Correction: Garfield County Public Library District Director Jamie LaRue received a letter of interest for a vacant trustee position in early August, but did not forward it to County Manager Fred Jarman until Oct. 1.
Ring the bell
The holiday season is rapidly approaching, but these are difficult times for many of our neighbors. It is hard to think about buying gifts for a family when buying food is already a struggle. This is where the Salvation Army can help.
My name is Jan Sweikert. I have been a volunteer with the Salvation Army here in the Roaring Fork Valley for seven years. I am writing this letter because we are getting ready for our Red Kettle fund raising season. This is how we raise all the funds we use to help our neighbors in need with important and essential services. Every dollar we raise in our valley stays in our valley.
Did you know that in the past year the Salvation Army helped almost 1,000 clients from Aspen to Parachute with emergency financial assistance for rent, utilities, transportation, prescriptions and shelter? We also support our homeless neighbors with tents, sleeping bags, winter clothing, grooming kits and food.
We anticipate that this year there will be even more requests for help and assistance. We depend on the community, through donations, to help us fund these services.
The Salvation Army is hoping to recruit 100 more bell ringers this year so that we will have the ability to help our community. The Salvation Army can make a tangible difference in countless lives with your help.
Please consider being a Red Kettle bell ringer at one of the many locations in our valley. It can be for only one hour a week. It’s fun. Come alone, with a friend or bring your kids.
To sign up go to: RegisterToRing.com or call Kettle Coordinator Cheryl Gallo at 916-214-5639.
Jan Sweikert
Salvation Army Advisory Board
A hunger solution
Hunger is an immediate issue right now in our community. It is heartening to see how many individuals and groups are stepping up to address it. A couple of us have thought of a way local independent restaurants can help play a role in the solution.
We think restaurants always lose business when people feel uncertain financially, and that is hard on you and your employees. What if you donated some free meals to neighbors in need, which we and your better-off patrons could subsidize?
A few of us are reaching out to see if this might be another solution, one that prevents layoffs and losses to the small local businesses we cherish. We think that while this crisis lasts, this might be a simple and easy way to combat hunger. We have given some thought to how it could be controlled by each participating restaurant, and would like to share our ideas with you, and hear yours. We would provide publicity and some fundraising support.
If you would like to be a participant, at whatever level seems good for you, please call me and we will try to put something together. Most of the nonprofit and state responses will inevitably have delays.
If interested, please call 970-355-4363 or email laurieraymond16@comcast.net .
It’s not THE solution, but A solution! This crisis won’t last forever, and we want you to survive and thrive as part of a community-wide response to a short-term problem.
THANK YOU!
Laurie Raymond
Glenwood Springs
Keep Crystal Crystal
I’m writing to inform our community about proposed developments in the historic town of Crystal. As many know, Crystal — home to the iconic Crystal Mill — is one of the most beloved and frequently visited sites in our region. Its beauty, remoteness and history make it a treasure that deserves careful protection.
A few years ago, the 700-acre property surrounding Crystal was purchased by new owners. They have since announced plans to develop a private resort community on the site of the old mining town.
The developers are seeking a land use change from Gunnison County. Their application includes building four “guest” structures in the town of Crystal, along with a 5,000-square-foot storage structure to house more than a million dollars’ worth of heavy equipment. Future phases of development include installing a private ski area on Bear Mountain, completion of a hot spring spa, a restaurant for guests only and construction of additional high-end homes.
This project has already encountered challenges, including a cease-and-desist order from Gunnison County for building roads without proper permits — a violation that resulted in a $12,000 fine.
The purpose of this letter is to urge our community to voice opposition to this development. The Gunnison County Planning Commission will be holding a public hearing on the land use application Nov. 20 at 9am, and now is the time to speak up.
Please take a moment to submit written comments to Gunnison County and share your concerns. Please send your comments to: planning@gunnisoncounty.org The deadline to receive written public comments is Nov. 19 at 5pm.
To attend the meeting via ZOOM and hear public comments go to the online meetings tab at www.gunnisoncounty.org/144/Community-and-Economic-Development
The Gunnison County Land Use Development guidelines require that proposed developments be compatible with community character. This proposed exclusive resort for the wealthy is certainly not.
Please consider mentioning tangible issues such as avalanche risk, wildfire danger and the strain that such a development could place on this fragile and precious environment. The town of Crystal is one of the last untouched spaces in the Crystal River Valley — an irreplaceable piece of our shared heritage. Let’s ensure that it remains protected for future generations.
Rob Anderson
Crystal
Re: Cattle Creek
I’m not sure what to conclude about the proposal to create a new development at Cattle Creek on land that is now sometimes elk habitat. As far as I can tell, anywhere nearby that might be appropriate for human housing is at least occasionally used as wildlife “housing.”
I’m not sure of the total impact on traffic. It would probably increase at Cattle Creek but might decrease through Glenwood and on to I-70. My roof was redone last year and some of the roofers commuted daily from Grand Junction. Will roofers be able to afford units?
