Larimer County rural outreach meeting set for Red Feather Lakes on Aug. 17

The Larimer County Community Development Division’s Rural Team is beginning a rural area outreach effort to ask residents about their long term rural area vision. This outreach consists of two phases: Phase I – Gathering Information with a focus on community meetings and online input opportunities and Phase II- Evaluation, consisting of follow-up reporting and identifying next steps.

The open house style community meetings will be held August through November throughout Larimer County in various rural locations such as Red Feather Lakes, Livermore, Big Thompson Canyon, Wellington, Waverly/Buckeye, Drake/Glen Haven, and the Fort Collins/Loveland rural areas. Currently scheduled open houses are listed below, and the list will be updated at www.larimer.org/planning/planning/areavision.

Red Feather Lakes Library
71 Firehouse Lane in Red Feather Lakes
Saturday, August 17 10 a.m.

Buckeye Community Club
Date to be determined

Berthoud Library or Senior Center
Date to be determined

Livermore Community Hall
2065 County Road 74 E Livermore (during the Farmer’s Market)
Thursday, August 22, 3 p.m.

Big Thompson Fire Station
Date to be determined

Leeper Center/Wellington Senior Center
Date to be determined

Crystal Lakes Community Building
Date to be determined

Thompson School
Date to be determined

Waverly School
Date to be determined

Poudre Canyon Community Center
10234 Poudre Canyon Hwy
Saturday, September 14, 10 a.m.

Cache La Poudre Middle School
Date to be determined

Poudre Valley REA or the Ranch
Date to be determined

Pinewood Fire House
61 Kiowa Road (before the PSPOA meeting)
Wednesday, September 18, 7 p.m.

The big question concerns long term vision according to Larimer County Community Development Director Terry Gilbert, “The big picture question is ‘What’s your rural area vision and what needs to be improved or changed?’ We’re also trying to learn more about what residents want easy access to with regards to conveniences such as: groceries, gas stations, banking, and repair services. We also want to know what types of support service/businesses farmers and ranchers would like to see located closer to their operations and is there an ability co-locate these support service/businesses near or on their operations? Lastly, what do residents like or dislike about the services provided by the County?”

The staff-assisted open houses provide an opportunity for citizens to make comments and ask questions.

Citizens are encouraged to stop by for 15 minutes to help direct their future and that of their rural area. Their thoughts will be captured and used for the Phase II Evaluation portion of the project. After that a second set of public meetings will be held to report the discoveries, findings and identify next steps.

The team understands that different areas of the County may have different thoughts and desires and attending a meeting in their area would be helpful. However, citizens are welcome to attend any area meeting.