North Canon Sewer Public Meeting

Residents of the North Canon area are being urged to attend another public informational meeting this Friday night, March 2nd, on the proposed North Canon Sewer project. Since the last meeting in December residents were asked to return signed contracts indicating their interest in being part of the project. Fremont Sanitation District Manager George Medaris said a number of contracts were received in the last two days and in fact contracts are still being accepted. Medaris said it appears there are a sufficient number of signed contracts to establish a boundary area with over fifty percent of residents within those boundaries are in favor of the project.

A newsletter with a copy of the map with proposed boundaries was mailed to North Canon residents last week. That map will be discussed in detail at Friday evening's meeting. Residents will hear about the probabilities of securing the necessary grants and loans for the project now estimated to cost about $1.8 million. The map shows several blocks of private properties where homeowners have not indicated an interest in becoming part of the project. Medaris says its important that those residents understand that if the project moves forward without them, the day could come in a few years when they might be forced to hook into sanitary sewer when their septics fail and if they live within 400 feet of the new sewer line. If that happens those residents would have to pay full hookup costs and would not have the benefit of cost savings shared by other residents through the grants and loans.

The informational meeting is set for 7 until 9 p.m. Friday evening, March 2nd at the Skyline Elementary School. Any North Canon residents who have questions about the proposed sewer project are urged to attend the meeting.

February 13th Commissioners Meeting

An update on the proposed North Canon Sewer project, tabling of a coal mine application, and consideration of raising tipping fees for disposal of solid waste highlighted the agenda for the Board of Commissioners at their regular meeting on February 13th.

After the Commissioners conducted a public hearing on the proposed Northfield Coal Mine at their January 9th meeting on a conditional use permit for the mine located in the Chandler-Williamsburg area, the matter was tabled for one month. In the interim period the Commissioners raised twenty-four issues of questions and clarifications from the applicant. Northfield Partners then requested further tabling of the permit application until the February 27th Board meeting to give them enough time to respond.

Fremont Sanitation District Manager George Medaris updated the Commissioners on the proposed North Canon Sewer project. An area north of Washington Avenue along York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Lawrence, where septic systems have been failing over the years is the focus of an effort to secure grants and loans to bring sanitary sewer to some 180 households. Medaris said based on signed contracts returned since a January 31st deadline there appears to be sufficient interest so that the project could move forward. He said a couple of blocks may have to be 'drawn out' of the proposed boundaries in order to get over fifty percent of property owners support. But Medaris said the Board of Commissioners may ultimately have to decide that if the project moves ahead, whether the other areas may be forced to come into the project as a matter of environmental health concerns to prevent further septic system failures and raw sewage surfacing onto the ground. Medaris said a third important meeting for residents in the North Canon neighborhood is set for Friday evening, March 2nd at 7 o'clock at the Skyline Elementary School.

The Commissioners voted to approve a resolution that increases the county's surcharge on solid waste at Twin Landfill and all local waste transfer stations from thirty cents to fifty cents a cubic yard. The Commissioners noted that the fee had not been increased in more than nine years. The money is used primarily for the local recycling program but the Commissioners noted that efforts by the County's Code Enforcement officers to clean up junk on private property and county rights of way creates a cost that cannot be met within the Planning Department budget. Gary Fuselier of Twin Landfill told the Board at the public hearing that the fee increase appears to be unfair to contractors and citizens who haul loose waste to the landfill. Fuselier said five cubic yards of loose waste will compact into one cubic yard on a garbage truck. The Commissioners said they would agree at budget time next fall to consider whether different tipping fees are appropriate for compacted waste versus non-compacted waste.

