BOCC: County Planning and Zoning Recap,
Airport Improvments, Tourism Board Changes

Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC)
—April 17, 2019
Silverwest Airport,
WESTCLIFFE, Colo.
by Jackie (Muddy) Bubis
The meeting started at 9 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call. Introductions of the public followed.
The Board approved the minutes from the March 29th, April 2nd, and April 3rd meetings.
Commissioner items
Commissioner Canda reported that Christy Doon from DOLA will be touring the airport and that Phase 2 of airport work will begin soon. This will include ramp expansion, a new taxiway, and a new fuel farm. Mr. Canda also mentioned a discussion at the Custer Emergency Services meeting regarding the use of drones in law enforcement and search and rescue operations. He commented that the USGS water balance study presentation on the underground aquifer at the last Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District (UAWCD) meeting was very interesting. And on May 7th, Sally Clark (former El Paso County Commissioner), who is now working with rural broadband, will be meeting with Silver Cliff.
Chairman Flower updated the group that the status hearing with the water court for the UAWCD water augmentation plan will be May 6th via phone conference. He also commented on the USGS report, saying that UAWCD has spent $400K on this study.
Mr. Printz attended all the same meetings and had no further comments.
A citizen suggested that the USGS water study presentation should be repeated here in Custer County. The Board agreed and will work on making that happen.
Attorney Items:
Attorney Smith reported attending two Planning Commission meetings, working on a MOA between Elisa Livingood (County Health Nurse) and the Saddle Club for emergency purposes, and is researching the lease the county has with the clinic. He also is helping with the contract for the firm that will be doing the work for the Justice Center. The county received a notice of intent to file a lawsuit by Mark Howard – Mr. Smith hopes that this will go forward and perhaps end the nonsense with Mr. Howard.
New Business
The Board discussed moving forward with hiring a water attorney to give them their options regarding the water augmentation plan from Upper Ark. Attorney Smith will get some figures and see who is willing to work with the Board.
The Airport Board continues to work on the protocols and insure for the airport courtesy car.
The Board received an email on April 9th from the Tourism Board asking them to remove Angie Arterburn from the board. A long discussion followed the motion to do that. All three commissioners expressed how much they appreciated Ms. Arterburn when she single-handedly kept the tourism board going last year. Mr. Flower stated that, though the Tourism Board had some valid points, he struggles with this decision. He has been embarrassed by the way this Board operates and is not pleased. He told Ms. Arterburn that she is being “railroaded” off this board. Mr. Canda expressed that, perhaps, there is a bigger
issue here. Mr. Printz stated that this is “very difficult, that the board has some strong personalities, and that people may be afraid to speak up when they disagree with leadership. But, since he doesn’t want to micro-manage the boards, he will vote to remove Ms. Arterburn.
Mr. Flower amended the motion to remove Tourism Board chairman Debbie Adams effective immediately. His motion died for lack of second. He further stated that he will not watch this Board function the way it has been and do nothing. He stated there was rude, arrogant behavior and was also was very upset by problems caused by alcohol at recent Tourism Board workshops. (No
details were given.)
The Board voted unanimously to remove Angie Arterburn from the tourism board. Mr. Flower stated that he voted yes for the benefit of Ms. Arterburn. All three commissioners thanked her for
her service.
The Board swapped the locations of water tenders between Wetmore and Blumenau.
In public comment, this reporter, after researching the difference between a tax and a fee, handed the Commissioners her research and stated that, because the decision was made to increase the zoning fees was [an effort] to raise general revenue, that constituted a tax. Thus, it would require a vote of the people. Chairman Flower disagreed, as did Attorney Smith.
Mr. Printz asked why the decision regarding using $30K from the DOLA grant for broadband was not on the agenda. Mr. Flower admitted that he didn’t get it on the agenda and it will be on the agenda for the 30th.
The meeting adjourned at 10:55 a.m.
Note: On April 14th and 15th, the Custer County Planning Commission held two public meetings to get input from the public on changes to the zoning resolution. In both meetings, there was more discussion of water than of land use. But some suggestions considered were: 1) Changing the 5-acre zone to a 35-acre zone, and 2) doing away with PUD’s, and 3) putting a moratorium on subdivisions.
There was a great deal of interaction from Linda Poole and Valda Terauds from San Isabel Land Protection Trust. One citizen suggested doubling the required acreage in the 35 and 80 acre zones as well. A citizen wondered about that being a “taking” – to which the Planning Commission stated the county attorney had assured them this was not the case. A former deputy director of Custer Planning and Zoning urged the Planning Commission to not be reactive and to be very careful in these decisions. He went on to say that the Custer 80-acre zone has never been challenged in court and might be safe if left alone. But if they tinker with it, problems might arise. Planning and Zoning Director Jackie Hobby informed Ms. Poole that it was too late to “keep things like they are.” Today, parcels in the subdivisions are already platted and owned, even if people have not yet built. The county cannot prevent land owners from building on their land.
Water Commissioner, Jerry Livengood, answered many questions and stated his thoughts on the water augmentation plan. He believes that the blue line is not well enough defined, that volume limits are not accurate, that storage is a must, and that there is a potential to cause harm to water rights.