00:23:35.519You can learn more at arvataco.gov slash movies.
00:23:35.839 -->
00:23:36.640Great movie.
00:23:36.880 -->
00:23:46.880Um, reminder, it's what we talked about today, but lawn watering does end October 1st, um, and all the other stage one water restrictions will still be in effect.
00:23:46.960 -->
00:23:52.960Um, and there won't be any fall seed or sod planting variances for folks this fall.
00:23:53.119 -->
00:23:59.920Um and then we did also just add a new water use and supply update part of that website.
00:24:00.079 -->
00:24:10.559And so on the um Arvada CO.gov slash drought webpage, there's a subpage now that you can see kind of what our month-to-month trends are looking like for water use and savings.
00:24:10.960 -->
00:24:15.039Um and then we also have started posting council meeting recaps.
00:24:15.200 -->
00:24:19.680So that's for the business meetings that are on the first and third Tuesdays of the month.
00:24:19.839 -->
00:24:22.720We post a recap the next day on Wednesday.
00:24:23.200 -->
00:24:27.519So those are available at arvataco.gov slash council recaps.
00:24:28.160 -->
00:24:31.440And thank you again to our guest today, Steve Gusteson.
00:24:31.759 -->
00:24:38.400Be sure to listen to our next episode with Chad Hollingsworth, and he's gonna be talking with us about playground renovation projects.
00:24:38.559 -->
00:24:42.720Today's podcast was recorded and edited by Arvada Creative Services.
00:24:43.440 -->
00:24:51.599And today's fun fact is Stinger Sports Complex is 80 acres and it has room for more than 40 soccer fields of varying sizes.
00:24:52.000 -->
00:24:52.720Whoa.
