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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWINGSHADOW, 1225 REDWOOD STREET - PDP/FDP - 30-02A - REPORTS - CORRESPONDENCE-NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGLT1 lDlB�02- r�; laas �E�o �leeA �/iv 'HAp��+/ .P Name ":= LiC :aa Na;:rc :o;. mod : o;� - W�_:+ ,� 'les I Ya I Fell so aai- �"o J`�i�Pn�e�o c �Ty %ANNiN 6 oEp: • MAgLA MDfLin7E 1300 I2E.041006 Si'. Er G CD fiL25Z4 J 1300 Q�[7u%Ltg/� ST i i; CE�U�/S� f�� ,�jSZQ 1 4--- 7� 3 ► c �f .� l (riJ r ��-z S� Rczfher,ne Toy CC 1 u.�S- rru4ne,n %037 (% � Sy G°�� Le �'os z�' I ✓ I � � ,LCA5 :I1 �T 7 ` / run ✓ 63) C �,K r.1. Dy � �� ��L, LUP/rv6'O/� r %/�l��ns C ct)l)rj, I �► V �^9rL- LesJ 64`� 6��Io,; r C, i F� C�tj�S i 39. I am worried about families with small children. These kids sound like trouble. 1 do not want these kids going up and down Redwood and Bayberry and hanging around Greenbriar Park. I will not let my children play in the park, like they do now, if these kids are hanging out. I wish you could have selected another site: A. We will work hard to try to gain the respect of the neighborhood just as we have over at First Christian Church. I encourage you to visit our school and talk to the neighbors. I believe you will find that our students respect the neighborhood. If any problems arise, we are committed to resolve them quickly. 7 J 31. I know the types of kids that will be served by this proposal. These are the types of kids that bully other children and abuse animals. Why did you have to pick this facility where the homes are so close? A. We shopped around for about three years. I think you will find that our kids will not live down to your expectations. Keep in mind these kids and their families pay tuition. Those with babies pay for child care. We have a screening process. This kids are motivated to graduate from high school. 32. Will Frontier H.S. ever expand beyond 110 students? A. We think 110 will be our capacity. 33. Are all the students from Fort Collins? Will there be any gang kids from Denver? A. 95% of the students are from Fort Collins, 5% are from Loveland. In the Group Home, there may be some from Weld County. We see ourselves as serving Northern Colorado, not the Denver metro area. 34. How did you arrive at 18 as the number of residents in the Group Home? A. This is what the facility will physically support. 35. For the Group Home, what is your exclusionary criteria? A. Before we accept placement, a person must first go through The Hub. Anyone who is intoxicated or high is automatically excluded. Other reasons for exclusion is aggressive behavior, history of starting fires or history of sexual abuse. If there is mental illness, then the referral is to Mountain Crest Hospital. 36. Do you teach anger management? A. Yes, our program teaches anger management along with how to de-escalate a situation and how to improve communication. We support these skills with counseling. 37. Will the Frontier students go off -campus to smoke? A. Yes, we are prohibited by State law to provide a designated smoking area. 38. So, if you know they will go off -campus, where will they go? You need to be pro -active to protect our neighborhood. A. The only off -campus allowance is the one -hour lunch break. At this time, we do not. know where they will go. This may be a good topic for our standing meeting with the neighborhood. 0 23. What is the success rate for Frontier High School? A. We have graduated 44 students. While this may sound like a low number, please keep in mind that many of our students return to any one of the four public high schools and some complete their education by taking the G.E.D. 24. I know what kind of kids are at Frontier. These kids are trouble. A. Please come and visit our operation at First Christian Church and see for yourself 25. Going from 65 to 110 students is almost a double increase in enrollment. Is your Staff up to the challenge of serving almost twice as many students? A. We do not expect to reach 110 students all at once. Our teachers are licensed and our staff is professional. We are confident that we can serve 110 students. 26. Will your funding expand along with the increased enrollment? A. Yes, we expect that our grants and contributions will expand along with our enrollment. We also receive some per pupil funding from Poudre School District. 27. What will you do if your funding does not keep pace? Do you have a contingency plan if your funding falls through? A. Yes, like all businesses, if our funding does not materialize, we will have to reduce services accordingly. 28. What is your schedule? A. We would like to open Frontier H.S. on February 1, 2003. The child care facility will start at the same time with about 26 kids will but will grow. The Group Home will start at that time also with 5 — 6 six residents. 29. Do you provide year-round school? A. No, we operate on the same schedule as PSD and we offer a summer school. 30. I'm concerned about property values A. We have operated a Group Home in Boxelder Estates for over one year. This home is for five young women with their babies. The home is fully staffed. We think that by fixing up and maintaining the home, we have added value to the neighborhood. Please feel free to check with the neighbors in Boxelder as we think we have been a good neighbor. 5 A. Yes, we plan on building two playgrounds and adding a sidewalk to an entrance. 15. Is the Group Home classified by the State as a Residential Treatment Center? A. Yes. 16. Will the Group Home accept kids that are drunk or high? A. No. We work closely with The Hub in this regard. Anyone who is drunk or high will be taken over to the Island Grove Detoxification Facility in Greeley. Kids must be sober before admittance. We work with The Hope Center and Turning Point for follow-up substance abuse counseling. Any kid found using alcohol or drugs in either the High School of Group Home will be dismissed. 17. Do you test students and clients for drugs? A. Yes, we do random drug testing on a regular basis. Our policy is that any student that is drunk or high is not capable of learning. 18.. What about transportation? How do kids get to Frontier now? A. Out of 65 total students, 12 drive to school. The others use a combination of Transfort, parent drop-off/pick-up, or ride their bikes. One of the reasons we like the facility is that there is a Transfort route on Conifer. 19. Will there be a school zone to slow traffic down? A. Response from City: This question will be forwarded to the Transportation Planning Department which has a "Safe Route to School' program. 20. What about the homes to the north on Nokomis Street? Will a fence be constructed for these folks? Is a fence required? A. We are not planning on constructing a fence. A. Response from City: A fence is not required. 