Posted on: November 25th, 2024

GOLD HILL TOWN MEETING NEWSLETTER

Minutes of the October 14, 2024  Zoom and in person Town Meeting

Next Town Meeting is Monday, December 9, 7:00 p.m.

 

The meeting was called to order by Chair Dan Maedke.  Twelve people attended in person: Dan, Vice Chair Kelly Veit, Julie Carpenter, Austin Miller, Kaitlyn Barthell, Joanna Coleman, Pam Sherman, Eli Zabielski, Shannon Lindow, Member at Large John Hatelid, Jeff Combelic, and Secretary Gretchen Diefenderfer.  Six people attended by Zoom: Erich Gundlach, Kris Hill, Kathy Frey, Treasurer Chrissy Maedke, Bear Carlson and Poppy Copeland.  Please let me know if I missed anyone.

 

Minutes – As there were no corrections or additions, the minutes were approved as published.

 

Treasurer’s Report – Chrissy reports

Starting date: 10/14/24
Opening Balances			Accounts	Amount
		General	3449	$10,001.81
		Grants	7018	$100.00
		Savings	7000	$602.65
		Total Opening Balances:		$10,704.46
Income	General 3449	Soup Donation ck		$25.00
		Cemetery Donation		$150.00
		Venmo Soup Party Donations		$53.70
		Total		$228.70
	Grants 7018
		Total		$0.00
	Savings 7000	Boulder Watershed Collective Run		$3,304.15
		Soup Party Cash Donations		$126.00
		Total		$3,430.15
		Total Income:		$3,658.85
Expenses	General 3449	Safe Deposit Box		$28.20
		Total		$28.20
	Grants 7018
		Total		$0.00
	Savings 7000
		Total		$0.00
		Total Expenses:		$28.20
Ending Balances		General	3449	$10,202.31
		Grants	7018	$100.00
		Savings	7000	$4,032.80
12/9/24		Total Closing Balances:		$14,335.11

 

 

Chrissy added that our committees have been asked to make budget requests for 2025 at the December GHTM.

 

Update Fire Mitigation Projects – Dan reports that they will be working on the East Street project and the area near Shiela Maloney and Joe Hengemuhle’s.  They’ve have stepped back from work on the town property near the Firebarn for now.  There is still quite a bit of wood at the Ashram and they may be able to schedule a third round of pick up. Boyd Brown and Kris Gibson are leading on firewood if you have questions.  The mitigation at Tone’s is ongoing.  They’re planning a meeting around goats and more mitigation to be scheduled when Marcus gets back in town.

 

Voter Ballot Drop Off – Boulder County Elections people are coming up to the GH School on Saturday, Nov. 2, to take ballots.  Drop off between 10 and 2.

 

Elevation movie – Release date is Nov. 8 at the Cinemark Century Theater in Boulder. 

 

Aging Alliance – Pam Sherman is organizing a GH committee focused on aging, senior care, caregivers, transportation and other services.  The IMA has been working on this for some time – we in the mountain communities need to be more vocal and proactive to get more services up here.  Contact Pam at pamsher123@nullgmail.com if you’re interested in being on our committee.

 

Bylaws – Chrissy reports that our  bylaws are our operating rules and there are updates that she thinks are important, particularly a Values Statement, Mission Statement, and Vision Statement help to make us eligible for grants – they require statements like these.

 

Draft of Potential Values Statement: (What’s most important to us?  What does our moral compass look like? Values inform your mission and vision)

We embrace our responsibility to co-create a world where each of us, our community, and our town can flourish, all the while, celebrating our unique environment and history.

What:                                           

Social Flourishing, Cultivating Long-Term relationships, Community Wellness. Business Sustainability, Environmental Health

 

Why:

Historic Preservation, Disaster Mitigation, Environmental Stewardship,   Resilience,   Community Engagement, Human Services

 

How:

Communication, Inclusivity, Respect, Kindness, Collaboration, Volunteerism

Non-Partisan, Fun

Draft of Potential Mission Statement: (What is our purpose?)

