What should be considered the anniversary date of Fort Collins - when the military post moved down river, when the State gave the colony a charter, or when the "City of Fort Collins" was incorporated? Bonus: what celebrity name is in the sidewalk at College and Mountain and why?

If it were me, I'd stick with three birthdays. The party! The presents! And I will look amazing for my age.

But if you can only have one, I'd go with the day the city's charter was signed by the military, August 20, 1864. But I'm just agreeing with the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery at this point.

As for your celebrity, I'll defer to the Choice City Native blog as far as why Jack Benny's hand prints are at College and Mountain.

With winter closing in are there any coat drives in the area? My wife has a couple she'd like to donate.

Well isn't your wife just the sweetest? Good for her.

I haven’t been able to track down any official coat drives yet, but if that coat's just burning a hole in your pocket, there are a couple organizations that are always looking for coats to help their clients. 

Homeless Gear’s street outreach delivers survival supplies (coats included) to homeless men and women on the streets of Fort Collins. Learn more at www.homelessgear.org.  

Mary’s Closet, a ministry of Saint Joseph Catholic Church, is also in need of winter coats, jackets and vests (mostly mens), men’s jeans, sleeping bags, mats or pads and backpacks. Donations can be dropped off at Parish Center, 101 N. Howes St., or be deposited in the single red bin by the back door in the church parking lot after hours.

I'll add more to this list as they come up. If anyone is running a coat drive, leave the info in the comments section.

And seriously, how big are your pockets that you can fit a coat in them?

I read that $30,000,000 in maintenance to Hughes Stadium was deferred. What maintenance needs were deferred? Why was maintenance deferred while they built luxury boxes?

Listen, if you're going to watch a rebuilding football team in a stadium needing millions in renovations, wouldn't you want to do it from a state-of-the-art luxury box?

The luxury boxes were added during the last expansion and renovation of the Hughes Stadium in 2004 as part of an expansion and renovation that also included 4,000 new seats.

Do you remember 2004? 

We didn't even have Twitter then.

The entire $30 million doesn't necessarily represent "deferred" maintenance. It's more like $30 million in stuff that CSU believes needs to be done including maintenance, code compliance, upgrading, etc.

Some of it is required. For example, the restrooms don’t meet current building codes, and there are problems with ADA compliance in some areas. There are also elements that now are coming to the end of their life and need to be fixed or replaced: goal posts, steam boiler, scoreboards and seats to name a few. 

CSU officials argued that adding the luxury boxes would allow them to generate additional money from the premium seats that could be used elsewhere. And the university has been spending money on Hughes since that 2004 renovation, from new artificial turf on the field to $574,000 worth of new scoreboards, which were installed this fall.

You can check out the full list of what's on the $30,000,000 list here: http://www.colostate.edu/stadium/aug9/hughes-addendum.pdf.

And regarding the team, I kid because I care. Congrats to Coach McElwain and the team on a big improvement so far this season. Just two more wins and they'll be bowl eligible. Good luck, Rams!

Why didn't they leave the train tracks on Mason flat instead of building that trough they are in? Will cars be able to use Mason once MAX arrives?

Why not leave the tracks flat with the road? Because it's safer, obviously. Just look.

Despite an early rash of cars getting stuck on the tracks along Mason St., BNSF railroad tries to minimize, in all cases, any location where a pedestrian or car could cross the tracks. The construction on Mason provided an opportunity for the city and the railroad to work together to save both time and money.

And seriously, who doesn't love saving time AND money?

There will still be plenty of opportunity to get that car stuck. Vehicles will still be allowed on Mason even after MAX service begins. So drive carefully out there.

If you're thinking it's still a pretty easy thing for pedestrians to hop over, you're right. The city is currently considering adding a decorative fence for the tracks that would place an even larger barrier between the street and the tracks.

Do immigrants take there oath of citizenship in Fort Collins?

For those not born in the U.S., it takes a lot of effort to become a U.S. Citizen. And the further away you live from Denver, the more effort it takes.

Immigrants attend their naturalization ceremony at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Centennial. It's the only USCIS office Colorado, according to the official website. Regardless of where you are in the state, that's the place to test and take the oath. According to the website, Judicial Ceremonies occur two times each month and Administrative Ceremonies weekly.

Immigrants must pass both an English test as well as a Civics test. Want to give it a shot? Here's an example test used for study on the USCIS website: Sample test.

I can't find an affordable rental and need some financial assistance. Who should I contact in Fort Collins?

Ask anyone trying to rent in Fort Collins and they'll tell you: Finding housing in Fort Collins can be tougher than Chuck Norris in an Old Town bar fight.

But add the need for financial assistance and it can feel pretty overwhelming. Thankfully, there are folks who can help.

You might start by calling 211 – the United Way help line that connects people to a variety of services. They can point you in the right direction for you.

Larimer County Department of Human Services (www.larimer.org/dhs/) provides services which assist individuals and families to achieve self-sufficiency and social well being. Services can include financial assistance for shelter, food and medical care.

Fort Collins Housing Authority (http://fchousing.com/) provides a variety of affordable housing services and education. There are waiting lists for government subsidized housing, but FCHA offers other housing assistance programs and can direct residents to state and federal aid.

Neighbor to Neighbor (http://n2n.org) is another good resource, offering 126 affordable apartments and support to residents. 

And if you're in need of temporary help paying rent, you may want to contact Catholic Charities (http://www.uwaylc.org/ncesf/recipientagencies/catholiccharitieslarimer.html).

Good luck out there. I'm rooting for you.

Why are they dragging their feet on moving forward on the Foothills Mall?

The process is certainly taking longer than expected, but I wouldn't go so far as to say they are dragging their feet. You try spending $53 million dollars of public money and see how long it takes you.

This is a very large, complicated and expensive project with an awful lot of back and forth. When council approved the financing package back in the spring, the final details had yet to be worked out. Mall developers wanted more money, the city was reluctant. The city wanted the Foothills Activity Center repositioned on the site, that meant different designs and a delay. Negotiations on where to put Sears also delayed things. And, either because of the cost of the project and the city’s unwillingness to give any more money in tax incentives, the project was redesigned with more one-story buildings than two. 

That redesign has now occurred and the project has to go back to the Planning and Zoning board (Thursday) for approval and then back to City Council for reapproval of the financing package. The process is going slower than I suspect either side is happy with, but the delays were more logistical than feet dragging.

But if you're going to spend $53 million, you might as well do it right.

Right?