County considers lighting the ball fields

Lynn Volkens

3/2/2006 - Gilpin County Commissioners Forrest Whitman, Jeanne Nicholson and Al Price held their weekly meeting on Tuesday morning February 28, 2006. They began by noting public meetings in which at least two Commissioners (a quorum) may be in attendance. That is likely to happen on March 14^th, as both Whitman and Price are planning to attend the afternoon meeting of the Black Hawk/Central City Transit Authority meeting, still in pursuit of bus service to North Gilpin. Whitman and Price will also be traveling to Washington D.C. next week to meet, discuss and lobby for issues of concern to small and/or rural counties. There will be no Commissioner meeting next Tuesday (March 7^th) consequently.

Quarry Applicants and County - Talking

   County Attorney Jim Petrock notified Commissioners that he’d been contacted to meet with the attorney for the Clear Creek Water Company, one of the parties pursuing operation of a quarry near Douglas Mountain. Petrock said the purpose of the meeting is to provide the CCWC attorney with an overview of the County’s processes, a “good sign” he said, that the quarry parties intend to comply with County regulations.

Tax Refund Request Denied

   County Assessor Anne Schafer appeared before Commissioners to support her recommendation to deny a petition for a refund of property taxes to Central City resident James Voorhies. Voorhies protested the use of the commercial tax rate (but not the valuation) used in assessing property taxes on his Spring Street bed and breakfast business. Nicholson noted that the request was for a refund of taxes going back to 2002 and that, by statute, the County can go back only two years. Based on that, the petition was denied. Schafer said the property has since been changed to a residential classification based on the property’s main use as a residential dwelling. The main purpose of the residence is as a dwelling, she said, with only a small part used as the bed and breakfast and then, only occasionally.

Tax Revenues Coming In Now

   According to County Treasurer Alynn Hoffman, the County had collected .14% of taxes year-to-date. That will change significantly by month’s end in February, she said, as the first payment period for some properties just ended and the revenues are now starting to come in. The County accounts showed a grand total of $7,522,370 at the end of January. “Everything’s in balance, and we’re doing good,” said Hoffman. She reported that the department was very busy this time of year.

ISDS Approvals

   Acting as the Board of Health, Commissioners approved individual sewage disposal systems for the 120-acre Robinson Hill Road property of Erika Daniel and Teruel DeCamp, and for the 5.5-acre Apex Valley Road property of Werner and Beverly Weiss.

Fire Departments – Funding Requests

   Although it actually violates the County’s policy to contribute to organizations that have a funding source of their own, and acknowledging that the timing would have been better at budget time, Commissioners still approved contributing $4,500 from their Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) fund for the Central City and Colorado Sierra Fire Departments. The volunteer firefighting agencies want to send ten students to an Emergency Medical Technician class. Medical Coordinator for the two departments, Brady Lovingier, presented the proposal and explained the departments had budgeted for the training but now found there were more personnel wanting to take the training than their budget allowed. The $4,500 contribution from the County matches the amount the fire departments had committed. Saint Anthony’s Hospital sponsors the course and will hold half of the classes in Evergreen and half in Gilpin County. It is the first time, said Lovingier, the class would be local, enabling more of the volunteer personnel to attend. The departments are striving to keep up with all of the changes in equipment, gear and training and didn’t want to deter interest in class because of lack of funds, he said. Commissioners were supportive of the volunteers’ efforts and sacrifices to help the community. Several such requests have come before them, they noted, and asked that the different agencies “get together” to make the best use of the funding for cooperative training opportunities. “We’re headed that way,” Lovingier assured them.

Weed Management Plan 

   A public hearing has been scheduled for April 4, 2006, 10:30 a.m. at the Gilpin County Court House for Commissioners to receive public input regarding a weed management plan. Commissioners voted to move into first reading, Ordinance 06-02, An Ordinance Repealing Ordinance 99-1 and Adopting the Gilpin County Weed Management Plan 2006. The plan includes provisions for entry upon private lands for the purpose of inspecting for and securing removal of noxious weeds. Documentation of the proposed Ordinance 06-02 is available to the public at the Court House.

Boundary Adjustments and Easements

   Lincoln Hills residents William Schwartz, Jr,. and Cindy Grossenbacher applied for and received approval of a Boundary Line Adjustment consolidating 22 lots with 123 other Lincoln Hills lots they own. That brings the total acreage of their two parcels to 7.0 acres.  The applicants, along with neighbor Eric Miller, requested and were granted their request to vacate a portion of a platted right-of-way they all use as a driveway, in order to develop a more desirable south-facing, gentler sloped driveway.

   Commissioners also granted a request to vacate a portion of road for applicant Gail Watson on her Severance Lodge property.

Night Lights at the Ball Fields?  

