Fremont County Tourism Council Public Notice

The Fremont County Tourism Council (F.C.T.C.) is soliciting letters of interest from Fremont County Residents for a position consisting of a three year term on the F.C.T.C. The F.C.T.C. develops & administrates a Tourism Marketing Plan for Fremont County with proceeds from the Fremont County Lodging Tax.

F.C.T.C. members are required to attend monthly meetings, as well as any other meetings as voted on by the council. Attendance at certain community meeting pertaining to tourism development may also be required. These positions are for voluntary service with no compensation or reimbursements of any kind.

Your letter of interest addressed as “Fremont County Tourism Council Letter of Interest” must be received at the Canon City Chamber of Commerce Office at 403 Royal Gorge Blvd. Canon City, Colorado 81212, no later than February 15, 2006, at 5:00 P.M. M.S.T. All letters submitted after this date will not be considered.

Your employment or ownership in a tourism related business as defined by the Colorado Tourism Office will be a determining factor in the F.C.T.C.’s recommendation. Your employment or ownership in a specific tourism related business as detailed in the F.C.T.C by-laws as adopted by the Fremont County Commissioners will govern all recommendations made by the F.C.T.C

Any questions on this notice can be addressed to either F.C.T.C. Chairperson Vicky Casey at 275-5149 or F.C.T.C. Secretary Danny De George at 269-8245.

Commissioners Approve Subdivision and Zoning Fee Increases

New fees for subdivision and zoning applications in the Fremont County Planning and Zoning Office which stirred some controversy at a public hearing nearly three weeks ago, have been adopted by the Fremont County Commissioners with some modifications. The Commissioners said they followed the advice of some of those who testified saying that certain subdivision application fees for adjusting lot lines, boundary lines, and vacating of lot lines, would be too much of a burden on small property owners if fees were increased as much as three times. In the final adoption, the Board modified the proposed fees for ten planning and zoning categories.

As an example, the current fee of $300 for lot line and boundary line adjustments, and vacation of interior lot lines will be increased to $600 on March 1st but will not increase to $1,075 as first proposed. The fee for applying for authorization of a home occupation will increase from $150 to $205 on March 1st. Originally that fee was intended to go to $350. The Commissioners said they want to encourage home occupation applications so they can operate legally in various neighborhoods, but did not want the fee to be too excessive that it might discourage someone from filing an application.

The other categories will see fee increases as first proposed. Among them is the fee for a subdivision preliminary plan going from $1,800 to $2,475. The application fee for minor subdivisions will go from $700 to $1,625. The Commissioners say the intent of the fee increases is to recover the costs of providing the service. The original fee schedule as proposed would have recovered 90 percent of the cost. The ten items modified downwards by the Board will see those applications recover fifty percent of the actual cost according to the comprehensive cost study performed by Eric Parrish of the Public Resource Management Group in Denver.

Several contractors and real estate brokers have criticized the fee increases saying they will serve to discourage building and growth in Fremont County. Other citizens have gone on record supporting the fee increases saying it’s a move towards having growth pay its’ own way without being subsidized by taxpayers.

The complete set of new fees have been published as a link on the Planning and Zoning page elsewhere on this web site.

January 24th Commissioners Meeting

The Fremont County Commissioners Tuesday officially lifted the ban on open burning which had been in effect only twelve days. The fire ban was lifted at the request of Sheriff Jim Beicker and Cañon City District Fire Chief Bill Guindon following the January 13th snow storm that left from six to 12 inches of snow across Fremont County. Officials warn that another warm and windy dry spell could once again increase the fire danger.

Cañon City High School Design and Drafting instructor Mike Geesaman and student Gillian Cheek presented awards to Bill Giordano and Marshall Butler of the Planning and Zoning Department for their cooperation in the student intern program over the last several years. Regretfully, that program will be disrupted due to a lack of funding in the 2006 P & Z budget.

The Board voted to deny a request by Northwest Fremont County E.M.S. to waive and refund a $400 fee for a variance from the Board of Zoning Adjustment. The variance will permit Northwest E.M.S. to create a smaller out-lot from a 40-acre tract of property along County Road ‘2’ in the Tallahassee area where they plan to build an ambulance garage. In the final analysis, the Commissioners chose to follow precedence by denying the $400 waiver, noting that such waivers for variances before the Board of Zoning Adjustment have never been granted in the past.

