It doesn’t take a soothsayer to predict who the next mayor of Fort Lupton will be.
    The unchallenged incumbent, Tommy Holton, is set to nail down another two-year term Nov. 1 following the coordinated election.
    Holton’s personal mantra runs parallel with the official “Fort Lupton is open for business” slogan the city is operating under these days.

    During the past two years, Holton has been on board for a number of significant steps for the city, including a deal with oil exploration firm Halliburton, which supplied the funding for the southern water and sewer upgrades along Weld County Road 27 south of the city. Those links, deemed vital for industrial growth along the city’s energy corridor, are set to allow expansion of both Halliburton’s efforts and additional business within the zone.
    “More of the same,” Holton said, when asked what he has planned for his second term.
    “We have the infrastructure in now. We are working on more north of town. But we are just going to keep promoting and marketing and trying to bring in jobs.”
    Part of that plan was pulling in outside marketing help to draw in businesses to the city, based on need, demographics and matching business models to the market.
    “We got online with (customer analytics firm) Buxton, which does a lot of demographic work that will help us promote the city to commercial and retail,” Holton said. “We are a pretty good match for about 25 different companies. So we are in touch with them right now, enticing them to come into the city.”
    Also high on Holton’s list is the continuation of a sales tax specifically for the maintenance of city streets
    “We have a lot of street projects going on with the street sales tax, to make improvements in the city,” Holton said. “We are trying to get that put back in place. It sunsets this year. So we hope the voters will vote for that so we can keep making improvements to the city’s infrastructure, streets and sidewalks and all that.
    “I’m really hopeful, because that helps all of us,” Holton added. “We have about 12 projects that we are working on and more coming. But without that street sales tax, with the way the state is pulling back money from smaller communities, that 0.5 of 1 percent sales tax really helps us.”

Contact Gene Sears at gsears@metrowestnewspapers.com