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View proposed Baptist Road Improvements
Web Site Exclusive: Revised Wal-Mart Site Plan
By John Heiser
In June, Wal-Mart submitted to the El Paso County Planning
Department a revised application for an expanded supercenter to be built on the
30-acre parcel on the south side of Baptist Road directly across from the King
Soopers. The parcel is just south and west of the limits of the Town of
Monument. The county planning commission may hold a hearing on the project as
soon as August 26.
The Site Plan
The proposal is for a 24-hour per day supercenter with a
203,007 square foot (4.7 acres) store encompassing a grocery store, garden
center, and 6-bay tire/lube express. There would be parking for about 1,001
cars. The store would be at the eastern part of the parcel with the parking lot
to the west. It would occupy Lot 1 (23.9 acres).
Lot 2 (1.4 acres) on the northwest corner is proposed to be a
Wal-Mart gas station that includes a 975 square foot building.
There are proposed to be three points of access to the store.
At the western edge of the proposed development, Jackson Creek Parkway is
already a full-motion intersection with a traffic signal. The plan calls for two
entrances off the extension of Jackson Creek Parkway south of Baptist Road. The
third access to the store would be a right-in/right-out directly onto Baptist
Road toward the mid-point of the parcel. That access from Baptist Road
would be about 275 feet west of the right-in/right-out access to the King
Soopers shopping center.
Drainage from the approximately 25 acres of impervious area
would be collected in Lot 3, a roughly 2.5-acre snow storage and run-off
detention area on the southeast corner of the parcel. Pollutants such as
petroleum products from the lube facility, gas station, and vehicles on the
parking lot would be carried into the detention area by storm water. The outflow
from the detention area would flow west into a drainage ditch and from there
into nearby Jackson Creek and the associated wetlands.
The plan calls for a retaining wall up to 34 feet high on the
east side of the parcel between the back of the store and the existing church
and a 32-foot retaining wall on the south side of the parking lot. Retaining
walls are being used rather than the graded slopes in prior plans as one means
to increase the size of the store and parking lot.
Zoning
The parcel was zoned about 20 years ago as R-4. The
commercial form of the now obsolete R-4 zone is equivalent to the county’s
current Planned Business Park (PBP) zone district. PBP is defined in the county’s
Land Development Code as being for retail sales and service businesses that
"primarily serve an adjoining neighborhood or neighborhoods."
At the April 23, 2001 pre-application conference, Carl
Schueler, Assistant Director of the El Paso County Planning Department, noted
that the required zone for a supercenter Wal-Mart is Planned Business Center (PBC).
PBC is the most intense commercial zone in the county’s Land Development
Code and is two steps more intense and a significant departure from the
existing R-4 equivalent PBP. As defined in the code, the purpose of PBC is for
"regional centers" that are expected to draw customers from
significant distances.
Instead of requesting PBC zoning, Wal-Mart has requested
rezoning the parcel as a Planned Unit Development (PUD). In their letter of
intent, Wal-Mart said their use of the PUD zoning "encompasses land uses
similar to the R-4 zone." Based on the materials submitted, the planned use
is not similar to the R-4/PBP zone but is a regional center requiring PBC zoning
as stated by Schueler.
The authorizing legislation for the PUD zone district, the
Planned Unit Development Act of 1972 (CRS 24-67-101), was primarily intended to
accommodate innovative approaches to clustered residential designs and designs
that combine light retail and residential within one plan while encouraging
creative development of parks, recreation areas, and open space. The proposed
Wal-Mart plan includes no housing, parks, or recreation areas, and almost no
open space. The statute states "Planned unit development means an area of
land…the plan for which does not correspond in lot size, bulk, or type of use,
density, lot coverage, open space, or other restriction to the existing land use
regulations." In fact, the county’s Land Development Code contains
appropriate provisions that relate to the proposed development under the Planned
Business Center (PBC) zone district.
Road Improvements
The traffic study and road improvement plans for the Monument
Marketplace and the Wal-Mart have been partially merged (see
Baptist Road improvement plan). The same consultant, CLC Associates, is
developing both. CLC has identified the following improvements as needing to be
completed before the Wal-Mart or the Marketplace Home Depot can begin operation:
-
Construction of two westbound and two eastbound lanes on
Baptist Road from Jackson Creek Parkway to the I25 northbound off ramp.
-
Construction of the intersection of Jackson Creek Parkway
and Baptist road. This includes adding the fourth (south) leg. In the
WalMart case, this leg would be extended south for access to the store. In
the Monument Marketplace case, this leg would be stubbed until Jackson Creek
Parkway is constructed south.
-
Installation of a traffic signal for a fourlegged
intersection at Jackson Creek Parkway and Baptist road.
-
Widening the northbound I25 off ramp to accommodate a
left and a right turn lane.
-
Restriping the southbound I25 off ramp to accommodate a
separate right turn lane.
Additional roadwork specific to the proposed Wal-Mart:
-
Widening of Baptist Road to the east of Jackson Creek
Parkway to accommodate lane alignments.
-
Construction of Jackson Creek Parkway-Struthers Road
south from Baptist Road to complete the connection to the extension of
Struthers north from Northgate Road.
The Baptist Road Interchange
Since Wal-Mart is considered a "magnet store," a
significant portion of the increased traffic attributable to the store can be
expected to be between I-25 and Jackson Creek Parkway. The Colorado Department
of Transportation (CDOT) is currently preparing a design for an improved
interchange design to address existing and anticipated traffic. Those
improvements are expected to extend from the Total station on the west to
several hundred feet east of Jackson Creek Parkway. The construction cost has
been estimated at approximately $30 million and is currently not funded.
According to Schueler, construction of the changes is not included in the Pikes
Peak Area Council of Governments Traffic Improvement Plan that extends through
2007. Schueler said the project could be made a priority but it is still very
unlikely to be funded in less than three years. He said that given the current
state budget crisis, a longer delay seems quite likely.
At the June 1, 2002 meeting of the Northern El Paso County
Coalition of Community Associations (NEPCO), Schueler stated that traffic at the
Baptist interchange is expected to reach Level of Service (LOS) F, the worst
there is, sometime before the rework is completed. He said, "If Wal-Mart is
approved, the day it opens, the Baptist interchange will go to LOS F. No matter
how much Wal-Mart contributes to Baptist Road improvements, the day it goes in
it would kill the interchange."
Next Steps
According to Schueler, the planning commission hearing on the
rezoning and preliminary plan previously announced for August 19 might be held
August 26. After the planning commission renders a recommendation, there must be
a minimum 30-day notice prior to holding a hearing before the Board of County
Commissioners. Schueler estimates the county commissioners hearing could come in
October.
The hearings will be held at the El Paso County Building, 27
E. Vermijo, Colorado Springs, 3rd floor hearing room starting at 9 a.m. In the
event of a large turnout, the hearing will be moved to Centennial Hall on the
northwest corner of Cascade Street and Vermijo Street.
**********
For more information on this project and to provide comments,
contact Carl Schueler, Assistant Director, El Paso County Planning Department,
520-6300, CarlSchueler@elpasoco.com.
Mail comments and questions to the El Paso County Planning Department, 27 E.
Vermijo, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903-2208.
Additional information is available at www.ourcommunitynews.org/top_stories.htm#wal-mart
and www.CoalitionTLC.org/wal-mart.htm
or by calling John Heiser at 488-9031.
View proposed Baptist Road Improvements
Web Site Exclusive: Revised Wal-Mart Site Plan
Web site exclusive: View the Struthers Ranch Preliminary Plan
By John Heiser
At their meeting July 24, the Board of County Commissioners
voted 4-0 to approve service plans for the Forest Lakes Metropolitan District
and the three associated Pinon Pines districts. Later the board voted 3-0 to
approve the rezoning of Struthers Ranch from 2 ½-acre lots to a Planned Unit
Development (PUD) with lot sizes as small as 6,000 square feet (0.14 acres).
Commissioner Tom Huffman was absent. Commissioner Jim Bensberg left part way
through the Struthers Ranch hearing.
Forest Lakes Metropolitan District service plans
The Forest Lakes Service Plans include a revision to the
service plan for the existing Forest Lakes Metropolitan District and service
plans for three new districts, called Pinon Pines Districts 1, 2, and 3. The
Forest Lakes district would be a master district and the three Pinon Pines
districts would be taxing districts with little or no say in how the tax funds
are used.
Carl Schueler, assistant director of county planning, said,
"This would not be a typical special district in that it would start as a
developer-controlled district but would not evolve into one controlled by
residents as development occurs. The legal boundaries of the Forest Lakes
district would be limited to a small parcel to be perpetually controlled by the
developers. Property owners within the Pinon Pines districts would receive
services on what amounts to a contract basis. As proposed, they would have no
representation on the district board."
Attorney Darlene Sisneros, representing Forest Lakes, LLC,
described the structure as needed to ensure low-cost funding, construction of
the needed infrastructure, and long-term provision of services to residents. She
said a similar structure has been used elsewhere, including Highlands Ranch.
Sisneros objected to a condition added by the planning
department requiring formation of a citizen advisory council made up of
directors of the Pinon Pines districts. The condition would require that the
chair of the advisory council have full voting membership on the master district
board. Sisneros wanted that seat to be non-voting.
The Pinon districts’ property taxes would be capped at 50
mills, with a separate cap of 10 mills to cover operational expenses. Both of
these caps are subject to automatic adjustment upwards as the Gallagher
Amendment decreases the factor used to determine assessed values from market
values. No limits on monthly water and sewer fees paid by residents are
proposed.
To answer concern that buyers would not find out about the
unusual nature of the districts until ready to close on a property, one of the
conditions requires that a notice of the characteristics of the districts be
recorded as part of the legal description of all the properties so a search by
title companies would ensure that buyers were notified prior to closing.
Paul Murphy, attorney for the Dellacroce family, said a
2.8-acre parcel they own may already be in the Forest Lakes district; even
though they have not been billed for district taxes. He said, "We think we
are already in; however, the court can’t find the district file." Based
on those concerns, a condition was added to conform the district boundaries to
the court records.
Regarding the difficulty of including a voting resident
representative on the board, Commissioner Jeri Howells said, "I don’t
believe it has been an obstacle."
Commissioner Chuck Brown said, "I agree with the
developer so they have the wherewithal to continue the development. They need to
have control of the district."
Commissioner Wayne Williams moved for approval of the service
plans changing the conditions to make the resident representative a non-voting
member of the Forest Lakes district board.
The motion was approved 4-0.
Williams remarked that no one from the public came to speak
against the plans. The lack of opposition is not surprising given that no one
currently lives in the district.
Struthers Ranch
The Struthers Ranch parcel occupies 105.3 acres and lies east
of I-25, three-quarters of a mile south of Baptist Road, south of Chaparral
Hills, west of Gleneagle, and north of the Academy View and Summer Glen Estates
developments. The current zoning, RR-2—rural residential with 2 ½-acre
minimum lot size—would allow about 40 single-family lots.
Water and sewer service to Struthers Ranch is to be supplied
by the Donala Water and Sanitation District, which serves Gleneagle. On Sept.
19, 2000, by a vote of 7-2, the county planning commission recommended denial of
the Struthers Ranch request for a waiver from the county’s 300-year water
availability rule. During the course of that hearing, Dana Duthie, manager of
the Donala district, stated the district might have as little as 30 years and
probably no more than 156 years of water available to be pumped. On Oct. 26,
2000, the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) unanimously
approved the Struthers Ranch developer’s request for a waiver from the
300-year rule. That action cleared the way for submission of the sketch plan.
On Jan. 18, 2001, the BOCC unanimously approved a sketch plan
with 50 single-family lots on the north side of the parcel, 75 multifamily units
on the south side of the parcel, 13.5 acres of office, and 30.2 acres of open
space. The lots on the northern boundary were to be a minimum of one acre. A
condition of the approval was that the lots on the north side of the project not
be developed until an access road north to Baptist Road was available. This
requirement seemingly stalled the project.
On Jan. 2, 2003, by a vote of 3-2, the BOCC approved a
revised sketch plan with a total of 180 dwelling units, a minimum lot size of
6,000 square feet, and an average lot size of 7,000 square feet. The sketch plan
also included about 44 acres of landscape buffer, open space, drainage
detention, and habitat conservation areas; about 6 acres for Struthers Road; and
approximately 9 acres of Planned Business Center commercial use.
Representing Struthers Ranch Development, LLC, land planner
David Jones argued that by taking advantage of the terrain and limiting some
lots to single-story houses, the increased density would not significantly
impact views from adjacent lots.
Jones said the economics of the project would not work with
less than 113 lots in the north part of the parcel because the developer will be
required by the county to participate in the cost of constructing three-quarters
of a mile of Jackson Creek Parkway-Struthers Road north to connect to Baptist
Road. He said, "We cannot pay for that off-site construction with 50 lots.
Period. It is just impossible."
Jones’ calculation of the number of lots needed to pay for
off-site construction was based on an assumption that county taxpayers will pay
for a bridge over the Black Forest Creek drainage swale and mouse habitat that
bisects the parcel. That bridge has been estimated to cost $1 million to $2
million.
As the next step in the process, on June 17, 2003, the
planning commission held a hearing on the developer’s request to rezone the
parcel to Planned Unit Development (PUD) and to approve the associated
preliminary plan. The planning department recommended approval but noted that
there remained density transition issues with the adjacent developments.
The planning department comments included the following:
"It has been agreed that the developer is responsible for construction of
four lanes of Struthers Road within the property boundary and that this would
constitute the developer’s fair share of the Struthers Road
construction." This is a substantial change from the prior implication that
the Struthers Ranch developer would pay for a major share of the cost for
constructing the road all the way north to Baptist Road. That was a central
justification for increasing the number of lots from 125 to 180.
Discussion among the planning commissioners focused on how
the developer was no longer required to construct any off-site portion of
Struthers Road. Following that discussion, the planning commission voted
unanimously to recommend denial of the rezoning and associated preliminary plan.
On July 24, the board of county commissioners held a hearing
on the proposal. During his presentation, Jones said, "We meet the spirit
and intent of the comprehensive plan and are in compliance with the approved
sketch plan." He stressed that the project will assist completion of
Jackson Creek Parkway-Struthers Road south, will address long-standing drainage
issues on the property, and will provide mouse habitat mitigation for
construction of the bridge."
Mike McDowell, a commercial real estate broker who said he
was hired eight years ago to represent the property, said, "This land will
be developed. Some of the things proposed over the years, you wouldn’t
believe. The highest and best use is residential. If anybody else would buy this
land, they would at least want what this developer wants to economically develop
this property."
Several adjacent property owners spoke against the project.
Gleneagle resident Ron Overson said all the property owners
along the east side, except the Donala district, voted against the rezoning. He
said, "We never imagined the master plan being changed this drastically. It
is just not acceptable to the neighbors."
Falcon’s Nest resident Carla Howerton said, "No one
adjoining this property wants this to go as planned. Had we wanted high density,
we could have moved to Powers. Our views would be completely, totally destroyed.
We are not against development. We are against high-density development. We are
asking for a better transition."
Falcon’s Nest resident James Bentley said, "The
developer would make just as much money with larger lots and nicer homes. I see
concessions to the north and east but nothing to the south. We would like fair
and equitable treatment for all adjacent lot owners."
Chaparral Hills property owner Suzan Sery said, "We
bought our property expecting 2 ½ acre lots. Why do we have zoning if a
developer can do what he wants to? Why have a planning commission with citizens
giving of their time and then ignore their recommendations?"
Chris Anderson, also a Chaparral Hills lot owner, summarized
the concerns of many on the north side of the project when he criticized the
lack of an adequate transition from five-acre lots in Chaparral Hills to a
density of six lots per acre in Struthers Ranch. He said, "It is going to
look like a brick wall up against our property. Instead of two rooftops, I will
see 50 rooftops." Anderson also noted that the cost structure has changed
because the county is going to build the bridge and someone else is going to
build the road. He said, "The improvements being required of the developer
don’t match up to earlier claims."
Steve Sery, a member of the planning commission speaking as a
private citizen and owner of an adjoining Chaparral Hills lot, said, "It is
28 times as dense as Chaparral Hills. This is in-your-face density. In no way
can this be considered a reasonable transition." He added, "The
developer was talking in the range of $2 million to $3 million for off-site
improvements. They no longer have to do that. The county has gained nothing.
This was a bad plan at the sketch plan stage. It is still a bad plan."
County attorney Michael Lucas noted that master plans are
advisory. He also said that PUD rezonings are held to the lesser standard of
"general conformity" to the master plan whereas with other rezoning a
finding of master plan consistency is required.
In his rebuttal to the opponents, Jones said, "Present
zoning is absolutely no indication of what is going to be built on the property.
