We had a great turnout at our first Coffee and Crafts event. The kids made beautiful Wind Chimes for Mother’s Day and they turned out great. Thank you to Andrew Jatau, one of our Wheatlands residents for helping coordinate, plan and attend the event. We are always looking for more community volunteers to help out. Hope you can join for the next on in June.
Thank you to everyone that came out for the first food truck event of the summer. We know it is a busy time of year with all the school events, etc. Those that attended were able to enjoy amazing food from the food trucks, play cornhole, ping pong, and basketball as well as enjoy a magic show from Magic Matt. See you at the next food truck night in June at the clubhouse.
Community Information
Wheatlands Metropolitan District (the “District”) has made an exciting new purchase in 2024! Last year, the Wheatlands Park and Recreation Authority (the “Authority”) entered discussions to restructure its debt, including the sale of the recreation center. Due to the benefit of the recreation center to the property owners, taxpayers, and residents of the District, the District expressed its interest in transitioning ownership from the Authority to the District. At several public meetings held between November 2023 through April 2024, the District’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) discussed funding options to purchase the recreation center. At the public meeting held April 15, 2024, the Board determined it to be in the best interest of the property owners, taxpayers, and residents of the district to issue loans for the purchase. As of the beginning of this month, the purchase was finalized, and the district is now the owner of the recreation center. The YMCA will continue to operate the recreation center, and District residents will receive a Y-Premium Household membership at no cost to the resident. Residents are encouraged to contact the YMCA for more information about this membership.
Landscape Maintenance
Xfinity hit several pipes and electrical lines for the sprinkler system along Wheatland Pkwy. Cox is working on fixing each location and we will be billing Xfinity for the damages. Please be patient with their crews as they make the repairs, they seem to be uncovering more each time they run the system.
On a positive note, the park bathroom is open and we are having daily cleaning this summer. They will be refiling the toilet paper and will providing their own cleaning supplies. The park bathroom is open from 9am-7pm. We are emptying the trash daily at the park. The other trash cans around the district are checked frequently and emptied weekly.
All the snow damages have been completed and tree replacements have begun. The retaining wall has been fixed down Powhaton. A big expense for the district is the retention pond maintenance and cleaning. The retention pond work has begun and they will be cleaning and repairing all 3 retention ponds that the district has. We have an engineer inspecting the work and helping to ensure the infrastructure of the ponds is properly maintained. Summer flowers will be in for Memorial Day pool opening!
Murphy Creek Trail
The City of Aurora is moving forward with the Murphy Creek Trail project. The project will create a cement path along the powerlines that run to the west of Wheatlands. They are starting to bid on the project and we look forward to having this connect our neighborhood to the impressive Aurora trail system.
Website Changes
The Colorado legislature passed House Bill 21-1110, Colorado Laws for Persons with Disabilities, on June 30, 2021. Under this statute, public entities (which, as defined, include Title 32 special districts). With this districts must develop and implement a plan to make digital content accessible to everyone, using the standards set by the Office of Information Technology (“OIT”) by July 1, 2025. With this new legislature our website will begin being worked on to comply. As a user you will see more pages under construction and being fixed to meet the ADA rules. We appreciate the community’s patience as we enhance it for the future. If you can’t find something on our website feel free to email the board with any questions.
Please help us welcome Lucy Porter to our team. Lucy will be the Head Guard at Wheatlands this summer. She has 3 years of lifeguarding experience and is a student at CSU and we are excited to have her be our headguard. We know she will do a great job.
Also, please help me welcome back Robert Baker. He was our head guard at Wheatlands last year, but has been promoted to Aquatics Coordinator and will be helping with scheduling the lifeguards and many other responsibilities. We have a great lifeguard team this year!
The Wheatlands Sharks will be hosting their home meets at the Wheatlands pool on the following dates:
Saturday June 1
Saturday June 15
Saturday June 22
The pool will open to the residents starting at 2pm on those days.
Covenant Information
It is that time of year again; things are blooming, and our grass is greening up. We know keeping our lawns looking nice and maintained can be very difficult. We have spoken to a landscaper and compiled some helpful tips below:
Water in cooler parts of the day, early morning or late at night.
Don’t water to the point of runoff; it is better to cycle areas for small amounts of time for better absorption.
One of the best things you could do to help keep your lawn green in hot, dry weather is to get a product called Revive (which can be found at Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, and other gardening stores); it attaches to your hose, and you spray it over the whole lawn. It helps break up the soil and provide nutrients so the water has better absorption. You can do it once a week to start and then just monthly.
2.If it is over 85 degrees do not spray your weeds either chemical or natural solutions as the weeds plant cells close and do not absorb anything. Spraying early in the morning to avoid the heat is the best time.
It’s been the perfect storm for Colorado’s tough weeds, with an early spring and just enough hand-watering and natural precipitation to germinate seeds.
If you’re down for the fight and fixing to win, arm yourself with these seven strategic bits of info.
• Fertilizer needs to be in your arsenal. According to researchers at Colorado State University, weeds thrive even better in lawns that are not fertilized. A healthy lawn crowds out weeds, and proper fertilization is part of building a healthy lawn.
• Drying out weeds won’t help you kill them. Again, according to CSU, drought-stressed weeds may look like they are about to die, but they aren’t. They’ve evolved to thwart drought. But the healthier weeds are, the easier they are to control because healthy weeds can take in anything you put on them.
• Know your weed before you pull it. If the numbers are manageable, many can simply be dug out. Other weeds, such as bindweed and thistle, generally should not be pulled because their roots grow deep. Pulling these weeds just activates their regenerative root systems to start more growth. (If you’re trying to fight bindweed naturally, cut it.)
• If you apply a weed treatment, know its limitations. Here are two critical distinctions among weed-zapping products:
Selective products are effective because they’re designed to select certain plant traits to work on, such as broadleaf weeds. These products are effective on lawn dandelions (broad leaves) because they deal with the dandelions and don’t harm the grass (thin blades/leaves).
Nonselective products will zap any plant they contact. So, if you use a product like Roundup — or one of the newer horticultural vinegars — you need to know that they will affect both the dandelion and the lawn.
• For any product, follow the label. Find out what the product is good for and where it might do more harm than good. If you use a product that requires mixing with water, don’t assume more is better. According to USDA scientists who do testing, using more products is usually less effective than the recommended amount.
• Is there a breeze? Whatever treatment you use, beware of it drifting even in a slight waft.
• The best strategy in the weed war is always on the offensive. The more proactive you are in the battle against weeds, the better your success. Treating weeds early and effectively, before they develop and disperse seeds — sometimes tens of thousands of them — gets the best control.
Becky Garber is a member of the Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado. This article originally appeared in the Vail Daily.
