June Pleasant View Board Meeting Recap
Fire department updates, parks challenges, and more from the June meeting!
The Pleasant View Board held its regular monthly board meeting at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, June 16. I’m a recently elected board member and the June meeting was the first one I attended as a sworn-in member.
Hopefully this recap is a helpful way for our community to stay informed! Reach out to me any time at lauraforpleasantview@gmail.com or 720-675-8093.
The Short Version
The board voted for new officers. Adrian Waller will continue as Board President, I am the new Board Vice President, and Jennie Heismann will continue as our Treasurer.
The fire department is planning for a back-up generator, new Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), and upgrades to the brush truck (the truck for fighting wildfires)
We need to do better taking care of our parks. Rocks in the sewer lines at Camp George, goldfish in Westblade Park’s ponds, and speeding have all been issues over the last month. Let’s work together to make sure everyone can enjoy being at the parks (including wildlife!)
How would you like to get information about parks? A recent Jefferson County survey said people prefer to get information “inside the parks.” What does that mean to you? Bulletin boards? Something else? Tell me what you think!
The Long Version
Pleasant View Park Updates
Arturo, our parks maintenance person, is leaving the district to start police academy. Make sure to tell him congratulations if you see him before his last day! He is already training his replacement, Gio, so make sure to introduce yourself if you see them at a PV park!
Sprinkler work is starting this month at Wolf Park and Orchard Park to fix the gaps in the sprinkler system. Wolf Park also has new pavilions.
The Jefferson County Park Directors shared survey results that people prefer to find out information about parks from inside the parks instead of newsletters or websites. What does that mean to you? Bulletin boards in parks? More signs? Let me know what would be most helpful to you in Pleasant View’s parks.
Camp George West
The toilets at Building 48 (that stone building you can rent for events) completely overflowed and stopped working recently. Plumbers found the sewer clean-outs full of rocks, concrete chunks, wire, and other debris.
If your kiddos or dogs are hanging out on the sidelines of the soccer field, please make sure they know to keep things *out* of the sewer clean-outs. The clean-outs are inviting tubes to put things down (see photo below if you’re not familiar):
I can totally see my kid putting rocks down there if he was bored. Let’s work together to keep the clean-outs clean and make sure everyone can have fun at Camp George.
There have also been a lot of reports of folks speeding in and out of Camp George, particularly around pick up and drop off for games. I have been that mom running super late to practice, so this was a good reminder to me as well to take a breath and slow down so no one gets hurt in the parking lot.
Westblade Park
Invasive goldfish have wound up in what’s left of the pond at Westblade Park. They’ve been nearly impossible to remove, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s only solution is to shock the entire pond. But shocking the water will kill everything, including good wildlife like turtles, so that’s obviously not a good option.
Do you have expertise in water quality, aquatic plants, or a similar field? Help me brainstorm what could be done. Here’s what we’re up against:
Goldfish and koi fish are being dumped in the pond repeatedly. Even after one round was cleared out, more appeared.
They can rapidly reproduce and hide from predators because of the cattails.
Due to water rights diversion upstream from Westblade Park, there isn’t ever going to be more water, so water levels will stay low and warm. So natural predators like larger fish likely won’t survive (I’m not a fish expert so correct me if I’m wrong).
The low water is also contributing to really severe mud that has trapped larger animals, so it’s not safe to wade in the pond currently for mitigation or removal.
Pleasant View Fire Department Updates
The fire department is on track to respond to 1,800 calls for help this year. That’s about 10 calls per 48-hour shift that the firefighters work.
Department Needs
In March, the board asked the fire department to do a needs assessment to figure out the most critical projects to plan and budget for. The results were:
New Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA): This is the breathing system that keeps firefighters safe and able to actually enter a building on fire. They are a literal lifeline, and Pleasant View’s are reaching the end of their useful life. Pleasant View’s goal is to replace SCBAs by joining Arvada Fire’s order in late 2026 so we can get better pricing as part of a larger order.
Back-up generator: The station currently does not have a back-up generator. If the power were to go out, the garage doors would have to be manually opened before the engine or ambulance could get out. This can take as long as 10 minutes after getting a call for help.
Brush truck updates: A brush truck is the truck used to respond to wildfires, which are top of mind for Pleasant View. The truck is 24 years old but could be upgraded to modern standards and make a big difference in the department’s ability to put out grass and wildfires.
Replacing the fire truck (a truck is the one with a giant ladder on top) has been tabled since Golden Fire has two trucks that can respond to any large building fires in Pleasant View.
New Firefighters
13 new volunteer firefighters graduated from fire academy in June! I went to graduation and it was wonderful to see all the family and friends supporting our new firefighters. These people are volunteering to serve our community and do a very difficult job for free, which I think is pretty incredible.
Next Pleasant View Board Meeting
The next Pleasant View Board meeting is on July 15 at 4 p.m. at 955 Moss Street. Join me at the meeting if you’d like to learn more about our community!
Community Concerns
I’ve had several neighbors reach out with concerns about illegally parked vehicles on both private and public property. I’ve also heard a lot of feedback that contacting the Sheriff’s office about these concerns is not very fruitful. But since Pleasant View does not have its own law enforcement, the Jeffco Sheriff is your best option for reporting parking violations. I would recommend going in person instead of using the online form.
I’m trying to meet with someone at the Sheriff’s office to learn more about how the office supports unincorporated parts of Jeffco and what demands they are dealing with as well. Let me know if you have additional questions or concerns you’d like addressed!
Questions? Comments? Feedback?
I love hearing from you! Reach out at lauraforpleasantview@gmail.com or 720-675-8093 (call or text).