Remember the arguments about saving the tree that was habitat for eagles in Aspen Glen? Then the male was clobbered by one of the 30,000 daily cars while he tried to pluck some roadkill off Highway 82.
In the Netherlands last week, the reactionary right was booted from government by a center-left coalition that campaigned promising to build ten new towns to alleviate their housing shortage. Recently, I stopped in Buena Vista at some dense, but very pleasant, new neighborhoods that probably displaced some critters. A conservationist friend said, “Sure, build the Cattle Creek development, but a hundred floors tall with only a one-acre footprint.” Lower impact, but not likely.
Supposedly, Aspen’s resident population dropped in the last few years, but its workforce doesn’t seem to be decreasing. Optimally, a few thousand units should be built above Snowmass Canyon for them. Good luck on that. Fantasies aren’t solutions, but I sometimes imagine a group of burly gents wrapped in bandoliers, warming themselves behind burning barrels at the bottom of a winding driveway to some hotel-sized, usually vacant, faux-cowboy compound that they’ve commandeered for ten families. “Commuting? We’re tired of stinking commuting!”
Fred Porter
Carbondale
GarCo term limits
This election is done. We have 364 days till the next one. Our representatives up for election will spend the next year raising money to defend their seats. Because of their already public presence, their name recognition and entrenchment pretty much guarantees their rëelection. In Garfield County, the currently serving commissioners have been there for decades.
Commissioner Perry Will was recently elected, but had name recognition because of his earlier service as state representative and senator. He was elected into the position vacated by someone serving for decades.At a recent commissioner meeting, Commissioner Mike Samson defended the commissioners taking over the entirety of county library board positions under the argument that the current system (which appoints trustees for five years and reappoints them for another five years, unless there has been a significant problem with their service) does not allow frequent enough turnover in the board membership. Chairman Tom Jankovsky commented that the board’s process of recruiting and recommending people to serve is “kind of incestuous.” Do these arguments sound familiar? If the library would benefit from more frequent turnover of its board members, wouldn’t the county benefit from more frequent turnover of ITS members?
I maintain it is high time to legislate for term limits for all elected county positions. These jobs should not be in perpetuity or until the serving member decides to retire. The electorate deserves more diverse representation and leadership. We’ve had excellent people challenging existing commissioners, but they, and others in the Republican party, cannot fairly compete in the current rigged environment. Free “advertising” through media coverage of current county business, through appearances at county events,and through familial economic relations with local and national business does not make a level playing field. We need new leadership in Garfield County.
Susan Rhea
Carbondale
Don’t build way out of housing crisis
Open minded soul that I am, I’ve changed my mind about solutions to the current affordable housing crisis. Previously, I thought we were going to have to build thousands of low-cost units to house the people who work in this valley.
Now, I look around and see lots of buildings. The problem is, the inhabitants take up way too much square footage in those houses. I live in an 800-square-foot auxiliary dwelling unit. There’s plenty of room for two people here. A family of four could fit into a unit twice this size. A 10,000-square-foot mansion could accommodate six such families. I’m a typical Westerner who appreciates his wide-open spaces, but there’s nothing wrong with sharing.
Utah Senator, and public lands enemy, Mike Lee thinks the government ought to sell 1.2 million acres of federal lands to developers for affordable housing. That’s ridiculous! Utah is no different than Colorado. Look around. Do you want these vast and magnificent landscapes cluttered with cheap houses?
Our little slice of heaven here in the Roaring Fork Valley is in jeopardy of being sullied. The Spring Valley PUD, with its 577 units, and the Cattle Creek project, possibly as many as a thousand units, some affordable some not, are on hold, but there’s money to be made in these developments and city folk want to live in God’s country, so they’ll be back.
Let’s take advantage of the private property we’ve already developed and increase your income at the same time. In communist societies, the government would require you to divvy up your bounty with the less fortunate and share your dwelling. Americans don’t need state influence to achieve the common good.
Fred Malo Jr.
Carbondale
My biggest fear
For a moment let’s set aside the gutting of the EPA, denying climate change, eliminating incentives for clean energy, using the Department of Justice to pursue an enemies list, the mass firing of public employees who provide critical services — like the Forest Service, FEMA and the weather service — threatening to defund universities who defy adopting racist policies, setting tariffs to punish other countries economically, deporting people to foreign prisons without due process, sending the military to patrol cities that happen to have liberal governments as well as denying congressional appropriated funding for any number or reasons.
My biggest fear is the next election cycle. Have you noticed the pieces are being put into place: the gerrymandering in a non-cycle year, the attempt to eliminate mail in ballots, the use of ICE to intimidate minorities who will be fearful of voting in person, calling peaceful protestors Antifa and declaring them internal terrorists. This is all a precursor to calling the election fraudulent, and, when the public becomes outraged, invoking the Insurrection Act, arresting protestors, declaring martial law and further consolidating power. Didn’t Trump say that our next election may be the last one we will ever need to hold?
Eric Doud
Carbondale
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