The Fremont County Commissioners voted to approve a permit for a coal mine in the Williamsburg area at their regular meeting February 27th but delayed for another two weeks consideration of the conditions for the coal mine operation.
The Board voted 2 to 1 to approve the conditional use permit for the Northfield Coal Mine on a 968 acre site in the Chandler and Williamsburg area southwest of Florence. Although several citizens urged the Board to reopen the public hearing which had been closed on January 9th, the Commissioners decided instead to only accept additional written comments on the application through March 6th and to accept all other written comments submitted after the January 9th hearing was closed.
The Commissioners discussed a series of notes made in connection with 24 issues of clarification they had sought from the applicant after the public hearing. The Board explained that the notes resulted from a three hour detailed review of the applicants' responses and the notes would be used by the Board in guiding formulation of the conditions expected to be put into place at the March 13th meeting. The Commissioners added that comments submitted by the communities of Williamsburg, Florence, and Brookside, had not yet been completely analyzed and were not reflected completely in the notes shared with the public.
Commissioners Larry Lasha and Ed Norden voted in support of the coal mine with Lasha saying he believed the application was complete to the point that it could be approved if conditions could be written to define the operating restrictions. Commissioner Mike Stiehl voted against the permit saying he believed the application was inadequate and had failed to address all of the concerns of neighbors and the County.
The Board of Commissioners also approved a bid award for a gravel purchase to be used on rebuilding County Road #132 in the Upper Beaver Creek area which was washed out by the flash flood in July of last year and on Phantom Canyon Road and the Shelf Road to Cripple Creek. T.H.E. Aggregate Source was awarded the gravel contract with low bids of $2.25 per ton for gravel picked up at the pit or $4.50 per ton delivered to the construction sites. A Colorado Mineral Impact grant of $190,000 will be used to rebuild County Road #132 while Gaming Impact grant monies are being used for the gravel on the two roads to Cripple Creek.
In other business the Commissioners:
The Board voted 2 to 1 to approve the conditional use permit for the Northfield Coal Mine on a 968 acre site in the Chandler and Williamsburg area southwest of Florence. Although several citizens urged the Board to reopen the public hearing which had been closed on January 9th, the Commissioners decided instead to only accept additional written comments on the application through March 6th and to accept all other written comments submitted after the January 9th hearing was closed.
The Commissioners discussed a series of notes made in connection with 24 issues of clarification they had sought from the applicant after the public hearing. The Board explained that the notes resulted from a three hour detailed review of the applicants' responses and the notes would be used by the Board in guiding formulation of the conditions expected to be put into place at the March 13th meeting. The Commissioners added that comments submitted by the communities of Williamsburg, Florence, and Brookside, had not yet been completely analyzed and were not reflected completely in the notes shared with the public.
Commissioners Larry Lasha and Ed Norden voted in support of the coal mine with Lasha saying he believed the application was complete to the point that it could be approved if conditions could be written to define the operating restrictions. Commissioner Mike Stiehl voted against the permit saying he believed the application was inadequate and had failed to address all of the concerns of neighbors and the County.
The Board of Commissioners also approved a bid award for a gravel purchase to be used on rebuilding County Road #132 in the Upper Beaver Creek area which was washed out by the flash flood in July of last year and on Phantom Canyon Road and the Shelf Road to Cripple Creek. T.H.E. Aggregate Source was awarded the gravel contract with low bids of $2.25 per ton for gravel picked up at the pit or $4.50 per ton delivered to the construction sites. A Colorado Mineral Impact grant of $190,000 will be used to rebuild County Road #132 while Gaming Impact grant monies are being used for the gravel on the two roads to Cripple Creek.
In other business the Commissioners:
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Approved the 2007 Fremont County Noxious Weed Management Plan after Noxious Weed Coordinator J.R. Phillips detailed the plan during a public hearing. Phillips noted that many problems stem from homeowners who persist in planting noxious weeds in flower gardens believing them to be ornamental plants;
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Received and approved the annual report from Code Enforcement Officers Walter Elkins and Robert Sapp. Elkins talked about some significant accomplishments in 1996 in forcing clean up of junk on several pieces of private property. The thousands of dollars in cost to clean up those properties will hopefully be eventually recovered through a lien on the properties;
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Approved a special events liquor permit for the Royal Gorge Rodeo Association for the annual rodeo on Blossom Festival weekend;
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and granted a three year deferral of a hard surfacing requirement for a parking area associated with a new assembly building under construction at the Estes-Cox Plant at Penrose.