Sub-area comprehensive plans are what you should look at. Here the sub-area plan
calls for mixed use. The whole community said, ‘suitable for mixed use.’ We
are at 1.1 units per acre. South of this site the density is three, four, or
five times higher."
Paul Danley of the county department of transportation said
the signed development agreement calls for the Struthers Ranch developer to
construct about 2,000 feet of four-lane road. He estimated the cost at about
$500,000.
Brown said, "About 20 years ago, I was involved in
looking at developing this property. It is one of the most difficult pieces in
the county to develop. There have been two or three previous attempts. We have
gone about as far as we can go to develop this property. There is no viable way
to develop it with large lots."
Williams said, "It is a difficult matter. The sketch
plan was approved 3-2. The planning department is in favor. The planning
commission is opposed." He then moved for approval with additional
conditions that would reduce the total number of lots from 180 to 173 by
removing six lots along the north side and one lot on the east side. After
further discussion and negotiation including an executive session, the motion
was approved by a 3-0 vote.
**********
The Forest Lakes Service Plans are available on the web at http://adm.elpasoco.com/planning/forest_lake.asp.
The planning consultant on the Struthers Ranch project is
David F. Jones, Land Resource Associates, 9736 Mountain Rd., Chipita Park,
Colorado 80809, (719) 684-2298, FAX (719) 684-8413.
For more information on these and other projects within the
county, contact the planning department at 520-6300 or visit www.elpasoco.com/planning.
You may submit comments or questions to the El Paso County Planning Department,
27 E. Vermijo Avenue, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903.
Web site exclusive: View the Struthers Ranch Preliminary Plan
By Jim Kendrick
District Court Judge Thomas Kane upheld the May 16, 2002
decision by the El Paso County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) to approve the
preliminary plan for the Schuck Corporation’s Forest Lakes development. A
group of area residents challenged the county’s authority to allow some of the
plan’s rezoning and density, and filed an appeal of the decision in district
court.
The proposed subdivision of 467 homes on 990 acres is located
at the western end of Baptist Road, primarily on the former Beaver Creek Ranch.
The plan calls for a clustered design with areas of high-density patio homes
coupled with an assortment of larger lots, open space, trails, and recreational
use of two lakes. On February 26, 2002, the county planning commission voted 6-3
to recommend denial of the preliminary plan.
The lawsuit claimed, "The board exceeded its
jurisdiction when it approved the Forest Lakes preliminary plan without a valid
sketch plan as required by the [Land Development] Code." The suit claimed
the 1984 sketch plan had lapsed or was not applicable due to differences between
the sketch plan and the preliminary plan. It further claimed, "The board’s
decision to approve the preliminary plan was arbitrary and capricious, and not
in harmony with the comprehensive plan which is the guiding document as it
pertains to land use."
Judge Kane disagreed. The judge ruled, "The Board of
County Commissioners did not exceed its authority or act arbitrarily and
capriciously when it approved the Forest Lakes Preliminary Plan by Forest Lakes
L.L.C. The record in this case contains sufficient and competent evidence
supporting the Board’s determination."
In a county press release, Bill Schuck, president of the
Schuck Corporation, was quoted as saying, "This is a validation of a good
decision and responsible approach taken by the county commissioners. The
commissioners did the right thing approving the plan. They’re often called
upon to make tough choices under pressure and they’re to be complimented for
taking an action that will serve those who live in El Paso County now as well as
those yet to come."
By Jim Kendrick
Special Meeting
The Monument Board of Trustees (BOT) and the Triview
Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors held a working group session
before the regular BOT meeting on July 7. The purpose of the meeting was to
initiate discussion about possible participation by the town in funding Jackson
Creek Parkway. Triview wants the town to pay for up to three-fourths of the
expense of building the parkway, from Lyons Tail to Higby Road, even though the
water district is supposed to pay for the roadway per the 1987 intergovernmental
annexation agreement for Regency Park. The town would pay by forfeiting its half
of the 3 percent sales tax that would have been generated by Marketplace
tenants. The tax would be forfeited for up to eight years in one Triview
proposal. Triview would not reimburse the town for these forfeited tax receipts
under their proposal.
Representing Monument were Mayor Betty Konarski and trustees
Frank Orten and Glenda Smith, as well as the full town staff; three BOT members
were absent, and Byron Glenn arrived halfway through the meeting. Representing
Triview were Directors Martha Gurnick, Gary Walters, and Kathy Walters, as well
as General Manager Ron Simpson and attorney Peter Susemihl; two board members
were absent. Both sides expressed regret about their respective limited
representation and their mutual hesitance to make any decisions without more
representation.
Simpson restated the facts and issues facing Triview, which
he had discussed at the previous BOT meeting. The parkway cost is now estimated
at $5.2 million, excluding the additional cost of all its supporting utilities.
Costs for four-lane box culverts spanning Jackson Creek and No Name Creek are
included. Although this entire segment is to be four lanes eventually, Phase 1
would only include two lanes from the north entrance of Monument Marketplace to
Higby, in order to postpone $1 million of the $5.2 million expense. The cost of
extending Leather Chaps to the main Marketplace entrance is an additional $1
million. Home Depot, which was announced recently as the first and only tenant,
requires that the developer commit to building all four lanes from Baptist Road,
as a condition of breaking ground. Home Depot wants building to start no later
than Aug. 31 and further requires the developer to complete Phase 1 of the
parkway before the store opens.
Konarski asked for some numbers to review, as she had said
she would when Simpson proposed this meeting. However, Simpson had no specific
handouts to present. He said the long list of assumptions that have to be made
make the creation of projections difficult and their accuracy difficult to
evaluate. Simpson did briefly discuss conservative numbers for a single
scenario. He said that if the entire 3 percent sales tax was given to the
district, instead of the current 50-50 split with Monument, the parkway would
probably be paid for within eight to nine years. However, he added that there
are a lot of alternative possible development assumptions and at least 20
revenue growth scenarios as well.
Smith mentioned the intergovernmental annexation agreement in
1987. Smith, Konarski, Simpson, and Susemihl disagreed about the dates and
splits of different revenues between the town and the district that have
occurred since then. Monument planner Mike Davenport indicated that the
Marketplace developer might have to pay initial Baptist Road expenses instead of
Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has fallen behind the Marketplace schedule. Simpson expressed
concern about the "can of worms" that might be opened by asking the
Marketplace developer to contribute to Baptist Road improvement. There was no
agreement on who would pay for the widening of Baptist Road from the parkway to
the interstate, how they would deal with mouse habitat, or how Wal-Mart would
participate in building the parkway. Simpson noted that No Name Creek is
wetlands but not mouse habitat.
Susemihl said that the town should only think about how to
avoid piecemeal development and slower commercial development. Orten asked about
false savings in not building four lanes all the way to Higby. Simpson said the
parkway asphalt would become brittle due to underuse. Smith asked if Triview had
enough water. Simpson said the Marketplace water could come from the new well
for Jackson Creek Filing 5. Gurnick asked when Struthers would be shut down.
Simpson said CDOT doesn’t say yet because completion of Struthers rerouting
south of Baptist is uncertain.
Konarski noted that Triview would need to get an additional
$15 million in bonds and asked when Monument would begin to recoup enough
revenue to break even on forfeited receipts from the Marketplace. Simpson
replied that too many assumptions prevented him from running any numbers. He
said that all projections are guesses and that a bonding house will only look at
assessed values. He also said he was not able to provide numbers because they
would end up in Our Community News and be misinterpreted. Susemihl said he didn’t
care what the press does with the numbers. Simpson countered to Konarski,
"I’m not going to do the brain damage if you’re going to run to another
pole." Smith replied that she needed something to choose from. Glenn felt
that a 50-50 split in the town’s share of Marketplace revenue is appropriate
for some period, in order to expedite construction. Simpson offered again that
in his worst-case scenario, with a single tenant, that the roadway would be paid
for with the entire 3 percent tax totally dedicated to Triview for eight years
and tapering to 2 percent then 1 percent in the next two years. He added that if
Monument didn’t "invest" [meaning, forfeit revenue to Triview] it
wouldn’t get a penny because the Marketplace would fail; in addition, he said,
this was not a commitment of funds the town has in hand.
Smith observed that police protection for Jackson Creek is
not cost-free and that the older part of Monument would also need to benefit
from this process. Simpson said that the Marketplace could produce as much as
$42 million per year in taxable revenue in the future. The proposed shopping
center between the Marketplace and Foxworth-Galbraith might produce
$15million/year in taxable revenue. Smith observed that the Regency Park
development was not supposed to cost the town in any way. Gurnick said no one
paying Monument taxes would benefit if the improvements weren’t made. Glenn
said that giving up revenue did not hurt the town’s current bottom line.
Susemihl said that Home Depot, still unidentified at this meeting, would provide
enough revenue and attract enough other businesses to make the parkway solvent.
He noted that if the Marketplace and Wal-Mart failed, then Monument would not
have any debt from the parkway whatsoever.
After much discussion, Konarski asked that the Triview
projections presented at the next session account for the loss of the King
Soopers shopping center revenue when Wal-Mart opens. Susemihl indicated that
Triview would provide three or four alternative scenarios. Both sides agreed to
meet again, on Aug. 4 at 5:30 p.m. at Town Hall to discuss costs and revenue
projections. The special meeting adjourned at 6:18 p.m.
Regular Meeting
The Monument Board of Trustees held a short regular meeting
after its meeting with Triview Metropolitan District. A minimal quorum was
present as Trustees George Brown, Christopher Perry, and Doug Warner were also
absent for the regular meeting.
Christopher and Michael Temple of USAFA’s Boy Scout Troop
79 led the Pledge of Allegiance. There were no public comments or scheduled
guest speakers.
Old Business
The ballot issue for the Nov. 4 election, permitting the town
to retain all revenues for the next four years, passed unanimously. The board
wants to retain all excess revenues collected rather than refund unexpected
excess receipts. Voters previously agreed to give their refunds back to the town
in 1996 and 1999. No other ballot issues are expected.
Town Manager Rick Sonnenburg reported that school district
bus barn issues were negotiated by the town staff with school district staff.
The Lewis-Palmer School District rejected the town’s request, in its letter of
June 4, to reconsider building curbs, gutters, and sidewalks. In Superintendent
Ted Bauman’s subsequent letter of June 19, following the interstaff meeting of
June 17, the district said it would build two on-site detention ponds instead.
The school district rejected the town’s request for a 40-foot turn radius at
the Beacon Lite Road entrance. However, it agreed with town consultant Transplan’s
compromise suggestion to increase the turn radius from 20 feet to 35 feet, to
prevent buses from having to cross the Beacon Lite center line to exit the
facility. The district’s letter reminded the town that they had donated an
acre of land for Beacon Lite Road construction and that the "transportation
facility will be a beautiful improvement … to what once was weed covered and
somewhat unsightly portion of school district property… ." Other changes
suggested by town engineering consultant GMS and/or requested by the town
regarding easements, culverts, and grading appeared to be unresolved in the
package provided to trustees. A motion to affirm the staff-negotiated settlement
with the district passed unanimously.
New Business
At the request of Police Chief Joe Kissell, amendments to
business license regulations were passed unanimously, even though wording
regarding auctions was not yet included. Kissell wanted the new regulations in
place to cope with an increase in the number of door-to-door salespeople within
the town limits. Amendments to effect the latest Model Traffic Code were
unanimously approved after Kissell observed that they would enhance enforcement
regarding reckless driving and speed contests, particularly on Highway 105.
The transportation engineering consultant contract with Short
Elliot Hendrickson, Inc. was renewed for a third year. Janet Hruby outlined fee
increases in response to Orten’s query. There was a general 5 percent
increase, around half the staff classifications were expanded and revised, and
some $100/hour fees increased to $135/hour. Konarski noted that using a senior
engineer now costs the town $160/hour.
In other financial matters, the Broiler Room had not made its
June 2003 tax payment and owed $4500. A motion to purchase anti-virus software
for $2593.90 passed unanimously. The town has borrowed $1,964,502 against an
upper limit of $2,443,000 for its 2002 loan agreement with the Colorado Water
Conservation Board. The board voted unanimously not to borrow more money at this
time to pay for Monument Dam expenses.
The board then considered reappointment of citizen committee
members. Larry Neddo is the only remaining member of the Public Works Committee,
and no citizens have volunteered for the other four positions. Public Works
Superintendent Tom Wall observed that this committee has likely outlived its
usefulness, and Konarski said the new staff engineer would help fill this role.
Smith noted that the committee fostered citizen input. Further discussion
concluded that this committee would be allowed to go dormant but be kept in the
regulations for possible reactivation, as those serving on the Parks and
Landscape Committee would resist being tasked with Public Works issues. After
Wall reminded them of Neddo’s unexpired appointment, Konarski and Davenport
agreed to ask Neddo to fill the empty planning commission position, which no one
had volunteered for. Smith suggested he also be offered an empty seat on the
Police Advisory Committee. Perry indicated that he would like to continue on the
Board of Adjustments, which also has an empty position that must be filled by a
planning commission member.
Liquor licenses for La Casa Fiesta, 7-11, and Cork ‘n’
Bottle were routinely renewed unanimously. The Shell convenience store at the
King Soopers shopping center has let its liquor license lapse for over 30 days.
Sales tax revenues from Popeye’s Chicken in this building have not been paid
recently.
Reports
There were no committee reports and no town attorney’s
report. The town manager’s report noted that Oz Architecture had been hired,
for $2,750, to generate cost estimates for the new comprehensive Town Hall
building, which is to include the police and public works departments. Smith
asked if Conservation Trust Fund money could be used for park maintenance.
Sonnenburg said yes. The Colorado Intergovernmental Risk Sharing Agency gave a
near-perfect score to the town’s loss control standards audit, a dramatic
improvement over last year. Smith informed Kissell that a citizen had told her
there may be drug problems at the skateboard park. Kissell said he heard no
report of such problems but advised that all citizens should dial 911 to report
this sort of thing immediately.
The meeting adjourned at 7:19 p.m.
Web Site Exclusive: View photos of the
hearings on Marketplace/Regency Park plans
Web Site Exclusive: Regency Park Zoning Plan
By Jim Kendrick
The Monument Board of Trustees (BOT) met on July 21 to hold
public hearings on a number of development issues. Major agenda items were the
Monument #5 Addition Preliminary Plat and Final Plat, preliminary cost estimates
for a potential new town hall complex, and hearings on the Third Amendment to
the Regency Park Development and Zoning Plan and the Preliminary Plan and Final
PD Site Plan for the Monument Marketplace. All board members and town staff
principals were present.
A special BOT closed executive session was held before the
regular meeting to allow the board to receive legal advice. This meeting was
resumed after the regular meeting was adjourned. The regular meeting was called
to order at 6:38 p.m.
Public comments
Planning Commissioner Lowell Morgan asked that the board
consider changing the manner of operation of the new manually initiated Santa Fe
Trail crosswalk traffic signals on Second and Third Streets. While the
crosswalks are effective and well used by pedestrians who need them, he was
almost struck there by a driver doing approximately 45 mph. He thought the
lights stayed red a bit too long, inducing some impatient drivers to run the red
light once the pedestrians had crossed and disappeared down the trail. He
proposed making the lights flashing yellow, or even flashing red, because he
believes a flashing light has a more consistent ability to induce caution in
drivers, as evidenced by the flashing yellow Santa Fe Trail crossing light on
Beacon Lite Road, also a 25 mph zone. Mayor Betty Konarski asked Public Works
Supervisor Tom Wall to look into Morgan’s suggestion.
Scheduled guests
Larry Neddo, a two-year member of the Public Works Committee
who was invited to fill the empty Planning Commission position, spoke briefly to
the board. The Public Works Committee has recently gone dormant due to lack of
additional citizen volunteers. This freed Neddo to volunteer for the commission.
He was approved unanimously.
Developments
Monument Addition #5
Mike Davenport, assistant town manager and town planner,
briefed the board on revisions to the plats for Monument Addition #5 that
developer Dwayne Black had made at the request of the town at the June 16 BOT
meeting. Black has redrawn the subdivision with eight housing lots, instead of
nine, and had changed the former flag lot, along the length of the adjacent
railroad tracks, into a common subdivision detention pond for all eight
individual dwelling lots called tract B. Davenport added that town consultant
GMS concurred with the drainage improvement. Black had agreed to and
incorporated all recommendations from fire and police departments and town
engineering consultant GMS. The former driveway to the former flag lot is now a
utility easement and provides the necessary access to the detention pond.
Addition #5 was unanimously approved with those conditions.
Third Amendment to the Regency Park Development and Zoning
Plan
Davenport said the amendment is being proposed by Vision
Development, Inc. to bring the zoning map up to date incorporating various
actions by the BOT, reflecting the mouse habitat, and accommodating the plans
for the Monument Marketplace project. Davenport noted that since the original
Regency Park plan for a regional mall was adopted in 1987, the nature of retail
has changed.
