Tag Archives: 2024

2024, Uncategorized

BOCC Dec 12: Good news on Budget

BOCC: Good News of 2025 County Budget, New SO
Vehicles, More OEM/Mitigation Drama

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary

The December 12, 2024 Custer County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) regular meeting started at around 9 a.m. at their regally appointed throne room (the “Annex”) across from the courthouse. All three mighty commissioners were present: Bill Canda, Lucas Epp and Kevin Day.
In Commissioner Items, Epp noted at the CCI conference he attended last week, our lib Governor, Polis, focused his speech on the Denver to Fort Collins wasteland and ignored the rest of the state. Canda said that the county airport MIGHT be able to get a decommissioned Apache helicopter and also a Blackhawk for display purposes only. Continue reading BOCC Dec 12: Good news on Budget →

Uncategorized

Christmas Eve Services -Local

(May not be a complete list of services in Custer County)

5 p.m. CHRISTMAS EVE CANDLELIGHT & COMMUNION SERVICE – Cotopaxi Community Church – 20326 US Highway 50, Cotopaxi

5 p.m. CANDLELIGHT SERVICE – First Baptist Church – 410 South 6th, Westcliffe

4 p.m. NATIVITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
Our Lady of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church – 109 South 5th Street, Westcliffe

6:30 p.m. (Potluck 5:30 p.m.) CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE
-St. Lukes Episcopal Church
201 South 3rd Street, Westcliffe

5 p.m. CANDLELIGHT SERVICE – Sangre de Cristo Cowboy Church 60260 Hwy 69, Westcliffe

5 p.m. CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE
Sangre de Cristo Fellowship
20 Jerry Drive, Westcliffe

Uncategorized

A Wagging Good Tale

from VRBO, Facebook
via the McCallisters

Jake with Annie’s Grooming assistant, Roy Messer
Photo courtesy of Melissa Thomas

This story is told by Melissa Thomas, who was staying in a vacation rental home in the Rosita area.
“Saturday evening a stray dog showed up at our front door – it was pitch black outside… . The dog was full of stickers – and matted hair – and he was shaking – very scared…He put his trust in me – I gave him water and I always have dog treats in my truck (where we board our horse has dogs, I always bring treats)..
He eventually trusted us enough to come inside the VRBO. We put out some bath towels, a bowl of water, and more treats — and we gently tried to brush him. He was very scared, but eventually – relaxed and he slept inside with us Saturday night.
I posted on Next Door and Facebook – we found the owner !
The owner of the Dog (Jake) is an elderly couple who are visiting their son and daughter–in–law. They went on a trip and left the dog with a local person.
Anyway, somehow, the dog got loose and ran away.
I guess he was in a strange place, with a strange
person, and was scared …
So, we met up with the daughter-in-law on Face-book. I told her that we were leaving Sunday and offered to bring the dog back to her home – but she asked if we would bring the dog to her best friend’s house. On the way to her friend’s home, we saw
Annie’s Grooming. We saw that they were closed on Sunday, but we called the number anyway.


Annie answered and agreed to open up and give Jake (the stray) a bath and grooming…
It took Annie and her helper (a really nice young man) about an hour – and Jack looked wonderful !!
They did not charge to do this – Annie saw this post on Facebook and offered to do this from her heart.
When we dropped Jake off – he was doing the biggest butt wag you’d ever see —

2024, BOCC, Uncategorized

May 1 BOCC – Hedberg Threatens to Sue, Libs Feign Fear of Violence, Commish Calls CBI

BOCC Shocker: Hedberg Threatens to Sue
the BOCC Over Holding an Election
Integrity Meeting,
Libs Feign Fear of Violence If They Attend,
Commissioner Secretly Calls the CBI Over the Meeting!

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary

This Custer County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC)  meeting on May 1st started out “normal” (whatever that is here in Happy Valley) but when the subject of an upcoming BOCC Election Integrity Forum  came up at the end,  some of our left leaning locals went full victim outrage Stage 10 Soy Boy trying to suppress free speech as they didn’t agree with the meeting’s subject.  (Just like the libs do on our college campuses around the country.)

