Captain Zipline Adventure Tours, that operates in the Wellsville area of western Fremont County, received approval from the Fremont County Commissioners Wednesday for a major modification of its Special Review Use Permit. Monty Holmes told the Commissioners that adding two challenge courses with an aerial park, swinging bridges, ladders, and obstacles will be like “people going to a circus and becoming part of the circus”.
Captain Zipline Tours now operates 1.3 miles east of US Highway 50 along County Road 7. As part of the expansion Holmes also received approval to operate from a new visitors’ center and parking lot. The visitors’ center will double as a watchman’s quarters so that the residents can provide security for the operation and deal with any unauthorized entry. Holmes said he will be able to introduce a couple hundred thousand people from the Colorado Springs and Denver area to the latest adventure recreation.
In addressing concerns of the Fremont County Department of Transportation that Holmes needs to contribute to the annual cost of maintenance of County Road 7 due to increased traffic, the Commissioners set out a requirement that Holmes apply dust suppressant to the road annually at a cost estimated at about $900 plus contribute 25 tons of gravel annually for road maintenance over the first three years. The permit calls for the road impacts to be reviewed after those first three years based upon annual traffic counts on CR 7.
The Board of Commissioners also voted to approve a Temporary Use Permit for the Epic Rocky Mountain Relay. The relay foot race will be run on Friday, July 19th. It will start at Centennial Park in Cañon City, through Temple Canyon Park and Copper Gulch, up Colorado Highway 69 and County Road 1-A through Cotopaxi, and then up County Road 12 into the Waugh Mountain area before traveling over Ute Trail into Chaffee County. The relay race will conclude later that day in Crested Butte.
The Commissioners also took final action to adopt an amendment to the Fremont County Subdivision Regulations dealing with final plats. The amendment is intended to simplify language and smooth the way for developers navigating through the process. The final plat language mirrors to a great extent the amendment adopted several months ago by the Board of Commissioners dealing with preliminary plats.
In other business at their June 11th meeting the Board of Commissioners:
- Approved a Community Wildfire Protection Plan for the Tallahassee Fire Protection area. Marti Campbell, Forester for the Coalition for the Upper South Platte said this may be the first time in Colorado that a wildfire protection plan stretched across the boundaries of three counties. Park and Teller County Commissioners previously approved the wildfire plan. Campbell said three rural fire departments are also involved. They include the Tallahassee Volunteer Fire Department in Fremont County, the Four Mile Fire District in Teller County, and the Currant Creek Department in Park County;
- Adopted an updated and abbreviated Fremont County Basic Emergency Operations Plan put together by Emergency Management Director Steve Morrisey;
- Approved a contract amendment with the Colorado Division of Aeronautics in which the State of Colorado will pick up an additional 2 ½ percent of the cost match for a new parallel taxiway to be built this fall at the Fremont County Airport. The state will pay an additional $83,333 leaving the county’s total cost at an identical $83,333. The Federal Aviation Administration is funding 95 percent of the project in the amount of $3 million;
- Approved an additional $5,500 payment to artist Sheldon Roberts for having reached 75 percent rate of completion on the John C. Fremont sculpture at Pathfinder Regional Park.