Land planner Michael Pharo presented concerns of his client,
property owner Miles Grant. Pharo objected to the road network changes shown on
the amended plan. He said, "The plan focuses on [Vision Development’s]
private needs to the detriment of my client." In particular, he expressed
concern that elimination of the loop road shown in the prior plan will force
customers to use Jackson Creek Parkway to travel between stores in the
Marketplace and anticipated stores on Grant’s property. He said, "It
fragments the synergistic relationship between the uses."
Due to the interdependence of the Regency Park plan and the
Marketplace plan, the hearing on the Regency Park plan was continued until after
the Marketplace hearing.
The Monument Marketplace
(For details on the Marketplace project, see the April,
June,
and July issues of OCN.)
In response to Pharo’s concerns, Rick
Blevins, representing
Vision Development, Inc., pointed out changes to the plan to improve circulation
between the Marketplace and the properties to the south.
The town’s consultants confirmed that all significant
technical issues with the overall project had been resolved or were covered by
conditions.
Trustee Frank Orten made a motion to approve the Marketplace
project subject to the list of conditions. The motion was unanimously approved.
With very little additional discussion, the Third Amendment
to the Regency Park Rezoning and Development Plan was then unanimously approved.
Subdivision Ordinance Update
Trustee Byron Glenn moved that the hearing on Part II of the
Comprehensive Update to Subdivision Ordinances be deferred until the next
scheduled BOT meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
Town Hall
A very preliminary cost estimate for a new Town Hall complex
was performed by OZ Architecture to provide data to help the BOT decide whether
or not to place funding for such a building on the November ballot. Several
trustees stated that it was premature to put the issue on the ballot. The next
opportunity for such an election initiative is two years from November. The
approximate cost estimate for the project is $2.5 million. Treasurer Judy
Skrzypek prepared a spreadsheet in which she estimated that 0.3 cents (30
percent) of the 1-cent water tax, would pay off the new town hall structure in
20 years.
Konarski said the guidance she gave the architects was to
create a one-stop building that would serve all the town’s administrative
needs in a single downtown location. She noted that it must be large enough to
have a big meeting room that would provide services for seniors and be possible
to rent out for local functions, to recoup some of its expense. Attorney Gary
Shupp confirmed Anne Holliday’s date of Sept. 10 as the deadline for
submitting a ballot initiative for a November election. While the building could
be squeezed onto a 1-acre lot, Konarski insisted that a 2-acre lot would be far
better, due to the need for an enclosed car space for prisoner transfer.
Davenport concurred. Konarski noted that the Chamber of Commerce might be
willing to permanently rent space since it is losing its current location. Doug
Warner suggested some permanent features to some rooms such as a dais and fixed
furniture to better define rooms for specific municipal purposes. Everyone
agreed on the need to improve police facilities whether or not a new town hall
is authorized.
Joan Thebert-Cain was invited by Konarski to speak on the
need to accommodate senior activities in a larger, improved facility. She gave a
moving, extemporaneous presentation on the vital need to prevent the town’s
seniors from feeling isolated, and she supported her position with many
statistics. Some specific suggestions included establishing pastor support
sessions, book clubs, regular meetings to test and secure treatment for macular
degeneration, a crafts club, senior exercise classes, community travel and
photography groups, and vaccination and wellness meetings. The board praised her
presentation, and Konarski thanked her for her expertise and advice.
Glenda Smith expressed concern about reallocating water money
away from water projects when, because of very high housing costs, the town
needs to keep utility rates as low as possible. Chris Perry noted that the water
fund could not be used to subsidize water rates. Warner said that the town could
move forward on developing plans and options without committing funds, and
needed to get the ball rolling. Konarski summarized, saying that the board
needed to move forward on planning and acting on an interim improvement for
police facilities, but it is too soon for a ballot issue. She repeated that Town
Hall needed to be downtown. Many of the trustees spoke again to the urgency of
doing something quickly about police facilities. Skrzypek said that water money
could not be used for the police improvements now. Citizen John Dominowski asked
the board to look at streamlining all the various special districts that serve
its residents, for opportunities to save money and help the overall budget.
There was no support from the trustees to prepare a ballot initiative to
redirect a portion of the water tax into non-water capital improvements, as
there was consensus that it would not pass.
Treasurer’s report
The contract for Chassen Computer Consulting was unanimously
renewed, as was the contract for the town auditor, Swanhorst and Cutler, LLC.
The June financial report was approved unanimously. Smith said that Skrzypek’s
new format and amplifying comments are liked and appreciated by the board.
Skrzypek said she had successfully reversed a $78,000 IRS penalty on the town’s
2002 W-2 forms. Several trustees agreed with the suggestion to give it to Chief
of Police Joe Kissell for improvements. Warner asked about the Broiler Room’s
taxes, and Skrzypek said they were late again. It was agreed that the Broiler
Room’s taxes would now be a permanent agenda item. There was some lengthy
discussion about effective methods for ensuring collection of vendor taxes at
the farmers market.
Other business
The liquor license was renewed for Jackson Creek Chinese
Restaurant. Changes to three street names in Jackson Creek Filing No. 5 were
approved. A request from the county asking for a water line easement through
Santa Fe Trail property was approved. A motion to advertise for a BOT vacancy,
effective after the Aug. 18 meeting passed. –(Christopher Perry is moving from
Monument to join his father in their family business.)
Kissell spoke about a recent meth lab bust. He said they
needed help from the Drug Enforcement Administration because none of the
Monument police have received the special chemical training needed for those who
handle suspected drug materials.
The meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m., and the board returned to
executive session.
Web Site Exclusive: View photos of the
hearings on Marketplace/Regency Park plans
Web Site Exclusive: Regency Park Zoning Plan
View Possible Heavy Industrial Area of Forest Lakes
Web Site Exclusive: Photo of Planning Commission hearing on
the Marketplace
By John Heiser
At the Monument Planning Commission meeting July 9, two major
topics again dominated the agenda: The update to the town’s comprehensive plan
and the Monument Marketplace proposal.
Worshop on the update to the comprehensive plan
David Mertz, chair of the planning commission, announced that
the purpose of this workshop is to review the text in the revised draft
document. The most controversial item was a suggestion that the southern portion
of the Forest Lakes business park just west of I-25 and south of Baptist Road be
planned as a heavy industrial district. The district would be immediately east
of the wastewater treatment plant.
Tim Siebert, a land-planning consultant from N.E.S.,
represented Forest Lakes, LLC. He reported that a company had approached them
about including a batch plant. He said, "We hadn’t contemplated the use.
We are not saying we absolutely have to have it. The Schuck community is
committed to a quality development." He said there are concerns about the
visual impact from the interstate and how to screen potential heavy industrial
uses from the planned commercial uses. He noted that the entire operation would
be enclosed in a structure except for materials storage outside. A truck route
would be designated and designed to handle the heavy loads.
Bill Simpson, owner of the property on North Washington
Street that was to be the site of the Transit Mix concrete batch plant, said,
"I take exception to putting a heavy industrial district down there. I
already have a heavy industrial area. How would it be any different?"
Commissioner Lowell Morgan replied, "A major difference
is that there are no children in that area."
Siebert acknowledged that there would be an issue of dust
from the outside materials storage. Commissioner Kathy Spence said, "I don’t
think anything that creates dust should be in that area of the foothills. It is
just not appropriate on that side of I-25."
Mertz suggested the town get comments on this topic from the
Air Force Academy.
The hearing on approval of the update to the comprehensive
plan is scheduled for August 13.
Monument Marketplace
The next item was a continuation of the June 11 public
hearing on the Monument Marketplace proposal.
Davenport summarized the updates made since last month.
Bruce Rau, a landscape architect for CLC Associates, and Todd
Whipple, a senior vice president of CLC, assisted Rick Blevins, representing
Vision Development, Inc. in answering the commission’s questions. Paul
Battista, an architect for Galloway, Romero & Associates, discussed
questions specific to the first big box tenant, subsequently announced to be
Home Depot.
Blevins noted that the improvements to Baptist Road must be
completed prior to opening the first store. He said those improvements may
require an amendment to the Triview Metropolitan District’s mouse habitat
conservation plan (HCP) to accommodate the widening of Baptist Road where it
crosses Jackson Creek.
Mike Watt, owner of several properties, including the
property being leased to Foxworth-Galbraith, asked if the Baptist Road
improvements would encroach on his property. Whipple replied that, based on the
Colorado Department of Transportation’s roadway profile, the improvements
could be done within the existing easement.
Miles Grant, owner of properties on the west, north and east
of the King Soopers shopping center, expressed concern that amending the HCP may
adversely affect his property. He said, "We have given up 50 percent of our
property to the mouse so far. I don’t want to give up more." Blevins said
the intent is to avoid triggering an increase in from 300 feet to 395 feet for
setbacks from mouse habitat.
Davenport said, "Someday someone will have to deal with
this issue. The Baptist Road crossing of Jackson Creek is too narrow to handle
the traffic right now."
Following further discussion, Spence moved that the planning
commission recommend approval of the plan subject to a list of conditions. The
motion was unanimously approved.
**********
The Monument Planning Commission meets on the second
Wednesday of each month at Monument Town Hall, 166 2nd Street. The next meeting
will be August 13. A work session will be held at 6:00 p.m. followed by the
meeting at 7 p.m. That meeting will include a hearing on approval of the update
to the comprehensive plan. For additional information, contact Mike Davenport at
481-2954.
For more information on the Marketplace project, contact Rick
Blevins at Jackson Creek Vision Development, 385-0555, or rblevins@jacksoncreek.com.
View Possible Heavy Industrial Area of Forest Lakes
Web Site Exclusive: Photo of Planning Commission hearing on
the Marketplace
By Jim Kendrick
The Monument Parks and Landscape Committee hosted its second
presentation in Town Hall by the University of Denver’s (DU) Colorado Center
for Community Development (CCCD) on July 8. Two graduate students from DU, with
undergraduate degrees in urban planning, have been working for several months on
proposals for long-term development of Second Street and the cross streets. This
presentation was part of the committee’s efforts to develop a Parks, Trails,
and Open Space Master Plan—part of the overall Monument Comprehensive Plan.
The committee’s recommendations and conclusions were to be given to the town
Planning Commission scheduled to meet the next evening. Eight citizens attended
the presentation.
Before the CCCD, Planner Mike Davenport invited comments from
the citizens attending. Si Sibell, former mayor, expressed his unhappiness that
Third Street, like Second Street, had no curbs, lights, or a gutter and that
this proposed development project did nothing to improve this equally important
major street. He expressed his disappointment that nothing had been done to
improve Third Street for several decades, and that he and his wife thought the
committee should come up with similar proposals to those developed for Second
Street. When no other citizens supported his views, the Sibells left the
meeting.
Before introducing Hsin-yi Chou, Victor Kusmin, and their
project advisor, Judith Bergquist, Davenport noted that their work was supported
by a grant from Great Outdoors Colorado. Kusmin’s presentation started with an
overview of the work they had done since their last presentation on April 29.
They combined the best portions of their individual presentations for the three
sections of Second Street and obtained cost estimates for the consolidated plan.
The first section is called the Village, between Highway 105
and Beacon Lite Road, and would consist of shops with close lot lines to the
street and a high square footage density to create a village feeling, as in
Idaho Springs or Colorado City. Architectural features like awnings and
appropriately scaled signs would break up the linearity of the basic
contemporary structures on the north side of the street. Expected businesses
would be small shops and food vendors, and there would be a plaza with umbrella
tables and chairs, evoking a farmers market. On the south side, there would an
overlook for the viewscape of the Front Range with information kiosks, benches,
and telescopes. Near Beacon Lite, there would be an artist plaza. Ten-foot
sidewalks and parallel parking would be used to encourage foot traffic and
bicycle traffic. Off-street parking behind the north buildings supplements the
parallel parking in all three zones.
Kusmin also reprised his recommendation that the town adopt a
mouse icon to playfully acknowledge the significance of mouse habitat on local
development. This suggestion drew mixed response from the citizens attending.
The second zone, named Downtown, expands on current
structures and streetscapes. The street lanes are narrowed to make the zone feel
safer and more conducive to pedestrian traffic. Additional commercial buildings,
a new Town Hall east of the park, and a theater are proposed. A Santa Fe Trail
parking lot would be added in the open space east of the trail on the north side
of Second Street, to increase parking. A bike lane on the north side of Second
Street would invite bikers off the trail to businesses. There would be a 10-foot
sidewalk on the north side and a 6-foot sidewalk on the south side. Town Hall
would have a clock tower to provide a visual cue for every part of town and to
attract traffic from I-25. The park would have a spray/play fountain like the
one in Acacia Park and climbable funny mouse statues for kids.
The Lake Approach is the third zone, leading from I-25 across
the railroad tracks to this desiccated mud hole. A median west of Front Street,
6-foot sidewalks, and landscaping would draw pedestrians to Monument Lake. A
band shell would be added to Limbach Park in an amphitheater setting. Parallel
parking would line the east and north boundaries for convenience.
Kusmin recommended black Victorian street lamps, benches, and
drinking fountains with black tubular and wooden slat street furniture. The goal
is for the pedestrian to want to sit, relax, and have a cool drink.
The installed cost for all this was estimated at about $5
million, with a 15 percent contingency for inflation and design costs—not
including the amphitheater, Town Hall, or bike lanes and signs.
During public comment, Lori Wilson said she was concerned
about the high expense for what is now a bedroom community, as well as the
limited number of warm months for strolling. Snow removal would be harder with
the complications of new curbs and increased street parking. Ron Wilson said he
was concerned about overbuilding apartments and excessive vacancies, observing
that more than $100,000 had to be spent before a stick was built for a
commercial building. Davenport said that the town could reduce required
on-property parking and acreage for water, and adjust downtown water and sewer
tap fees to promote the renovation. Ron Wilson said that he and many others have
been irreparably harmed financially by the mouse and didn’t think it was a
playful symbol. The closure of the north exit between the Safeway and Conoco
will hurt business more than people expect as well, making funding of the
project more difficult.
Tommie Plank indicated that construction on Exit 161 had
harmed a lot of downtown businesses and Monika Marky added that Second Street
construction had hurt her business also. Davenport said that the town planned to
add signs encouraging people to visit side street businesses, citing Old
Colorado City and Castle Rock as examples where this technique had been
successful for merchants. Davenport concluded by saying that the Comprehensive
Plan Update would be discussed at the Planning Commission the next evening and
the Parks, Trail, and Open Space plan should be completed early in the fall.
After a short break for further informal discussion, the
committee considered street signs and poles for future installation. Consensus
was to standardize signs using black lettering and borders on a white background
and white steel poles, plus a finial on downtown signs.
To implement the plan, Davenport said the next steps are to
verify and flesh out the draft costs that Kusmin had prepared, adding those for
the rest of the plan, and present them to the Planning Commission. The
commission would integrate their recommendations into the Comprehensive Plan
Update and recommend them to the Board of Trustees. The goal is to define and
encourage the future character of downtown through revision of current
regulations and sound budgeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m. The next meeting is at
Town Hall on Aug. 12 at 6:30 p.m.
By Jim Kendrick and Judy Barnes
Trustee Susan Miner acted as Mayor Pro Tem in the absence of
Mayor Nikki McDonald. Trustee Randy Jones was also absent.
Committee Reports
Trustee Cindy Allen reported on the landscaping of the
municipal buildings and library, noting that the money for tearing up sidewalks
and planting trees was not taxpayer dollars. Funding came from conservation
trust funds, lottery and gambling revenue, and donated labor and materials by
Jeff Clibon of Oasis Landscape and Irrigation and Jim Eaton of James Concrete.
The Blue Columbine Festival on June 14 was attended by hundreds of people. Allen
thanked Master gardener Janet Riddle, who gave out 300 blue columbine plants
that day. Allen also acknowledged High Country Feed and Garden for helping
obtain the plants. She also thanked Les Kregar, who built and donated four
"poop bag" dispensers for the Glen Park trails around Palmer Lake. The
dispensers can hold grocery sacs, bread wrappers, or newspaper bags. People who
use the trails are welcome to replenish the dispensers with reusable bags.
Trustee Chuck Cornell reported that the water treatment plant
for the new Arapahoe well was progressing slowly, with an expected operational
date in December. He also noted that the town is "out of priority,"
meaning someone downstream with senior water rights has placed a call, requiring
Palmer Lake to release water downstream. Water Supervisor Steve Orcutt will
start pumping water from the Denver well into Monument Creek rather than release
water from the reservoir.
Bob Radosevich, Roads Supervisor, gave the roads report for
Trustee Jones. He said the town’s FireWise wood chipping program is in full
swing. The chipper crew made 79 calls, 58 in town and 21 for the Donald Wescott
fire department. The town’s water truck was out of service, hampering efforts
to flush culverts and apply magnesium chloride for dust control on roads. Miner
asked if magnesium chloride could be spread on roads after a good rainfall.
