Brewster & Pathfinder Park Water Service Meeting set in Florence

The City of Florence and the Fremont County Commissioners are hosting a public meeting Thursday evening, January 24th, to initiate discussions about possibly extending municipal water service west of Florence into Pathfinder Park and the Brewster area. More than three years ago residents in the rural Brewster area along Highway 115 submitted petitions to Florence and the county asking that domestic water service be considered for their area. At that time several residents complained that they could no longer drink water from their wells. With an interest from both Fremont County and the Canon City Recreation and Park District to develop a potable water supply for Pathfinder Park, officials now want to explore the feasibility of whether both areas might be served by the City of Florence.

Florence's water engineer, Richard Saxton of T.E.C., is scheduled to attend the meeting and offer preliminary estimates of what it might cost to provide water service. Judy Lohnes, Executive Director of the Upper Arkansas Area Council of Governments will also attend to discuss the possibilities of grant funding for the project. It's expected that formation of a special water improvement district by the county commissioners would be necessary to get the project started if there is sufficient interest from Brewster residents. City and county officials have mailed letters of invitation to the meeting to Brewster area residents whose names were on the original petition and to others listed as property owners in the area.

The meeting will begin at 6:30 Thursday evening, January 24th, at the Florence City Council chambers.

2008 Community Events Grant by Tourism Council

Twelve Fremont County non-profit groups will benefit from local grants awarded for 2008 by the Fremont County Tourism Council (FCTC). The Tourism Council awarded $15,000 after receiving grant requests totaling $44,500 from fifteen organizations. Those groups awarded grant monies by the Tourism Council include:

Penrose Chamber of Commerce Apple Days $1,000.00
Florence Pioneer Day Association $600.00
Florence Arts Council - - "Paint the Town" $1,200.00
Florence Chamber of Commerce Pioneer Day & Brochure $1,200.00
Florence Merchants "Junktique" $2,000.00
Colorado Prisons Ghost Walk & Cemetary Crawl $1,000.00
Fremont Center for the Arts "Brew Ha Ha" $500.00
Canon City Baseball Club (5 baseball tournaments) $1,200.00
Belvedere Bluesfest $4,000.00
Main Street USA's U.S. Hwy 50 Yard Sale $300.00
Royal Gorge Veterans Motor Car Club Annual Car Show $500.00
Canon City Chamber of Commerce Heritage Days $1,500.00

Total $15,000.00

Tourism Council by-laws require that at least five percent of the annual proceeds from the county's two percent lodging tax be distributed to non-profits for use in promoting local community events. The tourism council's grant awards represent over six percent of the 2008 FCTC budget.

Veterans Memorial Wall Brick Orders

The Fremont County Veterans Service Office had a great response of holiday orders for engraved bricks to honor veterans by listing their names and military service on the memorial wall at the Fremont County War Memorial Park at the airport. With a minimum of 50 orders needed to engrave the next group of bricks, that number was met and exceeded. Veterans Service Officer Betty Hanawalt says she now has over 60 orders in hand. The engraving will be completed later this spring when warmer weather prevails.

That means there is still time over the next several weeks to submit any additional orders that can be included on the engraving work this spring. The cost to engrave the name of a veteran on the memorial wall is $50. Veterans do not have to be Fremont County or Colorado residents. You can honor a veteran, living or deceased, regardless of their hometown. For full details on how to order a brick to honor a veteran call Hanawalt at the Veterans Service Office at 276-7400.

Property Tax Notices Mailed

With property tax bills from the Fremont County Treasurer's Office arriving in mailboxes this week, county officials have prepared information to help taxpayers better understand how their property tax dollars are distributed. County Treasurer Pat McFarland said all tax bills were mailed by her staff on Thursday, January 10th. McFarland said she coordinated efforts with County Assessor Stacy Seifert to insert multiple tax bills and information about Homestead Exemptions into the same envelopes in order to save the county over $4,100 in postage costs.

To assist taxpayers in understanding which government entities receive their property tax dollars to provide various services the Assessor prepared a set of pie charts showing how property taxes are distributed in four key areas of the county. The four charts show property tax distribution for the Canon City area, the Florence area, the Penrose area, and western Fremont County. Large display charts have been posted near the office entrances of both the Treasurer's Office and the Assessor's Office in the County Administration Building so taxpayers can review the information when conducting county business. The charts can also be reviewed on the Treasurer's page on the county's web site at www.fremontco.com.

McFarland and Seifert said their staff members have begun fielding questions from taxpayers about their tax bills. Many questions actually deal with property values that were set in notices of valuation mailed last spring. The Assessor's Office and the commissioners, sitting as the Board of Equalization, adjusted a number of property values last spring and summer during the protest periods.

Any taxpayers who do not receive their tax bills in the mail within the next two weeks should contact the Fremont County Treasurer's Office.

January 8th Commissioners Meeting

The Fremont County Commissioners dealt with a brief agenda for their 2008 re-organizational meeting. District 3 Commissioner Ed Norden handed over the Chairman's gavel for the coming year to District 2 Commissioner Larry Lasha. District 1 Commissioner Mike Stiehl was elected the Chairman Pro-Tem. The Commissioners also voted to reappoint Brenda Jackson as County Attorney commending her for her service to Fremont County over the years.

Other resolutions adopted to meet statutory requirements for the new year included designation of the official posting places for Commissioners' public meeting notices, designation of official bank depositories for the county, designating the schedule for regular board meetings at 9:30 a.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, and designation of the Canon City Daily Record as the primary official newspaper and the Florence Citizen as the secondary official newspaper for county publication notices.

The Commissioners also approved a resolution adopting Phase II of the county's compensation plan for Fremont County employees. The plan was prepared by a Denver consultant and for 2008 includes an allowance for some longevity pay for county employees. Employees will see the first benefits of the compensation plan changes in their January 25th payroll checks. For all practical purposes the Commissioners put the new compensation plan into effect with the adoption last month of the 2008 county budget.

Chairman Lasha also reported that at Tuesday morning's regular meeting of the Fremont County Airport Advisory Committee Walt Giffin was re-elected as the Committee Chairman for the next two years. Lasha said County Engineer Don Moore also detailed to the committee some different design options for laying out the development of county property south of the airport runway. After more review by the committee and the Commissioners a formal airport plat is expected to be adopted by the Commissioners in the coming months.