Gold Hill Town Meeting Newsletter

Minutes of the Oct. 12, 2009 Town Meeting

Next Meeting is Monday, December 14, 2009, 7:30 p.m. at the Community Center

Attendance – Chair Val Crist, vice-chair Gretchen  Diefenderfer and member at large Lisa McConnell were the officers present, along with Edie Eilender, Karen Simmons, John Sand, Richard Roth, Bear Carlson, Heidi Kessler, Marie Brookhart, Barbara Lawlor, Richard Oxley and Jim Smith.

Minutes – Val opened the meeting by approving the minutes of the last meeting, with the exception of the revised CWPP report from the August meeting, which will be read for approval at our December meeting.

Treasurer’s Report – There was no treasurer’s report, but Lisa McConnell noted that the Treasure and Bake Sale brought in $1504 and there was a $250 donation to the cemetery fund.

CPI – Gretchen gave the Community Planning Initiative report, saying that the committee had solidified the final vision and it is available on the web site (http://goldhilltown.com/). The next step is to take it to the County to get the plan adopted into the comprehensive plan. It will have to go through the Boulder County Planning Commission and public hearings. Gretchen said the committee didn’t seem to spend much energy looking into any major changes in the land use code.

Garry Sanfacon is still working with the historic zoning subcommittee. Gretchen said that schedule (tentatively Nov. 18 – we will know by Oct. 28) for the Planning Commission hearing will be mailed to property owners, and the County Commissioner meeting will be scheduled at the PC meeting.

Historic Zoning – John and Bear said there have been a few applications for approval of solar energy systems. One of them was for panels on a Charles Steinberg’s, which would be small, dark and unobtrusive. The committee agreed to approve the application.

One of the issues about the solar applications is that the town has no guiding principles for rejection or approval and they are discussing each application case by case.

Bear said they are in favor of sustainability, but there had been a consensus that Bob Mason’s proposed solar system was too big and he should could come up with a less obtrusive plan. His system would face Main Street and is high and long.

Another application for a solar system on Dan Gretz’s shed was approved.  When asked when the next historic zoning meeting would be, Gretchen observed that the committee meets when it needs to. The newly elected members include Cherry Sand, Bear Carlson, Steve Barnard, Amy Hardy and Dan Gretz.

Resident and solar power guy, Richard Roth explained that many people design solar systems that are larger than necessary. He said with a photovoltaic system, there is little if any benefit gained in putting the panels at a steep angle. He says a 40º angle captures most of the energy, but if one were to decrease the angle to 25º, the panels would still get 96.7 percent of the energy. More information on the subject can be found on PV Watts.com

It was agreed that this was important information for homeowners to know. Roth also said that more energy is captured in the summer than is lost at a more shallow angle in the winter.

This is important information when considering the Mason’s application because the back, facing north would be 19 feet from the base of the shed. “It will look like a billboard.” This information could help the Mason’s come up with an acceptable design.

Fire Department – Val reported that the fire department meets on the fourth Thursday and second Saturday of the month. Val said the CWPP is finishing their fire mitigation work on the South Project and that the Four Mile Mitigation Crew is looking for help.

Weeds – Gretchen said that although there was no weed committee report, Susan Fernalld plans to give a master gardener type of class in the spring, hoping more people will get involved in learning about invasive weeds in and native plants near  Gold Hill.

Historic Gold Hill – Edie reported that the museum is closed for the winter, but is open by appointment, and that the new Calendar, which benefits the Museum, is on sale for $10.  Jim Smith said he has cut wooden discs to put cards with information on the historic buildings in Gold Hill.

Mining – Jim Smith said the Mill and Mine operation is still suspended, that the owners are looking for funding to reopen. Jim said that regulatory agencies, including the EPA, Division of Mines, and Mined Land Reclamation, are satisfied that no violations have occurred and that former information that there had been violations is not correct.

Town Email – Val reported that the old town email, the one that started by the fire department, is no longer the town email.   There is a new, easy to use website and email list. Please sign up with Elon (elon@continualenergy.com) if you’re not on the email list currently.

Bake & Treasure Sale – Lisa McConnell and the organizers of the Bake and Treasure Sale want to thank all of those who helped make the fundraiser a success. There were great deals, wonderful baked goods, awesome art vendors and a beautiful day. A Special ‘Thank You’ to the volunteers (even teenagers this year) and to Elon for all his efforts on the sale and as our Outgoing Member-at-Large.

There were many leftover items and it took a lot of work to take care of them. It was suggested that next year the big items not sold should be picked up by those who brought them. If anyone has any feedback on the sale or any suggestions for next year, please send them to Lisa McConnell at McConnEnt@aol.com.

The Climb – The Climb fundraiser did well, in spite of the freezing weather. There was a cover charge to add to the shuttle’s funding, a silent auction, two bands, great food and barbecue. The Climb wants to thank all who came, supported, and continue to ride and support The-Climb.

Sunshine Paving – After the Sunshine Paving hearing with the Boulder County Commissioners, they decided not to pave any more of Sunshine, mainly to protect the rural character of the area.

Sesquicentennial – John reported that there are still sesquicentennial mugs and     t-shirts available for purchase.

CPI – Karen Simmons says that there wasn’t much response to the info booth or the email asking for input on the CPI Mission and Vision Statement. She said there is a large open space transaction being discussed concerning property northeast of town and thinks the town should become proactive about any possible development in open space. She said trails could be built that could need parking lots and bathrooms and we don’t want to have to react to something we don’t want. We don’t want to be in a reactive mode when it will be harder to be successful.      Karen suggested forming a subcommittee of the CPI to stay on top of open space action and collect relevant information. She said people having expertise in this area need to come forward.

Gretchen agreed that a group should create a management plan and that she will volunteer.

John Sand suggested not waiting for people to volunteer, but to go out and recruit those with a known interest in trails and open space.

Edie Eilender volunteered to be on the subcommittee.

The next CPI meeting is scheduled for January 4^th, 7:00 p.m. at the Community Center.  Note! This has since been changed to Jan. 11.

School – The group was reminded that there would be a school fundraiser at the Gold Hill Inn on Nov. 15 at 5 p.m. Mary Russell will be performing and items are needed for the silent auction.

Meeting Time – Val suggested taking a vote on whether or not to change the time of the town meeting to 7 p.m. The change in time was not approved. Meetings will continue to start at 7:30. The next meeting is on Monday, December 14, 2009 at the Community Center (firebarn) at 7:30 pm.

New Business - Val Crist requested that reports be given orally and written down to pass onto our secretary at the meeting’s end to reduce errors in reporting.

Notes were graciously taken by Barbara Lawlor in Elon’s absence and edited by Val, Lisa, and Gretchen.