GOLD HILL TOWN MEETING NEWSLETTER

Minutes of the Town Meeting – 08-10-09

Next Gold Hill Town Meeting – Monday, October 12^th 7:30 p.m. at the Community Center (firebarn).

The meeting was attended by David Wilson, Stefanie Wilson, Gretchen Diefenderfer, Susan Fernalld, John Sand, Richard Oxley, Marilyn Soby, David Rice, Carolyn Rice, Henry Rice, Michael Albes, Adriana Galue, Amy Hardy, Donal Maloney, Val Crist, Emily Rose, Dick Cole, Max Yeager, Debra Yeager, Mary Ryan, Heidi Kessler, Richard Roth, Edie Eilender, Cherry Sand, Jennie Rice, Elon Bar-Evan, Kaya Darnell, Bob Mason, Tom Huth, and Gary Siemer.

Gretchen Diefenderfer has served as Secretary for many years, as has Dick Cole served as Treasurer.  The town recognizes their excellent service and their efforts.  Jennie Rice was recognized for excellent service for 4 years of services as town chair, and the meeting cheered her.

Elections

The following positions have been filled on the Gold Hill Town Meeting Board:

Chair: Val Crist

Vice Chair: Gretchen

Treasurer: Adriana Galue

Secretary: Elon Bar-Evan

Member-At-Large: Lisa McConnell, accepted on her behalf by Jennie Rice

Treasurers Report

Activity

4/13/09 – Checking Balance $5304.57

5/10/09 – Check 1133, $25.38, to repay Elon Bar-Evan for Website expense (General Fund)

5/10/09 – Check 1134, $0.00, Void

5/28/09 – Electronic withdrawal, $30.00, Safe Deposit Box Fee (General Fund)

6/30/09 – Deposit, $71.00, Gold Hill Clean Up Donations (General Fund)

7/27/09 – Check 1135, $500.00, to repay Elon Bar-Evan for Website expense (General Fund)

Total $4,820.19.

Account Breakdown –

General Fund: $1927.54                   Cemetery: $2612.21

Weed Management: $80.81              Forest Management: $75.22

Trails: $31.29                                              Long Range Planning: $82.00

Historic Zoning: $11.12

CPI (Community Planning Initiative)

• The minutes have been sent out.
• They have compiled the results of the town CPI questionnaires that have been returned.
• The next meeting is on September 14th, to review the mission statement, and revise the presentation for the Bake and Treasure (formerly Rummage) Sale.

Historic Zoning

• Elections have occurred.
• The Historic minutes have been sent out separately.
• There are three plans being presented for solar installations.  Please see the Historic Zoning Minutes for details.
• The Historic Zoning board performs an important function for the town, because it acts as an intermediary for the town.  It is strictly advisory for any kind of building exterior changes, to keep these changes within some kind of boundary to keep the town historic.  Historic Zoning is not on currently GH Web site.

Fire Dept

They have had training on pumps (learned to pump on trucks from the Sunshine and Four Mile Depts. also).  They have had a few calls, and they were handled very well.  The Gold Hill Fire Department received accolades for their response on medical and fire calls.  They responded to the Empty Nest Fire.

Forest Management

• Edie cautioned about woodcutting right now because of Pine Beetles.
• Jennie reported that work on the Gold Hill South project is stopped until mid September because of Pine Beetles.  Because of this delay, there is a change to building slash piles, then burning them before next spring.  Ponderosa are being left in slash piles as well.  The cost went from $1800/acre to $2600/acre because of the cost to remove slash and density of the forest.  There have been private donations from the town in the amount of $2500 to cover the extra cost.  We still need to thin ponderosa in the town meadow and the shaded field break.
• Kris reported we have applied for the chipping grant and that we are a high priority project.  The grant is for $4000 for each community project.  Town residents can do mitigation work, and you will get 40% of your cost paid back to you.  You need a licensed contractor to do the work, and you need to keep track of the amount of slash they chip.  The grant will pay fees and mileage to haul it away.  This starts in mid September and receipts need to be in by mid November for reimbursement.  This will cover whole hot trees (Pine Beetle infested).  These will be accepted in the fall.  The grant covers any bio mass sent to the county and is for increasing defensible space fire breaks.

Weed Management

• Susan asked for advice for the weed page on the Gold Hill web site.  There is currently information on:

o      Noxious weeds, and how and to control them

o      Who to contact if you have questions.

o      Re-vegetating with native grasses after controlling weeds or after construction

• If you have questions or suggestions, please contact Susan via email (sfernalld@msn.com) or phone (303-447-0634)
• The aspens planted by the town above Hill St. are doing well.
• Getting rid of Milk Thistle.  Some people put them in the road and passing cars disintegrate them.

