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BOCC Nov 29

Sanitation Issue Initiates a Look at “Nuisance” Ordinance

Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC)
—November 29, 2018
Westcliffe, CO
by Jackie Bubis
The meeting started at 9 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call. Introductions of the public followed.
Commissioner Items
Commissioner Canda reported that the economic development surveys will be out before the first of the year. He wants Commissioner Printz to be interviewed for this process. The official kickoff for the program is January 7th. Mr. Printz agreed to be interviewed and stated that economic development’s purpose was to grow the tax base so that the county could offer more services.
Canda continued with reporting that Seifert Enterprises (who received the bid for the berm ward at the airport) has received the permit, the money has been deposited, and work will proceed right away. Also Canda reported that CenturyLink, the U.S. Forest Service and CDOT will be meeting next week to see what can be done for the people in Wetmore who need phone service after flooding wiped out the lines.
Chairman Flower reported attending the CCI winter conference, the Upper Arkansas Weed Conference, and expressed a need for the CCEDC and Christy Doon to meet. All three commissioners will be attending the grant proposal meeting for the Underfunded Courthouse grant.
Commissioner Printz publicly gave kudos to the Department of Human Services, especially Stacey Schoch, for handling what “could have been a disaster” regarding an at risk adult in the community. He also mentioned that the Coroner is in serious need of a vehicle. There will be a “significant meeting” for the Attainable Housing Board on Monday the 3rd.
The search is ongoing for a new maintenance person/custodian.
Attorney Items
Attorney Smith presented a proposed contract for the sale of the Grape Creek property purchased by Big E Ranch. This will get the process started. A formal resolution will be coming wherein Chairman Flower can sign all documents related to the sale. The contract was approved unanimously. Mr. Smith reported that Sheriff Byerly continues to seek a local ordinance for forfeiture of properties used in illegal activities. Note: there is already a Colorado statute to this effect but Mr. Smith reported that the DA’s office is not willing to enforce it. Mr. Smith is also in the beginning stages of writing a nuisance ordinance based on what’s being done in Huerfano County.
Travis Denlinger appeared before the Board requesting a road name change for Reis Road in the Reis subdivision. There are five landowners on that road and there exists confusion with addressing. Assessor Henrich was present and the decision was made by the Board to break Reis Road up into three sections which will now be known as Sage Corners, Valley View Drive and Wildflower Lane.
Jackie Hobby, director of Planning and Zoning, had a list of items to be addressed by the Board. The first was a subdivision waiver for the Grape Creek property purchased by Big E Ranch which passed unanimously. Ms. Hobby has had difficulty with a property owner who camps out in a teepee on his property. The teepee is too close to the property line, and that has no septic. The zoning regulations say you can only camp out for thirteen days a year. This property owner has ignored all attempts by Hobby to gain compliance. Attorney Smith will write a letter warning the property owner prior to a cease and desist order. Regarding the Special Use Permit to
Ludvik Propane (which is now Rocky Mountain Propane,) the Board agreed to a cease and desist meeting at the mid-month January meeting. The terms of the 2015 SUP have not been completed.
The BOCC went into session as the Board of Health for a cease and desist order for William Mercer. Mercer has two residences on his piece of property which is not allowed. One of them does not have septic and raw sewage is allowed to drain onto the ground. An immediate cease-and-desist order was unanimously approved. There was a discussion on the efficacy of a nuisance ordinance to give the Zoning Office more power to enforce removal of trash. Note: there is already a prohibition against trash leaving one person’s property and entering another person’s property. In a subsequent conversation with Jackie Hobby, she stated that her efforts were more along the lines of helping people who couldn’t help themselves. The Board of Health adjourned and the BOCC meeting resumed.
The Sheriff’s contract with the town of Westcliffe was passed 2-1 with Mr. Printz abstaining. It was increased from $30,000 a year in 2018 to $33,300 in 2019. $3,300 of that will be in the form of four bulletproof vests and one body camera to be purchased by the town of Westcliffe for the Sheriff’s Department.
$125,000 in PILT funds were transferred to County General.
It was decided that Attainable Housing Committee would now be a board under the authority of the BOCC. As a board, they will be able to make spending decisions based on their budget.
The meeting adjourned at 11:24 a.m.

Uncategorized

One Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for Mankind

(or New Paper Boxes!)

