The content of the newsletter is my own and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of the City Council or the City of Golden.
Gerchard Pfau Newsletter June 1st 2026
This is the fifth of my monthly newsletters. I hope you find it useful. Please let me know what subjects you’d like to see in the future and if I misstated anything. As always, AI was not used to create this newsletter – all typos and grammar mistakes are mine.
I appreciate the feedback and I’ve made a few changes. I’ve eliminated the details on council meetings from this email but they are available on my website. Go to www.gerchard4golden.com/past-monthly-summaries/ and select the month you are interested in to find them.
Looking back at May Events
Firewise Discussion with our City Fire Marshall
DRCOG
Meet your council members Ward 1,2 & District 1
May Office Hours
Coffee with Councilors
Golden Startup Coffee
Resident Phone calls
Legislative Meeting
Checkin with City Manager
Topping Off Ceremony
Red Rocks Community College Graduation Ceremony
Golden Terrace Monthly Resident Meeting
Lunch with Fire Fighter
FarrWest Grand Opening Celebration
Golden Cemetery Memorial Day Event
Bringing to your attention
Water and Drought
If you are looking for more information regarding Golden’s Drought Status and restrictions please go to the following link Water Conservation. There you will find the current drought status and rules. The goal is to reduce our water use by 15-20%. So a primary tool is to restrict lawn watering to twice a week along with no daytime watering between 10am and 6pm. For all the details go the webpage. You can monitor your water usage by signing up for an Aquahawk account – it’s free. I have one and get regular emails when my water usage is above a value I set.
I’m happy to update that Golden has reduced total water diversion for May by about 15% comparing May 2025 to May 2026. For comparison, Denver Water’s 1.5 million customers reduced water use by about 5% and Aurora reported a 6.5% reduction. Personally, my family has reduced water consumption by about 17% in May. Frankly, I expected a bigger reduction but back in May 2025 it rained during several of my sprinkler days and I skipped watering those days. I hope to do better during the rest of the summer. Remember to sign up for your Aquahawk account to see how your water use.
Fireworks
Golden is updating its Stage 1 Fire Restrictions to include prohibiting Fireworks. Up to now, Fireworks were prohibited at Stage 2 and higher. Any Fireworks are prohibited when weather conditions are risky.
E-Bikes & E-Motos
Golden is developing a coordinated safety initiative focused on preventing serious injuries through education, community awareness, data tracking, and targeted enforcement. Communications efforts will include:
- Informer Article in July
- Bell Middle School Parent Newsletter – released May 21st
- Ongoing social media messaging
- Education resources for parents and children
- Bike to work day outreach related to e-bikes
- National Night Out engagement
- Area-specific signage
- Creek Ambassador talking points
- Targeted outreach in location where complaints are most common
It includes a dedicated reporting email address (emotosafety@cityofgolden.gov) and tracking system to help identify hotspot areas, monitor trends and support target communications and enforcement. Stay tuned for more information.
Affordability
Affordability was one of the key points highlighted in the Community Survey Results. Reminder – there are several things you can take advantage of to help with Affordability today.
City of Golden Emerald Ash Borer Subsidy Program – this is a program that will cover 50% of the costs up to $500 for ash tree removal or preventative chemical treatments. Go to https://goldenco.rja.revize.com/forms/13360 and read the detailed requirements.
The City of Golden Rebate Program. Go to
https://www.cityofgolden.gov/community/sustainable_golden/rebates.php#faq-questions-34
And read the details of what rebates are available and requirements. Note that Portable Electric Battery Power Stations along with Solar Power Systems and whole house backup Battery Systems are included in the rebate program – along with many other home improvements. Over 40% of the budget allocated to this program has been released. Don’t wait too long to apply for the rebates.
Did you know about the FREE Home Wildland Fire Mitigation evaluation available from the Golden Fire Department? Professionals from our Fire Department and Forestry Department will come to your home and evaluate/recommend what you can do to help ‘Harden’ your home against Wildfires. Go to
https://www.cityofgolden.gov/business_detail_T31_R191.php
to sign up and find out what you could do to help protect your home in the event of a Wildfire. By the way, I just did mine and have started working on ‘hardening’ my home.
Emily, Lisa, and I held our second Community Meeting on May 13th. Watch the Golden Calendar for our next meeting.
I am continuing my ‘office hours’ in June.
June 29th 11am – noon @ Scully’s Café , 1812 Miners Spur Rd, Golden CO 80401, Building 5
If the weather is nice, I’ll be hanging out at one of the outside tables. Come by and have a coffee with me. Remember the OreCart drops you off infront of Scully’s – try it out!
