Sewer Costs Detailed for North Canon

Residents in a neighborhood north of Canon City where failing septic systems have become a frequent problem are again measuring pubic interest in pursuing sanitary sewer service through the Fremont Sanitation District. Sanitation District Executive Director George Medaris and Fremont County Commission Chairman Mike Stiehl laid out the details of a year long preliminary engineering study to the North Canon residents at a September 12th meeting. The general area under consideration for sanitary sewer service includes York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Lawrence, and North Streets. G.M.S. Consulting Engineers of Colorado Springs have identified 146 potential homes in the area that could be served.

Medaris said preliminary engineering estimates place the cost of the sewer expansion at $2.6 million. Medaris said cost estimates have escalated over the past year not only due to high construction costs but the area targeted for sewer lines have such poor soil conditions and high groundwater tables. Fremont County Environmental Health Office Sid Darden said 54 septic systems have failed in the area over the past nine years and the issue of public health is why the County Commissioners have taken an interest in the project.

Medaris said a number of finance options are being explored including grants and loans. Medaris said a 40 year loan through the U.S. Rural Utility Services (formerly Farmers Home Administration) is the preferred loan option to help spread the cost out over a longer period of time for the residents. Grant possibilities being explored include a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant and a $500,000 state grant either through mineral impact funds or the Colorado Department of Public Health. Medaris said the goal is to try to keep monthly fees to the residents at less than $55. That fee would cover not only the monthly loan payments but also the removal of septic tanks from each home site.

Medaris and the Fremont County Commissioners have emphasized that the residents of the area are the ones who will decide if the project will move ahead. The project would require creation of a local improvement district by the Commissioners. The Commissioners say they would have to have 51 percent of the residents agreeing to sign connection agreements before they would schedule a public hearing to consider formation of an improvement district. Some residents at the meeting said it would be unfair to force them to connect to public sewer, but Medaris said it's no different than creating an improvement district for paving a street. If 51 percent of the residents want the improvement then all of the residents would be required to share in the cost. Medaris said the only way some residents could opt out of the project is if they live at the end of a street like York Avenue, and then the sewer main simply would not be extended that far.

The first step was to form a citizens committee from the North Canon neighborhood. They will meet in early October to get a detailed briefing on the scope of the sewer project. They are then expected to canvas the neighborhood to measure public support for the project. Another general public meeting is then anticipated for mid-October. Medaris said if residents want to move ahead with the sanitary sewer project an income survey would be necessary before grant and loan applications are submitted. With all the necessary engineering required he said its unlikely construction would not begin until the 2008 construction season.

The preliminary engineering study performed over the past year was funded through a $10,000 state mineral impact grant, $12,000 from the Fremont County Board of Commissioners, and $11,000 from the Fremont Sanitation District.

September 12th Commissioners' Meeting

The Fremont County Commissioners awarded a bid at their September 12th regular meeting intended to produce some revenue for Fremont County and the City of Florence through the sale of landscaping rock and aggregate. The Commissioners recently invited bids from potential operators to reopen the Union Mill Hill gravel pit along Highway 67 north of Florence. The land is owned by Florence and is under lease to Fremont County.

District 2 Commissioner Larry Lasha said the bid document was drawn up with an emphasis on mining the more valuable landscaping stone from the pit. Lasha said the plan will also accomplish two other important goals. It will provide both the County and Florence with an annual portion of the construction aggregate mined from the pit for use on local roads and it will also provide a steady annual income over 10 to 15 years. Valco Incorporated was the high bidder to operate the mine with a bid of $2.50 per ton for landscaping rock and $1.00 per ton for construction material.

The Commissioners also approved a final plat for Phase 1 of Kernal Estates filing #1. The plat calls for nine single family residential lots and two larger outlots for future development on a site located at the northeast corner of North Street and Minnesota Avenue in the North Canon area. Although some neighbors voiced opposition to more residential development in the area, the development originally won approval in 1998 and again in 2001 but was never started. The Commissioners waived a requirement last March that Ross Blanchard be required to resubmit a preliminary plan. The Commissioners were told that drainage concerns on the property would be addressed in more detail when outlots A and B are developed.

In other business the Commissioners:

• Approved a temporary use permit for Apple Day festivities in Penrose on October 7th;
• Approved a Foreign Object Damage Plan for the Fremont County Airport that deals with keeping materials away from airport taxiways and runways.
  
  
  
  

Road Crews Complete Chip Seal with Gaming Dollars

Fremont County Road and Bridge crews completed work September 7th on a two week project to chip seal paved roads as part of the county's 2006 allocation of Colorado Gaming Impact grant money. $247,500 was spent on chip sealing the asphalt road surface on High Park Road (County Road 11) for a 6.2 mile distance south from the Teller County line, and over 12 miles on Garden Park Road north of Canon City.

The work was part of the county's $400,000 Gaming Impact grant for 2006. The other $172,500 was spent this past spring on a two-inch asphalt overlay on the final 1.2 miles of roadway on High Park Road just off of Highway 9. Over the past four years Fremont County secured Gaming Impact money to apply a two-inch overlay on the entire length of High Park Road from Highway 9 to the Teller County line after the road began to break apart due to heavy truck traffic. Although Fremont County has many miles of roads with critical needs for asphalt and chip seal repairs, the Gaming Impact dollars can only be used on those roads which motorists travel to get to the casinos in Cripple Creek.

County road crews still have a fog seal application and paint striping work to complete on the 18 miles of chip seal in the next several weeks. Fremont County's local 30 percent match is provided through manpower and county equipment to complete the work.

