Trisha O’Grady, John Lepkowski and Robin Pruett were out in force at Monday’s meeting to register their ongoing complaints about the Garfield County Public Library District board and a series of Manga books at the Silt Library. O’Grady said that her local petition has garnered 1,315 signatures, acknowledging that the library board has already responded to the petition and made its decision regarding the books in question.
She presented four changes she wants from the library board, including scheduling board meetings for evening hours, extending the public comment period during board meetings to 30 minutes, live streaming and recording the meetings and allowing participation via Zoom. She also wants the board to check for IDs at meetings to make sure those attending are from the district in which the meeting is being held. (The library’s website states that board meetings are “free and open to the public.”)
Then, O’Grady went after library investments. “They are sitting on $13 million,” she said. “Why are they sitting on that kind of money?” she asked. “Why isn’t it brought back to the taxpayers?” She said she would not support a mill levy for the library again. “And, I’m going to make it vocal that nobody else should either,” she added.
In an email to The Sopris Sun, the library’s executive director, Jamie LaRue, said that the library is very limited in what it can invest in. “At this time, our entire investment portfolio is with Colotrust,” he wrote. Colotrust.com states, “COLOTRUST is a statutory trust organized and existing under the laws of the State of Colorado and is intended solely for the use of Colorado local governments.”
LaRue added that the library is investing its portion of the oil and gas revenues from the past two years. “We’re investing what we’re not spending, knowing that those revenues are projected to fall sometime after 2025,” he wrote. “The last time we saw those revenues drop, we wound up laying off 30% of our workforce, so we are naturally conservative in our spending and savings.”
Lepkowski told the BOCC he’s learned from professionals that “most sex offenders are addicted to pornography” and he considers the Manga books at the Silt Library to be “grooming children.” For that reason, he added, the library is not safe for children unless he checks out those books, which he said he did in January for three months.
“I got disgusted, took my gym bag there and took 32 of the pornographic books out,” he said. Lepkowski said he was fined $535 for the books. He returned them because he wanted his library privileges back.
Other news…
In addition to updates on local mental health, the Public Health Improvement Plan, the county housing authority and other items, the BOCC heard a request to remove a fence blocking a longtime, public fishing easement. According to a letter signed by local anglers, the Ranch at Roaring Fork (RRF) built an 8-foot fence topped with barbed wire in 2019, allegedly blocking an easement that was granted in 2000 during the creation of the St. Finnbar subdivision. Anglers say the fence blocks access to the only parcel of public land between Basalt and Carbondale, turning it into a private inholding. A civil lawsuit about the issue is pending.
The owner of Lot 6 in the St. Finnbar subdivision said he is unable to access the river because of the fence. He’s also worried about wildlife since the fence sits in a floodplain and extends to the water. The owner of Lot 7 said that Garfield County revoked his building permit because the fence, which he said he did not build, is on his land. He asked the BOCC to reinstate his building permit.
“Well, if that’s on your property, I think you have the right to take it down again,” said Commissioner Jankovsky, speaking unofficially. “This is something that this commissioner would do.”
The BOCC voted to allow the building permit on Lot 7 to move forward and to have county code enforcement staff look into the fence and signs in light of a possible land use violation. The discussion is continued to the Jan. 8, 2024 regular meeting.