October 2022 Newsletter

October Newsletter
Community Events
It’s time to pick your own pumpkin and enjoy some fall fun! Meet us at the Aurora Family YMCA at Wheatlands between 10AM-2PM.
Free Face Painting, bounce house, crafts, games and more! 
When: October 15, 2022 from 10AM-2PM
Where: Aurora Family YMCA at Wheatlands
Pumpkins are first come first serve until we run out.
Costumes are welcome but not required. 
Thank you to Jenn Cronk with 1320 Homes Real Estate for sponsoring the hot beverages at this event. 
We appreciate the YMCA sponsoring this event with the Wheatlands Metro District. They will be hosting an open house during the event. This is a great opportunity to enjoy a group tour of the facility, enroll in a new program and see all the benefits of being a Y member at the Aurora Family YMCA at Wheatlands!

Can’t wait to see you there!
(We are looking for 5 additional volunteers from the community to help with judging. Please email Isabell Rodau at [email protected] if you are interested in being a judge for the Halloween contest or sign up on the link below)

We can’t wait to see your Spooky Halloween Spirit! 
Happy Halloween 
Get into the Halloween Spirit by Booing or Boozing your friends and neighbors. We are making it easy by providing you with the signs.
Just print off them off and let the booing begin!
Upcoming Community Events
Enter Wheatlands in the search bar on the left hand side of the page
and then click on Wheatlands Murder Mystery Night to register

Be sure to add your email address when registering, so that we can assign you a character. Sign up closes on November 1st to provide ample time to get costumes, etc.
Mark you calendars… Santa is coming! Sign up coming soon…
Community Event Recap
Due to low sign ups and participation, we decided to cancel this event. We are working to reschedule this event so we can have a bigger turnout and more participants.
Lots of homes participated in this year’s Wheatlands Fall Community Garage Sale. The weather was beautiful and there were lots of deals to be had. Thank you for everyone that participated in this year’s Wheatlands Fall Community Garage Sale. See you in the spring for the next one.
Community Information
Murphy Creek Trail:
We are pleased to announce that we won the Arapahoe County Open Use Space Grant of $500,000!  This grant is to have the City of Aurora pave the Murphy Creek Trail on the west side of Wheatlands. The area is below the power lines and was promised to be paved when Xcel energy put in their new power lines years ago. It was part of the original deal with the City of Aurora when the new lines were installed, Xcel gave the City of Aurora funding to pave the trail however the City has not prioritized our section of the trail and needed more funding. We hope we will hear from the City soon on when this project will get started and are very happy we were able to win the grant.  We appreciate all the residents who signed the petition at our Easter event last year. It really helped us win this additional funding so the City can complete the trail. Thank you!

Mineral Rights:
The City of Aurora provided a letter to residents in our ward regarding mineral rights. To view a copy of the letter click here.

Park Phase II:
Richdell construction completed several parts of the park project in September. On the Southeast end, the Basketball courts are finished and about 80% of the concrete flatwork has been installed. The basketball goals were set in place and the masonry veneer is in the process of being installed on the seat walls. Irrigation mainline and laterals are in the process of being installed. Flatwork has been poured up to the east side of the half court; the remainder of the flatwork (east of the half court up to the corner of S. Kewaunee Way & S. Wheatlands Parkway) will be poured once the staging area is removed and deliveries/machinery are no longer coming in and out from S. Kewaunee Way. On the Northwest end the underground drainage infrastructure is almost complete; the contractor is waiting for one connection piece before drainage is fully complete. The foundations for the concrete tables have been poured. On the overall site, electrical trenching has been completed; bases and light poles have not yet been installed. We are still waiting on the shelter delivery, as of now, the estimated delivery of the shelter has not changed with an estimated October delivery date. Once the shelter is delivered, it will need to be installed
and the seat walls under the shelters will need to be finished (wall/column caps installed). We appreciate the communities patience with the delays in this project and hope to have it completed soon! 
Landscape Updates:
Weed control, edging and trimming continue to take place. Watering will continue as needed. The fertilizer application was completed in September. In addition, the mulch beds at the park will be replenished. The warranty plants at the entry monuments have been replaced. The trees have been trimmed and replaced as needed.  The pool bench area is still in the process of being completed. 

