Gold Hill, Colorado

To: Constituents of the Gold Hill Fire Protection District

From: Max Yeager

I have, in recent weeks, received questions from a number of you regarding the how’s and whys of the upcoming District election for Board of Directors’ incumbents and candidates. Where appropriate I have referred the questions to the District’s designated election official ( DEO ), Liz Wiig-209-352-8849, or a Board member. If you desire an absentee ballot, contact Liz Wiig immediately as they are due Apr 25. The election is in person at the Fire-barn in the Community Center Tuesday, May 2 from 7AM to 7 PM. The basics which I am familiar with I have answered. It was suggested to me that I summarize what I have addressed and put it in writing. Here it is.

The Board consists of five seats categorized in two groups to allow for alternating elections on two- year intervals to prevent all five positions expiring at the same time. Previous elections had been synchronized for even numbered years. Recent bureaucratic procedure changes dictated a shift to odd numbered year elections and in order to accommodate that this year’s election is set up to elect all five positions, two seats for two- year terms and three seats for four- year terms. In election years where the incumbents are willing and interested in extending their position and no one is contesting their seat the Board may cancel the election altogether providing it follows the procedures precisely and files the documentation precisely on time. In my 49 years with the department, I can only remember two or three times when the election for Board members occurred. This is why many of you don’t remember voting for a Director. If a Director resigns mid-term for whatever reason, the Board recruits and appoints a willing replacement to the vacated position to complete the term, and a cycle is established. This is commonplace throughout special district neighborhoods, reasoning being elections are expensive and time consuming to execute.

In this year’s election both two- year seats are uncontested, and the two incumbent board members are willing to run for re-election. Two of the four-year incumbent board members are willing and interested in running for re-election while one is not running for his third term leaving one seat vacant. Leslie Finn and I have each filed our applications to run for four-year seats. No-one is running to fill the vacant seat specifically; you will be voting for three people out of the list of four. The three with the highest vote count will be sworn in and seated and the one with the lowest vote count is out. The four incumbents are all astute and perceptive individuals, they are all professional people, a retired schoolteacher/administrator, a corporate financial officer, a professional wildland firefighter/mitigation specialist, a professional urban/wildland firefighter/medic. I don’t need to describe my or Leslie’s qualifications to you.

Last fall the current sitting Board requested you to vote for a mil levy increase, their request passed by a landslide. The Board you elect will be charged with dispensing those funds, your money, responsibly. Recently Chief Chris Finn retired after more than a quarter of a century in the position. The Board you elect will be charged with reviewing, perhaps amending the job description for that position.

This is an important election. We have difficult choices to make. I am asking you to be sure to vote and hopefully to inform yourself the best you can prior to voting. I am asking you to pay attention to what goes on with your Fire Department and attend a Board meeting occasionally. Perhaps inform yourself and consider seeking a position on the Board in the future.

Max

Dear Gold Hill,

Christine Maedke
Gold Hill Town Meeting Treasurer
1011 Main St.
Boulder (Gold Hill), CO 80302
Personal Cell: 303-668-6809
Pronouns: She, her, hers

 

Bylaws Presentation docs.google.com

 

 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Xq9yXiRmblNG-KYcWhUp0ySddI3tCKTSt0d8gAKw6Qk/edit#slide=id.p

The National Weather Service has forecasted conditions for a Fire Weather Watch for tomorrow – Tuesday, March 18^th.

The conditions are based on low relative humidity and moderate winds. Details below:

FIRE WEATHER WATCH IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH
TUESDAY EVENING FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR SOUTH PARK,
SOUTHERN FOOTHILLS, PALMER DIVIDE, EASTERN PLAINS, AND DENVER
METRO…

The National Weather Service in Denver has issued a Fire Weather
Watch for wind and low relative humidity, which is in effect from
Tuesday afternoon through Tuesday evening.

* Affected Area…Fire Weather Zones 214, 216, 238, 239, 240,
241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250 and 251.

* Timing…12 PM MDT Tuesday until 7 PM MDT Tuesday evening

* Winds…Southwest 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph.

* Relative Humidity…As low as 11 percent.

* Impacts…Conditions will be favorable for rapid fire spread.
Avoid outdoor burning and any activities that may produce
sparks.

It is possible that this Fire Weather Watch could be upgraded to a Red Flag Warning, but moisture is also forecasted to move into the area on Wednesday.

Feel free to reach out for any needs.