Historic Gold Hill,

• Museum Hours: Sept 7^th is the last day with regular hours for the season (after that it is by appointment only)
• The Museum had a very successful season with the Sesquicentennial activities.
• Calendar

o      The calendar is a primary source of funding for the Museum

o      The committee (Cherry, Edie, and Gretchen) has been working on it, but more help is needed. Please contact Gretchen if you want to lend some effort to producing the calendar.  Being involved in creating the calendar is a great way to get to know the history and the flavor of the town!

o      2009 calendars are still available at the Museum, the Gold Hill Inn, and at the Gold Hill General Store.

o      For the 2010 calendar, please send photos, stories and poems to Gretchen Diefenderfer (gretchend@mac.com).  They want to complete the calendar for the September 19th Bake and Treasure sale.  Photos can be Black & White or Color (they get turned into black & white for printing)

Mining Report

• Bob Mason reported that he believes there are issues with GH Mill and Cash mine.

o      The mine has been shut for several months – with no formal activity.

o      Before the shut down, they allegedly violated the law and deposited tailings in places they weren’t supposed to, specifically the interior of Cash mine.  This could make the tailing accessible to ground water.

o      Mine Land people are aware of these allegations, and are doing due diligence to establish the facts.  They are waiting from Mr. Hurd for a response, but no notice of violation has been sent yet.

o      Mark Steen – the owner of the mine, is also unhappy because he thinks this will make future mining more difficult. Mr. Steen believes violations were caused by those who leased the mine and mill from Mr. Steen.

o      Bob Mason is researching agents used in mill (they were reported to be benign), but Bob said isopropyl xanthate is being used to process ore in the mill, goes out to the mill pond, and over time is acted upon by sunlight and air to break down and no longer remain harmful, but if you inject the materials underground, there is no sunlight and very little oxygen.  Then it may be toxic – and not wanted in or near ground water.

o      They have a permit for these chemicals possibly based on false filings.  Mr. Mason is looking into notifying the authorities as such.

o      Black Rock Resources is looking at providing funding for operations at the mind.  Bob expressed the opinion that BRR is a shell corporation – with no resources and no bank account.  They have an agreement with the present operators to fund $100K, but with no indication as to where this money will come from. Bob found articles that companies involved in low quality exploration fit the following criteria:

• Registered in NV, run out of Vancouver
• Officers have no prior mining experience
• No assets except money raised from selling seed shares
• Black Rock matches these criteria, so Bob is suspicious that something is not above board, and he feels that representation from this company needs to be viewed with extreme skepticism, and we need to hold them accountable.

o      Bob reported that they asked for a variance to import material from the Cross Mine, but that is illegal.

o      Bob proposed an item for new business – for the town to formally endorse him as official Chairmen of the committee on Mining and Environment.

o      Gretchen again expressed her opinion that Mount Royale Ventures has been a good neighbor to them, cleaned up a lot of the old messes from previous operations, been very open about operations including conducting tours, won awards for safety and environmental protection, and she questions whether all these allegations are true, but the MLRD will establish the facts.

o      Please see addendum at end of newsletter for email to Gretchen from Matt Collins, which in addresses many of Bob’s concerns.

Trails - No report

GH School

• Starts on Thursday 20^th
• 21-24 kids total.

Sesquicentennial planning

• Had 4 highly successful events through August 10^th.
• Last event was Saturday August 15th.  It was the 2^nd walking tour, with a preacher to impersonate Jacob Adriance, who preached on August 15^th, 1859, on horseback, giving a sermon by Isaiah.  There was another anvil shoot at 12:00, which was followed by the Ice cream social at the school at 12:00.  At 1:30 Donlyn Arbuthnot spoke (in costume and in character) about her great grandmother Frannie Carson, and Frannie’s life here 150 years ago.
• New coffee cups are on order (we sold out of the 144 originally ordered).  72 more are coming in.  The price is $25 for 4 cups, plus one travel mug.
• The town lent $500 to the Sesquicentennial.  This is a loan to be paid back by end of August.
• August 15^th, Gold Hill movie at Elon’s house.  Maggie provided DVD from an old VHS, which was copied from Reel-to-Reel from the 1970’s Gold Hill Production of “The Little Flower Of Gold Hill”.  This was a silent movie melodrama.  Characters from the original cast were speaking lines.  Gretchen, Maggie, Roger Bresnik were from the original cast.  Max and Deb Yeager, and Dave Brigham filled in the remainder of the cast.

Town Website

• Website is mostly up and functioning.
• Jennie and Elon to look into slow web speed

Spring Cleanup

• The town earned $71.
• The $350 allocated to the cleanup was not used.