Park Maintenance:
Cleaning of the park bathrooms continues on Mondays and Fridays. We have noticed increased graffiti in the bathroom while school is in session. The board voted to change the locks on the bathroom to hopefully decrease the opportunity for graffiti. The bathroom will be open from 8:30AM-6:00PM going forward. Hopefully changing the hours will help with the vandalism in the bathroom. The new bubble window for the park was ordered in September and installed. The copper wires that were stolen from the lights are being replaced and fixed. The board did vote to go through our insurance company to cover the cost of replacing the copper wires. We have reported the vandalism to the police and appreciate your help in reporting anything you see as well. 

Urban Soccer Field:
This project continues to make progress. We are finalizing the site details at the Aurora Y and then the Urban Soccer Field representatives will give the board a bid sheet for the board to pick a contractor to flatten the area for the fields. We are hoping to go out to bid soon and get the project rolling. In the meantime, we have ordered the fields and they are working on producing them for us. At the September board meeting, we opted to create 2 larger fields so we could run both soccer and then have an additional field dedicated to volleyball and/or pickle ball.  We appreciate the YMCA’s partnership on this project and helping us create this new space for future programming! 

Snow Removal:
As we approach the winter months, snow removal on the streets of Wheatlands always seems to be a big topic. Last year the City of Aurora had a pilot program with the Blackstone community to allow them to plow their own roads incase of major snow events. When we asked to join the pilot last year, they told us we needed to wait to determine how the pilot turned out so we were unable to participate. Unfortunately, the City of Aurora has decided that they are no longer allowing this program for any communities going forward due to the lack of staffing to ensure that no damage to the streets occur.  We recognize this is a commonly asked question for our community and hope this clarifies why the district is unable to provide snow removal on the roads in Wheatlands.  The good news is the district will save money not having to provide this additional service. It will continue to be up to the City of Aurora to provide the snow plowing for the roads in our neighborhood. The plowing priority map for our neighborhood can be found here.  
COVENANT ENFORCEMENT
  As we say so long to Summer and start heading into Fall, we wanted to stop and acknowledge the hard work that went into having over 230 resolved violations this summer. We truly appreciate the pride homeowners are taking in their properties! Your quick response keeps our neighborhood looking great and increases all our property values! 
Fall is one of the most magical times to be outside. Summer’s heat has come and gone. But just because the weather is cooler, it doesn’t mean your work is done.
Here is a simple to-do list for this fall. Cross off these tasks before winter to ensure your lawn and garden jump back into shape come spring.
 
1.     Rake up the leaves, pine needles and debris.
2.     Mow your lawn one last time. –Trim it short to prevent matting, disease and rodent damage.
3.     Reseed lawn- Fall is the best time to aerate and reseed tired and stressed summer lawns. Generally, you will use three pounds of seed for every 1,000 square feet of lawn.
4.     Turn mulch- “fluffing up” mulch gives garden beds a fresh look, allows water to reach plants’ roots more easily and reduces insects and diseases.
5.     Hardscape care- Power wash your hardscape areas, Fall is also the best time to fill in cracks and apply a sealant to help prevent damage from freezing and thawing.
Next Board Meeting

Thursday, October 13th at 6:00pm
this meeting will be a held in person at the Wheatlands Clubhouse located at
6601 S Wheatlands Parkway

We welcome all community members to attend and participate in our board meetings.

Get involved and volunteer for a committee and share your talents!

Going forward the board has decided to allow for flexibility with our meetings
and will post on the agenda prior to each meeting if they will be at the clubhouse or online. 

View our website at www.wheatlandsmetro.org to see the agenda and past meeting minutes. 


Thank you! 
YMCA Programs
Kids Night Out!

When: Friday October 7th & 21st
5:30 pm-8:30 pm

Where: Aurora YMCA at Wheatlands
6100 S Kewaunee Way
Aurora, CO 80016

What: Kids Night Out
Drop the kids off for 3 hours of fun. Dinner, games, crafts, and a movie. Our staff will start the evening with dinner and then lead the kids through a craft and some fun games and activities, followed by a movie. 

Ages: Potty-trained to 12 years old.

Please register by the previous Wednesday.

Cost: $20/child
Limited to 20 kids.

In order for us to have Kids Night Out
will need at least 6 children to sign up. 
Enter Aurora Kids Night Out in the search bar on the left hand side of the page
and then click on Kids Night Out to register
Southlands Events
Southlands Trick or Treat Trail

Saturday, October 22nd 10am-12noon