At the State Gaming Impact grant application hearings in Victor later this month Fremont County will make application for 2007 funding for gravel, roadbase, culverts, and chip seal for Garden Park road and Phantom Canyon Road. The county proposes to chip seal eight miles of Phantom Canyon Road north of Highway 50 next year.

North Canon Sewer Informational Meeting

The Fremont County Commissioners and the Fremont Sanitation District sponsor a joint public informational meeting on September 12th to discuss the findings of an engineering study on the feasibility of expanding sanitary sewer service to a large area north of Canon City. The area which was the focus of the study is bounded generally on the south by Washington Street, York Avenue on the west, Lawrence Street on the east, and a storm drainage channel on the north. Residents of the high priority area covering 263 acres have seen increasing problems over the years with high groundwater levels causing septic systems to fail.

With urging from residents and with cooperation of the Sanitation District, the County Commissioners secured a $12,000 grant last year through the Colorado Department of Public Health to conduct a preliminary engineering study. G.M.S. Consulting Engineers recently completed the study and shared their findings with the Commissioners, Sanitation District staff, and State and Federal grant agencies.

The September 12th public meeting is scheduled at 7 p.m. at the Skyline Elementary School cafeteria. Residents of the affected neighborhood will hear an overview of the engineer's findings and possible routing of sanitary sewer mains. Details will be provided concerning costs to the residents and the possibility of securing grants and long term loans to accomplish the project. The Commissioners note that continuing interest from residents in the high priority area will be the determining factor as to whether the project moves forward.

Emergency Commissioners Meeting for Ballot Language

The Fremont County Commissioners conducted a brief five minute emergency meeting Friday afternoon in order to meet a ballot deadline for the John C. Fremont Library District. The Commissioners approved a resolution certifying language for the library district's revenue question in November. The library district's board had already submitted ballot language to the County Clerk earlier in the week but County Attorney Brenda Jackson raised a concern Thursday that state law does not allow library districts to make a direct referral to the ballot. The referral required approval of the Board of Commissioners. The County Attorney also clarified some of the language in the ballot question.

The John C. Fremont Library District will ask district patrons to retain $63,600 in revenue collected in 2005 beyond Tabor amendment limitations. The language would also permit the library district to collect and retain all future revenues in excess of $150,000 annually. September 8th was the deadline to certify ballot language to the County Clerk for the November General Election ballot.

The John C. Fremont Library District serves residents in the Florence, Williamsburg, Rockvale, Coal Creek, and Penrose communities.

Special Meeting set for Tourism Council

The Fremont County Tourism Council will conduct a special meeting at 8 a.m., Wednesday, September 13th in Room 207 of the County Administration Building. The meeting will have a single agenda item dealing with the future development of the FCTC web site. The tourism council was told at this week's monthly meeting that about $8,500 remains in the 2006 budget that is earmarked for further development of the web site. The council will get a report on how those dollars might best be utilized to enhance search engine attraction to the web site and thus improve use and visibility on the world wide web. All interested citizens are welcome and encouraged to attend the meeting.

Commissioners Approve Language for 3 Ballot Questions

The Fremont County Commissioners have adopted resolutions approving the language for three revenue questions which will appear on the County's November ballot. The action came at a special meeting Thursday morning, August 31st.

Ballot question 1A will address needs at the Fremont County Sheriff's Department. It will ask voters to approve 5.5 mills of property tax to produce $1.9 million in annual revenue for the Sheriff's Department. Of that total, $1.5 million would be earmarked to staff and operate the 96 bed jail addition. The other $400,000 would finance the hiring and equipping of another ten patrol deputies.

Sheriff Jim Beicker said he appreciates the Commissioners working with him to solve these problems. He said the ballot issues are the result of a long, sustained effort which involved a number of town hall meetings with citizens across the county. Commissioner Ed Norden added that initially the Sheriff's ballot measure was intended only to address opening the 96 bed jail addition. But he said that citizens spoke out saying they also wanted the question to address additional patrol deputies. If approved, Sheriff Beicker plans to start hiring jail staff early in 2007 with a target date of July 1st, 2007 to begin opening the extra jail cells.

Ballot measure 1B would raise $850,000 from 2.5 mills of property tax over seven years with the tax to end, or sunset, in 2013 unless voters renew it. The money would address priority improvements for asphalt, chip sealing, and gravel for road and bridge repairs in all three of the county's road districts. Under state law part of the road & bridge money would be shared with all municipalities in the county.

The Commissioners said the numbers show that if both 1A and 1B are approved they will add $56 in additional property tax per year to each $100,000 of property value. For an average $135,000 value home it would add $76 in property tax each year. Commissioner Norden said he would compare that to the average cost of a wheel alignment that might be required each year from driving rough roads.

The third ballot measure, 1C, would renew Fremont County's two percent lodging tax used for tourism promotion. The tax is collected from motels, hotels, and campgrounds. Collections from the two percent lodging tax last year enabled the Fremont County Tourism Council to operate with a $117,000 budget in 2006. The lodging tax approved in 2001 sunsets at the end of 2006. The ballot measure would place a ten year sunset on the tax if it is renewed by voters.

In a fourth agenda item at the special meeting the Board of Commissioners approved the sale of eight acres at the Fremont County Airport Industrial Park. The eight acres is part of a 40 acre tract the county owns on the west side of Highway 67 southwest of the airport. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to construct a new office on two acres of the plot to process immigration detainees but it would not house any of the violators.