Radosevich replied that he plans to have that capability next year and is
currently researching an affordable holding tank.
Trustee Eddie Kinney reported that June traffic tickets and
police calls were down for the first half of the year. Monument’s Mayor Betty
Konarski sent a thank-you note to Officer John Cameron for his assistance in
parking control at the gala opening of the Tri-Lakes Views art show at the
Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts. Kinney praised Cameron’s refusal to apply for
or accept overtime pay for this work.
Miner thanked all the 10,000-12,000 people who attended the
July 4th fireworks, noting that only three trash bags were required to clean up.
Allen noted that Kaye Book of Salon 105 was especially helpful in preserving
children’s safety with all the traffic and in finding "lost
parents."
Trustee Scott Russell reported that the Palmer Lake Volunteer
Fire Department had 17 calls in June and 93 calls for the first half of the
year; 24 calls were for Palmer Lake and the other 69 were to provide mutual aid
for other fire districts. Three firefighters completed upgrade training courses–one
to Fire Fighter 1 and two to Fire Fighter 2 levels. The fire department received
a grant for $1,100 from the Tri-Lakes Women’s Club; it will be used to
purchase equipment for fighting wildfires. Miner pointed out that Tri-Lakes
district firefighters were present at the July 4 fireworks display but didn’t
attend the safety meeting for that event. She questioned the liability issue in
view of their not having attended this meeting. Russell said that next year if
firefighters don’t attend the safety meeting, they shouldn’t be allowed at
the fireworks.
Russell then noted that the inclusion agreement with Woodmoor-Monument
Fire Protection District was still with the attorneys, and copies would be
available at the town offices when it’s done. He reviewed why the fireboard
rejected being a separate district after a year of study; Miner concurred,
saying the Gallagher Amendment made it impossible to get enough funding.
Palmer Lake Volunteer Fire Department (PLVFD) Chief Greg
Lokken said he needed more merger information, then agreed to a two-week period,
after receipt of the agreement, to inform all his volunteers. Miner proposed a
roundtable working session with all the participants from both fire districts,
saying that the atmosphere has to be one of facilitating "coming
together" between the Palmer Lake council and the PLVFD firefighters and
between the two merging districts. The session will be a public meeting;
questions, comments, and concerns are welcome. Firefighter Larry Stromer asked
that the attorneys be present at the working session to answer firefighter
questions. EMT Annie Brown voiced concern about underrepresentation on the
proposed five-member combined fire district board and the possibility of no
Palmer Lake member after the election. She was concerned that there might be a
subsequent combined district board decision to close the Palmer Lake station
with no recourse. Miner told Brown that no one has proposed shutting down the
station and that if the negotiated merger agreement is not in the town’s best
interest, the town can still say no. Miner stated that fire department members
and Palmer Lake citizens need to organize a sufficient turnout at subsequent
elections to ensure that Palmer Lake has adequate representation on the proposed
combined fire protection district board.
Dirt pile
Kinney raised the issue of the dirt pile on Jim Fitzgerald’s
property on General Palmer Drive off Highway 105. At the June council meeting,
Kinney voiced concern about dust from the pile and suggested giving Fitzgerald
30 days’ notice to move the pile, which has been there since excavation for
the buildings in 1999. Fitzgerald addressed the trustees about his effort to
have the speed limit lowered on Highway 105 from 50 to 35-40 mph, so he will not
have to build an acceleration/deceleration lane. Miner concurred that speeding
on the highway is a continuing problem, having witnessed three rollover
accidents in front of her highway property. Fitzgerald noted he has been saving
the dirt to build the turn lane if CDOT requires it, and he doesn’t want to
just throw away so much valuable material. Miner recommended a town council
workshop to resolve the issue.
Flood mitigation study
Mickey Campbell gave an update on the hazard mitigation
project. Prompted by the flood in Palmer Lake in 1999, Campbell applied for and
received a federal grant, approved in April 2003. Campbell asked the council to
help get things moving through federal agency departments, which have delayed
disbursements of the funds, thereby delaying the project. The study must be
completed before the town can apply for flood mitigation construction project
grants.
Business Licenses
New business licenses were approved unanimously for Alan
Bockhaus of GIS consultants at 732 Hillview Road and Mark Ennis of Access
Construction Company at 780 Highway 105.
Rodermund’s day care: A conditional use for child
daycare in a residence in an R-3 zone and a new business license was approved,
with conditions for Sherry Rodermund after an extended discussion. Neighbors
Dave Austin and Wendy Determan spoke against the proposal. Planning Commissioner
Gary Coleman reviewed the circumstances of the planning commission’s
conditional recommendation.
The conditions for approval of this residential day care at
459 Virginia Ave. are:
-
a 6-foot privacy fence that completely surrounds the
backyard play area, with appropriate setbacks
-
a double S-curve warning sign 170 feet before the blind
curve on one-way Virginia Avenue
-
a "20 mph" reminder sign below the S-curve
warning sign
-
a "Keep children alive, drive 20" sign at the
approach end of Rodermund’s property
-
trimming all of Rodermund’s trees from the ground to 6
feet to improve the view of approaching Virginia Avenue drivers
-
a posted and published policy statement (in the
distributed policy manual) to ensure client notification and a signed
written client agreement to adhere to the 20 mph speed limit and the need to
observe one-way traffic
-
a posted and published client notification that Rodermund’s
house is in a floodplain
-
a posted and published snow policy
-
a copy of the policy manual and all posted notifications
attached to the license application
Austin stated that a business should not be permitted in a
residential area. He noted that people speeding on Virginia Avenue, particularly
by those driving the wrong way, has been a serious problem for the entire 12
years he has lived here. Miner observed that speeding is a problem everywhere in
Palmer Lake.
Cornell and Kinney observed that a business might not be
appropriate in a residential area. Miner said that a family with six children
could just as easily have occupied Rodermund’s property. Austin countered that
they would eventually grow up and be less noisy. Miner noted that as they age
they present different potential problems for neighbors. Town Clerk Della Gins
said that state regulations and controls are far stronger than anything the town
could apply and that there are a number of illegal day care centers in the
neighborhood and other parts of Palmer Lake that call themselves babysitters.
(Note: During the planning commission deliberations on Rodermund’s application
in June, Determan acknowledged that she had run an illegal day care operation.)
Rodermund spoke again to ensure her desire to comply and to
say that the state can shut her down with a single no-notice visit. Austin
rebutted that the town should not just rubber-stamp this application. The
council approved her variance and license 3-1 subject to compliance with all the
conditions listed above. Cornell voted no. Rodermund then asked that the name of
the business on the application be changed to The Wee-Treat.
The meeting adjourned at 9:38 p.m.
By Jim Kendrick
The Board of Directors for the Donald Wescott Fire Protection
District (DWFPD) met on July 9. Director Joe Potter was absent. Major issues
included presentation and discussion of the inclusion ballot issue for some
Black Forest residents (to be voted on Nov. 4) and receipt of a clean audit
report in conjunction with a half-year finance report. The board went into
executive session to discuss a letter to the Tri-Lakes district regarding
inclusion of some lots in Black Forest. There were no public comments
The treasurer’s report showed the district had done very
well in saving money to be able to cover salary and benefits for two new
full-time hires and to upgrade the brush truck. Debt has been refinanced at a
lower interest rate, with the first payment due next year. Terry Rupert and
Christiana Ronconi of Hanson and Company presented a very positive,
discrepancy-free audit report.
Board President Bill Lowes then observed that the approved
mill levy increase, payable in early 2004, from 1.94 to 7.00 mills will further
solidify Westcott’s financial base. This is important as Wescott moves forward
with its inclusion election, announced in February and approved in district
court on July 3. The election is for northeast county residents—a
16-square-mile area in Black Forest, east of Highway 83 between Hodgen and
County Line Roads—who currently do not belong to any fire district. If the
residents of this area vote to be included by DWFPD on Nov. 4, they would
provide approximately $110,000 in additional taxes to the district. These two
revenue increases would enable Wescott to build a new fire station east of its
current Gleneagle station, to ensure coverage within five miles for all
residents proposed for inclusion—a critical factor in lowering insurance rates
for property owners in the district.
Some affected Black Forest residents petitioned for inclusion
in the Tri-Lakes Fire Protection District (TLFPD), rather than Wescott, in
mid-June. These residents have indicated they petitioned TLFPD because they
believed the Roller Coaster station would be built sooner than the new Westcott
station and they preferred having Tri-Lakes EMT services rather than commercial
services from American Medical Response (AMR), which services the DWFPD. Chief
Bill Sheldon observed that such action would create a patchwork of interlocking
districts in the election area that would only slow dispatching due to mistakes
and time lost. With the completion of 630 legal election notices, Sheldon said
Westcott needs to complete what it started regardless of TLFPD’s actions. A
motion was unanimously approved to proceed with the election and to deliver a
letter to the TLFPD the next morning protesting their plan to accept the
petitions.
A unified policies and procedures manual to include overtime
and also include separate differently colored pages for distinctive volunteer
firefighter instructions is being developed. After the attorney reviews the
proposed manual, it will be distributed as the primary directive for all
personnel, effective Jan. 1. Discussion of a mission statement was deferred to
the next board meeting on Aug. 16.
The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Web Site Exclusive: View photo of
protest by DWFPD
Web Site Exclusive: View photos of CPR mannequins
and Lifepak 500 AED
By John Heiser
The Tri-Lakes Fire Protection District held two meetings
during July: A special meeting July 10 on the inclusion of 14 parcels in Black
Forest held by nine owners and a regular monthly meeting July 17.
Special Meeting July 10: Despite Westcott objections,
Tri-Lakes approves inclusions
Donald Wescott Fire Protection District board member Brian
Ritz spoke against the inclusion of the parcels into the Tri-Lakes district and
delivered a letter citing specific objections.
The letter noted that the Wescott district, "has, for
almost thirty years, provided and continues to provide fire protection and
emergency medical service to the area proposed for inclusion…on a comparable
basis to any such service which can be provided by Tri-Lakes Fire Protection
District."
One basis for objecting cited in the letter was that the
petitions had been submitted subsequent to the February 2003 proposal by the
Wescott board to seek an inclusion election for the 16-square-mile area that
encompasses the petitioners’ properties. Another objection was that approval
of the petitions would create a "patchwork effect" complicating
dispatching of fire or emergency medical services.
Despite the objections, the Tri-Lakes district board
unanimously voted to approve the inclusions. The board then adjourned.
Following the meeting, Charlie Pocock, president of the
Tri-Lakes board, noted that the petitions were accepted because they were filed
with the Tri-Lakes district prior to the July 3 ruling by the judge setting the
date of Nov. 4 for the election on inclusion of the area into the Wescott
district. Pocock said, "My loyalty is to the people who need fire
protection services and come to us for it." He later added, "We couldn’t
turn them down. We must keep faith with the citizens."
The Wescott letter raised the possibility that if the
inclusion election succeeds, the petitioners would be subject to double
taxation. Pocock responded, "You cannot legally be taxed by two districts
for the same service."
As background on some of the issues between the two
departments, Ron Thompson assistant chief and Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
coordinator, said that when a 1993 election was held to include the area east of
Highway 83 in the Tri-Lakes district, people from the Wescott district
campaigned against it. The proposed inclusion was defeated.
Tri-Lakes district director and treasurer John Hildebrandt
added that the Wescott district opposed the Tri-Lakes district’s proposal to
expand Station 2 at Roller Coaster Road and Highway 105. Pocock noted that the
El Paso County Board of County Commissioners’ denial of the Station 2 proposal
"cost us six months and $50,000 in legal fees and so forth. That would pay
a paramedic’s salary for a year."
Regular Meeting July 17: Grants and community support for
Station 2 noted
Financial Report
Hildebrandt reported that revenues through the end of June
were $678,000. He noted that ambulance revenues were somewhat less than
projected due to delays in billing and receiving payment. He said expenditures
are running about 5 percent under budget.
Chief’s Report
Chief Robert Denboske reported that during June, the district
responded to 105 calls, bringing the total for the year to 546. The full year
projection is for 1,007.
He noted that over a five-hour period on July 3, the district
responded to 16 calls, including traffic accidents, a vehicle fire, and several
medical calls. He said the rest of the Independence Day weekend was relatively
quiet. There were no fireworks-related calls.
The chief reported that lightning on July 15 started a fire
in the Mt. Herman area. Tri-Lakes district personnel assisted the U.S. Forest
Service. The burned area was limited, and the fire was extinguished on July 16.
He said department staff built portable hose racks worth
about $1,600 for a cost of $140 in materials.
Denboske reported it would cost $10,000 to $12,000 to make
needed repairs to the 1969 La France fire engine. He said it is obsolete and not
usable, even for training. The board agreed to offer it for sale.
EMS Report
Thompson said the district received a $1,000 grant from the
El Paso County Emergency Services Agency to purchase four sets of CPR
mannequins. They will enable the district to resume teaching CPR classes to the
public within a month or so.
Thompson thanked the Tri-Lakes Women’s Club for their
$2,700 grant to purchase ice and cold-water rescue equipment. He said the
equipment is on order.
He also reported that the district received a Life Pack 500
AED portable defibrillator from the American Heart Association and the EMS
Division of Memorial Hospital. He noted that it is a biphasic unit worth about
$3,000. He expressed appreciation to Bill Mayfield for help in obtaining the
grant.
Thompson said state emergency medical services approved the
full amount in the district’s grant request, covering half the $65,000 cost of
biphasic defibrillators for each of the district’s three ambulances plus half
the $3,500 cost for an additional computer and trip report software. He said,
"We could not afford this without the grant."
He reported that Morgan Cudney and Shelly Moore have been
certified as intermediate Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs); Sam Hascek,
Dustin Muth, Kristian Naslund, and Jake Villa have been certified as EMTs; and
Jamie Courter, Lisa Frasca, Chris Riggs, and Jody Thorpe have been certified for
inserting IVs.
Station 2
Pocock noted, "The district has received at least 50
inquiries as to when station 2 [at Roller Coaster Road and Highway 105] will be
expanded. They are upset with the county commissioners."
To measure the sentiment in the community, Pocock said the
following petition would be circulated:
"Petition For Approval Of Manned Fire Station At
Roller Coaster Road And Highway 105 TriLakes Fire Protection District
TO: Commissioners Williams, Huffman and Bensberg:
The undersigned are citizens served by the TriLakes Fire
Protection District in northern El Paso County. We are very concerned about
your vote to deny the TriLakes Fire Protection District’s request for
subdivision exemption. Your disapproval prevents improvements from being added
to the District’s Roller Coaster Road/Highway 105 fire station that would
substantially decrease the response time for medical and fire emergencies in
our neighborhoods. The ability to respond quickly to a fire or medical
emergency is critical in our rapidly growing area. The District has the funds
to upgrade this facility immediately if you approve the subdivision exemption.
To deny the fire district the right to upgrade its fire station, which has
been at this location for over 20 years, places our lives and property in
jeopardy. Requiring a full subdivision approval for this existing fire station
site will unnecessarily delay upgrading this facility until this winter at the
earliest, and require expenditure of District funds (that would otherwise be
available for protecting the public safety) to be spent with little, if any,
public benefit. We strongly urge you to reconsider your denial and approve the
request submitted by the TriLakes Fire Protection District."
As OCN went to press, volunteers had reportedly
gathered more than 3,000 petition signatures. Pocock said signatures will be
gathered through the end of July and then presented to the county commissioners.
**********
The Tri-Lakes Fire Protection District board normally meets
at 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month at the district firehouse, 18650
Highway 105 (near the bowling alley). The next meeting is scheduled for Aug.
21.For more information, call Chief Denboske at 481-2312.
Correction
Past issues of OCN have incorrectly identified the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). HIPAA
included provisions designed to encourage electronic transactions and also
required new safeguards to protect the security and confidentiality of health
information. The final regulation covers health plans, health care
clearinghouses, and those health care providers who conduct certain financial
and administrative transactions (e.g., enrollment, billing, and eligibility
verification) electronically. Most health insurers, pharmacies, doctors and
other health care providers were required to comply with these federal standards
beginning April 14, 2003. Additional information is available at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa.
By Jim Kendrick
The Woodmoor-Monument Fire Protection District Board met on
Monday morning, July 28 at 8 a.m. to hear concerns about recent fire inspections
of local merchants and to conduct its routine monthly business. John Dominowski,
Steve Marks, and Suzanne D’Innocenzo presented to the board a list of
concerns, supporting statements, and a list of signatures from 26 businesses.
The board also reviewed a positive draft audit report by Mitch Downs from
Osborn, Parsons, & Rosacker.
