Steve Pomerance

Some years ago I read Robert Rubin’s book, “In An Uncertain World.” Rubin focused on the process of decision-making when the results of that decision are anything but guaranteed. Many times we have to make choices based on very uncertain forecasts; the key is to do the analysis in the proper context, to give it the appropriate “frame.” Last Thursday evening, the Boulder City Council was discussing the planning process for the Civic Center area that runs along Boulder Creek in downtown. The council is faced with some real issues here — many of the city’s buildings are already in the flood prone area, and climate change will almost certainly increase the frequency and severity of flood events. But how much more is not predictable with any level of certainty, at least not yet. So what is the council to do? The council needs to take the perspective of looking back from 25 or 50 years in the future. Just as some are already asking about past decisions, we do not want our successors to...

No, this is not a discussion about physics. But it is about a real phenomenon, even if it takes place inside people’s heads. Sitting up behind the council desk in the Boulder City Council chambers can be very disorienting. It’s really easy to start feeling like the council is the center of the universe, and the people in the audience are somewhat unreal, like actors on a movie screen. What’s real are only your own thoughts and opinions. The danger occurs when this is not noticed, or when it just becomes easier to ignore that pesky reality outside the force field. It can sometimes require a conscious effort to break out of this shell and re-connect what you are doing with the outside world. You need to keep reminding yourself that you are there to serve the citizens in the audience and the rest who didn’t come to the council meeting that evening. It’s not about you, but about them. I attended the Boulder council meeting on Tuesday night to offer some comments on the potential ball...

If nothing else, this hopefully got your attention. It may even have conjured up some unusual thoughts or images. And you may have wondered just what I could possibly be up to. This has to do with Boulder’s charter and the bike race that will now end up on Flagstaff, part of Boulder’s open space system. All parts of open space are limited in what activities can occur there, and on Flagstaff the relevant use is “passive recreation.” The city administration is making the following argument relative to Summit Drive (the road from the gate to the Amphitheater), according to the city attorney’s quote in last Wednesday’s Camera, “‘If driving on a road is not passive recreational use, then a road is not open space as contemplated in the charter,’ he said. ‘If council considers that road to be open space under the charter, we probably should consider banning cars, though that would be a significant change from its historic use.'” Driving on a road, or parking in a lot, is not general...

Because of my interest in the charter issues around the Pro Cycling Challenge bike race, I did some research into the history of the Flagstaff Summit Road, the half-mile spur from the main Flagstaff Road at Realization Point to the Amphitheater, which is the proposed finish for the race. I believe what follows is accurate, but I am not a professional historian. Information came from the City of Boulder’s Central Records, the Carnegie Library, former Parks and Open Space board members, Mary Reilly-McNellan’s “History of Boulder Mountain Parks,” and other sources. The city first obtained land in the Flagstaff area from the federal government around 1898. The only road from Boulder went up Gregory Canyon on the north side of the creek, and came out about where the dirt road now descends from the Realization Point parking area. By 1906, the road had been abandoned. Per the 1906 newspaper article, “(County) Commissioner Hoover admitted that he would not dare to walk down the road at nig...

New issues have emerged in recent weeks that need to be resolved if the Boulder stage of the Pro Cycling Challenge is to be a success. (What follows is based on my understanding to date — good information has been hard to come by.) The first challenges to address are charter issues related to open space; all of Flagstaff is open space, including the whole top and spur road from the gate up, except for the actual county road, the Flagstaff House, and some private land at the lower edges. Charter Section 176 prohibits anything other than “passive recreation” on open space ( colocode.com/boulder2/index.htm ) This requirement would prevent finishing the race right on the top of Flagstaff. Section 177 requires that any “exclusive license or permit” on open space be agreed to by at least three members of the Open Space Board of Trustees. Since the current draft plans for the race limit access to Flagstaff and charge a hefty price to VIPs who will be allowed at the finish, apparently ...

On Tuesday evening at the City Council study session, the local organizing committee of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge presented their plans. On Aug. 25, Boulder will be part of the semi-final Stage 6. The stage course will pass through Boulder in the morning, and then loop through the mountains, and return via Lee Hill Road, through town, and finish at the Flagstaff amphitheater. It’s an event with great potential for excitement, but also with the opportunity for serious problems on Flagstaff because of extremely limited access and the potential for environmental damage. Various city, county and other agencies are apparently hard at work looking at all the issues, from traffic control to fire risks to emergency access. But the fundamental constraint here is that the Flagstaff Road area is a “zero failure area;” this is not an event where “we’ll do it better next time” is acceptable. If there is significant environmental damage, if there is a fire, if there is an emergency for which...