21. Where will the entrance for the day-care be located? A. We have not determined this yet. We do know, however, that the day-care kids will not access the facility through the Group Home area. 22. Why did you pick this site? A. We have been looking for a facility for about three years. This building and location are ideally suited for our organization.- 4 A. We have been in operation at the First Christian Church at Drake and Lemay for seven years. Our kids respect the neighborhood. I do not believe that the kids will head for Greenbriar Park after school. My prediction is that they will head for College Avenue or Sandy's Convenience Store instead. I encourage you to drop in and visit our school and talk to the neighbors and you will find that our kids do not disrupt the neighborhood. I also encourage you to talk to the Pastor at the church. 8. One of our neighbors has talked to the Pastor. Apparently, the kids head over to Toddy's after school and hang out. A. Yes, some do but you will find that the merchants have accepted the kids and that there are no problems. Keep in mind that some kids get picked up by parents and some kids have after -school jobs. 9. So, at 3:00 p.m., the Frontier kids clear out but the Group Home kids stay behind? A. Yes, that is correct. 10. And from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. the next day, these kids are monitored? A. Yes, they are. monitored on a 24-hour basis by Staff on three 8-eight hour shifts. 11. Do the Group Home kids ever go off -campus? A. Yes, we have a van that we use to take kids to off -campus activities such as going to a movie. 12. What do we do in the neighborhood if we have a problem with misbehavior? A. I would like to set up a standing meeting with a representative group of neighbors so we have an established format to discuss any issues that may arise. This committee could meet on a regular basis, perhaps once a month. We want to build respect in the neighborhood. By having a standing committee, if problems come up, the neighborhood will know that we have a forum to bring the issue to a discussion and resolution. 13. What's the capacity of the building? Will you expand the programs over time? A. Our plan is to expand, slowly, not all at once, up to the levels that we described at the beginning. We do not plan on serving more than 110 kids at Frontier. We do not plan on serving more than 18 kids in the Group Home. These limitations are based on the physical capacity of the building. 14. Any exterior improvements? 3 which means they have to be on campus and in class for a longer period than a regular high school. 2. What about the open campus over the lunch hour? You say the students are free to leave? A. Yes, but they are encouraged to remain on campus and we provide a full -service cafeteria. 3. What about the 18 kids in the Large Group Care Facility? Do they have open campus privileges? A. No, there will be no open campus for the Group Care Facility. This part of the program is staffed on a 24-hour basis. From 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., there will be a staff of two, one man and one woman, who are required to stay awake to monitor the facility. 4. Could you explain the intake procedure for Frontier? How are kids selected or screened? A. To go to Frontier, a student must go through a three -step procedure. First step is called "Transition" which lasts three weeks. During this stage, we teach anger management and communication skills. The second step is called "Bridges" where students are taught the behaviors that are expected of them. Finally, after successful completion of the first two stages, the students are admitted into the regular school. 5. . Could you explain more about the Large Group Care Facility? A. This is a short-term residential program for kids that are in a crisis situation where it is not safe to be in the family home. These kids are usually referred to us by The Hub, a program of the Larimer County Sheriffs Department and the City of Fort Collins Police Department. It is not a foster program: The length of stay can range from 24 hours to 60 days. The goal is to defuse a tense situation at home and then, With counseling, to reunite the family. In some cases, where the State Department of Social Services has determined that a foster home placement is needed, the child will stay until placement is secured. This usually does not take longer than 60 days. 6. Does Frontier School take in gang members? A. Yes, in some cases, these kids are in a gang just asyouu would find at any of the other four public high schools. 7. I'm concerned about loud music, boom boxes and thumping car stereos disturbing our neighborhood. I'm especially concerned about impacts on Greenbriar Park. 2 NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING MINUTES PROJECT: Wingshadow at 1225 Redwood Street DATE: October 8, 2002 APPLICANT: -Mr. Steve Bolton, Wingshadow CONSULTANTS: None CITY PLANNER: Ted Shepard r The meeting began with a description of the proposed project. As proposed, the project would involve Wingshadow moving into the building that was formerly Diamond Crest Assisted Living and New Beginnings Treatment Center for the purpose of providing several social and educational services for youth. Wingshadow is a non-profit organization. The proposal would be to use the building for Administrative Offices, Child -Care, Frontier High School and Large Group Care Facility for up to 18 clients. Frontier High School would consist of approximately 110 students with an administrator, nine teachers, two counselors and two paraprofessionals. The Wingshadow administrative staff consists of 10 persons. There would be approximately 40. children in the Child Care facility with a staff of about ten. There would be up to 18 clients in the Large Group Care Facility with up to six staff. The building is 20,200 square feet in gross floor area and located on a parcel that is about five acres in size. There would be no major additions to the exterior of the building. An enclosed playground would be constructed for the child care facility. Unless otherwise noted, all responses are from the applicant. QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, COMMENTS 1. I'm concerned about the impact of the high school on our neighborhood. Will the high school feature an open campus? What are the hours for the school? A. The campus is not open with the exception of the lunch hour. The hours are 8:00 a.m. to 2:55 p.m. Students need 240 hours to graduate unlike PSD which requires only 220 hours. This means our students have to take more classes to earn credits