The mission of the Gold Hill Town Meeting:

We work for the betterment of the town of Gold Hill by improving quality of life and quality of environment.  Through historic preservation, natural resource conservation, environmental restoration, education, human services and community engagement, we ensure our residents and natural surroundings are able to thrive.

Draft of Potential Vision Statement: (What does our future and our goals look like)

The Gold Hill Town Meeting is working towards a future where Gold Hill is and continues to be a place where residents have a strong community, are able to flourish socially, where residents are safe and have their basic needs met and are able to live in harmony with the natural environment. 

John made a motion to add these statements to our bylaws, Pam seconded it and it passed with no dissenting votes.

Chrissy then went through a long list of potential changes, cleaning up details and making some substantial changes in places.  These were discussed, but not voted on.  You can find the suggested changes on Google Drive.  A Special Town Meeting was scheduled for Monday, November 4, to work on the bylaws.

Gretchen pointed out that, according to the present bylaws (you can find them in the website goldhilltown.com  under the Community Info heading on the left titled “What is the Gold Hill Town Meeting” –  https://goldhilltown.com/what-it-is/ bylaws), changes are presented, voted on at a regular meeting, published in the minutes, and then a final vote is taken at the next regular meeting.

         Article VII

Amendments

These Bylaws may be altered, amended, or repealed and new Bylaws may be adopted according to the following procedure:

Section 1.  At a regularly scheduled meeting, where a quorum is present, Bylaw change(s) may be proposed by a simple majority of those members present.  Proposed Bylaw changes are to be made and approved section-by-section.

Section 2.  The proposed Bylaw sections(s), and the Bylaw section(s) that are intended to be replaced, must be included with the minutes of the meeting and distributed to the members at least two weeks prior to the next regularly scheduled meeting.

Section 3.  At the next regularly scheduled meeting, the sections of the new Bylaws may be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Gold Hill Town Meeting, Inc. who are present.  Bylaw changes are to be voted on section by section.

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS

AirLink – no report except that it is still functioning.

 

Business District – Dan stressed again that we are not a legal entity that can make rules, but a town meeting to work on issues that we care about.  We had a lengthy meeting last August about noise from local businesses and he suggested that we form a committee to find ideas/solutions that will help.  Jeff Combelic, Kris Hill, Kathy Frey, and Kelly Viet volunteered.  Jeff said he feels that businesses somehow need to keep outside customers under control as far as noise.  At 570 Pine, they are on the front line for noise from the Store.  He thought Whitey had said they would start and end music earlier but on Friday at 9:30 there was a lot of electric music and crowd noise and then at 10:40 drunk sounding people up and down the streets shouting.  Kris went to talk to the Pub, to no avail.  Then on Saturday, the crowd noise outside the Inn was out of control.  Kris added that she has a sense that there is not fairness around hours between the Pub and the Inn.  It seems that the Inn generates equal or more noise but presently people are not objecting, although they have in the past.  We have a unique situation up here with businesses mixed in with residences.  Businesses that own liquor licenses can legally be open to 2 am, but community needs need to be addressed. She encourages visioning around  finding solutions.

         Chrissy added that “Business District” was added to our list of committees to brainstorm support for both businesses and community.  She would like us to work to prevent drunk driving – maybe something like stickers for designated drivers that would give them a free soft drink or?…..  Getting the Sheriff up here?  No one really wants to resort to calling the Sheriff and they don’t have the manpower to respond expeditiously.  We’d love creative solutions – don’t want to create an attack committee.

 

Cemetery – no report

 

Community Events/Fundraising and Merch – Dan repots that the Gold Rush really didn’t have ideal weather, but it was a good time.  He and Chrissy bought a screen printer and shirts and screened the Gold Hill logo on them for now and in the future.  John has ordered water bottles.

