June clean up planned for Lincoln Hills

Lynn Volkens

05/15/2008 - Gilpin County Commissioners Jeanne Nicholson and Ron Slinger (Forrest Whitman was at a water comference) set the stage at their Tuesday morning meeting for November’s election by approving three polling places.

Where to Vote

  Gilpinites will have their choice in voting locations, come the 2008 elections. Vote Center 1 is the Gilpin County Courthouse in Central City. Vote Center 2: the Gilpin County Community Center, and in north-Gilpin, the Gilpin County Road and Bridge Garage. State statutes allow the Clerk and Recorder to establish the Vote Centers. Commissioners ratified and approved all three.

Home Run

  Misty Ceriello, of Gilpin County Little League, asked Commissioners to donate $1,000 for the 2008 season to support operations of the league as a whole, and also go towards an opening day celebration on May 17^th.  Ceriello said there were 134 kids participating this yea and 20 different teams will be in Gilpin for opening day. Financially at least, Commissioners pitched the first ball and approved the donation. The funds will be taken from the PILT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) discretionary fund. Commissioner Slinger asked Ceriello to schedule future requests during the regular budget cycle.

Clerk and Recorder’s Report

  Gilpin Clerk and Recorder Jessica Lovingier, presented her March report. The County took in $107,453 during that month and disbursed $34,230 to the state, $60,811 to the County Treasurer and $2,380 to Central City. The Clerk retained $10,031.

  The Clerk and Recorder’s department recently took part in the statewide mock election to test equipment that will be used in this year’s General Election. Lovingier said all Colorado counties had participated and there had been no problems with load tests and poll book extractions-activities that could stress the system. “Nothing crashed,” she summed up. Gilpin has been piloting the new equipment and has a year’s worth of experience compared to most Colorado counties who are just now learning to use it. That means lots of training ahead, said Lovingier, and her department will be helping staff of other counties get up to speed. They will also perform testing on the latest version of the system this week, she said.

  Lovingier informed Commissioners that she is contracting for help in a project her department has taken on to help at least five other counties program ballots. Gilpin will be reimbursed by those counties for the cost of the project. Commissioners will review the arrangement at their next meeting.

   The “Gilpin Ball” is another project Lovingier has been coordinating. The ball is a fundraiser for the County’s food bank, scheduled for June 13^th. Lovingier said local businesses have donated sponsorships totaling over $7,000 and at least $5,500 will be going to the food bank.  

DOLA Priorities

  Each year the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) distributes grants to entities of areas impacted by gaming. Each organization prepares a grant application that Commissioners review. Commissioners then prioritize the grants, indicating to DOLA those they feel are most important to Gilpinites. This year, the DOLA applications were ranked as follows:

1. Gilpin Ambulance
2. Mountain Family Health Center
3. Eagles Nest Child Care Center
4. School (Gilpin)-based Counselor
5. Victim Services Response Vehicle
6. County Radio Interoperability
7. Gilpin/Black Hawk Tactical Team

Monthly Departmental Reports

  At Gilpin Library, Director Larry Grieco reported 2,075 items circulated during the month of April, about 19% more than in April 2007. DVD movies and children’s materials are the most popular items being checked out. Poet-in-residence, Christine Weeber, is making plans for poetry activities to commence in June. Grieco purchased two used computers from the Garfield County Public Library District. Each is one year old with an appraisal value of $500 per machine. Gilpinites purchased them for $200 each. One is now in use at the Circulation Desk. The other is in reserve and may become another patron computer after this summer’s building expansion is complete. Additionally, Grieco purchased eight flat-screen monitors ($1,336) and eight network adaptors ($280) that are now in use. Grieco is pursuing a grant to enable access to HIV/AIDS health information. The “Prophetic Film” series is now underway on Saturday afternoons.

  Gilpin Sheriff’s Detentions Division April report showed 86 bookings for the month (70 male, 16 female). Of these, 52 originated with the Sheriff’s Department. The Colorado State Patrol made 15 arrests. Black Hawk Police accounted for 12 arrests, Central City Police arrested 2 and the Division of Gaming arrested 5. There were 11 domestic-related arrests; 15 DUI arrests; and 2 DWAI arrests. The jail had an April average daily population of 30. Booking fees earned Gilpin County $1,808.

