County News

By Roger Baker
County Manager

02/08/2007 - The regular meeting of the Gilpin County Commissioners Tuesday was again a brief one, which gives me a chance to talk about a couple of upcoming public meetings that should be of interest to many local residents.

  First, on Sunday, February 18 at 2 p.m. there will be a Town Hall Meeting at the Justice Center meeting room (the first floor of the big building at Dory Hill Road and Highway 46). The meeting will be an open discussion with the gaming community, health groups and local residents regarding House Bill 1269, a bill currently under consideration in the legislature to repeal the casino exemption to the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act. As you may recall, when Colorado public buildings went smoke-free last year, casinos were allowed to permit smoking in the gaming areas themselves—though not in their restaurants or hotel rooms. Now the state legislature is considering removing that exemption.

  The event is being sponsored by Smoke-Free Gaming of Colorado, an offshoot of the organization that was in the forefront of supporting the original prohibition before the legislature last year. Local elected officials will be present, as well as representatives of the gaming industry. It should be an enlightening discussion.

  Then a few weeks later, on Saturday, March 10, there will be an all-day (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) Forest Health and Biomass Symposium at the Community Center, on Norton Drive just off Highway 46. The morning session will focus on our growing problem with pine beetle infestations, and what you can do to identify affected trees and protect yourself against forest fire danger that might result from an infestation.

  The afternoon session will focus on using beetle kill and other thinned trees from our local forests as a source of biomass energy generally, and more specifically what the plans are for using this fuel in the County’s new Road & Bridge facility. Lunch will be provided for the first 50 people to sign up by calling 303-582-9106.

  Obviously, there’s not complete agreement on any of these issues; they all have economic impacts, whatever we may think of them philosophically. That’s why information sessions like this can be useful. We encourage everyone to come to either or both events, and to learn as much as they can about some matters that will affect all of us in the months and years to come.