Hwy 93 Analysis / Design and Drought Restrictions Pop Up events
- Tuesday June 2nd 5:30pm Canyon View 3. Meet in the central grass area bounded by Jesse ln and Lou’s Loop
- Wednesday, June 3rd, 5:30pm Canyon View 2 and North 40. Meet in Grass area on east side of Joseph Circle upon entering the subdivision.
- Monday June 8th 5:30pm Villages at Mountain Ridge. Meet in White Ash Mine park near playground.
Reminder: If you see suspicious behavior in our parks, please contact the police department.
I have redone my website and plan to update it on a frequent basis. Please go to www.gerchard4golden.com to see what has changed.
If you would like to talk to me, please reach out at my cell 720-593-0240, email at gerchard4golden@gmail.com or gpfau@cityofgolden.net. We can setup a time to talk or meet.
Upcoming Meetings – mark your calendars
- June 3rd, 10am Business Power Resiliency Event @ Gnarly’s Theater, 1224 Washington Ave, Suite 200
- Every Saturday, 8am – 1pm; Golden Farmers Market @10th & Illinois
- Every Wednesday starting June 10th, 3pm – 6pm; Midweek Farmers Market; @ Golden Highschool
- June 9th, 10:30am Friends of the Front Porch @Golden Community Center
- June 9th, 5pm City Council @ City Hall
- June 12th, 7pm Movies and Music in the Park Returns! @ Parfet park
- June 13th, 1pm Flag Presentation at Council Chambers; 2pm Public reception and viewing at Golden History Museum. Come see this unique historic American Flag with 38 stars measuring 12- X 24’ representing Colorado’s entry to the Union.
- June 24th, all day, Bike to Work or Anywhere day; Stop by Vanover Park for a quick breakfast, tune up, raffle prize, or just hang out.
- June 30th, 5:30pm Golden Bike Cruise @ 818 14th St. (behind the Armory building)
- June 30th, 6:30pm City Council @ City Hall
For a full list of upcoming meetings please check the city calendar at
https://www.cityofgolden.gov/calendar.php?view=month&month=02&day=01&year=2026
Did you know that all council meetings and board meetings are available live via the web and recorded? You can watch from home and access the prereads for the meetings too. Go to:
https://www.cityofgolden.gov/government/public_meetings.php
and follow the links. If you need help, give me a yell.
The section below captures the actions from the last couple council meetings plus gives you a preview of the agenda for the next couple. To find out more details go to the links above and download the meeting prereads/watch the videos/or give me a yell. At the suggestion of a resident, I’ve added notes on my views regarding particular items.
Summary of Actions from the council meetings in May.
May 12, 2026, Tuesday 5pm City Hall – City Council Regular Meeting & Study Session
Study Session
• Noxious Weed Plan
Staff reviewed Council on Colorado Noxious Weed Act requirements, reviewed plan, and asked for direction ahead of future approval.
• Thriving Communities Grants
Staff reviewed plan for the FY2027 Thriving Communities Grant Program. Reviewed and solicited feedback on a simpler tiered funding structure. I’m expressed my concern that the proposed structured potentially reduced the Golden Terrace Community Group funding and that each of our public schools was not treated equally.
• GURA Expansion
Staff reviewed the Golden Urban Renewal Authority and solicited input on future plan areas. A state requirement for additional board members was flagged as a future issue.
Regular Business Meeting
Consent Matters
• Consideration of a motion to adopt – Resolution No. 3306 – A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Golden granting a pedestrian easement to the CSM for the purpose of construction and maintaining a recreational trail across City property per the approved 2024 IGA.
This item was pulled from consent matters and voted on separately. Passed (5 to 2) and I supported; I especially like the fact that the trail could reduce foot and bike pressure on the 19th street ‘lid’.
• Consideration of a motion to adopt – Resolution No. 3309 – A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Golden authorizing an IGA between Golden, Arvada, and the Arvada Fire Protection District regarding information and cost sharing of record keeping software service from Julot
Passed and I supported; Efficient way to improve our own record keeping.
• Consideration of a motion to adopt – Resolution No. 3318 – A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Golden approving the purchase of one Kubota L4060 tractor and two Kubota BX2380 tractors.
Part of regular replacement of aging vehicles, in budget, passed and I supported.
• Consideration of a motion to adopt – Resolution No. 3320 – A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Golden approving the dedication of a public Utility Easement to increase the size of an easement created in the Bush and Fisher addition, Replat of of Blk 13 and Portions of blocks 12 and 14
passed and I supported.
