Spring Cleanup Campaign

Fremont County, local municipalities, and area businesses are cooperating again this year for the annual spring clean up campaign. The heart of the campaign is distribution of free trash disposal vouchers to citizens. Each household is allowed to pick up one free voucher on a first come, first served basis. Each voucher allows a person to haul 2 1/2 cubic yards, or a standard, level pickup load of trash to the Twin Landfill along Phantom Canyon Road or to the Fremont Disposal Transfer Station at 1639 Mariposa Lane south of Canon City.

Residents who live in Canon City should pick up their free trash vouchers at City Hall at 128 Main Street while all rural Fremont County residents can pick up a voucher at the Fremont County Administration Building at 615 Macon in Canon City. Citizens must present identification when getting a voucher. The vouchers expire April 14th.

The City of Florence will distribute vouchers at the Florence City Hall during their clean up week from April 23rd through the 28th.

The vouchers allow disposal of household trash, furniture, construction debris, brush, leaves, and yard waste. No liquid or hazardous wastes, tires, or dead animals will be accepted with the free vouchers.

Old appliances and refrigerators, and old car batteries can be taken to R.D. Recycling at 1501 High Street north of Cañon City and disposed of free of charge.

Skyline Steel will purchase scrap iron, appliances, car batteries, copper, aluminum, and brass at prevailing rates. Refrigerators must be evacuated of all coolant. Skyline Steel will also pay a bonus of five cents per pound on all aluminum cans taken to their yard on Saturday mornings through April 14th. Skyline Steel is located at 304 South 1st Street.

Hazardous wastes cannot be disposed of at any of the locations. A special hazardous waste recycling day is being planned for Saturday, April 14th, by the City of Canon City and the Upper Arkansas Council of Governments Recycling Program. More details on the hazardous waste recycling will be announced later.

March 13th Commissioners Meeting

The Fremont County Commissioners labored another two hours over issues associated with the proposed Northfield Coal Mine in the Chandler and Williamsburg area at the March 13th regular meeting. After board approval of a conditional use permit at the February 27th meeting, the board spent time Tuesday discussing with the applicant the specific language that will be considered for a long list of conditions under the permit.

Most of the discussion focused on the timing for anticipated traffic improvements that may be necessary on County Roads #79 and #11A and Colorado Highway 115 if the coal is moved by truck. There was also a lot of continuing debate over the days and hours of operation as the applicant is seeking an operation for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with two full time shifts producing coal. After consensus was reached on most of the issues the matter was referred to the Planning Department staff which will assemble the conditions under a formal resolution to be considered by the Commissioners at the March 27th meeting.

The Commissioners tabled an application for a conditional use permit for a gravel pit southwest of Florence. Jack Beedle is seeking a permit to operate the Beedle Quarry for ten years on a 40 acre site about four miles southeast of Highway 67 and Siloam Road. Several neighbors protested the gravel pit arguing that the ten extra trucks traveling the county road every day would worsen already bad road conditions and pose a safety threat to residents in the Sumo subdivision. Concerns were also voiced about groundwater impacts and the fact that the mine would be operating in the main channel of Hardscrabble Creek. The Commissioners said they wanted the County Engineer to review the groundwater and flood plain issues before making a decision. The permit application was tabled until the March 27th meeting.

The Board of Commissioners also approved submission of a letter to the Fremont Sanitation District regarding the proposed North Canon sewer project. The letter outlines the Commissioners support of a plan to pursue formation of a North Canon sewer local improvement district using boundaries of the original engineering study area. The only exclusion would be a large mostly unpopulated area north of Melvina Street. The Commissioners said that following another neighborhood meeting on March 2nd they are convinced that the project should move forward. The Commissioners added that because of a public health threat posed by failing septic systems they believe most of the study area should be considered for creation of the local improvement district.

The letter will enable the Fremont Sanitation District to initiate the engineering design for the project in-house to come up with more specific cost estimates. Those cost estimates will be used to help secure the necessary grants and loans and provide residents in the area a more realistic monthly cost of the project when the issue returns to the Board of Commissioners for a public hearing.

In other business the Commissioners:

• Approved the final plat for the Coyote Ridge subdivision along the west side of Illinois Avenue just north of Smith Street. John and Pam Sell are developing 17 residential lots on 19.6 acres;
• Reappointed Gary Martin and newly appointed Fred Smith and Phil Thomas to the Fremont County Weed Advisory Board;
• and approved housekeeping resolutions dissolving the North Street local improvement district, the Four Mile local improvement district, and the 1997 Fremont County sewer extension local improvement district.
  

February 27th Commissioners Meeting

The Fremont County Commissioners voted to approve a permit for a coal mine in the Williamsburg area at their regular meeting February 27th but delayed for another two weeks consideration of the conditions for the coal mine operation.

The Board voted 2 to 1 to approve the conditional use permit for the Northfield Coal Mine on a 968 acre site in the Chandler and Williamsburg area southwest of Florence. Although several citizens urged the Board to reopen the public hearing which had been closed on January 9th, the Commissioners decided instead to only accept additional written comments on the application through March 6th and to accept all other written comments submitted after the January 9th hearing was closed.

The Commissioners discussed a series of notes made in connection with 24 issues of clarification they had sought from the applicant after the public hearing. The Board explained that the notes resulted from a three hour detailed review of the applicants' responses and the notes would be used by the Board in guiding formulation of the conditions expected to be put into place at the March 13th meeting. The Commissioners added that comments submitted by the communities of Williamsburg, Florence, and Brookside, had not yet been completely analyzed and were not reflected completely in the notes shared with the public.

Commissioners Larry Lasha and Ed Norden voted in support of the coal mine with Lasha saying he believed the application was complete to the point that it could be approved if conditions could be written to define the operating restrictions. Commissioner Mike Stiehl voted against the permit saying he believed the application was inadequate and had failed to address all of the concerns of neighbors and the County.

The Board of Commissioners also approved a bid award for a gravel purchase to be used on rebuilding County Road #132 in the Upper Beaver Creek area which was washed out by the flash flood in July of last year and on Phantom Canyon Road and the Shelf Road to Cripple Creek. T.H.E. Aggregate Source was awarded the gravel contract with low bids of $2.25 per ton for gravel picked up at the pit or $4.50 per ton delivered to the construction sites. A Colorado Mineral Impact grant of $190,000 will be used to rebuild County Road #132 while Gaming Impact grant monies are being used for the gravel on the two roads to Cripple Creek.

In other business the Commissioners:

• Approved the 2007 Fremont County Noxious Weed Management Plan after Noxious Weed Coordinator J.R. Phillips detailed the plan during a public hearing. Phillips noted that many problems stem from homeowners who persist in planting noxious weeds in flower gardens believing them to be ornamental plants;
• Received and approved the annual report from Code Enforcement Officers Walter Elkins and Robert Sapp. Elkins talked about some significant accomplishments in 1996 in forcing clean up of junk on several pieces of private property. The thousands of dollars in cost to clean up those properties will hopefully be eventually recovered through a lien on the properties;
• Approved a special events liquor permit for the Royal Gorge Rodeo Association for the annual rodeo on Blossom Festival weekend;
• and granted a three year deferral of a hard surfacing requirement for a parking area associated with a new assembly building under construction at the Estes-Cox Plant at Penrose.