 

Gold Hill School – Chrissy reports that they have a new office manager named Michael from Boulder and he’s wonderful.  They have a great year ahead with projects and field trips.  They’ve sent out Open Enrollment Flyers – please pass the word along if you know anyone interested.  They would love to have more students.  The Fall Fiesta  is Wednesday, November 13^{th ,} with a taco bar, silent auction, and music.  The students are studying local government and having a voice in their community to discuss what they’d like to see.  She wonders about having a kids committee and maybe granting them some funds.  Some ideas include: wildflower seed planting, bird baths, decorative stop signs which would make it nicer and safer for kids.  Pam suggested they could collect seeds around town and Kaitlyn might help.  John suggested that maybe some kids could come to a meeting to propose their ideas.

 

Historic Zoning – Bear reports that Michael Shepard (who bought Max and Deb’s place) is replacing the eves with cement board and other fire resistant improvements.

 

IMA – Pam reports that they have been in communication with ODM (Office of Disaster Management) and will have more information soon.

 

Mountain Stewards – no report

 

Museum – Gretchen reported that the Museum is closed now for the season, but she expects there will be calendars and merch available – contact Deb Yeager for information

 

Native Flora, Gardens, and Weed Management – Kaitlyn Barthell, our new person on this committee sent a report by email

 

Hello! My name is Kaitlyn. I’ve been living in Gold Hill a little over two years now for those who do not know me. For some background, I studied bumble bee and plant interactions at Pikes Peak for my Masters thesis at CU. During that time, I spent thousands of hours observing flowers and collecting pollinator data, which has given me a strong understanding of Colorado’s floral and pollinator diversity. I now work as a plant ecologist with Birch Ecology in Longmont and work on a variety of ecological assessment, restoration, conservation, and permitting projects across Colorado. A large part of my job includes weed management, consulting, and report writing. In addition, I work a lot with landscape architects to design native seed mixes and native plant palettes. 

 

My intention with this chair position is to share some of this knowledge with the community and serve as a resource for anything relevant to native flora, gardening, and weed management. It is most important to me to educate the community on the difference between native plants and non-native, invasive weeds so that we can all fight for habitat protection at Gold Hill.

 

So far this year I have visited a few homes in Gold Hill and compiled plant lists for homeowners to reference as they manage the vegetation on their property. I would like to also host a community event next summer on native plant and weed identification, where I would hand out pamphlets with pictures. I also am designing a native wildflower seed mix and am scheming up the idea of hosting a native plant sale for the community next year. 

 

Thank you!   Kindly,   Kaitlyn

 barthell3@nullgmail.com

 

NeighborLink /SafeLink– no report

 

Hot Topic – Fire Mitigation and how to be a healthy ecosystem – requires everybody working together on a wholistic approach to mitigation.  Erich suggested that we should do more in Gold Hill to get rid of some invasive species.  It would be nice to get notices/posters around town.        

 

Vice-Chair – Kelly Veit was confirmed as Vice-Chair by unanimous vote.

 

Upcoming Meetings/Events

Soup Party – Saturday, October 26 at the School from 5 to 8 pm

Ballot Drop-Off – Saturday, November 2 at the School from 2 to 4 pm

Fall Fiesta – Wednesday, November 13 at the Inn from 5 to 8:30 pm

Holiday Party – Saturday, December 14 at the School from 5 to 8 pm

 

Other Town News/Emerging Issues – Road/Parking issues – Dan reports he has not been able to get a report from the County.

 

Respectfully submitted, Gretchen Diefenderfer, Secretary

 

Special Town Meeting, Monday November 4 – was attended only by Chrissy Maedke and Gretchen Diefenderfer.  We went over Chrissy’s proposed changes, discussing pros and cons.  The proposed changes can be found on Google Drive:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/138K9Dt8jq8qzRA7e34rQ9C-y3IHmCg-fS6a7ZIwbWXA/edit#slide=id.g303471ebc74_0_0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GHTM