The Fremont County Commissioners approved the purchase of $45,000 worth of airport weather station components highlighting a brief agenda of business for the Board’s regular meeting. After accepting a grant award from the Colorado Board of Aeronautics several weeks ago, the Board of Commissioners Tuesday approved the purchase of upgrade components to the Fremont County Airport’s automated weather observing system. The purchase price totaled $45,332 with the Vaisala Company.
Airport Manager Richard Baker said a new added feature to the automated system is a thunderstorm and lightning sensor which he says will report the presence of lightning within a five to seven mile perimeter around the airport. Pilots are able to retrieve the temperature, wind, and other weather data over an aviation radio frequency. Baker said the weather data is also available to any interested citizen over the telephone by dialing 784-2014. Baker said the state aeronautics grant paid 90 percent of the cost with the county matching the other ten percent.
The Commissioners on Tuesday again tabled any formal action on the temporary use permit application by the artist Christo for his proposed Over the River art project on the Arkansas River between Parkdale and Salida in 2015. After a face to face workshop meeting with Christo’s legal team last week it was determined that more time was needed to finish the language of proposed conditions on the permit for the board to consider. The Commissioners tabled the matter until the March 27th board meeting.
District 3 Commissioner Ed Norden took the opportunity to correct a misperception stated in a letter to the editor in Tuesday morning’s Daily Record. Norden said his remarks at last week’s OTR workshop were not an admonishment to the County Attorney as claimed by the letter writer. Commissioner Norden said his remarks were directed at the attorneys for the Over the River project. He said he remarked that the OTR attorneys were certainly in a position to comment and react to the county’s proposed permit conditions but that he felt it was out of place for the OTR attorneys to offer alternate language for the Board of Commissioners' findings. He said those findings are exclusively the views of the Commissioners drafted with assistance of the County Attorney. Norden said there was no impropriety by the County Attorney as claimed by the letter writer.
In other business Tuesday the Commissioners approved a pair of liquor license renewals for the Prospectors RV Resort at Royal Gorge and the Whitewater Bar and Grill both located on eight mile hill west of Cañon City.