Board president Bob Browning gave a brief overview of his
understanding of the concerns of local business owners. He noted that Dominowski
had given him seven pages from six business owners on Friday, July 25. There
were three straightforward statements and three more serious concerns, all of
which he wanted to have investigated. He was particularly concerned about
allegations of threats to close businesses. He has appointed board secretary Bob
Harvey, a Colorado Springs firefighter, to go to each address to look at each
situation and to talk directly to each of the six business owners. He agreed to
have these visits done no later than August 18.
Browning then asked Dominowski to summarize his concerns.
Dominowski said that many business owners "are in the fight of our
lives" trying to find a way to stay safe and in business. "If Old Town
owners have to meet current standards, then Old Town is shut down." He said
he had added the signatures of over 20 businesses since giving Browning the
first packet. He added that some other business owners were reluctant to voice
official complaints. He emphatically said that none of these businesses has any
problems with the firefighters, many of whom are considered heroes–their
staff, or the board members.
Director Russ Broshous asked Dominowski if the
inapplicability and expense of maintaining standards in historic buildings had
been brought to the attention of the county and if these buildings qualify for
grandfathering of some kind. Dominowski replied yes. Then he said that Petal
Pushin’ moved from suite 4 to suite 13 and they were four months into the fire
inspection process of the simple modifications performed by his Class C
contractor, with no end in sight. The holdup prevented him from replacing an
unsafe wooden ceiling because of the time it would take to get all the various
approvals. He said many businesses are put in the same situation where
commonsense repairs cannot be made without a complete renovation that is cost
prohibitive, typically exceeding three years rent. Hence, building owners are
coerced to do nothing about hazards rather than be vulnerable for a
near-complete demolition and restoration to meet ever-changing codes.
Broshous said the issue owners have is with those who write
the codes. It is not the inspectors’ job to determine which rules are worthy
of enforcement and which discrepancies they should not write up in the name of
fairness. Harvey said that they may not be able to do anything about the code,
but they could look at application of the code and possible variances.
Dominowski said the amount of continuous change in building regulations is
overwhelming, making all building owners criminals, and then the fire inspectors
enforce those regulations.
Browning reiterated his concern about alleged fire inspector
threats to close businesses, as their role is simply to inspect and document
what is found. Fire inspectors do not and cannot close businesses. Other
officials and boards of supervisors are the ones who do that. Harvey said that
fire codes will always evolve because they are broad and have to cover a wide
range of circumstances. He will see if there were instances where the code was
not applicable. Vice President Si Sibell said, "There is a chance for some
compromise and final agreement." Harvey agreed, saying the board has no
philosophy to shut businesses down. Browning concluded by saying they inspect
but they don’t decide and that he looked forward to working with the owners.
Chief Youtsey began with a report on his and Brown’s
attendance at an Special District Association workshop in July. There they
obtained several types of new administrative forms for policy and record-keeping
that would be analyzed for possible adoption. A firefighter hired under the old
hiring system died without heirs and the board is working with lawyer Tim Schutz
on how to disburse the unclaimed proceeds of his pension. The district has made
great strides in improving its response times with a general goal of one minute
for calls. The unique and various way alarms and calls are dispatched makes
start times difficult to standardize and analyze through reports. All agreed
there was still room to improve in the alerting system and in equipment that
could be installed at the station, despite the improvement of the past few
months.
Tom Conroy reported that the merger with Palmer Lake
Volunteer Fire Department (PLVFD) is moving forward. The Donald Wescott Fire
Protection District (DWFPD) needs more time due to their Black Forest inclusion
ballot in November and their changing boundary if the vote is yes. "Palmer
Lake has to do the most heavy lifting. They are eager. We are eager." He
added, "DWFPD wants to merge. We want to merge." He said again that it
is hard for DWFPD to move quickly at this time.
After an extended executive session with the board’s
lawyer, the draft audit was reviewed. A few minor corrections were suggested and
the audit was approved. The corrected audit forms were to be sent to supervisory
agencies on July 30. The meeting was then adjourned.
By Jim Kendrick
The Baptist Road Rural Transportation Authority (BRRTA)
meeting July 25 was attended by all five board members: Monument Trustee Byron
Glenn, Monument Mayor Betty Konarski and county commissioners Jim Bensberg,
Chuck Brown, and Wayne Williams. The primary agenda items were staff reports and
discussion of the contract for continuing the design of improvements to Baptist
Road.
BRRTA President Glenn noted the previous meeting minutes had
an incorrect spelling for his last name and that his answer to a question from
Steve Waldmann, a Fox Run resident, regarding the November 8 minutes should have
been that the grade on Baptist Road east of Gleneagle "cannot not be
corrected" instead of "cannot not be altered." The maximum grade
between Desiree and Tari is about 10 percent. The current design for Baptist
Road calls for that maximum grade to be reduced to about 9.5 percent but it will
still far exceed the county’s recommendation of a maximum grade of 5 percent
on major arterial roads. With these corrections, the minutes of the April 11
meeting were unanimously approved. Financial matters were deferred, as BRRTA
Manager Connor Shepherd was late to arrive.
County planning department report
Carl Schueler, assistant director of the El Paso County
Planning Department, reported on county planning and development activities:
-
Judge Thomas Kane ruled against an appeal by residents of
the board of county commissioners’ approval of the Forest Lakes rezoning
and preliminary plan. The judge’s ruling holds BRRTA harmless in any
future litigation.
-
The Planned Unit Development (PUD) rezoning of Struthers
Ranch was approved by the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC).
-
Hay Creek Ranch, southwest of Forest Lakes, has not yet
been annexed by BRRTA but will be. Shepherd, now present, asked BRRTA to
formally request county GPS maps to accurately plot and legally describe the
property to be annexed by the Authority.
-
Wal-Mart has submitted an updated proposal showing a
larger 203,000 square foot store. Because of its larger footprint, one
satellite retail lot has been deleted, although the gas station remains.
Schueler noted that the property west of the centerline of Jackson Creek
Parkway on the west side of the store is owned by the Colorado Department of
Transportation (CDOT). That property lies within the Town of Monument.
Similarly, the property north of the centerline of Baptist Road north of the
proposed Wal-Mart is also within the town boundaries.
-
Schueler showed a new plan for Baptist Road with up to
seven lanes to address the expected increase in congestion. Improvements
were identified as those to be paid for by the developer of the Monument
Marketplace and those to be paid for by the Wal-Mart Public Improvement
Corporation (PIC). Schueler said the PIC will not participate in the
improvement to the Baptist Road interchange but may pay for an extra lane to
be built in the eastbound direction from the northbound I-25 exit ramp to
Jackson Creek Parkway. Schueler added that the PIC would not pay for mouse
habitat to offset that needed to add the lane. CDOT owns the mouse habitat
south of Baptist Road that would be affected and is opposed to providing
habitat mitigation for the project.
-
Schueler reported that the Monument Board of Trustees
approved the Monument Marketplace. He noted that the Triview Metropolitan
District has assumed full cost responsibility for infrastructure
improvements including extending Jackson Creek Parkway from Baptist Road to
Higby Road and extending Leather Chaps Road to the Parkway. The town is
considering how much sales tax revenue from the Marketplace to give to
Triview to help with road construction costs. He added that the Marketplace
will add significant traffic to Baptist Road and other roads in the area
including Highway 105 and the associated I-25 interchange.
Department of Transportation Report
Andre Brackin of El Paso County Department of Transportation
briefed the board next.
-
BRRTA needs to clear the Baptist Road corridor to allow
the developers to implement their construction plans by obtaining
right-of-way access, utility relocations, and environmental evaluations that
may be needed if federal funding is sought.
-
CLC Associates, design consultant for the Monument
Marketplace and Wal-Mart projects, may do some environmental mitigation work
but not all that is required of BRRTA, hence BRRTA needs to hire its own
environmental consultant and a primary engineering consultant to coordinate
the efforts of all the various developer consultants
-
Wal-Mart will be doing a number of improvements, though
less than originally thought. Wal-Mart will design Baptist Road from Leather
Chaps west to Jackson Creek Parkway and Jackson Creek Parkway south of
Baptist Road to the Struthers Ranch parcel. The latter requires Wal-Mart’s
consultants to obtain right-of-way access from the Struthers Ranch
landowner.
-
The Wal-Mart PIC will not pay for construction of the
bridge in Struthers Ranch. Glenn asked, "Then who is going to do
it?" Although no answer was given at this meeting, in prior meetings,
county administrator Terry Harris said the county would pay for it. The
bridge would span mouse habitat. The cost has been estimated at $1 million
to $2 million.
-
Brackin said CLC is doing a right-of-way study for the
four-lane section of Jackson Creek Parkway south of Baptist Road. The county
has 60 feet of right-of-way but needs to buy another 22 feet. Brackin said
this would require condemnation of private property of landowners in
Chaparral Hills.
-
CLC has done three right-of-way studies on Struthers Road
and they are doing a study on cut and fill slopes to change the grade of
Baptist Road up to Leather Chaps. Glenn asked if CLC was looking at utility
relocation and if BRRTA was going to have to do right-of-way studies for
Baptist Road east of Leather Chaps. Brackin replied yes to both questions.
Baptist Road design contract
Brackin continued:
-
Although BRRTA’s design consultant Loris and Associates
was originally tasked to evaluate all potential Baptist Road improvements,
other consultants such as CLC are providing information on some of the
improvements, to satisfy a variety of clients and government agencies. This
evolution would normally require a new request for proposal (RFP), not
limited to Loris. County commissioner Chuck Brown asked if there was any
advantage to getting a different contractor than Loris. Brackin said the
project would fall behind due to the time needed for RFP process. Brown
asked Schueler about the timing of Wal-Mart issues to be presented to the
BOCC. Schueler said it might be possible for the county planning commission
to hold a hearing on Wal-Mart August 26. He said October was about the
earliest the BOCC might hold a hearing on the project. Schueler said the
earliest possible timing for a building permit would May 2004.
-
Glenn asked if Loris had "deciphered who owns all
the affected property?" Brackin said yes to some extent, but that a
right-of-way agent would need to be hired. He said that surveying the
property and generating the legal descriptions would take from six to twelve
months. Glenn asked if Loris was working on that. Brackin replied that they
were, through a variety of agents who have the appropriate topographical
data and planometrics to be integrated into the design. Glenn asked who
chooses the subcontractors. Brackin said it would be Loris if their contract
is extended as prime or it could be the right-of-way agent if BRRTA
designated the latter as the prime. Glenn asked when this type of work would
be done east of Leather Chaps. Brackin said it depends on Wal-Mart’s
proposal sequencing.
-
Konarski asked "Why not have Wal-Mart’s consultant
do all of Baptist Road east of Jackson Creek Parkway and bill back to BRRTA
for it?" Brackin said that Wal-Mart was not interested in doing that.
He added that CLC might be interested in doing the work east of Leather
Chaps directly for BRRTA. Glenn asked about the timing for an RFP for this
part of the work compared to simply extending Loris’s contract. Brackin
said about 8 weeks, but perhaps as few as 5 if the RFP process was
accelerated and focused. He noted that this decision is the critical path
for accomplishing that part of the road construction. Glenn asked James
Hunsaker from Grimshaw & Harring, BRRTA’s attorney, if they should
hire Loris for Phase II or do an RFP. Hunsaker said they could not hire
anyone other than Loris without undergoing an RFP process.
-
Glenn said he preferred an RFP process because he was not
too happy with Loris. Brown thought Loris was doing fine. A motion to have
Loris do some right-of-way work on a contract extension received a 3-2 vote
with Konarski and Bensberg voting no. Glenn asked for a motion for an RFP
for the rest of the work being currently considered. Brown reiterated that
Loris has designed much of the work already, they had done the work
properly, and there was no reason for delay. The motion to make an RFP
passed 4-1, Brown voting no. Konarski directed the staff to get the RFP done
in one month.
Payment of bills
Despite some confusion regarding which amounts applied to
which change requests from Loris, payment of all bills was unanimously approved.
New accountant selected
At the April meeting, Konarski asked that a local auditor be
selected to replace Clifton/Gunderson, the parent company of Shepherd’s
employer, and only BKD responded to the RFP. They were unanimously approved.
Shepherd then noted that Clifton/Gunderson had prepared the second quarter
financial report despite not having a contract.
Creekside Middle School fee dispute
Hunsaker said there had been no meaningful discussions or
progress in the past year on the dispute with the Lewis-Palmer School District
over BRRTA’s claim for payment of a $60,000 to $100,000 fee for Creekside
Middle School. Williams offered to conduct a one-on-one discussion with someone
from the school district, but said the settlement would have to be considered at
a public meeting. Brown said that no one member could speak for BRRTA. Konarski
said a lower fee should be proposed as a basis for discussion. Brown replied
that he did not know these people or their position and that he did not want to
be put in a box by Konarski’s proposal. Bensberg suggested they all get
together to work out a compromise. Shepherd said they needed to get it done soon
so the outgoing school district superintendent and incoming superintendent could
both participate for continuity. Glenn said he was disappointed the school
district had avoided payment for a full year.
The meeting adjourned at 2:46 p.m.
**********
The next meeting of the BRRTA board of directors will be
Friday, Oct. 10, 1:30 p.m., Monument Town Hall, 166 2nd St.
Articles on prior Baptist Road-related meetings are posted at
www.ourcommunitynews.org/top_stories.htm#baptist.
There is also background info at http://adm.elpasoco.com/Transprt/baptist_rd.asp
and www.coalitiontlc.org/baptist_road.htm.
To get more information and provide comments on the Baptist
Road Improvement Project, contact:
-
Peter Loris, Loris and Associates, (303) 444-2013 x20,
Some information has also been posted at www.lorisandassociates.com/pages/proadbapt.htm
-
Conner Shepherd, BRRTA Project Manager, (303) 779-4525, connershepherd@cliftoncpa.com,
-
John Clack, Project Manager, El Paso County Department of
Transportation, (719) 520-6851, johnclack@elpasoco.com
Web Site Exclusive: View photos of
the Triview Metro meeting July 23
By John Heiser
The Triview Metropolitan District Board of Directors held its
regular meeting July 23. It was announced that director Jim Perry resigned due
to heavy workload with his commercial real estate business and health issues. G.
B. "Steve" Stephenson, a resident of the Heights at Jackson Creek, was
unanimously appointed to fill the vacancy. His position, along with the
positions occupied by Kathy Walters and Gary Walters, will be up for election in
April 2004.
Stephenson likened the appointment to the rush he got,
"Hitting a hole in one yesterday after 56 years playing golf."
Monument planning department report
Ron Simpson, manager of the district, read the following
highlights from a written report from Mike Davenport, Monument assistant town
manager and town planner:
-
On July 21, the board of trustees approved the Third
Amended Development and Rezoning plan for Regency Park.
-
Also on July 21, the board of trustees approved the final
PD site plan for the Monument Marketplace.
-
The planning commission will hold a work session and
hearing Aug. 13 on the update to the Monument comprehensive plan. Simpson
said, "Ninety percent of the changes we requested are in the comp
plan."
2002 audit
Jim Thieme, accountant for the district, and auditor Jim
Giblin, a CPA with Hoelting and Company, presented a summary of the audit of the
district for the calendar year ending Dec. 31, 2002, and compared the results
with those for 2001. Some highlights:
-
Total district debt increased from $21 million at the end
of 2001 to $24.1 million at the end of 2002. Of the $3.1 million increase,
there were $570,826 in supplemental bonds, $1.7 million in advances from the
developer, and $802,903 in unpaid interest.
-
Water and Wastewater Fund revenues declined from $1.8
million in 2001 to $1.6 million in 2002, attributable to a $450,150
reduction in tap fees due to slowing housing starts. This led to a net loss
for the fund of $796,904 in 2002, versus a loss of $468,633 in 2001.
-
The General Fund declined from $343,816 at the end of
2001 to $53,774 at the end of 2002.
-
The value of General Fixed Assets increased from $5.4
million at the end of 2001 to $6.4 million at the end of 2002.
Giblin remarked, "For a small district, the numbers are
big."
Parkway design
Rick Blevins, construction manager for Jackson Creek Land
Company and Vision Development, reported that the design of Jackson Creek
Parkway from Baptist Road north to Higby Road is nearing completion. Within the
next few weeks, the district will advertise for bids to construct the road.
Phase G financing plan
The roadway, water, wastewater, reuse water, and drainage
improvements associated with the Marketplace project are collectively labeled
Phase G.
Pete Susemihl, attorney for the district, reported that an
arrangement regarding Phase G financing has been reached with Tim and Tom
Phelan, principals in Colorado Structures, Jackson Creek Land Company, Vision
Development, and Centre Development and the primary holders of the existing
debt. Susemihl said the property tax mill levy cap on the new bonds will be 54
mills. He said the existing bonds held by the Phelans will be subordinated to
the new debt and the repayment plan will be capped at 25 mills, unless the
district runs into financial difficulty and the Phelans have to provide
additional funding to pay for operations and maintenance. In that case, the cap
would rise to about 32.5 mills to offset reductions in assessed values imposed
by the Gallagher Amendment.