Before we get into the high drama, let’s get through the mundane stuff first: The meeting started at 9 a.m. with all three Com-missioners present: Chair Kevin Day and members Bill Canda and Lucas Epp.

In Commissioner Items, Epp said he will be asking for bids to fix the courthouse roof. Canda said our local TV mountain top transmitter service is working for one station (KKKTV, Channel 13) but the contractor needs a new antenna for the other station.

In New Business, Redlands Accounting gave an update on their work clearing up the audit issues and getting ready for this year’s audit. It appears progress is being made.

Next item up was the Finance Director’s Job Description and Posting. Canda presented Human Resources Director Bob Smith’s proposed job description. Canda said there were a few requirement changes including: the candidate must be able to do journal entries, be able to present value and amortization calculations and also be able to use Excel. The proposed salary range was $80k to $110. After some discussion, the maximum salary was raised to $120k.

The Commissioners then accepted a Proclamation for the National Day of Prayer resolution.

Then Canda’s big drama baby came up: That evening’s BOCC meeting on Election Integrity Fact Finding to be held at the Lutheran Church’s Lange Hall. (This meeting came up pretty quick. I believe due to speaker availability. Canda had phoned  Day and Epp requesting the meeting that would have several election integrity “experts” in person and via Zoom. Continue reading May 1 BOCC – Hedberg Threatens to Sue, Libs Feign Fear of Violence, Commish Calls CBI →

2024, Uncategorized

Liberty Rocks at Lange Hall – April 2024

April 2024 Liberty Rocks
“Our world has lost touch with what’s right”

The quote above was made by Mr. Jeff Lindsey, candidate for District Attorney of District 2.

by Fred Hernandez
It was another one of those typically busy evenings at the Liberty Rocks event of April 18th. Chairperson Ann Barthrop called the meeting to order at fifteen minutes past six and after the requisite Pledge of Allegiance and the group singing “America The Beautiful”, the invocation was read by Ms. Lisa Kidwell from the book “Prayers and Presidents” by W. Federer. The quote was from one of the most popular conservative presidents, Ronald Reagan, in a speech delivered at the National Religious Broadcasters Association. “To preserve our blessed land, we must look to God.” said the late president during his speech that evening of February 9,1982. He went on to say,” and, we must look at the hearthstone, because that’s where all hope for America lies. Families are the bedrock of our nation…teachers of cooperation, tolerance, concern and responsibility. Rebuilding America begins with restoring family strength and preserving family values.” Continue reading Liberty Rocks at Lange Hall – April 2024 →

2024, Uncategorized

Pet Photography Workshop

Sangres Art Guild Offers Free
Pet Photography Workshop
April 27 at the 3rd Street Gallery

Press Release
The Sangres Art Guild (SAG) announced today that a free workshop titled Pet Photography Basics, sponsored by the Sangres Art Guild in partnership with Wet Mountain Animal Welfare, will take place from 12 – 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 27th at the 3rd Street Gallery at 59000 N. Highway 69 in Westcliffe, Colorado.
This free pet photography workshop is open to anyone who would like to take amazing photos of pets or rescue animals. Whether you want to pursue fine art portraiture or just capture great memories to share with friends and family, artist and instructor Sandra Dalton will teach you basic techniques to turn your pet photography from “blah” to captivating. Regardless of what type of equipment you have, or experience level, you can take photos that capture your pet’s unique essence and personality. Instructor Sandra Dalton is a fine art photographer focusing on portraiture and pictures that tell a story, best known for her portraits of feral and rescue cats. She is president of Wet Mountain Animal Welfare and also serves as the SAG Marketing Chair.
The workshop takes place April 27th so that participants have time to practice and create artwork for the SAG “For the Love of Animals” art show and competition that will be judged by Andy Mast as a benefit for Wet Mountain Animal Welfare. Art must be submitted July 28-29 and the show runs during the month of August.
FOR THE LOVE OF ANIMALS, benefit for Wet Mountain Animal Welfare, judged by Andy Mast…Show runs: Thursday – Monday, 11 a.m.-.4.p.m .August 1st to August 31st in the 3rd Street Gallery, 59000 N. Highway 69, Westcliffe, CO Opening Reception: August 1, 2024 from 4pm-6pm
Class size is limited. To register, contact sandra@sandradaltonphotography.com or call (719) 695-0092.

