March 14th, 2010

Gold Hill Town Meeting Newsletter

Minutes of the February 8, 2010, Town Meeting

Next Meeting will be Monday, April 12, 2010, 7:30 p.m. at the Community Center

The Meeting was called to order by Chair Val Crist. Five people attended: Edie Eilender, Mark Steen, Jim Smith, Gretchen Diefenderfer, Secretary, and Val.  Adriana Galue, Treasurer, attended long enough to give her Treasurer’s report to Val.

The minutes were approved.

Treasurer’s Report – Our account remains exactly the same as last meeting.  Adriana will meet with Dick Cole and review our records and make a full report at the April meeting.

CPI/Trails and Open Space – Gretchen reports that the Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved our CPI Plan for inclusion into the Land Use Code at their hearing on Tuesday, February 2, 2010.  And so we have now reached our goal of establishing the wishes of our community and having them included in the County Comprehensive Plan and the Land Use Code to make sure we have more say over our own future when County action affects us.  Garry Sanfacon gave the staff report – presenting our CPI Plan and background on our planning process, including our education sessions, the survey, comments from community members, and the Planning Commission’s approval in December.  I thanked the Commissioners for giving us this opportunity as well as Garry and the entire Land Use Department who helped us so much.  We worked hard to be as open and inclusive as possible and the Commissioners all appreciated the process and what we came up with. We told them that some work continues – we have a Trails and Open Space Sub-committee meeting and the Historical Zoning Committee is working on new guidelines. Remember that the Comp Plan is a working document and we can add to our CPI Plan in the future if we decide to develop further goals and/or objectives.  Many thanks to everyone who contributed and participated!

The Trails and Open Space sub-committee of the CPI met January 11, 2010.  Seven people attended and we had a wide-ranging discussion.  For the report on this meeting see

http://goldhilltown.com/gold-hill-cpi-–-trails-subgoup/. Because we have so much potential County Open Space surrounding us (some acquired through Conservation Easements, some to be acquired from BLM through the Recreation and Public Purposes Act, some purchased outright), we have the prospect of future trails, etc, being developed by the County.  We want to be proactive about how that all happens. We encourage all interested people to attend our meetings.  Contact Karen Simmons or Gretchen Diefenderfer for further information.

Historical Zoning – no report.

Forest Management/CWPP – Val reports that the Forest Service has been burning West of Town as part of wildfire mitigation work.

Fire Department – Val reports that our Fire Department continues to train with Four Mile and Sunshine Departments on the second Saturday (hands-on training) and 4^th Thursday evenings (classroom training) of each month and would love anyone interested to attend.  Call Donal Maloney at 443-3928.

Weeds- Gretchen read the report from Susan Fernalld:

Susan reports that she manually weeded the large aspen seedling area before snow fell.  Snow has completely covered the seedling aspens for many weeks, deterring deer browsing and making supplemental watering unnecessary.  We won’t know until spring whether burrowing animals are doing any damage.

Meanwhile, the winter annual noxious weeds, such as cheatgrass, have sprouted beneath the snow.    In spring, before cheatgrass puts up its seed heads, will be the best time to pull it without also having to bag it.  See http://goldhilltown.com/how-to-control-gold-hills-noxious-weeds/

Historic Gold Hill – Edie reports that 2010 Calendar sales are going well.  They are a good record of memories of the past and present.  For the 2011 Calendar, we need drawings, poems, photos (old and new) wise sayings, ideas and participation! We will meet Feb. 20 and March 20 at Gretchen’s and invite all interested contributors.

Mining – Jim reports that Aurora Gold has put up $100,000 to buy into Global Minerals and plans to come up with the rest of the ½ million to be 60% owners of Global’s 50% share.  Mark Steen reports several disagreements with Global and Mount Royale Ventures concerning their operations.  He believes the Mined Land Reclamation Board will be holding hearings.  Bob Mason will keep us informed of any hearings scheduled.

Gold Hill School – no report

NEW BUSINESS

Announcements: Jim Smith has agreed to serve as Vice-Chair of the Town Council.  Thank you, Jim!

The Climb – Val reports The Climb Annual Passes are Available Now – REDUCED RATE! THE DEAL:
The Climb is offering Annual Passes at very reasonable rates, and, when we raise $7,000, Boulder County Transportation will give us $11,200! It is critical to ACT NOW!

PRICE: suggested $120 donation for each individual annual pass

We need 58 people to purchase a $120 donation level Annual Pass.

We will accept donations at lower levels, and suggest a $10 minimum in return for a pass. Donations over $120 are greatly appreciated!

The Climb has a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit status so donations are tax deductible.

HOW TO PURCHASE/DONATE:
Order now through email via pc@the-climb.com, purchase on The Climb bus, or at the Gold Hill Store. PayPal is accepted via email and the Gold Hill Store accepts VISA/Mastercard

RIDE THE CLIMB AND SAVE! 
The current federal calculation for vehicle mileage (gas, insurance and wear/tear) is $.55/mile. It is 10 miles to the edge of Boulder, which makes a minimum round trip cost you $11.00! Compare that to the cost of riding The Climb and watch your savings grow!

By helping meet the goal, you will help us give everyone in the Ward/Gold Hill/Four Mile route an annual pass.