   Commissioners have begun the formal process of exploring lighting for the ball fields on Highway 46. Parks and Recreation Coordinator Jason Ferguson, with Director Penny Kipley, provided Commissioners with a Power Point overview of what the proposed lighting would look like and the potential impact on nearby properties. The budget estimate given for the system preferred by staff was $120,000 - $125,000. Nicholson suggested the use of lottery funds as appropriate in recreation projects. Fugitive light, or light “spill” into the night sky is a concern of residents living nearby, as indicated by a letter from some Aspen Springs residents who oppose the lighting. Dory Lakes residents would also be impacted. A public hearing has been scheduled for April 11, when the topic will be discussed at the Planning Commission meeting. A public hearing before County Commissioners is scheduled on April 18^th. The vendors offering lighting “packages” will be invited to attend to answer questions about their products. Parks and Recreation personnel argue the lighting is needed in order to schedule all the different groups wanting to use the ball fields.

Moving Forward with Election Procedures

   A letter from Colorado Counties, Incorporated, (CCI) asked Commissioners to officially state their preference for election 2006 operations. The State is changing its voting machines and there is a question as to whether the new machines will be physically available in the number necessary to conduct statewide elections. Federal and State regulations have set a deadline for the machines to be certified for use and there may be a problem in having enough machines before that deadline. CCI asked if Commissioners would prefer to use only mail ballots or to take their chances that complying machines will be available. Gilpin, based on the recommendation of Clerk and Recorder Jessica Lovingier, opted for the latter but inserted a comment that more preferable would be to extend the deadline so that enough machines would be available and could be tested prior to elections. Lovingier did not favor a mail ballot election because of processing and voter confusion difficulties. Gilpin County is already set to make the change to vote “centers” (vs. precincts) and Lovingier said she wanted to complete that process.

Tax Work Off Program

   At the County’s Human Resources Department, nine Property Tax Work Program applications have been spent to prospective participants, the schedule of County Fair events is nearing finalization and a DSL line is in the process of installation at the Community Center/Exhibit Building.

Taking Care of Victims

   The County’s Combined Victim Services January 2006 Report shows 35 new clients originating in Black Hawk, 8 from Central City, 14 from the County and 2 from other sources – totaling 59 new clients for the month (10 Gilpin residents: 49 non-residents). Forty-four of the cases were gaming related.

Road and Bridge Activities – Summer ‘06

   Earl Robinson’s (Director of the Road and Bridge Department) report states his department’s starting pay of $12.22 per hour (ranging up to $17.05 per hour) is below the market average and retaining good employees is the result. Nicholson said the County should do a salary survey and see if adjustment is needed. The report lists proposed Summer ‘06 projects, including “Super Blading”- grading, watering and compacting every County maintained road. Super blading takes about six or seven weeks unless it rains or hails within a day or two of application. In that case, the work has to be completely redone. Rollinsville’s Main Street is scheduled for paving in early June. At the same time, Robinson wants to pave the “seniors” parking lot along side the Recreation Center, and the parking lot at the high school. (The school will pay the County for the paving. No amount has yet been determined and details have yet to be finalized with school authorities. Commissioners said the school has money set aside for the project.) Two miles of South Beaver Road and two miles of Gap Road are scheduled for resurfacing. Work will continue in Corona Heights and Lakeview subdivisions, with culvert work and widening of the roads starting in late summer for Mountain Meadows. If time permits, Bald Mountain and Dynamite Road will receive attention.

   Robinson has begun touring public works and transportation facilities, gathering concepts and ideas for Gilpin’s new Road and Bridge facility. Plans are to “lay-out” the road through the County’s new property and start clearing the right-of-way the last week of February. Biomass (wood chip) systems are being investigated for feasibility as a heat source for the new facility.

GCPL – Center of Culture

   Among the goals of Library Director Larry Grieco – “To make the library the center of culture in the county.” To that end the Director hopes to stage a poetry reading program, a musical program, a reading discussion group, a film viewing/discussion series and to continue with the series of art wall exhibits. The “center of culture” is only one of nine goals the Director has set for the library, plus his personal goals. A year-end summary of material use at the library shows patrons read adult and juvenile fiction more than other genres and that audio books are popular with adults. Videos are popular with both adults and juveniles.

PTA Funding Request

   In a follow-up funding request, the Gilpin County Parent Teacher Association provided a spreadsheet of costs for the student breakfast program they host during the March CSAP testing week. Total cost is approximately $4,000. Gilpin Commissioners, recognizing they were again violating County policy, agreed to contribute $600. Nicholson requested that Commissioners re-visit the policy and determine if it should be changed or if Commissioners will hold to it in future.

Public Commentary

   During public comment portions of the meeting, Commissioners were addressed by a woman who is starting a “news/opinion magazine” entitled “The Community Review.” It goes to press this week, she said and will be free for readers who pick it up at distribution points yet to be determined. “Not a newspaper,” she clarified, the magazine will cover the mountain region from Ward to Central City, including Boulder and Lyons.

   “Consider using lottery funds for the after-prom contribution,” suggested the next public input participant. The man lauded the Commissioners decision to have the vendors present and also requested that budget figures for the proposed initial and operating costs for the lighting be provided at the public hearings. He questioned the Commissioners’ procedure for the lighting decision, telling them that it seemed to him they had already made the decision to go ahead with the lighting before having the public hearing.

   Commissioners adjourned the public meeting at 10:54 a.m. and moved on to a work session to craft a Mission Statement and develop their own goals and objectives. Commissioners have named the after-prom fee schedule as a topic for a future work session.