Posts tagged Boulder County
County awarded grant from Colorado Health Foundation to help with medical insurance for children and families
Mar 2nd
The grant – to be paid over the next two years – benefits the Boulder County Healthy Kids initiative, a countywide effort to enroll pregnant women and eligible children and their families in Medicaid and the Child Health Plan Plus, and to connect those families to the appropriate care.
“The initiative, which was created in 2008, supports Boulder County’s commitment to improve access to affordable physical, mental and dental health care services for its most vulnerable residents,” project manager Christina Ostrom said. “Funding from the Colorado Health Foundation will provide streamlined access to families.”
Boulder County Healthy Kids will partner with the Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley school districts to increase access to health benefits by stationing an eligibility technician at each district. The tech will help screen and enroll students and their families in Medicaid and CHP Plus health coverage.
Please call the Healthy Kids hotline at 303-441-1589 for more information and eligibility standards, or to refer an uninsured child.
Medicaid is a no-cost health insurance plan for low-income Colorado children, pregnant women, parents with dependent children, and elderly or disabled populations. CHP Plus is low-cost health insurance for Colorado’s uninsured children and pregnant women without private health insurance but whose household income is too high to qualify for Medicaid.
The Colorado Health Foundation works to increase the number of Coloradans with health insurance, ensuring they have access to quality, coordinated care and encouraging healthy living. The foundation invests in communities through initiatives and grants to health-related nonprofit organizations, and by operating medical education programs to increase the health care workforce. Visit www.coloradohealth.org for more information.
City of Boulder Colorado, State of the city 2011 Mayor Susan Osborne & CM Jane Brautigam TV special
Feb 24th
Jan. 27, 2011 – State of the City of Boulder Colorado emphasizes sustainability, economy and opportunities in 2011
City Manager Jane S. Brautigam and Mayor Susan Osborne delivered the State of the City in the Library Theater this morning, outlining the highlights of a year that included two major wildfires, award-winning construction and improvement projects, a commitment by voters to continue funding valued city services and a decision to explore supply-side energy options.
Both Brautigam and Osborne spoke of challenges, difficult decisions and collaborative leadership in the face of recent wildfires and a still uncertain economic future.
Speaking of the devastating Fourmile Canyon Fire, Brautigam said, “Firefighters from around the nation set up operations at the new regional fire training center. More than 1,100 firefighters responded, including 70 city firefighters. A significant amount of city resources were used to protect Boulder County and city residents. During the Fourmile Canyon Fire, city staff supported around-the-clock emergency operations and services to the community. While 169 homes were destroyed, not a single life was lost in any of last year’s fires.”
The mayor emphasized partnerships that formed in 2010 with local government, the business and technology communities and residents. Collaborations, such as the bid to bring Google ultra high speed Internet to the city, and a spirit of shared innovation helped Boulder stand out, both at home and abroad.
“Our international reputation as an innovator continues to make Boulder a destination city and enhance our economic sustainability,” Osborne said.
Standing in front of a backdrop of video and photographs from the year past, the city manager told the audience that Boulder was able to maintain a flat budget for 2011 but must continue to “be prudent in how we manage resources.” The city will continue to look for ways to close a gap between expenditures and revenues to maintain long-term sustainability.
Both speakers looked ahead to 2011 with optimism, particularly about the community’s commitment to charting an energy future that draws more power from renewable sources, promotes local decision-making, stabilizes rates for consumers and puts customer service and reliability in the forefront.
“We heard the community’s desire to lead by example, and to more fully explore Boulder’s energy options before entering into another long-term franchise agreement,” Brautigam said.
The mayor thanked voters for their support.
“We asked voters to approve a replacement tax on Xcel for five years to provide the time needed to analyze, discuss and make decisions as a community about our energy future. This may ultimately mean a renewed partnership with Xcel to meet our community goals, municipalization to provide our community with more direct control over its energy decisions and investments, or possibly a different option that we have yet to develop. . . . It was a tremendous vote of confidence from this community, and we are grateful for the overwhelming support that was shown for the Utility Occupation Tax. Without your support, the city would have eliminated 50 positions this year and significantly reduced city services and programs,” she said.
Deadline approaching for public input to Community Wildfire Protection Plan
Jan 6th
The deadline for submitting recommendations and signing up for the Advisory Team is Wednesday, Jan. 12. Guidelines and submission forms are available at www.BoulderCountyCWPP.org.
“We have already received many important recommendations from residents on our website,” said Jim Webster, Community Wildfire Protection Planner in the Boulder County Land Use Department. “However, we know there are others who have come up with noteworthy ideas during this past year that have not yet shared their recommendations.”
Topics of the recommendations received to date include improving communication, planning evacuation and access routes, educating the public on wildfire mitigation, installing fire danger signs, collecting slash, funding fire suppression, and declaring and enforcing county fire bans.
“After this past year, not many initiatives are of equal importance,” Advisory Team member Kitty Stevenson said. “It is really exciting to see a community plan being developed on a larger countywide scale. It is important that people from all parts of Boulder County participate.”