In other action at Tuesday’s meeting the Commissioners:

• approved a new set of subdivision and zoning fees for the Planning and Zoning Department (details offered in a separate story on this page).
• received a 2005 report of code enforcement activities by officer Robert Sapp. Sapp reported that 105 code violations were closed out or came into compliance last year with nine going into litigation. Sapp says as a result of code compliance citizens should start to see a tremendous change in appearance as motorists drive down Highway 115 through Penrose.
• approved a two lot minor subdivision for Tim Gaffney on the northeast corner of Cedar and Locust in Lincoln Park.
• approved transfer of a Special Review Use permit for the Broken Spoke Events Center at Penrose from Glenn Miller to Boyd Canterbury.
• adopted an updated Noxious Weed Management Plan prepared by director J.R. Phillips and the Weed Advisory Board.
  

Commissioners set Public Forums for Cañon City & Florence

The Fremont County Commissioners have announced a pair of public meetings in Cañon City and Florence to kick off a series of Commissioners’ Forums with citizens across the county in 2006. Commission Chairman Mike Stiehl says the forums will again give the Commissioners the chance to meet face to face with citizens to discuss important county issues and to field questions.

The Commissioners expect to continue their discussion with citizens about finding solutions to the county’s fiscal problems, in particular how to open and staff the county’s new 96 bed jail which sits empty, adequately funding other law enforcement needs in the Sheriff’s Department, and restoring funding to the Road and Bridge Department to address road maintenance issues. Citizens will also have the opportunity to raise questions about any other issues of concern.

The District 1 Commissioners’ Forum is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday evening, January 25th, at the County Administration Building at 615 Macon in Cañon City. The District 2 Commissioners’ Forum is set 6 p.m. Wednesday evening, February 22nd, in the new Florence City Council Chambers located in the former Centura building.

The Commissioners urge all citizens who have concerns or questions about county government to attend any of the upcoming Commissioners’ Forums.

Commissioners Hear Views on Zoning & Subdivision Fees

The Fremont County Commissioners listened to public reaction to proposed hikes in zoning and subdivision fees at the Board’s January 10th regular meeting. The Commissioners conducted a public hearing on the proposed new fee schedules which resulted from a comprehensive study of ‘cost of service’ by Eric Parrish of the Public Resource Management Group in Denver. The County spent $6,200 to have Parrish prepare the study to determine how much time and resources the staff in the Planning and Zoning Department spend on various applications.

The testimony included comments that fees for lot line and boundary line adjustments would hurt the ‘little guys’ who split up small parcels or clean up boundary problems if those fees are increased by three times the present amount. There were also concerns voiced that with other development costs escalating such as fire district impact fees and water tap fees, the higher subdivision fees would only serve to discourage growth. The Commissioners also received some comment that the fee increases are appropriate because developers should pay for the cost of growth instead of taxpayers. Some local surveyors and engineers also suggested streamlining the application process to reduce cost of service.

The Commissioners voted to table any action on the proposed fees until the January 24th board meeting. The Commissioners have asked Planning Department Director Bill Giordano to analyze some of the specific ideas offered by citizens at the public hearing. The Commissioners also plan to examine what the impact would be to estimated revenues if certain fee increases were phased in over a longer period of time.

The Commissioners say they were pleased with the turnout of citizens at the public hearing noting that they took extra steps to publicize the hearing and to post tables comparing present fees with the proposed increases on the county’s website. Commissioner Ed Norden said “the board was actively seeking comment in order to get a feel for public sentiment on raising fees on a portion of county services where we continue to see more demand because of growth in Fremont County”.

January 10th Commissioners’ Meeting

The Fremont County Commissioners conducted their annual reorganizational meeting Tuesday morning electing District 1 Commissioner Mike Stiehl to replace Larry Lasha as the Board Chairman for 2006. District 3 Commissioner Ed Norden was elected the Chairman Pro-Tem.

