YOUR AD HERE »

Dillon Valley third-graders approve water park in mock council meeting

On Friday, more than 60 third-grade students from Dillon Valley Elementary School toured Silverthorne Town Hall, complete with presentations offered by some of the town’s highest ranking officials.

The students are studying various aspects of community, and the trip to town hall was meant to further their understanding of the town’s role in the community, according to a news release.

Upon their arrival, the students got the inside scoop on Silverthorne’s snowplows with public works director Tom Daugherty sharing interesting tidbits about plow operations and allowed the children to climb into the truck to check out the cab.



Later, they settled in at Council Chambers, as the students learned about land development, finance, road and sewer maintenance, recreation, culture and policing. Presenters were planning manager Lina Lesmes, finance director Laura Kennedy and guest services coordinator Tiffany Novak, along with Police Chief John Minor, officer Mariah Kroschel and community service officer Kirsten Jacobse.

After hearing from town staff, the students held a mock council meeting, having elected their own mayor and council prior to their visit, and set up a development topic for review. The topic for the discussion: Should a waterpark be approved for construction on the shore of Dillon Reservoir?



Students playing developers, environmentalists and interested citizens offered testimony, and despite the age of the participants, the hearing was reportedly an accurate representation of the types of testimonies that are typically heard at Silverthorne’s land use hearings.

In the end, the project was approved by the third-grade council.

Town staff were impressed by the great behavior and interest shown by the children.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

As a Summit Daily News reader, you make our work possible.

Summit Daily is embarking on a multiyear project to digitize its archives going back to 1989 and make them available to the public in partnership with the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. The full project is expected to cost about $165,000. All donations made in 2023 will go directly toward this project.

Every contribution, no matter the size, will make a difference.