News Now Blog

Christmas came early for Fremont County officials with the confirmation that two grants have been awarded to the county for road and bridge projects as well as for more improvements to Pathfinder Regional Park.

The Colorado Department of Local Affairs notified the Fremont County Commissioners that following a recommendation from the Gaming Impact Advisory Committee, Fremont County will receive a $350,000 grant for road and bridge projects to be completed in 2009. The grant must be used exclusively on county roads impacted by casino gaming traffic that travels to Cripple Creek.

Work has begun to replace the Hardscrabble Creek Bridge on Colorado Highway 120 near Portland, about four miles east of Florence. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) project involves removing the current structure and construction of a new bridge, detour paving, road reconstruction, new guardrails, seeding and signing.

The Colorado Historical Society has announced that the Garden Park School in rural Fremont County has officially been listed on the Colorado Register of Historic Properties. The property was officially designated in late November in recognition of its contribution to the heritage.

The Fremont County Commissioners adopted the county's 2009 budget with words of caution that revenue problems the county experienced so far in 2008 are expected to continue in 2009. The Commissioners said the budget underwent some last minutes changes as the result of a recalculation of revenues from leasing bed space at the Fremont County Jail.

Colorado Springs Utilities' (CSU) application for a Special Review Use permit in Fremont County for the proposed Southern Delivery System (SDS) comes up for review Tuesday evening by the Fremont County Planning Commission. While CSU officials have said they prefer a pipeline route from Pueblo Reservoir for the SDS project, they decided earlier this year to proceed with an application for the necessary permits in Fremont County as an alternate route.

After an effort that began nearly two years ago to enlist residents in the North Canon neighborhood to sign contracts for sanitary sewer service it now appears a 30 year wait for sewer service will yield results. The Fremont County Commissioners last week voted unanimously to approve a resolution creating an improvement district for the North Canon Area Sewer Line Extension. The area is generally north of High Street between York and Lawrence Streets and several residences south of High Street between York and Pennsylvania.

The Fremont County Veterans Service Office is taking orders to engrave the names of more veterans on the War Memorial Wall at the Fremont County Airport. Several more applications are needed before the next order is submitted to engrave the next 50 names on the wall.

The Fremont County Board of Commissioners is soliciting letters of interest from Fremont County residents for the annual appointment to two positions on the Fremont County Tourism Council (FCTC). The Tourism Council develops and administers a Tourism Marketing Plan for Fremont County utilizing the proceeds from the Fremont County Lodging Tax.

The Fremont County Commissioners Tuesday took final action to approve a pair of zone changes around the Fremont County Airport. The zone changes were part of the September 9th public hearing on the 26th amendment to the county's zoning resolution. This action actually adopts the new zone Airport Zone District for the airport property itself. The action also put in place the Industrial Park Zone District for the existing industrial park at the airport as well as some of the acreage on the south edge of the airport property along the east side of Hwy 67.