Action Items

• Jennie moved to Put $1000 into CWPP from GHTM General Fund

o      Project covered by grant from the Colorado State Forest Services.

o      Boulder County is putting in $12,000.

o      This money doesn’t need matching funds.

o      VOTE: Motion carries unopposed

• Jennie moved that Bob be chair of mining committee

o      Tom Huth seconded motion

o      Friendly amendment that more people join committee

o      VOTE: Motion carries unopposed

• Bake and Treasure (Rummage) Sale

o      Date is Saturday September 19^th.  The location will most likely be at the school.

o      Please contact Elon Bar-Evan, Rebecca Gretz, Gretchen, or Lisa McConnell for information on having a booth, or what to do with your donations of items to sell at the sale.

• Dick Cole about GHTM insurance issue.  We had to increase our liability limits, but at no cost to the town.  It covers us for meetings. Out liability coverage is related to our operations – whatever that might be.

Living with wildlife

• Bears, by mid-August, start feeding during the day, not just at night.
• They are attracted by compost and bird feeders during the day.
• They don’t like the smell of ammonia, so please wash trash cans and shed doors with ammonia (their noses are very sensitive)
• The school dumpster was tipped by bear trying to get trash.  Unauthorized people putting trash in this dumpster are endangering the children by attracting bears and other wildlife. Please don’t put trash in the school dumpster.

Mining addendum in regards to Matt Collins’ response

From: Matt Collins <goldhillmines@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Aug 1, 2009 at 11:58 AM

Subject: Cash Mine
To: info@cccmma.com

To the distinguished members of the Clear Creek County Metal Mining Association (CCCMMA)

As the former General Manager of the Front Range Gold Project, It has come to my attention that the CCCMMA has recently published information in its newsletter regarding the Cash & Who Do Mines and Gold Hill Mill in Boulder County, Colorado.  While the information was clearly attributed to another “news” organization, the information was very inaccurate and I would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight.

The Cash & Who Do Mines and Gold Hill Mill are operated by Mount Royale Ventures, LLC (MRV) a wholly owned subsidiary of Global Minerals Ltd. of Vancouver, BC (Global).  In September of 2008, immediately following the catastrophic decline of the world financial markets, Global Minerals chose to suspend MRV’s operations.  This was most unfortunate, as the operations – after four years of development, exploration and production – were on target for self-sustainability within three months of that decision.  Regardless, in light of the unavailability of operating capital, the mining and processing of gold and silver ore was halted to await better financial conditions.  At that point, MRV had been producing gold and silver concentrates for nearly two years and was the only fully operating underground gold mine in Colorado.

Rumors regarding the lack of compliance of the operation with either Boulder County, the State of Colorado and/or the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations are wholly unfounded, inaccurate and inappropriate, and it is unfortunate that no one has bothered to contact any of the many individuals involved with the operation, as most are still in the area and easily reachable. Specific allegations that the tailings impoundment had breached or over-topped, and any other such nonsense are reprehensible and it is very disappointing that any of our fellow miners and the CCCMMA would further those ridiculous rumors.

It should be noted that MRV was the recipient of many awards on the State and Federal levels for environmental protection, reclamation and for safety.  These include: 2006 – Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Hardrock Reclamation Award; 2007 Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety, Colorado Mine Health & Safety Small Underground Metal Mine Award;  2005 Mine Safety and Health Administration, Sentinels of Safety, Small Underground Metal Mine 1st Runner Up Award; 2006-2008 Colorado Mining Association, Pollution Prevention Program, Senior Participant with Special Recognition, etc.  This is hardly a track record of an organization at odds with environmental or safety compliance.  Rather, those that know the individuals involved and the accomplishments of MRV will certainly attest to a level of professionalism rarely seen in small mines and very much in accordance with the level of leadership seen at most major mining operations.

The care and effort of all of the employees at the Cash Mine and Gold Hill Mill should be applauded and recognized as a significant accomplishment in mining in Colorado.

Speaking on behalf of many of the former employees of MRV, we all wish the best for MRV and Global in these difficult economic times.  We are all confident that the hard work of all of the miners at the Cash Mine will not be left unrecognized and that Global will again mine gold and silver from Gold Hill, Colorado in the near future.

Best regards to all of our fellow metal miners!

Matt Collins
Manager – Front Range Gold Project
Mount Royale Ventures, LLC
9145 Sunshine Canyon Dr.
Boulder, CO 80302
Ph: (720)565-3448
Fax: (720)565-3497

Minutes submitted by Elon Bar-Evan

303-317-3903 (Direct) / 303-817-4401 (Mobile)
elon@continualenergy.com