News Now Blog

Fremont Sanitation District and the Fremont County Commissioners host a public meeting on February 26th to update residents and landowners on the North Canon Sewer Improvement District.

The Fremont County Tourism Council last month announced its 2009 list of grant awards supporting local organizations that conduct annual events which attract visitors to the county. Each year the Tourism Council distributes at least five percent of the annual proceeds from the two percent countywide lodging tax to community groups. Because lodging tax collections were down over the past year the council was only able to distribute $7,000 in 2009 community grants compared to $15,000 in 2008.

The groups and their grant awards for 2009 included:

The Fremont County Commissioners voted Tuesday to table for two weeks any decision on the permit application for the Southern Delivery System (SDS) by Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU). The tabling of the SDS decision followed a 4 1/2 hour public hearing in which the commissioners heard both support and opposition for the $1.1 billion water pipeline project. CSU's preferred route for the pipeline is from Pueblo Reservoir but decided to proceed with an application for a permit to run the pipeline along Highway 115 in event the project is rejected by Pueblo County Commissioners.

The Fremont County Commissioners took action at their January 27th regular board meeting to seek an energy audit of county buildings to determine what energy conservation steps might be taken. The board voted to authorize the chairman to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Governor's Energy Office to conduct an energy audit on county buildings.

An application for a gypsum mine permit, a zone change request, and a minor subdivision make up the agenda for the Fremont County Planning Commission's February 3rd monthly meeting.

GCC Rio Grande is seeking a Conditional Use Permit to operate an open pit gypsum mine about 2 1/4 miles south of the Fremont-El Paso County line. Ron Hedrick proposes to operate the Salt Canyon Project on 559 acres on the northwest side of Highway 115 under a lease from the State Board of Land Commissioners. The property previously had a permit issued in 2001 but mine operations never began.

The Southern Delivery System (SDS) project participants are hosting an information open house Thursday evening, January 29th in Florence to discuss the Highway 115 Alternative, the alternative that would go through Fremont County.

The Fremont County Tourism Council today awarded $7,000 in grants to support community projects and events in 2009 which attract visitors to Fremont County. Tourism Council by-laws require that at least five percent of the annual proceeds from the county's two percent lodging tax be distributed to non-profits for use in promoting local community events. But with a downturn in lodging tax revenues in 2008 fewer dollars were available this year for the community grants.

The Fremont County Planning Commission resumes discussion on the Southern Delivery System (SDS)at their January 6th monthly meeting. Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) is seeking approval of a Special Review Use permit to allow the construction of a water intake, three pump stations and 17 miles of 66-inch diameter pipeline in Fremont County. Once completed, the utility would transmit up to 78 million of gallons of water a day from the Arkansas River to Colorado Springs, Security and Fountain.