The Board reappointed Brenda Jackson as County Attorney and Nelson Liskow as the Fremont County Veterans Service Officer, expressing appreciation to both for their trusted service to the Board and local citizens.

The Commissioners approved the 2006 budget submitted by the Fremont County Tourism Council which will utilize the $117,000 in 2005 proceeds from the county’s two percent lodging tax. The Board also approved a minor language change in the Tourism Council’s by-laws. The change calls upon the Tourism Council to spend no less than five percent of its’ annual revenue on promotion of local tourism related events. The previous language said the council should spend up to five percent of its’ annual revenue on such promotion.

In other action Tuesday the Commissioners:

• Designated official postings for Commissioners’ Board meetings, the schedule for board meetings, the official newspaper, and official depositories for county funds.
• Approved a resolution establishing a separate fund for the Sheriff’s budget showing both expenses and revenues apart from the general fund.
• Accepted a $4,700 discretionary grant from the Colorado Board of Aeronautics for a sweeper attachment for a tractor at the Fremont County Airport.
• Reappointed Harold Serven to a three year term on the Fremont County Board of Zoning Adjustment.

Sheriff & Commissioners Impose Fire Ban

Fremont County Sheriff Jim Beicker and the Fremont County Commissioners have reacted to the dry and volatile weather conditions by imposing a countywide fire ban. Sheriff Beicker announced Wednesday that after consultations with Cañon City District Fire Chief Bill Guindon he decided to request imposition of the fire ban. Recent rangeland wildfires in Huerfano and Jefferson Counties prompted Governor Owens this week to also impose fire restrictions on state lands.

The Fremont County Commissioners met in emergency session Thursday morning to formally authorize the fire ban requested by Sheriff Beicker. Fire Chief Guindon addressed the Commissioners saying that the winter weather has been deceiving and that the lack of any recent moisture has resulted in drought-like conditions. Guindon says the dry conditions are combined with strong winds that never seem to die down. Guindon says compounding the problem is that there are limited resources available to fight wildfires during the winter because we are outside the typical wildfire firefighting seasons for state and federal agencies.

Deer Mountain Fire District Board President Byron Alsup also informed that Commissioners today that the Deer Mountain Fire District has also imposed a fire ban through action taken by that district board Wednesday evening.

Tourism Council Adopts 2006 Budget

The Fremont County Tourism Council has adopted a budget that proposes spending nearly $115,000 on tourism promotion in 2006. The new budget relies on a 24.8 percent increase in county lodging tax revenues during 2005. The Fremont County Finance Office estimates current 2005 lodging tax revenues at $117,404. That compares to collections of $94,081 for 2004.

Tourism Council members say there is no definitive explanation for the large jump in lodging tax revenues. Members say they do not believe there was any substantial increase in room rates , so it’s believed that the increase likely came from visitors spending more nights in Fremont County motel and hotel rooms.

The bulk of the 2006 tourism spending, $45,000, is targeted towards the annual Royal Gorge Country Visitors Guide. $12,000 will be spent in the Colorado Springs Visitors Guide and $20,000 for web site advertising. The tourism council will also be working with a new web company this spring to enhance marketing of advertising banners on its web site, www.rgcountry.com, in an effort to increase revenues for tourism promotion. The council hopes to market web site advertising in concert with advertising sales for the annual visitors guide.

As a result of a by-laws change last spring to direct five percent of lodging tax revenues towards local events that attract visitors, the council set aside $11,000 in the 2006 tourism budget for four local groups. The council agreed to contribute $4,000 to the annual Belvedere Blues Fest promotion, $4,000 to the special Fremont Center for the Arts 2006 art show by Christo & Jeanne-Claude, $2,000 for the Upper Arkansas Area Council of Governments 2nd annual barbecue at Buckskin Joe, and $1,000 towards promotions by the Florence Merchants.

Fremont County’s two percent lodging tax will sunset at the end of 2006. The tax question must be placed before the voters again in the November, 2006, general election in order that the lodging tax can continue to be collected.

Members of the Fremont County Tourism Council are Vicki Casey, Mike Bandera, Andy Neinas, Danny DeGeorge, Mike Merlino, Sandi Roberts, and Ryan McCallister.