In other business at the February 13th meeting the Commissioners:

• Approved a six month conditional use permit for the Red Creek Land Company gravel pit. The pit will operate only within the 35 acre subdivision mining an estimated 15,000 tons of gravel to build roads within the subdivision. It is located west of Highway 9 in the Tallahassee area northwest of Canon City;
• Approved a bid award of $49,692 to A.D.T. for installation of a new electronic security system in the Fremont County Judicial Center;
• Approved a contract with Armstrong Consultants of Grand Junction for a crack sealing project at the Fremont County Airport;
• and approved the annual stationary printing bid to Master Printers, the low bidder for $5,519.

New Restaurant Regulations to Protect Public

An amendment to COLORADO RETAIL FOOD ESTABLISHMENT RULES AND REGULATIONS will take effect on March 1, 2007, and will help to protect people that eat at restaurants or buy food from delis. Fremont County Environmental Health Officer Sid Darden reports that the amendment prohibits bare hand contact with any food that is ready-to-eat or not subject to any further cooking, and most restaurant owners and managers have been aware that this new regulation was coming for the past few years.

As additional reinforcement, most local health departments, including Fremont County Environmental Health, have been discussing the concept with owners and operators over the course of the past several months during routine inspections. In addition, a copy of the new regulation was mailed along with each license renewal back in November, and another copy of the new regulation and a pamphlet entitled Bare Hand Contact with Ready-to-Eat Foods-Questions and Answers, written by the Consumer Protection Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment, was mailed along with the 2007 licenses. The new regulation and the pamphlet were also written in several languages such as Spanish, Chinese and Japanese.

The basic concept is that any food that is ready-to-eat and will not be further cooked, is not to be touched with bare hands by the people preparing and serving the food. Most people automatically assume that this means the use of disposable food gloves, and in many cases this will be the method used to meet the new requirements, however the use of tongs and other serving utensils, deli papers or other approved methods, may also be used. If a food item is going to be cooked prior to serving, such as pizza toppings, raw meats and other ingredients for recipes prior to cooking, it is acceptable for these items to be handled with bare hands as long as proper handwashing practices are followed and food and equipment are not cross contaminated.

Anyone that did not receive this information along with their 2007 restaurant license, anyone with questions, or anyone with an interest in obtaining copies of any of this information can contact Fremont County EHS at 276-7460.

January 23rd Commissioners Meeting

The Fremont County Board of Commissioners dealt with a brief agenda for their second formal meeting of the New Year on January 23rd.

The Commissioners updated citizens on their review of the Northfield Coal Mine application for a conditional use permit since the public hearing at the January 9th meeting. Commission Chairman Ed Norden said after a thorough review with staff members they came up with a number of other questions for the applicant and the need for clarification of several issues. Norden said the Board would hope that they would get a response from the applicant to those questions in plenty of time before the tabled item comes up again on the February 13th agenda. He said the applicant or the Commissioners could request more time beyond the February 13th meeting. Norden also explained that since the public record was closed at the January 9th public hearing any additional communication from citizens about the coal mine could not be included as part of that public record.

District 2 Commissioner Larry Lasha also reported that road crews were doing preparation work along County Road 132 in the Upper Beaver Creek area which was destroyed by the July 5th flood last year. The County secured a $194,000 emergency state grant to help rebuild that road this spring. Lasha said some residents in the area have been complaining about the removal of trees but Lasha said people can be assured that trees being removed are in the County's right-of-way and not on private land. He said some trees must be removed in order to properly construct roadside ditches to deal with drainage problems on County Road 132 in the future.

In other business the Commissioners:

• Reappointed Canon City Mayor Bill Jackson to the City's seat for a three year term on the Fremont County Planning Commission;
• Reappointed Jim Javernick and Mike Welch for three year terms to the Fremont County Board of Zoning Adjustment;
• Approved a nine month extension for the Loader Subdivision-Filing 2 at 'M' and 10th Streets in Penrose; Authorized the Chairman to sign the contract for the $350,000 Community Development Block grant that will allow Star Point to purchase new offices at 700 South 8th Street in Canon City; and approved two petitions for property tax refunds for heavy equipment because the owners have paid registration fees on those vehicles at the County Clerk's Office.