Sam Sharp, vice president of Kirkpatrick Pettis, a Denver
bond agent, added that of the proposed $15 million Phase G bond issue, the
proceeds will be about $11.5 million. The remaining $3.5 million will go to bond
agent and attorney fees and other costs associated with selling the bonds.
As to the question of how much will be used for
infrastructure and how much will be used to retire old high-interest bonds,
Blevins said, "We will put infrastructure up for one user." Susemihl
added, "We will agree among ourselves that if no additional user appears,
we will ask for an amendment to pay debt."
That raised the question of what would happen if another user
appeared just after the decision was made to use the remaining money to pay off
the old debt. Citing the lead time to obtain additional funding, Stephenson
said, "It seems to me you shoot yourself in the foot." Blevins replied
that in that circumstance, the Phelans would probably be willing to issue
additional debt.
Stephenson asked how close the district is to its maximum
capacity for bonded indebtedness. Sharp said, "We are pretty much maxing
your capacity now." Sharp added that the district would have to see
increased assessed property values to issue additional debt.
Director Martha Gurnick likened the district’s delicate
balancing act carrying this much debt to "…a seal with a ball on his
nose."
Sharp said the current rate is about 1.5 percent on 30-year
bonds, with an annually adjustable rate. He said the five-year fixed rate on
30-year bonds is about 3.5 percent. Sharp acknowledged that rates are likely to
be higher in the future.
Blevins said the Phelans think the district should opt for
the one-year adjustable debt. That would reduce the debt service by about
$300,000 per year at first. That reduction in interest payments on the new debt
would be available to put toward accrued interest on the old high-interest
bonds. Blevins added, "Cash flows will be higher further out where the debt
service increases." Sharp added, "Rates are unlikely to go up that
much." Director Linda Jones was skeptical saying, "Nobody would have
predicted what has happened [to interest rates]."
Sharp said that the initial term would be picked to
synchronize the bond cycle with the board’s calendar year mill levy setting
cycle.
The board voted unanimously to proceed with the bond issue
and set the initial term to coincide with the end of 2003.
District engineer’s report
Chuck Ritter, district engineer from Nolte, reported on
discussions regarding the sewer line to serve the Marketplace. He said the goal
is to avoid having to redo the sewer line when the interchange is reworked. The
line will be buried 3 to 4 feet deep. Simpson added that care must be taken to
avoid the fiber optic cable along the Struthers frontage road. Ritter commented
that plans for constructing the portion in Baptist Road are complicated.
Ritter reported on the flow analysis for firefighting water
for the Marketplace. He noted that CLC’s design that calls for a 12-inch
looped line should be more than adequate.
Wal-Mart Status
Simpson said a revised letter has been submitted regarding
the district’s water availability. He said no waiver of the county’s
300-year rule will be required for Wal-Mart.
Simpson said that based on discussions with the county, it
appears the required changes to Baptist Road where it crosses Jackson Creek can
be done within the existing right-of-way. He said that mouse habitat mitigation
remains an issue.
Blevins added that the Colorado Department of Transportation
(CDOT) has purchased land for mouse habitat mitigation. He said, "The
question is, Will they allow us to use that part of their permit? If not then we
must amend the district’s 404 permit, which will take nine months to a
year."
Marketplace Status
Blevins announced that Home Depot has signed as the first
major Marketplace tenant. It plans to occupy the 102,000-square-foot pad on the
south side of the site. Susemihl added, "Home Depot isn’t going to sit
out there by itself for long."
Blevins reported that the Monument Board of Trustees approved
the Marketplace final PD site plan on July 21. He noted some major conditions of
the approval:
-
Expansion of Baptist Road from Jackson Creek Parkway to
I-25 including the crossing of Jackson Creek.
-
Improved roadway connections to the properties on the
south side of the site.
-
Improvements in the slopes and height difference compared
to the properties to the south.
He added that construction of Home Depot is expected to start
in September.
Monument participation in parkway costs
Simpson reported that he made a presentation to the Monument
Board of Trustees, seeking participation in the cost of constructing Jackson
Creek Parkway. The trustees requested a financial analysis. Simpson distributed
copies of his analysis that will be discussed at the Monument board meeting Aug.
4.
The analysis was based on an estimated cost for the parkway
of $4.25 million, with Monument rebating $2 million in sales tax revenue over
eight to 15 years to help defray the costs.
Half the scenarios in the analysis looked at Home Depot being
the only Marketplace tenant. The other half assumed complete build-out of all
658,000 square feet of the Marketplace. Total sales at Home Depot were assumed
to peak at $20 million per year after four years. Total annual sales for the
entire Marketplace were assumed to peak at $42 million after eight years. In
each case, the revenues were projected to decline somewhat after 15 years due to
new development and competition.
The current agreement with the town calls for the 3 percent
local sales tax to be split equally between the town and the district. Simpson
suggested that a split in which the town keeps 0.25 percent or 0.5 percent to
cover administrative costs would be best. Triview would then get 2.75 percent or
2.5 percent. Simpson added, "This is not money out of their budget. It is
new money they haven’t seen yet."
As to why the town would agree, Susemihl said, "We can
say to them, ‘You can stick at 1½ percent and we might sit and not do the
parkway.’" Simpson said, "We are going to do it regardless."
Well D7
Simpson reported that two bids were received to drill Denver
aquifer well D7 needed for Myles Grant’s Jackson Creek Filing 5 project. The
cost is to be paid by the Public Facilities Authority (PFA) formed for the
project. The board unanimously approved the bid by Hinkle for $150,624.
Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion
Simpson reported that Dana Duthie, manager of the Donala
water and sanitation district that serves Gleneagle, has approached Colorado
Springs Utilities (CSU) about connecting to the city’s planned new north side
wastewater treatment plant. If that is approved by the city, Simpson said,
Triview could buy Donala’s interest in the current treatment plant south of
Baptist Road for about $1.3 million. He said that would mean expansion of the
current jointly owned plant could be deferred for eight to 10 years. He said if
Duthie’s proposal is rejected, "We need to start [the design of the
expansion] yesterday" and construction would need to start in 2005.
[Subsequent to this meeting, OCN learned from Duthie that the Donala district
has decided not to pursue connecting to CSU’s new wastewater treatment plant
at this time due to the prohibitive cost.
New Water Rates
The board approved a request from Dale Hill, administrator
for the district, to base sewer charges for new customers on the district
average water usage.
Public Input
Jackson Creek resident Phillip Beaudoin asked how Baptist
Road improvements are being funded. Susemihl replied that they will be paid for
by the Wal-Mart Public Improvement Corporation (PIC) and CDOT. CDOT has
announced they will not have funds for this project until 2008 at the earliest.
The PIC will not have funds unless the county approves the Wal-Mart project.
Susemihl omitted mention of Baptist Road funding by the district, although that
has been implied in Marketplace presentations.
Beaudoin asked about the board’s decision to accept a
halving of the district’s share of the PIC retail sales fee. Susemihl replied,
"We were hoping to get more, but there was no agreement."
Beaudoin asked whether the district might have more leverage
if the Wal-Mart were a tenant of the Marketplace. Susemihl replied, "It is
too late for that."
Jackson Creek resident Sonja Beaudoin said, "We are very
pleased that Steve Stephenson joined the board."
**********
The Triview Metropolitan District Board of Directors normally
meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month, 4:30 p.m., at the district offices,
174 N. Washington St. The next meeting will be held Aug. 27. For further
information, contact the Triview Metropolitan District at 488-6868.
Web Site Exclusive: View photos of
the Triview Metro meeting July 23
View a map and photo of the Walters' Property
By Chris Pollard
The major item of interest for the Woodmoor Improvement
Association (WIA) was, again, discussion of the Walters property and the
proposed development of the southwest corner of Woodmoor Drive, just east of
Lewis-Palmer Middle School. Around 80 people showed up to a WIA town meeting
July 10 and were led through the details of the proposal by representatives of
the landscape architects, developer, and builder, Pulte Homes.
The proposed houses provoked some disagreement in terms.
While the zoning is for multifamily, which implies occupants in the same
building living over one another, the actual homes proposed are terraced,
attached, or row-type homes—sharing a common wall but not living over each
other. The homes would be between 1,100 and 1,600 square feet in two types: one
with two levels and the other with three. Drawings and pictures of similar
houses that had been built elsewhere were shown but caused some confusion
because the builder said that in reality the finishes would be different and the
three-level version would actually be partially buried to comply with WIA rules.
The houses would be constructed in rows of between three and five houses.
Drawings and plans of the layout and appearance were shown but again caused
confusion because the layout was not firm and the overall appearance used the
pictures of houses from another area and did not show the promised berms around
them.
The developer went to some effort to point out that the
alternative to this development—which reserves most of the land, about 130
acres, for green space adjacent to other WIA lots—would have been to develop
all the land at two houses per acre. As it is, the conservation easement that is
proposed for the open space will allow some input from the neighbors and
residents of the new development.
The builder was still working on the proposed appearance of
the homes, so it was difficult to judge what the final "look" will be.
Because of WIA rules, the roof lines and sides had to be "broken up"
so there were different textures and surfaces. Negotiations are ongoing as to
how much the buildings can be sunk into the ground because WIA rules restrict
grading. In order to screen the homes from the surrounding area, it was proposed
that a berm roughly 6 feet high and 25 feet wide be constructed. As noted
before, there were no renderings of the berm or the trees that might potentially
be on it. Another contradiction regarded parking spaces: County rules require
100 more spaces than the WIA requires, when for aesthetics and solar heating
considerations it would be desirable to have less.
When it came time for questions, the atmosphere turned
somewhat tense. Many neighbors are concerned about the traffic and the number of
houses. In real terms, the number of units would be roughly similar if the whole
of the land had been developed as standard single-family homes, increasing the
total for the whole area by more than 50 percent.
More specific concerns were over the density in the small
areas immediately adjacent to current Woodmoor homes. It was not clear whether
or not the plans were for smaller units to be placed there. Another issue was
whether over time, once the first owners had moved on, the units would be turned
into rental homes.
Reassurances were given as to the quality of construction,
the roofing (which would conform to WIA standards), and exterior surfaces, which
would be of masonry and Hardiplank, a very durable fiber cement siding.
Reassurances were also given about lighting. In some
respects, the developers are governed by county rules but say they are doing
their best to reduce lighting by clustering the homes with the roads on the
inside. Porch lights would be individually switched, and the only required
lighting would be for the mailbox clusters.
The next step is for more complete plans to be presented to
the WIA Architectural Control Committee, which must approve certain aspects of
the development before the project can proceed to the county planning
commission.
View a map and photo of the Walters' Property
By Jim Kendrick
About 50 area residents met with representatives from Classic
Communities on July 28 to discuss the proposed Flying Horse Ranch project. The
project is proposed to be built over the next 10 years on 1,565 acres west of
Highway 83 and south of Northgate Road to the Pikes Peak Community College
campus. Hosted by the Abert Estates Home Owners Association (AEHOA), Classic
Communities listed changes in the plan since a similar presentation on May 15,
2002.
The representatives of Classic said most changes were driven
by the refusal of the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to pay for
the Powers Boulevard interchange within the parcel that is now proposed to
include 3,975 dwellings housing an estimated 16,000 residents, as well as three
District 20 schools, business parks, and industrial zones. Classic said it could
not afford to build the interchange either. All of the residents who spoke
opposed the project. The city planning commission is expected to hold a hearing
on the plan Aug. 7.
John Madden, president of AEHOA, introduced Drew Balsick,
Classic Communities’ vice president and project manager for Flying Horse
Ranch; John Maynard, a land planning and landscape consultant from N.E.S.; and
Bob Tegler, of the Colorado Springs Planning Department. Richard Marciniak,
former AEHOA president, spoke after the presentations.
Maynard outlined the latest proposal, which increases the
number of dwelling units from 3,650 to 3,975. The land currently carries a
county RR-3 rural residential zoning that requires a 5-acre minimum lot size.
Using the existing zoning, a maximum of around 300 houses would be allowed.
The 168 acres of "Office/Industrial" across from
Abert Estates has been reduced to 30 acres of "Office" now located on
the south side of the entrance to the development opposite Abert Way. The
office/industrial acreage has been replaced with 70 acres of "village"
designation (700 units) and 62 acres of "residential" (190 units). The
16 acres (305 units) of multifamily dwellings opposite and just north of Shoup
Road have been eliminated. Maynard said the reason for these changes was the
inadequate access for commercial traffic now that there will be no Powers
Boulevard exit in the area previously planned for industrial use. There will
also be no access to Powers from within the development. Maynard noted that
giving up 100 acres of Powers Boulevard right-of-way bisecting the property was
still the primary determinant in developing the design. Previous Classic
efforts, costing $180,000 over 18 months, were unsuccessful in having Powers
connection to I-25 rerouted away from the project.
The 229 acres for a private golf course—which Marciniak
said would require 500,000 gallons of water per day—and conference
center-resort, and the 80-acre K-12 school site are unchanged. Marciniak said
the project’s trail system will connect the New Santa Fe Trail to Black Forest
Regional Park, but did not say how this would be accomplished. Classic will own,
operate, and maintain all project parks and will create its own metropolitan
district for that purpose, rather than donate the land to the city to maintain.
In August 2000, Classic submitted an annexation request to
Colorado Springs. Classic does not want the land to be annexed unless the zoning
is changed and their development plan is approved, a common developer practice
in Colorado Springs. Upon annexation, Classic would transfer its water rights
for all the land to the city. These rights are: 126 acre-feet from the Dawson
aquifer, 1,173 acre-feet from the Denver aquifer, 608 acre-feet from the
Arapahoe aquifer, and 446 acre-feet from the Laramie-Fox Hills aquifer. The
water rightsand the property taxes from 16,000 residents are the primary reasons
the city is interested in annexing Flying Horse Ranch. The city would provide
wastewater treatment via the current Las Vegas Street facility. Classic proposes
buying back the water rights for 250 to 300 acre-feet (82 million-98 million
gallons) per year and drilling into the Denver aquifer in order to irrigate the
golf course and parks. Marciniak noted that this promise is not in writing nor
notarized and that the city could change this proposal.
The area west of Highway 83 and south of Northgate Road has
been identified as a cooperative planning area between the Black Forest
Preservation Plan, the county’s Tri-Lakes Comprehensive Plan, and the City of
Colorado Springs’ Northgate Master Plan. In particular, the Tri-Lakes plan
says:
"It is anticipated that development within this unit
will ultimately include a mix of residential densities, some non-residential
uses, and significant open space…. Higher density and higher profile uses
should be located between the Powers Boulevard alignment and Interstate 25….
Northgate Road should be re-aligned and additional buffers should be provided to
protect the existing rural-residential development to the north of Northgate
Road…. Panoramic views to the Front Range should be given special
consideration in this area. To protect these views, structures should primarily
keep a low profile and conform to, rather than contrast with, the
landscape."
The first phase of development will be at the north end of
the project, between the current Northgate Road and the new straighter Northgate
Road, to be built straight east of the 90-degree bend in the road that currently
goes around the steeply-sloped Smith Creek drainage. School construction would
start after the Colorado Springs planning commission meeting Aug. 7. District 20
needs the middle school to be opened next summer and wants the elementary school
to open six months later. Multifamily areas will not be developed until the
market for them rebounds.
Citizens complained strongly that Maynard’s presentation
clearly shows that the master plan guidelines are not being met. Marciniak
stated that the desired density transition—from highest at the south and west
borders to lowest at the north and east borders—was still diametrically
opposite to what Classic has planned. Tegler said that despite this, the city
planning staff will recommend the plan for approval. Marciniak praised the
four-lane stretch of Highway 83 that Classic proposes building from Shoup Road
to the old Northgate Road intersection and the four additional traffic lights
that will make the highway safer.
Several citizens said one purpose of the annexation was to
have only non-city residents in opposition. Tegler said the city planning staff
had heard the county citizens’ complaints but were still recommending the
approval of the project. . Many citizens told Tegler they didn’t think he was
doing his job. When asked what would prevent Classic from increasing the density
for every part of the project throughout each successive round of hearings,
Tegler replied, "Nothing."
Marciniak urged all residents to attend the meeting and voice
their concerns about the developer and planner ignoring all three master plans
and the current zoning, and the failure to enforce appropriate density
transitions. He said that the annexation was a done deal, no matter what, and
that citizens needed to focus on demanding reasonable modifications to the
Classic proposal that conform to the master plans’ recommended density
transitions.