In addition to great art, there is plenty to do in Westcliffe. Some of the more popular excursions for tourists include hiking in the surrounding Sangre de Cristos Mountains, visiting the acclaimed local theater for a live production or touring the nearby wolf sanctuary. This area of Colorado is known as a dark sky community and gazing at one of the darkest, starriest night skies on Earth is also top of the list.

2024, Uncategorized

Barbara Nordyke Passes

Obituary
Barbara Nordyke

 

Barbara Maxine Babb-Nordyke was born February 5, 1940, in Parkview, New Mexico, to Richard and Florence Whaley-Babb. During her childhood, the Babb family, with five children, moved to Rockvale, Colorado, and she attended Florence High School, where she met her future husband. She graduated high school in 1958. She married Arthur Lee Nordyke in 1959, and was a devoted wife and mother for 65 years. Barbara and Arthur are the parents of Chris Wayne (Shelly) Nordyke, Kurt Lee (Emma) Nordyke, and Kyle Len (Leslie) Nordyke. They are blessed with nine grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Barbara was preceded in death by Richard and Florence Babb, Ellen Babb-Dunsmore, Rudy Babb, and Christopher James Nordyke. She is survived by her devoted husband, three sons, daughters-in-law, and her grandchildren: Cole (Tori), Casey (Shelby), Cory (Emily), Kade, Mason, and Lane Nordyke, as well as, Jesse Todd and Sara Elizabeth Aldrich. Her surviving great-grandchildren are Bentley, Cooper, Aliyah, Elowyn, Eliana, Brayden, Adeline Mae, Harper, Brooklynn and Evelyn Nordyke.
Barbara loved to cook and sew. She planted and tended many gardens and raised chickens. She loved photography; especially taking pictures of her grandchildren. She enjoyed riding horses and loved a good strong cup of coffee. Barbara loved to laugh and had a funny sense of humor. Barbara was an active member of the First Baptist Church of Westcliffe for 20 years. However, she came to know Jesus as her personal savior at First Southern Baptist Church in Florence, Colorado, when she was approximately 10 years old. She leaves a beautiful legacy of faith to her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. She passed away after an extended time of illness, peacefully at home on April 10, 2024.
Services were held at First Baptist Church of Westcliffe, Colorado, on Thursday, April 18, 2024 at 10 a.m.
A guest book to send the family a message can be found on Legacy.com.

