By Nicole Speer in Nicole's Notes — 03 May 2026

May 4, 2026

Share your thoughts on the city's minimum wage, funding opportunity for nonprofits, water conservation tips, new Reuse Hub, land use code updates.

Celebrating Art Figel's decades of service to CU and the Boulder community.

What's new?

Share your input on options for changing Boulder's 2024 ordinance that created a local minimum wage. A quick survey is available here through June 2.
Applications are open for grants that help nonprofits secure or improve the spaces they rely on to serve the community. Applications are due June 12. Learn more and apply here.
Help conserve water by watering lawns no more than two times per week and avoiding sprinkler use between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Learn more here.
Eco‑Cycle and the city launched the Reuse Hub to help people find local options to reuse, refill, repair, and share instead of buying new. Explore the Reuse Hub here.

Happy Star Wars Day to those who celebrate. May the 4th be with you!

Upcoming Topics

Council will consider a library district trustee appointment, final updates to the metro district model plan, an annexation petition, and public hearings on a landmark designation and a set of routine updates to the city's land use code.

Learn more about this week’s topics + upcoming items

Recent Decisions

Council held study sessions on the airport and on power reliability. A narrow majority supported applying for FAA grants and keeping the airport in perpetuity. Council was generally supportive of creating a Power Resilience Roadmap.

Learn more about recent decisions

Get engaged

Apply for Human Relations Fund support for 2026 Immigrant Heritage Month and Juneteenth events. Applications close May 18.
Apply for the 2026 Wildfire Resilience Assistance Program, which helps property owners fund wildfire mitigation. Learn more.

Community kudos

Congratulations to longtime Boulder resident and former Human Relations Commission chair Art Figel, who received the University of Colorado’s Thomas Jefferson Award for his decades of service to students and to our community. The award honors CU faculty, staff, and students who advance civic responsibility, higher education, and the welfare and rights of individuals.

What I'm reading/listening to

Boulder is partnering with Hazelbrook to reopen its 11‑bed addiction recovery home for people experiencing homelessness after last year’s closure. (Boulder Reporting Lab)
During WWII, the military separated Japanese Americans from their families to teach Japanese language and culture at CU, while City Council restricted how many Japanese Americans could live in the city. (History Matters)
Colorado’s Democratic‑controlled legislature weakened overtime protections for farmworkers, rolling back farmworkers' progress in recent years. (KUNC)
The state legislature also gave the governor permission to negotiate a $40M/year contract to reopen a private prison as the state's prison population grows due to staff shortages and longer sentences. (The Colorado Sun)
Colorado lost more public lands jobs than any other state in 2025 due to DOGE cuts, as drought, low snowpack and wildfire risk rise. (The Colorado Sun)

Quote for the month

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.

-Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States

Community resources

The Food Tax Rebate helps lower‑income community members with food costs. Learn more and apply by June 30 here.

Click here to find additional financial and social assistance programs, report an issue, contact staff or Councilmembers, learn about grant opportunities, and more.