By Quentin Young
Colorado Hometown Newspapers

The City of Lafayette could build a regulation-size baseball field at Peak to Peak Charter School under the latest municipal plan to meet a need for more local fields.

During a Tuesday, June 6, city council meeting, Lafayette staff members presented a plan to build a full-size field at the school’s 800 Merlin Drive campus and to split use at the facility between the school’s own team and other youth teams, including those organized by the city’s recreation department.

This was a major shift from a plan officials presented in March. At that time, the proposal was for the city to build a regulation field at the so-called Great Park site, a city-owned property north of Baseline Road and west of 119th Street.

Because of budget constraints, that field, at least at first, would have come with no frills — not even grass in the outfield.

Curt Cheesman, Lafayette’s director of recreation and facilities management, said city officials have decided grass in the outfield was too important to forgo.

Also, an impediment to building a field at the Peak to Peak site now appears avoidable: A dormant railroad limits the space for a field at the school campus, but City Administrator Gary Klaphake during this week’s meeting said railroad company representatives recently indicated some of their right-of-way could be sold to the city.

The existing infrastructure at the school, including facilities for water and parking, make the location attractive.

The field would cost a little more than $600,000, some of which could come from a grant.

Mayor Chris Berry and Councilwoman Chris Cameron questioned the plan after learning that the great majority of youth in the area actually play on fields smaller than regulation size and that there also exists a shortage of small fields.

Cheesman said the Peak to Peak school team has a “desperate need” for a home field.

Also, small-field teams can play on regulation fields, he said.

The March plan included a proposal for the city to create an off-leash dog park at the Great Park site. City officials this week affirmed the dog park plan.

The proposal calls for a 6-acre area with a fence and not much else.

“It’s about as lean of an idea as you could come up with,” Klaphake said of the dog park.

The council directed city staff members to apply for grant funding for the Peak to Peak baseball field. Actual approval for the proposal may come at a future meeting.

By Quentin Young
Colorado Hometown Newspapers

Residents have greeted reports of mountain lion sightings in southern Lafayette with a mix of fear and fascination.

The first sighting occurred after dark on Saturday, June 3, when Patty Granger, a resident of Redwood Avenue in the Autumn Ridge neighborhood, reviewed footage from her residential security camera.

She was stunned to see that earlier in the evening a mountain lion walked in front of her home.

She called law enforcement and, later at about 2 a.m., an officer with the Colorado Division of Wildlife arrived at her home to investigate, she said.

The second sighting reportedly occurred the morning of Monday, June 5, in the South Pointe neighborhood, which is directly south of Autumn Ridge.

Tyler Baskfield, spokesman for the Division of Wildlife, said the division has confirmed the Autumn Ridge sighting but not the one in South Pointe.

Mountain lion sightings in Louisville in recent months have led some officials to suspect that the cats are seeking shelter or living in a ditch near Lafayette’s Nyland Open Space.

It is believed mountain lions had never before been reported in Lafayette.

“It was a wonderful experience,” Granger said of watching a mountain lion stroll into the view of her security camera.

However, she also felt a measure of fear, she said.

“I don’t think people should get nervous,” she said. “I think they should be cautious.”

Robin Meetz lives on the same block as Granger and has two kids, ages 10 and 13, who play in the neighborhood.

“It’s a little scary,” she said of the mountain lion sighting. “Frightening, actually.”

Kim Andresky has a house in South Pointe, where homemade signs have sprouted warning people to “beware” of mountain lions.

She said she’s pleased to see nearby wildlife corridors performing as intended.

On the other hand, she worried about the safety of her two kids, who play in the nearby Whitetail Park.

“I’m thinking that’s not the best idea as the sun goes down now,” she said.

The Coal Creek corridor runs from Louisville into Lafayette and passes just north of Autumn Ridge. Baskfield said it was indeed possible the cat traveled to southern Lafayette via Coal Creek.

Asked if Lafayette residents should get used to living with mountain lions, Baskfield said: “It’s purely speculation whether or not the cat will stay in the area or not.”

Despite an apparent increase in mountain lion sightings in east Boulder County, Baskfield said the DOW does not know if mountain lions in fact are increasingly moving into the area.

An increase in the human population could be one explanation for more sightings. False sightings is another.

If local pets start disappearing or there is evidence mountain lions are caching them as a food source, that would indicate the cats associate humans with meals, and measures might be taken to protect neighborhoods, Baskfield said.

“That’s a dangerous situation,” he said.

By Quentin Young
Colorado Hometown Newspapers

A juvenile police say tried to carjack at least three motorists in the heart of Lafayette has pleaded not guilty to charges leveled against him.

The 16-year-old suspect has been in custody since his May 4 arrest.

Appearing in restraints and green jail clothes, he stood before Magistrate Tijani Cole in Boulder District Court on Wednesday, May 31.

The suspect waived his right to a preliminary hearing and Cole scheduled a Monday, July 31, trial.

Shortly after 2 p.m., Thursday, May 4, Lafayette police responded to a unit at 610 S. Public Road, where a woman called 911.

Two women in the unit told officers the juvenile suspect had come to the residence brandishing a gun and demanding the return of a DVD player he said belonged to him.

When officers arrived, the juvenile fled north to the area of Baseline Road and Public Road, where he attempted to carjack at least three people, say police.

None of the drivers were injured and none reported seeing a gun, leading police to believe the boy may have ditched the weapon somewhere in downtown Lafayette.

An alleged victim said the gun was a “small, two-tone silver handgun that fit in the palm of his hand.”

Police also arrested 26-year-old Tobias Ortiz, the boy’s alleged accomplice, who lives in another unit at 610 S. Public Road.

The juvenile and Ortiz on Sunday, April 30, both brandished guns at the residence occupied by the women, according to a police report.

After the two suspects were arrested, officers searching Ortiz’s mobile home found two guns, a .22-caliber revolver and a semi-automatic pistol.

Neither was determined to be the one described by the victims.

In court, the juvenile suspect made frequent eye contact with a couple who brought an infant with them.

He often raised his handcuffed hands to waive to the infant.

A police report states that an alleged victim during the May 4 incident admonished the juvenile with the words: “How dare you come in here with a gun. I’ve got a kid in here.”

The juvenile reportedly responded: “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had a kid in here.”

Court administrators refused to release the charges pending against the juvenile, who was arrested on suspicion of numerous charges, including attempted robbery, felony menacing and first-degree burglary.

Ortiz faces charges of first-degree burglary, two counts of menacing with a deadly weapon and possession of a weapon by a previous offender.

He will appear for arraignment at 8:15 a.m., Thursday, June 15.