Praise and gratitude opened Monday’s Garfield County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting, but not before Fred Standefer of Aspen Glen asked the BOCC to curb development in the area. “At present, there are three active development applications on your website that will have a huge impact on our property,” he said. “First, there’s the Harvest Roaring Fork, which is about 571 pages. There is the Reserve at Aspen Glen at about 371 pages, and then there’s Sages at Aspen Glen with 271 more pages.”
Standefer warned the BOCC about potential traffic problems on Highway 82 and surrounding roads as well as the burden on infrastructure, wildlife migration corridors, the Roaring Fork River and air quality. He encouraged the County to consider the developments as one. “In your personal assessment of this, please take into account the severe negative impact the combined developments will have on this area,” he said.
Two men from Sweetwater were on hand to praise firefighters and the County for their efforts to keep the Derby Fire away from communities north of Dotsero. “The biggest piece is years ago, Garfield County supported putting a firehouse up in Sweetwater,” said Derrick Wiemer. “If you witnessed how that firehouse was used over the last [several] weeks, it would absolutely do nothing but bring tears to your eyes.” He also thanked commissioners for supporting the Sweetwater community over the years against a proposed state park.
The first agenda item dovetailed quite nicely into the Sweetwater comments. A letter from the Northern Rockies Incident Management Team praised the staff at the Rifle-Garfield County Airport for their help during the Elk and Lee fires last month and for the existence of the airport in general. The letter reads in part:
“Water-dropping helicopters and Single Engine Air Tankers (SEATs) played a vital role in slowing fire spread and supporting crews on the ground. Having a nearby, well-equipped airport to serve these aircraft significantly increased our efficiency by minimizing turnaround times.”
“I don’t know that the public in Garfield County realizes what an asset our airport is for fire prevention and firefighting,” said Commission Chair Tom Jankovsky. “I mean, we house a number of different agencies there — state, federal, local — so hats off to you guys.”
According to Watch Duty, as of Tuesday morning, the Derby Fire remains at 5,453 acres and is 70% contained.
After the ecstasy, the laundry
Once the fire kudos were handed out, the BOCC got down to the more mundane business of the week. This included a supplemental budget request for $77,771 and a contract for new software for the county assessor.
The BOCC approved the consent agenda, which included a letter of support for Gabe Cohen, a convicted felon and resident of Garfield County who is applying for a pardon from Governor Jared Polis. The letter was previously listed as an action item but was moved to the consent agenda late last week. Cohen founded the Kings and Priests Ministry aka the Discovery Cafe in Rifle. Commissioners have offered no explanation for why the letter was moved to the consent agenda.
Other items included requests from Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers to formalize a budgeted grant from the County for $12,000 and from the airport for a federal grant for improvements; a supplemental budget request for $24,635 to restore safety features in the courthouse inmate elevator; and discussion about an internal Human Services promotion to fill a supervisor vacancy. They also discussed comments on the U.S Forest Service Wolf Creek pipeline replacement project, focusing on impacts to the county’s road system.
The afternoon session got off to an interesting start with public comment from Grand Junction resident Dan Roberts, CEO of Energy Development Partners, LLC (EDP). Roberts registered EDP with the State of Colorado on Aug. 15 and loosely presented his Battlement Mesa development plan to the BOCC Monday.
He offered no documentation or contact information and said he did not have a website. He added that the Battlement Mesa Metro District (BMMD) was among several supporters of his idea. The BMMD told The Sopris Sun that they will not work with Roberts unless the BOCC makes a decision.
Moving on, commissioners granted an extension to the Froning family to file a final plat for their subdivision on County Road 107, north of Carbondale. Commissioners approved plans for two helicopter and storage yards near Parachute that will support Xcel Energy’s pole and electrical line replacement into next year. “Some of the poles go back to 1949,” said Xcel Energy representative Cory Miller.