Regular Business
• Public Hearing – Consideration of a motion to adopt – Ordinance 2294 – Approving an application to rezone 85.5 acre property located at 17601 W. Colfax Ave. from C-1 and Planned Unit Development Districts to PUD District and approving the Golden Terrace Mobil Home Community and Rec Vehicle Dev Plan .
Passed and I supported; this will help maintain the mobile home park.
• Consideration of a motion to adopt – Ordinance No. 3321 – A Resolution of the city Council of Golden adopting the 2026 Transportation Demand Management Plan
Passed and I supported; 7 for,0 against. I did struggle with the TDM because rather than being an all-encompassing Transportation Demand Plan it was focused/limited on evaluating ways to help reduce single use vehicle trips. In the end I supported since it may help with congestion in the city.
May 26th, 2026, Tuesday 6:30pm City Hall – City Council Regular Meeting & Study Session
Regular Business Meeting
Consent Matters
• Introduction, first reading and consideration of a motion to order published – Ordinance No. 2295 – An Ordinance authorizing the lease purchase of certain property in the City to finance improvements at and for the Fossil Trace Golf Club including replacement of a pump station that serves the Golf Club and other water utility customers with non-potable water for irrigation and irrigation system improvements at the Fossil Trace Golf Club; authorizing the execution and delivery of a lease purchase agreement, a site lease and certain other documents related to financing the costs thereof…
Passed and I supported; will replace aging infrastructure, include a pump house and irrigation system
Upcoming Council Meetings
Note that the agendas can change and are not firm until the Thursday before the scheduled meeting.
June 9th, 2026, Tuesday 5:00 pm City Hall – City Council Study Session and Regular Business Meeting
Study Session
• Junction Metropolitan District
• Jefferson County Schools Presentation
• Economic Development 101
• Budget Process Overview
Consent Matters
• Introduction, first reading and consideration of a motion to order published – Ord No. 2293 – An Ord amending sections 2.70.015 and 2.70.020 of the GMC regarding Golden Urban Renewal Authority Membership and Terms (CDD)
• Introduction, first reading and consideration of a motion to order published – Ord No. 2296 – An Ord changing the 2026 Budget for Carryover and Additional Appropriation Requests.
• Consideration of a motion to adopt – Resolution No. 3325 – …authorizing a contract for prep of construction plans for a portion of the Heart of Golden East Zone Improvements.
• Consideration of a motion to adopt – Resolution No. 3327 – …authorizing contract amendment for the Construction Materials Recycling Program.
• Consideration of a motion to adopt – Resolution No. 3328 – …approving contract amendment for the 2026 Street Improvement Program.
Regular Business
• Consideration of a motion to adopt – Ord No 2295 – An Ordinance … authorizing the use of lease-purchase financing for the Fossil Trace Golf Course Pump Station.
• Consideration of a motion to adopt – Res No 3294 – A resolution … approving the contract with Weitz for CM/GC Construction Services for the Fossil Trace Golf Course Pump Station.
• Consideration of a motion to adopt – Res No 3323 – A resolution … approving the Water Street Parking Permit Zone.
• Consideration of a motion to adopt – Res No 3326 – A resolution … approving an agreement for the residential trash and recyclables collection services.
Move to executive Session – Negotiations and Legal Advice on the Junction Metropolitan District
June 30th , 2026, Tuesday 6:30 pm City Hall – City Council Regular Business Meeting
Consent Matters
• Consideration of a motion to adopt – Res No 3322 – A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Golden approving the contract with UKG.
• Consideration of a motion to adopt – Res No 3329 – A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Golden approving an IGA with Regional Transportation District for South Golden On-Demand Shuttle Pilot
Regular Business
•Staff Update – Strategic Plan end of Q1
• Public Hearing – Consideration of a motion to adopt – Ordinance 2293 – An Ordinance amending sections 2.70.015 and 2.70.020 of the GMC regarding Golden Urband Renewal Authority Membership and Terms.
• Consideration of a motion to adopt – Res No 3330 – A resolution … creating a new GURA plan area for the property at 17455 W 16th Ave for an affordable housing project.
• Consideration of a motion to adopt – Res No 2296 – A resolution … changing the 2026 Budget for Carryover and additional Appropriation Requests.
• Consideration of a motion to adopt – Res No 3324 – A resolution … approving an affordable housing funding application.
Move t o Executive Session – Mid year evals for City Manager and City Attorney
The content of the newsletter is my own and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of the City Council or the City of Golden.