2024, Uncategorized

April 4 BOCC: Child Advocacy Center Hired to Help SO

BOCC: Child Advocacy Center Hired to Help SO,
Finance Director Hiring Update

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary
The April 4, 2024 regular meeting of the Custer County Board of County Com-missioners (BOCC) met in their meeting room across for the County Courthouse with all three Commissioners present: Chair Kevin Day and members Bill Canda and Lucas Epp. The meeting started at 9 a.m.
In Commissioner Items, Canda revealed that KKTV is now operational off the county’s hill top transmission building. The installers are having a small problem getting the other station (Channel 13) to work due to an incorrect cable. They hope to fix
that soon.
In  Elected Officials Reports, Sheriff Rich Smith was up first. With the County’s Victim Advocate employee resigning
a while back, Smith opted for a better solution. He hired a company out of Cañon City, the Child Advocacy Center, to perform the job. They have a full-time staff and the cost to the County is only $500 per month. Plus Smith noted we have two local volunteers who can also assist.
With regards to the increasing number of mental health calls, and the Deputy’s roles in responding to such calls, Smith said he has hired a very experienced local couple to assist in these calls. They will be available 24 hours a day.
Sheriff Smith said he also recently hired a part time person to be his Chief of Staff. This administrative position is for three days a week. No benefits. The person Smith hired was the retired Chief of Police for Florence, Mike DeLaurentis, who has 42 years of law enforcement experience. Smith had worked closely with DeLaurentis while Smith was the State Police Captain in Florence.
Smith was pleased to announce that the Sheriff’s Office has finally got their FreCom dispatch CAD software working.
The Coroners Report was given by Coroner Brad Baltzly. He said the county had only three “unattended deaths” this year and all were sent to autopsy.
In Staff Reports, Dominic Edginton, the County’s Veteran Service Officer gave his report. As usual, he reported great results with new veteran cases and continuing cases. (Dominic is doing an outstanding job. Reviews of his work are outstanding.)
Newly hired Bob Chesser gave the Human Resources report. He discovered a fairly big problem with the CTSI increased benefit to some County employees. The cost is split between the county and the employees, but the cost increase was not programmed into the employees’ paychecks. Thus, some employees owe the county money. The total is $15.5k, total, for all employees. They are exploring ways to fix this. (Chesser was a great hire. This guy has tons of experience, knows all the laws and regulations, and is a problem solver. Listening to him, it shows the BOCC should have hired a pro years ago instead of bringing people on board with NO knowledge at all of HR.)
In New Business, the Finance Report was first. Lisa Hemann, from Redland’s Accounting, the firm the County hired to fix the audit issues and other problems left by the last two Finance Directors, gave the report. She said she has spent three weeks working on the issues and concentrated on adjustments to liabilities and fund balances as well as looking at general ledger details. She has fixed a lot of incorrect fund postings and wrongfully entered account items. She also described other fixes and changes she made. She is confident she can get the “pre-audit” done by May 1st so the data can be turned over to the County’s auditor on that date. It was noted that a lack of training on the County’s new CIC accounting system is a major factor in a lot of the issues.
Dorothy Carsten, our Planning & Zoning Director, delivered her report. During her report she mentioned a “homeless camp” located on four lots in Silver Cliff Heights. She said it “goes back many years” and that there are concerns from a “healthy standpoint” as there are no “septics” or the “septics are not connected”. Where this is going remained unclear.
Two new Short Term Rentals were then approved by the Commissioners.
The next Agenda Item was “Revising and Reposting the Finance Director’s Position. (The response to the current posting was dismal. The CPA requirement and fairly low salary are the main culprits.) Canda opened the discussion. This discussion went on and on. In the end, the Commissioners lowered the requirements to a minimum of a Bachelors Degree in Accounting with a Masters and a CPA preferred. They also added mandatory experience in government accounting. HR Guy Chesser added a lot to the discussion. He also found several excellent job posting internet sites that specialize in these kind of jobs.
Epp talked about how it would be good to keep Redlands Accounting on retainer even after the new Finance Director is hired. (That seemed like a good idea.)
And that was that.

2024, BOCC, Uncategorized

April 3 BOCC: in County Facilities, High Drama, Lib Meltdowns

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary
The April 3, 2024 Custer County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) regular meeting started at 9 a.m. at their royally appointed abode across from the County Courthouse. All three Commissioners were present: Chair Kevin Day and members Bill Canda and
Lucas Epp.
In Commissioner Items, Canda noted that the two local TV stations (11 and 13) operating off the mountain should be operational by next week.
In New Business, the Short Term Rental Application (STR) for the Urbiztondo STR was up. This is the third go at this STR. The Planning Commission had previously voted to recommend that the BOCC deny the application due to the vehement disapproval by its neighbors. Continue reading April 3 BOCC: in County Facilities, High Drama, Lib Meltdowns →

2024, BOCC, Uncategorized

February 24 BOCC: Money “For the Children”, UAWCD Manager Drama, Audit Cavalry Coming

