Monday’s penultimate Garfield County Commissioners’ (BOCC) meeting for 2024 was short and calm with only two commissioners present. Commission Chair John Martin, whom Commission Chair Pro-Tem Tom Jankovsky expected to return this month, is still out on medical leave. Commissioner-elect Perry Will was in the audience. In the absence of public comment on non-agenda items […]
Amy Hadden Marsh
Posted inLocal Government
No agreement on library trustee appointment process after library board, county commissioner meeting
Garfield County Commission Chair ProTem Tom Jankovsky told everyone at Thursday’s public meeting with the Garfield County Library District Board of Trustees to stick to the topic at hand: an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the library board of trustees and the commissioners. “I know there is a disagreement and it’s probably between members of the […]
Posted inFiction
Works in Progress
Ode to Annuals By Deborah Holt Williams The bulbs hunker down, relaxed underground,they know they’ll be back in the spring. But the annuals shout“Our time’s almost out!”With colorful music they sing! Nasturtiums, petunias, marigolds, too,a bright, brilliant chorus in fall. So cheerful all summer,they’ll die (such a bummer).But in autumn, they give it their all!
Posted inLocal Government
GarCo Report: Axtell Park kerfuffle resolved, ambulance licensing, 2023 air quality update
The Garfield County commissioners (BOCC) jumped right into the final regular meeting of the month on Monday. The BOCC approved the county’s Board of Equalization adjustments for tax year 2024 and the consent agenda. They also heard updates from nonprofits Literacy Outreach and Valley Settlement. Lori Goodwin, deputy director of Human Services, presented the monthly […]
Posted inNews
Conservation easement a ‘moral choice’ for prime habitat
Imagine a swarm of ecologists, birders, soil scientists, climate scientists, teachers and students descending upon a landscape for several days. Toting equipment and personal hydration systems, they peer into magnifying glasses at insects and plants, take soil samples, identify birds, wildlife and water sources, and take photos of everything – all to figure out what […]
Posted inLocal Government
Discretionary grants awarded, clean audit for 2023 financials
Monday’s meeting was short and to the point. All discretionary grant requests presented last week were awarded, including $5,000 for the Andy Zanca Youth Empowerment Program, $1,000 for the Roaring Fork Conservancy, $1,450 to Valley Senior Center for a new hot water heater, $5,000 to Garfield County Search and Rescue, $5,000 to YouthEntity and $5,000 […]
Posted inLocal Government
GarCo Report: $10,000 flagpole, HB24-1413 lawsuit, Sweetwater Lake concerns
First on the agenda at Monday’s Garfield County Commissioner (BOCC) meeting was approval of a comment letter on the Sweetwater Lake Recreation and Development Management Project’s Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS). In it, the BOCC questions, among other things, how the Sweetwater Lake Area was purchased by the White River […]
Posted inEnvironment
Missouri Heights residents fear losing rural Colorado lifestyle
Despite the outcry from Keep Missouri Heights Rural (KMHR), a citizens group opposing the Twin Acres Riding Stable and Boarding Stable on the Eagle County side of Missouri Heights, some residents would rather see horses than houses. “I’m more in favor of keeping Twin Acres,” said Felix Tornare, owner of Milagro Ranch. “Because, in my […]
Posted inLocal Government
GarCo Report: BOCC pledges $3 million toward Shoshone water rights
At Monday’s regular meeting in Parachute, Andy Mueller, executive director of the Colorado River Water Conservation District (CRWCD), asked the Garfield County Commissioners (BOCC) to pitch in between $2 million and $4 million to help defray the purchasing cost of the Shoshone water rights on the Colorado River. He said he preferred $4 million. But, […]
Posted inLocal Government
GarCo Report: Eagles are fine, ballots in the mail, Holy Cross Energy gains on goals
The morning session kept the Garfield County Commissioners (BOCC) very busy. “The June 25 primary election is here,” announced Garfield County Clerk and Recorder Jackie Harmon. She said 36,000 ballots will be in the mail Tuesday, June 4. On Wednesday, June 5, ballot drop-off locations will open at town halls in Carbondale, New Castle, Silt, […]