The Fremont County Commissioners on Tuesday awarded a bid to construct a water line to Pathfinder Regional Park and appointed two new members to the Fremont County Planning Commission.
The county received seven bids for construction of an eight-inch water line from Cyanide Avenue in Florence across the eastern portion of Pathfinder Park to reach the restrooms next to the Pathfinder Park arena. The commissioners awarded the project to Avalanche Excavating which submitted the low bid of $136,868. The project is expected to get underway in the coming weeks and be completed by early summer in time for some of the 4-H horse shows scheduled at the Pathfinder arena.
Avalanche Excavation was also the low bidder on a project to construct a concrete street pan for a low water crossing on Lombard Avenue in Lincoln Park. Avalanche will complete that job at a cost of $20,460. The Fremont County Department of Transportation reported that past efforts to keep a culvert open to drain water beneath the road did not work so they decided to build a concrete pan.
The commissioners Tuesday voted to appoint Mike Krauth Jr. and Joe Lamanna both of Cañon City to a pair of three year terms on the Fremont County Planning Commission. They will replace Herm Lateer and Mike Schobrich who both had applied for reappointment. Commission Chairman Ed Norden said there were some very well qualified applicants among the eight people who submitted letters of interest. Commissioner Debbie Bell said having eight applicants for two seats on the Planning Commission is the most interest shown by citizens for any county board in many years. The commissioners commended the service of Lateer who had served one term and Schobrich who had served on the Planning Commission since 1995.
The commissioners also reappointed Jon Stone and Mary Chamberlain to three year terms on the Fremont County Heritage Commission. In order to have staggered terms for the seven members, Stone and Chamberlain had initially been appointed to two year terms when the commission was created in 2009.
The commissioners Tuesday also:
- Approved a modification of premises liquor license application for Bradford Handi-Mart at Highway 50 and ‘N’ Street in Penrose. Jan Bradford said they were planning to discontinue the convenience store and focus solely on retail liquor sales;
- Approved a memorandum of understanding with Colorado State University Extension for ongoing CSU Extension Services in Fremont County;
- Voted to support a $480,000 application by Bill Simpson to the Colorado Division of Housing for a block grant for new single family residences. The homes would be built at the North Park II project at 1401 Washington Street to replace mobile and modular homes with homes built on foundations. The grant will actually be a loan for building rental homes for low and moderate income families;
- Received an annual report from Doug Shane on 2010 activities by the Fremont County Tourism Council. Shane said revenues from the county’s two percent lodging tax fell by $2,343 from 2009 levels to a 2010 collection figure of $138,671.
- Received an annual Building Department activity report from Building Official Mike Cox;
- Heard an annual report on Code Enforcement Activity from officers Robert Sapp and Ron Zenisky. Sapp said they had an 83 percent compliance rate from code violators last year. He said in 2011 they want to start dealing with hoarders in the county teaming with caseworkers at the Department of Human Services to address hoarding problems. Zenisky also noted that the code officers took over enforcement of Special Mobile Machinery (SMM) compliance in January of 2010. Zenisky said he thought the efforts were successful particularly in overcoming negative feelings about SMM enforcement in the past as they worked to achieve voluntary compliance.