For example, Marciniak suggested the focus be on the use of
500,000 gallons of water per day by the proposed golf course rather than on the
fact it would be the third in an area where the other two golf courses are
bankrupt. He said the new plan will still have a devastating impact on adjacent
properties but that residents need to work to reduce the plan’s repugnance as
much as possible. Madden, Balsic, and Tegler had no comment when asked directly
if this negative effect on neighboring property values was inevitable.
**********
The project is expected to be heard by the Colorado Springs
planning commission on Aug. 7; however, no agenda has been published for the
meeting. The City Council is tentatively set to hold two hearings on the
preliminary plan and annexation on Oct. 14 and Oct. 28.
Questions and comments on this proposal should be sent to
-
Bob Tegler, City of Colorado Springs Planning Department,
30 S. Nevada, Suite 301, Colorado Springs, CO 80903, (719) 385-5905.
-
Drew Balsick, Vice President, Classic Communities, 6385
Corporate Drive, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80919, (719) 592-9333 dbalsick@classichomes.com.
-
John Maynard, Partner, N.E.S., 1040 S. 8th St., Suite
201, Colorado Springs, CO 80906, (719) 471-0073 jmaynard@nescolorado.com.
Information on the original proposal is at http://www.ourcommunitynews.org/v2n6.htm
By Chris Rasmussen
In the early morning hours of Jan. 17, 1994, thousands of
residents of southern California were shaken from their beds before sunrise by
the Northridge earthquake. With electric power knocked out over wide areas of
the Los Angeles basin, these unwilling early risers were stunned to see
something in the sky many of them had never seen before—STARS! And lots of
them. So unusual was this that hundreds of people called local emergency lines
to ask if the sudden brightening of the stars had somehow caused the earthquake!
Of course, it was the earthquake that had turned out the man-made lights
normally beaming up from the ground and seemingly turned on the stars.
Here in the Tri-Lakes area, we have not yet raised a
generation of residents who are unable to see the stars above us, but it is easy
to see how it could happen. Look to the south toward Colorado Springs at night—that
glow you see in the sky is the visible manifestation of light pollution. Look to
the north and you can see the glow of distant Denver, even on seemingly clear
nights. With the northward advance of development from Colorado Springs and
growth in the Tri-Lakes area, we are beginning to establish the elements that
may, slowly but perceptibly, blind us to the stars of the night sky that are, at
present, readily seen.
Light pollution. What is it? What causes it? The answers to
these and other questions, and the actions we take when we have the answers,
will determine whether we will continue to enjoy the glittering stars and the
awe-inspiring Milky Way, in view above northern El Paso County.
If there is pollution, there must be a polluter. In the case
of light pollution, the polluter is, simply put, all of us. Not all light
contributes to light pollution, but certain types and sources of light are the
major contributors to that glow above the Springs, Denver, and other urban areas
in the country and around the world. The worst culprit is most often
streetlights, simply because there are tens of thousands of them lining most
streets and highways. They quite often light the roads and sidewalks beneath and
the open air around and above them. This characteristic of lamps, glowing in all
directions, is an important link in the reduction of light pollution and will be
discussed later in this series.
Another major source of sky glow is parking lots, which are
numerous and often well-lit. Again, the type of light fixtures being used makes
all the difference. Light that beams out to the sides and upward contributes to
sky glow and creates glare. Illumination of buildings and landscaping by lights
that beam upward from the ground are inherently light polluting unless they are
well shielded to prevent beaming in directions other than toward the intended
target. And we’ve all seen those lamps mounted on the sides of commercial or
government buildings that glow with white intensity all night long. Look at them
closely and you will see that the light from those lamps travels in all
directions because there is nothing to prevent it; they’re essentially bare
bulbs glaring outward from a simple box.
Then there is the exterior lighting we have on and around our
houses—the bare floodlights and household bulbs, even decorative carriage
lamps and sconces we often let burn all night. These also contribute their share
of sky glow. Multiply the lamps on our one little old house by the hundreds and
thousands of bare lamps on the hundreds and thousands of houses in our town, and
you can see the pollution potential.
The type of lamp used contributes to—or helps moderate—the
unwanted dispersion of light into the sky. Mercury vapor, metal halide, and high
pressure sodium vapor lamps—often cheap and always bright—are major
contributors to the glow if not shielded or filtered. Sodium vapor and other
types often used in streetlights, commercial fixtures, and cheap exterior home
security lamps also contribute disproportionately to the sky glow because of the
particular characteristics of the light they give off. On the other hand, there
are light sources that do not contribute much to the skyward beaming because of
their less-penetrating, less-glaring attributes. Among the best substitutes for
mercury vapor and high pressure sodium vapor lamps are, for example, low
pressure sodium vapor lamps.
Lighting that contributes to the sky glow effect are also
usually most responsible for glare, that annoying and dangerous condition when
lights before and around us are so bright they overwhelm the ability of our eyes
to adjust to them. The hazardous side effects of glare from badly or improperly
positioned light fixtures contribute to auto accidents and to situations in
which pedestrians are hit by cars; those drivers were partially blinded by
overly bright lights in the surrounding area, often around buildings and parking
lots. Use of 150- or 200-watt bulbs, when 60 watts would suffice, and use of
light fixtures that point horizontally rather than downward toward the ground
are common causes of glare.
In part 2 of this series, we will explore a relative of light
pollution, something closer to home and often much more personal: light
trespass.
Those of us who pay attention to local government and how
they use our tax dollars should not be surprised by the inefficient use of those
dollars by the elected boards and the lack of public involvement by voters.
In this vein, let us review the latest scheme by the Board of
Trustees for the town of Monument concerning an unnecessary new Town Hall.
Taking a page from the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners—who
thumbed their collective noses at the voting public last November when they went
ahead with their Jail Expansion Scheme (after the voters turned it down at the
polls)—the Board of Trustees have decided the location, scale, and possibly
the design for a new Town Hall on a piece of property owned by another local
government, namely the school district. Note that anyone giving land to the town
of Monument under this administration should put a reverter clause on the deed,
since this administration likes to give away public property as they did with
lakefront property last January to a private owner—whose political support was
instrumental in getting most of this Board of Trustees elected. Nice payback, or
what?
The voting public should ask this question of this
untrustworthy Board of Trustees: What should be the public process for deciding
whether a new Town Hall is needed, where it should be located, and what the
design should be? I would suggest that what is most needed is to relocate the
Town Yard out of the residential section of the town as a first priority. Next
would be a new police station. The current Town Hall is sufficient for the
existing staff and other functions. When a large investment will indebt the town
over many years, the TABOR amendment to the state constitution requires a vote
of the people who have to pay the taxes for such large-scale public structures.
Further, to garner public support, they need to be involved in the process. An
example of this would be, if the need for these public structures can be
verified, then at a minimum, three viable alternatives should be presented. In
the case of the new Town Hall, these could be: 1.) siting this structure east of
I-25, 2.) siting this structure west of I-25, and 3.) expanding the current
site.
However, those poor voters who live in the Triview Metro
District, which is known locally as Jackson Creek, have not had any past or
present participation in the massive debt increases of $4 million during 2001,
$6 million in 2002, and possibly another $12 million in 2003. This board has
raised the mill levy cap to over 50 mills, larger than the school district’s.
All of this has been done without a vote by the voters, who should be asking,
Under TABOR, is this legal?
At the same time, the county commissioners are at it again by
considering the latest Wal-Mart application, which will create traffic jams
along Baptist Road. The county has even entered into negotiations with the
private developers to use public funds to build the needed roadways. The plan
has numerous flaws, but the public needs to ask, Who is benefiting by this
scheme?
Remember Thomas Jefferson’s words, "The price of
liberty is eternal vigilance."
Leon Tenney
I have read in the paper that Monument has been asked by the
Triview Metropolitan District to forfeit all or part of the town’s share of
sales tax revenue derived from the Marketplace to the district. I do not blame
Triview for asking but I do not understand why you would agree to do that. There
are two basic reasons changing the split in revenue with Triview is not in the
town’s best interest.
First, do you remember the reason Wal-Mart is not within the
town limits of Monument? It is because Triview betrayed a longtime understanding
with the town that everyone Triview served would be within the Monument town
limits. Have you forgotten that Monument would have derived upwards of $1
million per year in sales tax revenue had the Wal-Mart store annexed to
Monument? Triview has not been a good partner to Monument, and it is time
Monument looks out for its own interest just as Triview always has.
Second, I believe the town will need all of the revenue from
the Marketplace to maintain its income level. It is my understanding that Home
Depot has been signed by the Marketplace to be one of the anchors for the
center. That is great, but has Monument considered the loss in revenue to the
town if Home Depot comes in? It is my understanding that at this time the town
receives 3 percent of all sales from the Foxworth-Galbraith lumber yard;
however, because of the split with Triview, Monument will receive only 1 ½
percent of the sales from Home Depot. Surely you realize that Home Depot will
not generate all new income. Rather, a large percentage of their sales will be
at the expense of Foxworth-Galbraith. I think there will be very little
increase, if any, in tax revenue generated from the Home Depot because of the
split with Triview. By giving away the split you are entitled to, I think it is
possible the town will receive less net revenue from the two stores than what it
is currently receiving from Foxworth-Galbraith alone.
As a developer, I think I have a good grasp of all the issues
involved, and I can see no reason—given the past history between Triview and
Monument—why I would even consider sacrificing Monument’s share of revenue
to Triview. It is not in Monument’s best interest to further dilute its share
of revenue. Monument can best be served by keeping its share of the revenue
generated by the Marketplace to provide the town with an additional long-term,
adequate tax base.
Triview’s best interest is directly opposed to Monuments
best interest. By Triview’s past actions it has proven it will work against
Monument’s interest to serve its own. It is doing the same thing this time. If
I sat on the Board of Trustees, I would welcome the Marketplace to town. I would
remember who my friends are and who I am representing and tell Triview to take a
hike. When you consider their proposal to increase their split of the shares, do
not forget: Triview is not Monument’s friend.
Dale R Turner
By Woody Woodworth
The following are some rules-of-thumb suggestions for getting
your garden through drought conditions and the tight watering restrictions many
cities and towns have had to enact. These ideas are all part of good Xeriscape
gardening principles and will help your garden be much healthier now and in the
future.
New plantings and their watering requirements
-
Very xeric native shrubs/trees will establish on potable
water irrigation once a week. A 5-gallon potted xeric shrub or tree
generally needs 5 gallons of water applied once a week.
-
Most trees, shrubs, and xeric perennials will establish
on irrigation twice a week.
-
A 10-gallon tree or shrub needs 10 gallons of water
applied twice a week.
-
Large balled-in-burlap trees need approximately 20
gallons of water applied twice a week. Sandy soils may require extra amounts
of water.
-
Most perennials will need 1 to 2 gallons of water applied
twice a week.
To make new plantings water efficient
-
Add water-holding polymer crystals to the soil or growing
medium.
-
Use Vitamin B1 on all in-ground and container plantings.
It takes four to eight weeks for roots to grow into the surrounding soil and
begin extracting water stored in the polymer crystals.
-
Prepare the soil with ample compost mix and other soil
improvement ingredients, such as EKO Compost products and Earth Essentials
amendments.
-
Fortify roots with a root stimulator or liquid seaweed to
encourage root growth and minimize transplanting shock. Add to your
irrigation water two or three times at two-week intervals.
-
Mulch all your plantings. Perennials should be mulched to
a depth of 1 to 2 inches, trees and shrubs to a depth of 3 to 4 inches. Soil
Pep and small and medium bark are good examples of mulch.
-
Create a "well" for irrigation water around
newly planted trees, shrubs, or perennials by making a circle of plastic
edging, rocks, or rings cut from the top of a plastic nursery pot. This is
highly preferable to a ring of soil that washes away or breaks down. Fill
the well twice when watering, to completely saturate the soil and root ball.
-
When using drip systems, be sure at least one emitter is
placed directly over the root ball. Other emitters should be placed off to
the sides, to moisten the surrounding soil.
Maintaining established landscapes
-
Established landscapes (with the exception of Kentucky
bluegrass) can be successfully maintained with once-a-week watering. If
restrictions allow, and if necessary, water twice.
-
Set drip system timers to thoroughly soak the soil once a
week instead of running it for a short duration many times per week.
-
Mulch all your established plantings. Again, perennials
should be mulched to a depth of 1 to 2 inches, trees and shrubs to a depth
of 3 to 4 inches.
-
Water established and mature trees and shrubs once every
two to three weeks. Use drip irrigation or soaker hoses covered by a layer
of mulch, to apply water most efficiently. Soak deeply.
-
Kentucky bluegrass and fescue turf grasses will struggle
with a once-a-week irrigation. A wetting agent sprayed over the lawn can
improve water penetration. Rent an aerator to plug the lawn. Then top-dress
with a half-inch layer of EKO Compost to mulch the roots. Remember that
non-native turf lawns use up to 75 percent of your landscape’s total water
needs. Let Kentucky bluegrass die out so it can be replaced with native
grass in future years. Dead bluegrass can have fescue blends planted right
through it.
Woody Woodworth owns High Country Feed & Garden and is a
member of Garden Centers of Colorado and the Green Industry
By Judith Pettibone
The "dog days of summer" not only conjures up the
panting family pup spread-eagled on the coolest surface it can find; but it also
speaks to moms and dads counting to ten before responding to "I’m
bored" or to that dreaded "are we there yet?" question. Books to
the rescue!
I Spy: Extreme Challenger!
Scholastic Press, $13.95
This "book of picture riddles" is well named. Each
page is a photographically vivid montage with a rhymed riddle beneath. When you
find all the items, you have unraveled the riddle. This is not as easy as it
sounds. I Spy would make a good group or solo activity. For the young
ones, there is a boxed board book set called Little Learning Box of
numbers, letters and a toddler edition of I Spy.
DK Eyewitness Books
Dorling Kindersly, $15.96
While not activities book per se, these beautifully
photographed, encyclopedic explorations of one subject is the perfect way to
encourage a passion or suggest one. The breadth of the series subject material
is substantial, tackling such diverse topics as whales, baseball, media and
communications, mythology, costumes, cowboys, watercolor and weather. For
example, in the whale book, one can find information on the evolution of the
whale, historic information, whale vocalization, descriptions of specific whales
and much more.
My First Jumbo Book of Letters
Scholastic Press, $9.95
This is a great book for the toddler waiting in a doctor’s
office or sitting in a car seat. This book features sturdy lift-up flaps,
touch-and-feels, movable parts, and a pop-up, too. Because it has lots of these
"to do" activities, it might be nice to have an older helper (good
sibling activity) at the child’s side. The series also includes colors,
numbers and things that go.
Book of Lists
Scholastic Press, $8.95
What a fun way to play ‘car trivia’. When the
"social director" in the front seat runs out of ideas for roadside
bingo, tell the back seat crew to open a notebook and then reach for the
"Book of Lists." Open the book to almost any page and there is a built
in game. For example, there is a page on initials and what they stand for or a
page with the warmest and coldest states. Each quiz could have a winner, perhaps
with a prize at the end of the trip for the most accomplished "lister."
All-American Car-I-Oke
$14.95
Do you like to sing but never know the lyrics? Or do you try
to start a family sing-a-long but the kids don’t know the words? Again, here
is a book to the rescue. Cleverly packaged with CD and three songbooks (for the
‘back seat’, ‘the way back seat’, and the ‘extra edition for extra
singers who don’t feel like sharing’) this book puts karaoke in the car. It
also comes with a manual including extra goodies like chords for songs, trivia,
additional verses and even a harmonica lesson (maybe best saved for when you get
home). Now why didn’t I think of this?
Fun Places to Go with Children in Colorado
2nd Edition, $11.95
By Meitus and Thorn
This family guide will help you find over 300 kid-friendly
destinations including both activities and restaurants. A jacket review from the
Houston Chronicle states: "Rich with specific instructions … from Gold
Rush Alley at the Keystone Resort to the cliff dwellings of the Anasazi in Mesa
Verde National Park, the authors offer practical and creative suggestions."
Both authors are editors for the Rocky Mountain News and are experienced
travelers with small children.
Tours for Free Colorado 2003
By Jodi Jill, $16.95
This guide highlights over 100 different, unique, interesting
and free tours in our fabulous state. The book is divided into regions, with one
devoted to Metro Denver. The rest of the state is sectioned into geographic
quadrants. There would probably be no argument as to which tour wins the ‘most
unusual’ prize … how about the Antique Washing Machine Museum in Eaton,
Colorado? If you need an activity for those last few weeks of summer, without
straining the wallet, this book is a perfect choice.
My Vacation Album
$19.95
This selection is an appealing combination of activity book
and scrapbook. The spiral bound scrapbook comes with a disposable camera and a
glue stick. The first two pages ask the owner "all about me"
questions. Each subsequent page is for pictures and memories from a special
vacation. This might be a great gift for a grandparent to give a grandchild
before a shared time together.