Fighting for Local Control

  House Bill 1165 would allow counties to pass land-use regulations that could allow them to deny specific types of mining within their boundaries, based on unfavorable impacts to water supplies or the health and safety of residents. Gilpin Commissioners strongly supported the bill. A letter from Colin Henderson (Alliance for Responsible Mining), informed Commissioners the bill had not made it through the House Agricultural Committee. A case between Summit County and Henderson’s organization versus the Colorado Mining Association (CMA) is headed for the state Supreme Court, scheduled on June 11^th. Summit County has prohibited mining operations that use toxic or acidic chemicals, such as open-pit cyanide leach gold mining. The CMA challenged Summit County, saying the Mined Land Reclamation Board should be the sole approving and regulating authority for such mines. The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Summit County but the Colorado Supreme Court may overturn that decision. Henderson asked for continued support from Commissioners. If the Supreme Court rules for CMA, the issue will have to go back to State Legislators to ensure local control.

Forest-Related Legislation

  As forest health and fire mitigation issues are becoming more pressing, County Manager Roger Baker summarized the legislative bills and how they fared as the legislative session ended:

HB 1110: Income tax deduction for wildfire mitigation costs. Good for tax years 2009-2014, this bill provides a deduction for landowners who do wildfire mitigation work on private land in a wildland-urban interface area. The deduction amount is 50% of the costs incurred for the work, not to exceed $2,500. this bill passed as amended but still requires the governor’s signature.

HB 1318: Establishes a “beetle mitigation fund.” There is no actual funding provided, but the bill allows the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) to seek donations. HB1318 passed.

SB39: Pilot education program for board members of wildland/urban interface fire protection districts. No funding provided. SB39 passed.

SB 71: Last year’s Community Forest Restoration Grant is extended for five more years, per this bill. It provides severance tax revenues for the fund of $1 million per year. Passed.

SB 221: Allows the Water Resources and Powers Development Authority to issue bonds to fund watershed and forest protection projects. Passed.

SB 232: Requires separate line item accounting and tracking for CSFS, the experiment agricultural station and the cooperative extension service, outside the Colorado State University’s “funding stream.” Passed.

The following joint resolutions all passed:

HJR 1033: requests increased USDA bark beetle management funding

SJR 10: requests US Forest Service and CSFS implement a cooperative Colorado “stewardship contacting.”

SJR 25: Creates an interim committee to hold hearings on wildland/urban interface issues and recommend policy and legislation.

Lincoln Hills Clean Up

  About a hundred people will converge on the Lincoln Hills area the weekend of June 13^th. Members of the James P. Beckwourth Mountain Club and the Lincoln Hills Fly Fishing Club will be sweeping the area to clean up debris and work on some of the historic structures in the area. Lincoln Hills, covering 100 acres and extending on both sides of the railroad, was the only resort located west of the Mississippi for African Americans. People of color were not allowed to visit state parks and other resort areas at that time, so the resort area in Gilpin County is a uniquely historical. Cheryl Armstrong, representing the Mountain Club and Keith Van Horn, founder of the Fishing Club, asked Commissioners to provide three large dumpsters, signs and traffic cones for the area. Commissioners agreed to their requests and will have the dumpsters delivered on Friday and picked up on Monday of the clean-up weekend. They also granted permission for the group to clean up a cabin on County-owned land near the intersection of Pactolus and South Beaver Creek Roads. The Mountain Club, which began in 1993, owns the old Winks Lodge building and plans to restore it. They currently offer outdoor education programs for urban youth, primarily from Denver. The restored lodge will be used for conferences, workshops, retreats and special events.

Public Comment

  A Gilpin woman asked Commissioners to consider a class for County employees on speaking into the microphone. Those in the gallery were having trouble hearing employees who spoke too softly, even using the microphone, she said. She also told Commissioners that she’d been contacted by people selling spraying service and log removal for pine beetle infected trees. She said she was concerned about how to determine those offering the services are legitimate. “People don’t want to be taken,” she said.

   Commissioners meet next on May 20^th.