Sangre de Cristo Sentinel, The Voice of Conservative Colorado and Custer County’s Newspaper of Record, has finally purchased its first two newspaper coin operated sales boxes. Very, very expensive, but made right here in the U.S.A. (Texas). They are placed at our outstanding Westcliffe United States Post Office (Thank you folks for all your help) and at Lowe’s Supermarket at the west end of Main Street (thank you, Rob). Sales already are excellent. Hopefully we will be getting more sales boxes in the near future. Sincerest thanks to all our loyal readers and advertisers – without you there would be no conservative voice in southern Colorado. Thanks and God Bless. (Editor/GG)

2018, Uncategorized

Living Nativity December 15th

 

Living Nativity
20th Year at Shepherd of the Hills
Lutheran Church

Press Release

Saturday, December 15th from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church will continue its traditional re-creation of the birth of Christ as a Living Nativity scene. This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the event.
Visiting the Living Nativity has become a tradition for many viewers, as well as cast members. New visitors are invited to join in the tradition at 801 N. Sheridan Avenue in Cañon City to help celebrate the Christmas season. Continue reading Living Nativity December 15th →

2018, Uncategorized

Housing Needs Assessment: Community Meeting Scheduled

Press Release
Autumn Dever,
Housing Director
(UAACOG)

The Upper Arkansas Area Council of Governments – Housing Department (UAACOG) has contracted with Economic & Planning Systems (EPS) to complete a three-county (Fremont, Custer, Park) regional housing needs assessment. The purpose of the housing needs assessment is to help local governments, economic development organizations and housing agencies/authorities identify the housing needs of the community and to provide potential solutions that can be used to make strategic decisions related to the housing market. As part of the process, a community meeting will be held Monday, December 3, 2018, at 2 p.m. at Rancher’s Roost Community Room, 25 Main Street, Westcliffe, CO. Continue reading Housing Needs Assessment: Community Meeting Scheduled →

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Colorado Goes Deep Blue, Custer Still Proudly Red

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary

There were no surprises in Custer County’s election results as all the local elected offices were decided in the Republican primaries early this year and ran unopposed. The only two local ballot issues were the School District Board “At-Large Plan” which was defeated 1286 to 1074 and the Wet Mountain Fire Protection District Mill Levy Increase which passed by a margin of 2284 to 1180.

Custer County and State Props  results (on our website)

With regards to the School Board issue, both sides had good arguments but the specter of a totally At-Large Board possibly being controlled by a very small interest group and the loss of geographical representation led to its defeat. Perhaps a better idea is to retain the current five regional board slots and add one or two at-large slots. We will see.

The Fire Mill Levy increase won quite handily despite the Fire District Board’s rather poor and late presentation of the reasons for the increase. The Wet Mountain Fire Protection District’s stellar reputation was, it seems, all that was needed. We think they will use the money wisely.

Of note is the percentage of Custer County voters voting Republican versus Democrat: Around 67% of Custer County residents voted for the Republican state and federal offices versus around 30% for the Democrats.

State wide, Colorado went deep, deep blue with Democrats winning most of the state races by hefty margins. The Democrats were slightly ahead in the vote count versus Republicans but, as expected, the unaffiliated voters broke hard left. With the Colorado State Senate finally going Democrat, the liberals will have a field day with our state. Thank goodness for TABOR. Hopefully, the liberals won’t forget the recalls of several Democrat House Representatives after they passed several unconstitutional gun restriction laws a few years ago.

Of note is that all the state bond issues re: borrowing money for roads or raising taxes for schools (yes, “for the children”), were defeated by respectable margins. Plus, the liberal anti-fracking measure, Proposition 112, went down in flames. What is interesting, is that politically, Colorado voted deep blue (Polis is as hard left as it comes), but fiscally, voted very conservative (no borrowing or tax increases, and no crazy save the planet anti-fracking stuff).

It is very possible, barring a fiscal/financial collapse, that Colorado will be become a solid blue state despite the majority of the counties voting Republican. The continued influx of liberals fleeing their own self-induced liberal state “paradises”, the seemingly endless influx of legal and illegal immigration, and the increasing dependency of more and more people on government handouts paints a bleak picture for our once proud, free state.

But one thing is for sure, folks, we will continue to fight here locally in Custer County to keep our County, Colorado, and America free from liberal tyranny. We have had many great successes locally the last few years, with many more to come.
Molon Labe, libs.

To see all Custer County unofficial election results,
go to http://custercountygov.com/index.php?pg=electionresults

To see all Fremont County unofficial election results,
go to https://fremontco.com/files/elections/results/Fremont4.pdf

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Veteran’s Day: One Hero’s Story

Veteran’s Day: One Hero’s Story
Black Hawk Down Comes to Custer

“We saw the movie, we met the man”

by Fred Hernandez, SDC Sentinel

Twenty-five years ago, future American foreign policy was substantially impacted as a result of an international incident. It was a relatively simple mission that should have taken about an hour.  Instead it stretched out to about fifteen hours and resulted in the deaths of eighteen service personnel and the wounding of another seventy-three. In the bestselling book authored by Mark Bowden and later made into a block busting movie, that incident became widely known as “Black Hawk Down”.  In fact, it was the Battle of Mogadishu, the first in what would be nine such engagements.  It all started as a humanitarian effort on the part of the U.S.A., the U.N. and other countries.