Seth McKinney #6561 Fire Management Officer BCSO Fire Management smckinney@nullbouldercounty.org Office:  (303) 441-1485 Cell: (303) 548-9624

Notes on the GHFPD Fire Board Meeting 3-21-23 by Gretchen Diefenderfer

Next Meeting is scheduled for April 18, 2023, 7:00 p.m. at the Firebarn

The Meeting was called to order by President Rich Lopez.  Nineteen people attended: Rich, Chris and Leslie Finn, Shivaun Hoyle, Virginia Schultz, Liz Wiig, Greg Buis, Gretchen Diefenderfer, Deb Yeager, Board Members Chris Dirolf, Kent Coghill,  and Boyd Brown, Max Yeager, Lefthand Chief Chris O’Brien, Fourmile Chief Bret Gibson, Gold Hill Assistant Chief Whitey DeBroux, Val Crist, Kris Gibson, and Rick Sheingold.  Please let me know if I’ve missed anyone.

Minutes – of the February meeting were approved.

Chief’s Minutes – Whitey, Bret, and Chris O’Brien all contributed.  Whitey reported that they had an inventory meeting with Bret and lots of people showed up.  They’re starting to get a better feel of the status of the trucks, structure, and equipment – a good overview.

            Training – There is a pumping training with Fourmile on Thursday and there will be Wildland training on April 8.

            Calls – there were 3 calls since last meeting: 1) car alarm alerted 9-1-1, but no incident was found, 2) cyclist accident down on Lefthand and 6 people showed up including Gold Hill plus AMR, and 3) there was a MVA call from the emergency phone in Lefthand, but the caller said there was no emergency.  GH staged up here because of black ice and was not needed.

            New Software – They have downloaded the software and it’s awesome.  They are beta testing it – can see incidents on smart phones in progress.

            Maps of all cisterns – Bret suggested they have a conversation, possibly share a layer of maps NIWF – fire maps.  EZRI mapping service allows sharing a single layer.

OTHER BUSINESS

Elections – Liz Wiig, the DEO (Designated Election Official) reported that the ballots have been submitted and will be posted soon.  Boyd added that they did a drawing for the ballot positions, typed it up and checked it with John Chiml, the FD attorney.  They will coordinate with the County and be looking for judges/ canvassers, etc.  On the ballot for 4 year terms, Leslie Finn, Jessica Brookhart, Max Yeager, and Kent Coghill.  For 2 year terms, Chris Dirolf and Boyd Brown.

Re: Joint Meeting of the GHTM and the GHFPD on 3/20 – Rich thanked Bret and Chris and felt there was a good turnout.  Marcus asked about follow up meetings?  Ellie from Fourmile will be compiling and organizing the sticky notes from the exercise last night on what kinds of abilities everyone would like to see in our fire department, what we expect from the fire board, and what we, as community members, can contribute to the fire department.  She will get these to Bret, who will release them to the fire board.

            Bret asked how many people attended.  Gretchen took notes,  see https://goldhilltown.com/special-gold-hill-town-meeting-and-fire-board-meeting-minutes/  and our count was 33 people attended either in person or by Zoom. 

            Rich reported that they are looking at a job description for a new GH Fire Chief.  Bret added that we have an opportunity for truly operational assessment and development over the next 6 months, then 3 months to cement the changes needed and bring them into reality and then hope the members of the community will step up.  They want to establish a reasonable platform to base decisions on in this next 9 months.  Chris Dirolf expressed thanks to both Chiefs Gibson and O’Brien for being willing to help us.

Grants – Kris Gibson reported that the grant to the State has been submitted for the  5 sets of bunker gear – nothing new.  We are also part of the Wildfire Incentives grant with the CWPP group.  Paul Dennison is great and will  be making decisions regarding the County CWPP/IA Funding and availability.  The final review is this week, they’ll get signatures next week.  It’s been a fantastic effort. More grants will be coming up and will be looked at as they come up.

            Bret added that for the CWPP and IA money they want input from the community beyond the fire departments -for them to make their opinions known.  There is a tremendous amount of money involved.  Boulder County is loud, but not the loudest.  As far as the number of residents per square mile, we’re behind, so we need to get people behind us – we all, the community, the fire board, and members of the fire department need to send messages to Joe Neguse, our Representative and it will make a difference.

AIM Grant – Marcus and others have been working on the AIM grant.  Marcus reports that they submitted a concept paper, which was approved and they’ve been invited to submit a formal grant.  Marcus and Julian (Watershed Collective) stressed community support and involvement and last mile stuff – smaller parcels and managing grasslands, too, some home hardening and financial support for lower income people, and clean ups.  The deadline is mid-April and they need a letter of support from the Fire Board.  There is a limit of $5,000 for equipment.  Virginia added that if we get it, the Fire Board needs to think about who on the board would like to be on the committee.  They are definitely aiming for May 6 for educational events, etc. – Wildfire Mitigation Awareness Day.

Cash Mine – Rich reports that lots of letters have been sent from Rowena, Gold Hill, GHFPD, and Fourmile and a wide range of concerns were expressed.  Whether the mining/milling effort moves forward we don’t know, but our concerns have been expressed.  Max asked if anyone knows who’s involved this time, but no one knew who Mining, Inc actually is. 

