MMRR Quarry hearing date set

Lynn Volkens

06/05/2008 - Gilpin County Commissioners Ron Slinger and Forrest Whitman met Tuesday morning following a one week hiatus due to the Memorial Day holiday. Commissioner Whitman conducted the meeting in the absence of Commissioner Jeanne Nicholson.

Party at the Hidee

  Ed Lewandowski invited Commissioners and all local folks to the annual End of Spring/Thanks Gilpin Hidee Mine party. It’s the Hidee’s way of saying thanks for supporting the tourist mine over the past year. The party starts at 4:00 p.m. on June 20^th and includes free mine tours, food/drinks and music.

Hearing Officer Selected

  Joe O’Dorisio of Arvada will serve as hearing officer during taxpayer appeals of property valuations. The hearings will be held in July and August at the court house. O’Dorisio’s decisions are considered recommendations to the Commissioners, who make final determinations acting as the Board of Equalization. The hearing officer will be paid $100 per hour plus $50 per hour travel time.

Republicans Want Waiver

  Commissioners wouldn’t waive the damage deposit for the exhibit building when the Gilpin Republicans hold their annual Lincoln Day Round Up event there, but they’ll hold the Party’s $1,000 check until after the event and return it to them minus charges to cover set-up and operation costs. Use of the building requires extra cleaning before and after the event and it might need to be heated if the night grows chilly. Policy calls for a $50 heating fee. The Republicans had inquired about using the County’s dance floor. Estimated cost to move it from storage and install it is $200. Staff time to set up power boxes and cables, plus costs for additional electricity to have a band is $25 for the evening. The County usually deducts these fees from the damage deposit. The Republicans will provide insurance through the state Republican Party’s policy. That costs them $35, said Gail Maxwell, of Gilpin’s Republican Party. They can pay the County’s operational fees but don’t have $1,000 in the budget for a damage deposit, she said. Commissioner Slinger favored waiving the deposit requirement entirely, however County Attorney pointed out that would set precedent for waiving it for political parties, and other non-profit groups use the facility, too. Holding the check suited Commissioner Whitman, who was hesitant to waive the deposit at all, and pacified Commissioner Slinger who stated his position that County buildings “are the buildings of the people and should be used often.” The Republican event, a barn dance and social runs from 2:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on july 19^th, and is open to everyone.

MMRR Quarry Hearing Set

  The Public Hearing for the proposed MMRR Quarry near Douglas Mountain is on. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. on June 17^th in the Commissioners’ meeting room at the Gilpin County Court House in Central City. The applicants Brannan Sand and Gravel, will make their presentation first, followed by the County staff report. Commissioners and the public will be allowed to ask questions of each party after each presentation. Following these presentations, members of the public may make their own formal presentations utilizing expert testimony and answer questions put to them by Commissioners and other members of the public. The City of Black Hawk is one expected Public Presenter. Public Comment time (with a potential five-minute allotted per individual speaker) follows the public presentations. Brannan then is allowed a final response. Commissioners ask their final questions after that. Once Commissioners are satisfied they have all information needed, they will close the public hearing, discuss their thoughts and take action accordingly. Commissioners do not expect to make a decision allowing or disallowing the quarry at this hearing, but note they could. The hearing is expected to last several hours, probably requiring a lunch break, and if there is a large crowd, speakers will be moved to the area outside the meeting room to accommodate any overflow. Commissioners may also decide to continue the hearing at a later date in a larger venue.

Celebrating Five Years

  Gilpin’s Community Center celebrates its Fifth Anniversary this Saturday, June 7^th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. There will be free fitness classes from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., membership raffles from 1:00 -3:00 p.m. and free children’s activities in the gym. Visitors may enjoy free cake and balloons and obtain free water bottles (while supplies last.) They may also use the weight equipment, swimming pools and Center amenities free of charge all day.

South Beaver Variance

  Catherine Valen requested and received a variance to construct a room addition to her home at the base of Wedgewood Road along South Beaver Creek Road. The home sits only 53 feet from the center of South Beaver Creek Road (County code requires a 60 foot setback) and the proposed room addition would sit 55 feet from the centerline. Staff recommended approval of the variance because of the small one-room-only addition. They had requested an easement along that stretch of South Beaver Creek Road as part of the deal, but Valen said she felt that was “opportunistic” on the part of the County and was not something she had offered. She did not grant the easement because it would take away her pasture and other land, valued at $20,000-$30,000 she said, and would also cause her additional expense in fencing and hay for her horses. She presented numerous pictures showing her property and made a convincing enough presentation to win the day.

Go Shopping, Earl

  Road and Bridge Director Earl Robinson was given the go-ahead to purchase a new 440 horsepower Morbank drum chipper, direct from the manufacturer in Winn, MI. The direct purchase allows the County to take advantage of government pricing, reducing the cost by about one third. Last Wednesday, Robinson flew to Detroit  and traveled from there to Winn and Mount Pleasant where he looked at new machines and a 1994 rebuilt machine priced at $99,000-also presented as an option to Commissioners. A friend, who works with and knows chipper machines joined him there, Robinson said, providing expertise that he lacks

  The chosen machine will cost the County $208,210 payable over two years in four payments with interest totaling $12,149. There’s a one year warranty on the machine plus a three year warranty on the engine. The manufacturer will deliver it to Gilpin by the end of June, in time to deal with beetle-infested wood before they usually fly and spread the infestation to other trees. A mechanic will accompany the machine to set the engine for high altitude operation. The machine will chip logs for the bio mass burner at the Road and Bridge building, including beetle-kill wood brought to the facility by homeowners. It will also mulch smaller branches left at the County’s free slash pile, but there’s a catch.

For the second year in a row, slash containing metal objects has been deposited. Robinson brought out the items for show and tell: a metal broom handle, a soup can and five pounds worth of steel anchor rod measuring about two feet in length. The last was spit out by the contractor’s drum chipper before it could damage the six knives inside. Worse, the rod flew 100 feet in the air as Robinson and others at the site watched, and could have hurt a workman or citizen leaving slash. “Serious damage, serious danger,” Robinson surmised. With the incurring the safety liabilities and investing over $200,000 in its own chipper, Robinson wants more control at the slash yard. That likely means cutting back on open hours and having staff on site to monitor incoming slash loads. Commissioners agreed with Robinson and will discuss the specifics at their meeting on June 24^th, as the June 17^th meeting, with the MMRR Quarry hearing, is full.

  Commissioner Whitman noted there is more money in the PILT (Payment in lieu of taxes) fund than expected that can go towards this unbudgeted purchase. Robinson’s budget for Road and Bridge projects can also be tapped, he said, as this year’s budgeted Bald Mountain Road project has been postponed, making about $50,000 available to put toward the chipper. He’s pursuing grant funding to cover staffing the slash yard. Robinson noted that staffing the yard will have other advantages: control of non-Gilpinites who have been bringing in trucks and trailers of slash and those bringing in stumps can be turned away. During public comment time, a woman suggested the County consider volunteers staffing the slash yard, using the Sheriff’s personnel to back them up. The chipper purchase answered a Gilpin man’s earlier chastising of Commissioners for “wasting time bartering and haggling” over a chipper, and answered his question of how the County planned to handle beetle-infected wood before the mid-July beetle flight. Another man told Commissioners the beetle problem may not materialize. “Don’t spend every dime you have,” he cautioned, noting that’s how Central City got into a financial bind. The County is half forestland, he said, and if the Forest Service doesn’t do anything for their trees, “It’s like trying to save a bedroom in a burning house.” He pointed out the County’s insurance rate will go up because of the danger involved in operating a chipper.