This is the remains of Black Hawk “Super 61” which was shot down in Mogadishu, Somalia in October 1993. This is one of the “Black Hawks Down”.

As a result of turf wars that became a raging civil war, the innocent bystanders, the poor people of Somalia, were the collateral damage.  Wide spread famine, artificially created by controlling warlords, had turned into a veritable death sentence by starvation for the population in general.  To prevent widespread deaths, U.S. troops had to be deployed to insure the equitable and comprehensive distribution of the food supplies earmarked to help the people which were otherwise being high jacked by the warring factions.  As happens many times in complex missions such as these, plans do not always turn out the way originally designed. In this case unplanned combat erupted.

Charlie even responded saying “Okay Lord, but can I have some more ammo?”

Continue reading Veteran’s Day: One Hero’s Story →

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Services for Longtime Resident Jerome Lee DeGree

Jerome Lee DeGree of Westcliffe, Colorado, passed away October 23, 2018, peacefully in his sleep at his home.

He was born February 16, 1941, in Cañon City, CO, to John and Frances {White} DeGree. He met and married on March 27, 1965, Carolyn Barnum while he was stationed in the ARMY in Michigan.
For the two of them it was love at first sight and they would tell you that until the end. Continue reading Services for Longtime Resident Jerome Lee DeGree →

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WMFPD Chief on Ballot Issue 7A

WMFPD Chief on Ballot Issue 7A:
Special District Mil Levy Increase

by Fred Hernandez
On election day, November 06, 2018, less than five weeks from today, voters will find in their ballot, among the myriad of Amendments and Propositions, a Special District Measure known as Wet Mountain Fire Protection District Ballot Issue 7 A. Despite its long name the measure is quite simply a request to increase (by 2 mills) taxes for the Custer County Fire Department for collection in the calendar year of 2019.

In an interview with Fire Chief Kit Shy he outlines the very sensible rationale for the increase which comes to less than a hundred and ninety thousand dollars a year. Continue reading WMFPD Chief on Ballot Issue 7A →

2018, Uncategorized

The 2018 Ballot: Our Take

by George Gramlich
Analysis and Commentary
We get a ton of people asking us about our political opinions on various subjects here at The Sentinel. This year being no exception. A lot of folks have been asking about the 2018 Colorado Statewide Election on November 6th, and what we think about the people running and the ballot issues. Let’s have at it.

Part I:    Brief Vote Summary of our State ballot issue choices.
Part II:  Custer County ballot plus some analysis and commentary
on our calls on the State ballot issues.

Part I: Brief Summary of State Ballot Issues:

Amendment V: NO. Lower Age Requirement for Members of the State Legislature
Amendment W: NO. Election Ballot Format for
Judicial Retention Elections
Amendment X: YOUR CALL.
Industrial Hemp Definition
Amendment Y: NO. Congressional Redistricting
Amendment Z: NO. Legislative Redistricting
Amendment A: YES. Prohibit Slavery and Involuntary Servitude
in All Circumstances
Amendment 73: NO. Funding for Public Schools
Amendment 74: YES. Compensation for Reduction in Fair Market Value by Government Law of Regulation (After reading this article, we are leaning toward NO.
Amendment 75: YES. Campaign Contributions
Proposition 109: YES. Authorize Bonds for Highway Projects.
(GG: This is the “Fix Our D*mn Roads” proposition. Paid for out of the General Fund, thus, no tax increase.)
Proposition 110: NO. Authorize Bonds for Highway Projects
(Huge tax increase!!!)
Proposition 111: NO. Limitations on Payday Loans
Proposition 112: NO. Increased Setback Requirement for Oil and Natural Gas Development. Continue reading The 2018 Ballot: Our Take →

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HERO BOY SAVES MOM AND SIS

HERO BOY SAVES MOM AND SIS
Two Other Boys: Good Samaritans

by Fred Hernandez

Zayden

 

It happened on the night of September 12th on Highway 96 about ten miles East of Silver Cliff, Colorado. A vehicle was traveling westbound when it went off the right side of the highway and flipped, end over end, before coming to a full stop upside down. Inside the heavily damaged vehicle a mother, who was driving, and two children in child safety seats; a boy of six and a baby girl of two, were trapped. Luckily all were wearing seat belts.
That is when our boy hero, Zayden Lazear (emphasis on age six), went into action. Somehow managing to extricate himself out of his child safety seat and its belt, Zayden also managed to get out of the crushed vehicle. He then made his way up to the highway… Continue reading HERO BOY SAVES MOM AND SIS →