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary
The Custer County Board of County Commissioners meeting held on February 24, 2024, occurred at that Wetmore Community Center. All three Commissioners were present: Chair Kevin Day and members Bill Canda (via Zoom from France) and Lucas Epp. From the Zoom video, it appeared that only one meeting spectator was present.
In Commissioner Items, Epp mentioned that the accounting consulting firm they selected (Redlands Consulting) will be starting next week and will work Monday through Thursday on the audit and adjusting entries issues.
Old Business was next: Epp talked further about what Redlands was going to do next week. They will put in 40 hours of work analyzing the issues and put a plan together to get the mess fixed. This includes the audit issues plus a bunch of accounting problems we are having. They will then present the plan and the cost to the Commissioners hopefully in two weeks’ time. Epp gave a shout out to our IT guy, Vernon Roth, who is putting a lot of time in at Finance to keep the ship from sinking.
In New Business, Day presented his Agenda Item, Money for Playground Equipment for Wetmore. Day said Ruth Roper has been working for years trying to get a playground built in Wetmore “for the children”. She has found a piece of playground equipment from a company that is on sale for $9,281. Day said we have money in the LATCF fund and
the CTF fund that can be used for this. Day said there are around 30 children in the area.
Epp wasn’t too happy with the timing of this request. He said we just turned down two department head’s requests for a vehicle so they can do their jobs two weeks ago and giving money away for playground equipment now is not right. Epp said the state of the LATCF AND CTF funds is unknown, and it would not be wise to tap into those now. He said he will look into their status. Epp concluded saying we have several purchases that have to be made and we need to prioritize them.
Canda then piped up from the Riviera in southern France and said he agreed with Epp, that the timing for this is bad. He requested that we “table this until we understand how much money we really have.” He continued, “We had issues with the LATCF stuff. Can we wait a few weeks?”
Day, trying to salvage the spending “for the children”, said “we don’t have to move on it today.” But he added that this price is special and if that equipment is sold, we have to pay more for it down the line. (Day should have pulled this Agenda Item. Absolutely the wrong time to ask for money when we can’t even provide a crucial vehicle for county employees. But Day lives in Wetmore and this is gravy for his homies.)
Canda responded, “We need to make sure we have the money for priorities.” Canda ended with, “I think we ought to wait.”
Epp noted that he will “look into” the LATCF slush fund and see what is left.
They then decided to hold off on this until a later date.
The next item was Consideration of Signing a Letter of Recommendation for Greg Felt. This letter is a recommendation for Mr. Felt to become the next General Manager of the Upper Arkansas Water Conservation District (UAWCD). (This is a big deal. UAWCD is the big water player around here and very powerful.) Canda put this Item on the Agenda. Canda does a love minute dance for Felt saying he knows the guy, blah, blah, blah. Felt is also on the UAWCD Board.
But Epp smells a rat. He asked Canda, “Is there anybody else running for the same job?” Canda responded, “There are several others. I know one other that is qualified is a Mr. Jord Gertson.”
Epp turns the screws with, “This letter carries a lot of weight. If we are going to endorse someone else, we need to know about the other candidates. I don’t know the other candidates.” Canda replied, “I will send you Jord’s resume.” Day then chipped in, “We need to reach out and get information on the other candidates.” Epp finished with we need to put it on the Agenda “before the deadline.”

(Here is the skinny on this UAWCD Manager opening. The current Manager Terry Skanga, who helped start UAWCD is stepping down. Our very own ex Board Chair of UAWCD, local Bob Senderhauf’s choice is one Jord Gertson. Jord is a professional water guy who has worked for UAWCD for a long time (he’s their resident hydrologist) and even has his own water consulting business. He also has a B.S. in Watershed Science from Colorado State University. His resume is astounding. His has done everything you can think of re: water management. Bottom line, if Senderhauf wants this guy, HE IS THE ONE. Canda’s boy, Felt, has very limited actual water management experience and no degree. He owns a rafting company on the Arkansas River and with him on UAWCD there could be conflicts of interest. Plus, and I can hear the snowflakes whining already, he is supposedly a Democrat and the last thing you want is someone with that lib orientation running a locally powerful organization controlling our water.
Canda should not have recommended this guy without giving out the resumes of the other candidates. In fact, the BOCC doesn’t know jack about water and the UAWCD and should probably not endorse anyone. If they insist on it, they should definitely invite Senderhauf in and let him educate them on the candidates.)
At the end of the lovefest, Epp said the February 29 BOCC will be on Thursday so that Day can attend some meeting on Wednesday.