**********
Believing there is a book for every occasion is a bookseller’s
mantra. This concept seems particularly apt when pondering kids and vacation
time. Books truly can come to the rescue for both the child and the parent.
Enjoy this last month of summer. Those school buses will be rolling before we
know it.
By Bob Pietsch
As a volunteer Woodmoor Forestry Tree Monitor, I have visited
several properties over the past few months and must say the overall state of
health of our trees is not good. The drought of the past three to five years is
taking its toll. In spite of a somewhat moist spring and an occasional
rain, moisture content of our trees remains well below average for this time of
year. We are classified as a Red Zone, meaning we live in a high-risk fire area.
This should be self-evident as we drive around and see our overcrowded forest.
As you might have noticed, there are clusters of dead trees throughout Woodmoor
and elsewhere. For some of those trees along the roads (Highway 105 in
particular), the magnesium chloride sprayed during the winter to reduce icing is
believed to be the culprit. This seems to be a trade-off between winter highway
safety and the loss of some trees along right-of-ways. I think it is a
reasonable trade-off, and it is not a case of total destruction of our forests.
However, the use of magnesium chloride remains a controversial subject for some.
For those wishing more information on the use and effects of magnesium chloride,
visit http://www.dot.state.co.us/Publications/PDFFiles/magchlorideenveffects.pdf.
I do wish the state and county would get out and remove the dead trees along the
right-of-ways.
Other situations involve trees that have been infested with dwarf mistletoe for
many years. They are finally succumbing to this insidious parasite. As a
parasite, the mistletoe gradually saps the strength from infested trees. Combine
this with the drought and you have seriously stressed trees. And if this
isn’t enough to kill the trees over time, the beetles (both ips and mountain
pine) move in to finish the job. Add into this equation our overgrown forest,
and we have an almost no-win situation. For information on dwarf mistletoe,
check www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/Garden/02925.
What can we do to minimize the threats to our trees? For
starters, removal of the dead trees should take priority. Fire officials
characterize dead standing trees as nothing more than "matchsticks"
waiting for ignition. With the entire Front Range of Colorado being second only
to Florida in the number of lightning strikes, it makes sense to get rid of
those dead trees. That includes taking the stumps down to ground level and
chipping the slash or hauling it to the Black Forest Slash and Mulch site. Chip
piles should be hauled off or scattered over the landscape as mulch.
Thinning of live trees is the most effective means of
promoting a healthy forest. Many of our properties are vastly overgrown with
ponderosa pines and scrub oak. Thinning reduces the forest fuel load and at the
same time promotes a healthier stand of remaining trees. It is highly
recommended that closely spaced trees of 4 inches or less in diameter be removed
to reduce the fuel load and promote the health of remaining trees. They are
unlikely to grow into healthy trees because of overcrowding and competition for
water and nutrients. The next time you are out on your property, take a look
upward. How many trees do you have that are nothing more than sticks with
tassels on top? Get rid of them! They will never develop into worthwhile trees.
To properly thin larger trees, determine the average tree diameter—measured at
chest height, in inches—of five to 10 trees. Add to this average diameter the
number six. The resulting number is the recommended average spacing, in feet,
between trees. (Reference: Colorado State Forest Service Pamphlet #116-386.
For those of you with scrub oak growing under your decks or
along the side of your house, you might as well place gasoline-soaked rags
against your house. They are bad news. Trim them back at least 30 feet from your
house, limb them up from the ground, and trim them down where they can’t
provide ladder fuel to your pines.
While over the years the dreaded mountain pine beetle has
been our major concern, this year the lesser-known critter called the ips beetle
has been occupying center stage. This rascal is usually limited to small, newly
transplanted trees, slash piles, and occasionally a branch or two on larger
trees. However, because of all the stress factors involved, it has chosen
to make a major debut this year.
For starters, the IPS beetle becomes active and emerges from
previously infested trees and slash piles when temperatures reach the 50- to
60-degree range. This means that the first of the three to four generations that
occur per season began arriving as early as April, maybe even in
March. There is a four-to-six-week period between generations, with overlap
between each. In other words, ips beetles are a seasonlong threat. They love
stressed trees, especially those with mistletoe, previous lightning strikes,
construction damage, etc. Like the mountain pine beetle, they carry the blue
stain fungus that clogs the "arteries" of the tree, resulting in the
tree’s demise. Of course, their tunneling under the bark contributes as well.
Symptoms include isolated branches dying off and/or the upper portions of the
tree dying. Signs include reddish, fine sawdust in the bark crevices. Exit holes
of the new generation are about the size of the tip end of a ballpoint pen. For
more information check www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05558.
As I write this article, the mountain pine beetle has begun
its annual attack on ponderosa pines. A new generation is emerging from trees
attacked last year. There is one generation of these beetles per year, and they
will be active into the early fall. Be on the lookout for globules of sap—referred
to as pitch tubes or sometimes characterized as "popcorn"—on the
trunks of trees, from about chest height on up to where the trunk narrows to 4-6
inches in diameter. Note that because of low moisture content in the trees, you
may not see prominent pitch tubes. Prompt removal and disposal of infected trees
are of paramount importance. Check www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05528
for more information.
A final note about cutting trees during the summer when the
beetles are active. Fresh-cut tree logs and green slash will attract
beetles. That is why it is critically important to get rid of the slash
promptly and chemically treat the logs if you choose to keep them for firewood.
Additional information is available from the following
sources: Colorado State Forest Service, 687-2921; and the CSU Cooperative
Extension Service, 636-8921. In the meantime folks, take two aspirin, drink lots
of water, and call me next year.
Debbie Sanders, longtime Tri-Lakes resident and domestic
violence victims’ advocate, was recognized in Denver June 14 for her concept
leading to the creation of a commemorative postage stamp to raise money for
domestic violence prevention programs. The United States Postal Service unveiled
the stamp design at the ceremony. Sanders’ plan was submitted to Senator Ben
Nighthorse Campbell in 1999 and became a reality with the successful passage of
the Stamp Out Domestic Violence Stamp Act of 2002. Issuance of this semi-postal
stamp is scheduled for Oct. 13.
The stamp will raise funds for domestic violence prevention
and education programs. The first semi-postal stamp was the Breast Cancer
Research stamp. It raised $8 million. The Postal Service sets a special rate of
postage that is up to 25 percent higher than first class mail as a voluntary
option, which the public may use to contribute to funding for domestic violence
prevention programs. The funds realized from the sale will be paid to the
Department of Justice and distributed to worthy programs.
Commitment to combating domestic violence has been an ongoing
effort for Sanders. Her involvement includes training local emergency personnel
in domestic violence awareness, addressing the issues of date rape and teen
violence at the local high school, and acting as a domestic violence victims’
advocate with local police departments.
Palmer Lake Police Chief Dale Smith is urging all Tri-Lakes
residents to purchase the Stop Family Violence stamp as a demonstration of their
support in combating domestic violence.
The Black Forest Slash-Mulch program is a wildfire mitigation
and recycling program of the El Paso County Solid Waste Management Department.
The site accepts slash up to 6 feet in length, with a maximum diameter of 8
inches. No stumps, roots, lumber, ties, dirt, household trash, or weeds are
accepted, and all loads must be covered and tied. Hours of operation are
5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursdays, and 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, through Sept.
14. Mulch is available on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The mulch loader fee
is $3 per bucket. Those bringing their own tools may load mulch free of charge.
A donation of nonperishable food will be distributed to nonprofit Black Forest
organizations.
Residents of Palmer Lake can have their slash chipped on-site
by the town’s new chipper. The cost is $25 for two hours. Town employees will
run the chipper. Slash must be stacked at the roadside with all limbs pointing
in the same direction. Call the town office at 481-2953 to arrange an
appointment.
The Fifteenth Annual Rocky Mountain Storytelling Festival
returns to Palmer Lake on Aug. 1 and 2. The activities take place at Palmer Lake
Elementary School, with registration at 8 a.m. Participants can enjoy workshops
over the two days in beginning and advanced storytelling and puppet making. An
evening concert Aug. 1, from 7:30 to 10 p.m., will feature storytellers Joe
Hayes, Lois Burrell, Mark Gardner, and Kate Lutz. Participants can pay for
individual events. For information, call John Stansfield at (303) 660-5849 or
visit http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~jbowles/festival.html.
The All Woodmoor Garage Sale Weekend will be held Friday,
Aug. 1 and Saturday, Aug. 2 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Garage sale guide maps will be
available for shoppers at the WIA office, 1691 Woodmoor Dr., and the Prudential
Professional Realtors offices, 1860 Woodmoor Dr., Suite 200.
Sat., Aug. 2, 7 a.m.: Summit Pikes Peak from the west side (Craggs).
Beautiful trail with wilderness views; 7 miles, challenging.
Sat. Aug 9, 8 a.m.: Pike National Forest Trail 715. This
trail has many points of return for those who do not want to hike the whole
trail. Moderate.
For information on the hikes, contact Sue Buell (719)
481-2474 or suebuell@earthlink.net.
The Palmer Lake and Monument Branch Libraries are co-hosting
an ice cream social at the Palmer Lake Village Green on Friday, Aug. 8, from 3
p.m. to 5 p.m. This free event honors our community’s much-valued seniors and
features the vocal talents of the Daytime Singers of the America the Beautiful
Barbershop Chorus.
The chamber’s annual golf tournament will be on Friday,
Aug. 8, 8 a.m., at King’s Deer Golf Club. It’s a four-man scramble with a
$125 per person entry fee. Proceeds benefit the chamber. If you are interested
in sponsoring, playing, or helping the committee, please call Lee Kilbourn,
495-1995.
Adelphia cable channel 17, the Library Channel, will air
"Tri-Lakes Today," a 30-minute public affairs program featuring news
and information about the Tri-Lakes area, on Aug. 15 & 16 at 1, 3, 5, 7, and
11 p.m.
Matt Lang is inviting everyone to his annual open house on
Friday, August 15, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. It’s happening at the office of MR Lang
Investments, 1864 Woodmoor Drive, right across the street from the Woodmoor-Monument
Fire Station. Matt says, "If you visit one barbecue party this summer, make
sure it’s this one!" For information, call Matt at 481-0887.
This event features fun for the whole family, Saturday, Aug.
16, from 6:30 a.m.–3 p.m., at Shoup & Black Forest Roads. Attractions
include a pancake breakfast, parade, all day entertainment, vendor booths &
flea market, kids games, lunch vendors, & ice cream parlor. For information,
call Sherrie or Chuck, 495-8675.
Families and all guests are welcome to an open house and
picnic hosted by Centurian Daylight Lodge No. 195. This free event will be on
Saturday, Aug. 16 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 18275 Furrow Road in Monument. Lunch
will be at noon. The Lodge will give a scholarship award of $1,000 to a
deserving student and $100 awards to an outstanding teacher and law enforcement
individual. Order of the Eastern Star will also present a scholarship award. The
award presentations begin at 2 p.m. For information, call Eddie Kinney,
481-2750.
The Palmer Lake Historical Society has scheduled a guided
tour of Estemere, the grand Victorian mansion, on Saturday, Aug. 23 at 10 a.m.
The first 300 people to arrive will be admitted on the tour. This is a great
chance to see how Roger and Kim Ward have restored and renovated their landmark
estate. It’s also an opportunity to meet interesting people–including noted
photographer John Fielder, author of Colorado, 1870-2000: William Henry Jackson
and John Fielder–and hear stories about local history. Numerous booths will
offer goods and refreshments, including barbecue, homemade baked goods, and the
annual pie sale. To join the society or for information, phone PLHS President
Sam DeFelice at 481-8623.
This year’s business expo, "Expose Your
Business," will be held Tuesday, Sept. 16, at the Pinecrest Event Center in
Palmer Lake. For information or to reserve a booth, call the chamber at
481-3282.
The Tri-Lakes Community Handbell Choirs (adult and youth, 5th
grade and older) will resume rehearsals in September and are in need of more
ringers. If you would like to be a part of these great musical teams, contact
Betty Jenik at 488-3853 or e-mail: ljenik@earthlink.net.
The Empty Bowl Dinner, a popular fund-raising event in
October, needs handmade pottery bowls. Contact Linda Pankratz, 481-3108.
A Lions Club chapter is being formed in the Tri-Lakes area.
The Lions Club is a nonprofit service organization of volunteers who serve their
community by providing services such as vision screenings for preschoolers, eye
exams and eyeglasses for the needy, sponsoring handicapped campers for the Lions
Camp in Woodland Park, sponsoring Boy Scout troops, and much more. All of the
funds raised by the Lions go back into the community. For additional
information, call Ralph or Karyl Thies at 488-1201.
Web Site Exclusive: View Photos of the Ice Cream Social
By Leon Tenney
The Palmer Lake Historical Society held its annual Ice Cream
Social on July 20 at the Palmer Lake Town Hall. It was a members-only event and
featured Joe Bohler playing old-time favorites on the ivories.
Many of the society’s stalwarts were present, including
Virgil Watkins, Lola Thompson, Bonnie Allen, and George Reese. Apple pie and
cherry pie were available with the ice cream. The entire group listened as
Bohler offered his renditions of "Sentimental Journey," "Has
Anybody Seen My Gal?" and "Somewhere over the Rainbow." He played
nonstop for more than an hour without the need of printed music. Quite a
performance!
It is not too late to join the society and visit some
old-time mansions in Palmer Lake and the Broadmoor. You can join at the next
event. On Aug. 23, the first 300 people to show up at Estemere in Palmer Lake
will be able to tour the mansion at 10 a.m.. Along with the tour are booths
featuring the annual pie sale and a barbecue. The following month, on Sept. 13,
the society will visit the Broadmoor. Because of the limited number of tours,
this event will be for members only. Nonmembers should sign up immediately by
calling PLHS president, Sam DeFelice at 481-8623 or by visiting the Lucretia
Vaile Museum. You can have a real foot-stomping times participating in these
society events.
Web Site Exclusive: View Photos of the Ice Cream Social
To encourage more participation and include a broader segment
of the community, the Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts (TLCA) has reduced its
membership fee schedule effective July 1. Members joining at the higher rates in
May and June will have their memberships extended for two years.
Individual memberships for singles, students, and seniors
have been reduced from $15 to $10. Family memberships for two or more in the
same household have been reduced from $40 to $20. Two new levels have been
added: An artist’s level at $30 will offer the opportunity to exhibit work in
the Lucy Owens Gallery; and a gallery and business level at $75 is for members
who want to support and further the mission of the art center. All membership
fees include the following: free year-round gallery admission, discounts in the
gift shop and for special events, invitations to receptions and special events,
and eligibility for art classes.
Increasing the membership is part of the center’s new
business strategy to increase its eligibility for corporate and foundation
grants and funding. "Our goal is to double the center’s membership,"
says Sandy Kinchen, TLCA membership chairman. "But there is a more basic
grassroots need, too. Once people see how much we offer, they will be willing to
be more involved by donating their time and resources."
Anyone interested in getting membership information should
call the TLCA at 481-0475, or log on to the Web site at www.trilakesarts.com.
exhibit opens
at TLCA
View a painting from the TLCA "Wet and Dry" Exhibit
By DeAnn Hiatt Green
More than 250 people attended the July 25 opening of Wet
and Dry, an exhibit at the Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts presented
by the Pikes Peak Pastel Society (PPPS) and the Pikes Peak Watercolor Society (PPWS).
Ninety-eight pieces by 48 regional artists fill the center’s galleries with
images ranging from flowers to donkeys and canyonlands to cityscapes.
"This is an incredible group of artists with national
reputations and international connections," says Mariya Zvonkovich, one of
the exhibit’s organizers. "Their work can be found in private and public
collections across the country."
For example, PPWS member Don Van Horn took this year’s
silver medal at the prestigious American Watercolor Society juried show, hung at
the Salmagundi Club in Manhattan. Tom Owens is another national award winner
from the local society. Both artists’ works are displayed in this exhibit.
Martha Mans, a PPWS exhibitor, teaches workshops in Italy.
"For its size (about 100 members), this is a very
accomplished group of artists," says Zvonkovich, who is a master pastel
artist exhibiting in this show and has taught international workshops in Mexico.
The PPPS is smaller (about 25 members) but growing steadily.
Other pastel artists in this show are Diane Brewner and Howard Dutzi.
"We feel extremely fortunate to have such a talented
group of artists represented in a show at our local arts center," said
acting president and District 20 art instructor Dennis Phillips.
Most works are for sale; prices range from $100 to $3,000.
The exhibit will remain on display through Aug. 22. Gallery hours are noon to 4
p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays.
DeAnn Hiatt Green is a freelance writer living in Palmer Lake
and the head of Shameless Self Promotions.
View a painting from the TLCA "Wet and Dry" Exhibit
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