Trucks for Sale – Notices have been posted about selling some trucks and interest has been expressed.  Calwood is interested in the brush trucks (one truck plus one for parts) and Chris Finn has expressed interest in the Ford as well. Max proposed that we wait for an offer from Calwood to make decisions.  Bret asked what do we need and do any of these vehicles fill those needs.  Max replied that the brush truck has 18,000 on the odometer and might be worth keeping, but we have no room to store it and it becomes a liability and deteriorates.  Possibly we could find a place for it near the west side of the district and install a cistern for it.  Bret suggested that we should get that all in place and then get an appropriate vehicle for it.  Boyd added that we should consider what importance the vehicles have to someone who needs them, like Calwood, not the money involved.  Chris Finn has said that he could use one to protect their property.  Legally we have to disable the siren, etc., and Bret recommended that we remove fire department labels.  Decisions to be made at the next board meeting. 

Review of Trucks, Station, and General Training – Bret reports some conclusions have been reached and the three vehicles we have do not properly meet the required mission capabilities.  The medical truck equipment exceeds our capabilities – extrication today is incredibly complex.  BES trains for hundreds of hours as does the City of Boulder.  We need to dial back to pry bars and breaking windows – no cutting or spreading.  It’s beyond our capabilities and dangerous.  We need to wait for BES.  We should keep the medical truck and the red truck and dispose of the Lefthand vehicle.  The medical vehicle use should be suspended for now – the secondary braking systems don’t work and must be fixed .  Policies and procedures have been a problem and we’re working on them.  One other truck doesn’t hold pump pressure.  Can’t pull vacuum on two of the trucks. The entire fleet needs to be sent for preventative maintenance and mechanical evaluations, pump tests.  Overall, they don’t fulfill our mission and we need to reach out for help.  Neighbor departments can probably fulfill most of our immediate needs.  We need a good list of our needs and have begun to list our inventory of equipment.  Need to list our standards and protocols for structure fires and wildland fires.  For the Board, the Medical Truck has to be fixed and the other two thoroughly looked over and evaluated and the equipment reorganized.  In the interim, Fourmile will lend a truck 4603 primarily for rescue and medical.  We can’t drive the medical truck until we get it to the Front Range Fire Department or more probably the Mountain View FD in Erie asap.  We can set up an agreement with them to service our trucks as needed. 

            We need to come up with what do we really need – we need a tender.  Chris Finn added that we have money in the budget to buy a replacement.  Rick Sheingold wonders about a quick response vehicle to get to a scene and size it up, given that our neighboring departments have state of the art equipment for mutual aid.  Bret again stressed that we need to evaluate our trucks and decide what we need, which might include a quick response vehicle that can utilize the power of the radio, size up and call for mutual aid, but we do need primary equipment as a baseline.  He would love a tender in Gold Hill.

            Rich thanked Bret for a very detailed report.  Max and Boyd will coordinate to get the medical truck down to get repaired and evaluated.  Bret also suggested it would be worthwhile to discuss bringing training in house for awhile vs. the triad.

Gretchen Diefenderfer

—

Our Town Spring Clean-up is scheduled for Saturday, June 24.  Details to follow, but as always the County focuses on recycling  and reusing.  We will  have dumpsters for trash, too – get rid of all that “stuff”

As always, we will be looking for volunteers to help – many thanks  in advance!

Chief Finn’s Retirement

Dear Friends, Family and Neighbors,

You are invited to come celebrate Chief Finn’s retirement from the Fire Department! After 27 years of service, Chris is passing the torch to the next generation of fire fighters. Please mark your calendars and come to congratulate Chris on a successful career. We will be gathering at the Gold Hill Inn on Saturday, April 29th from 1-4. We may be indoors or outdoors, weather depending. Light food and drinks will be provided. Please consider bringing a side or dessert to share. All who want to wish Chris well are welcome, please share this invite and encourage people to rsvp so we can have a close headcount. We look forward to seeing you there!

Tap to RSVP to Chief Finn Retires from the Fire Department! evite.me

Chrissy

SPECIAL GOLD HILL TOWN MEETING AND FIRE BOARD MEETING

In person and Zoom meeting

Minutes of the March 20, 2023 Joint Meeting

Next Town Meeting is Monday, April 10, 7:00 p.m.

 This Joint Meeting was called to order by Town Meeting Chair Marcus Moench in order to provide an overview of the one-year MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) between the Gold Hill Fire Protection District Fire Board and Chief of Fourmile Bret Gibson and Chief of Lefthand Chris O’Brien after the retirement of Chief Chris Finn.   Thirty-three people attended : Marcus, Maggie Simms, Norm Skarstad, Treasurer Chrissy and Vice Chair Dan Maedke, Richard Roth, Deb and Max Yeager, Nick Martin, Greg Buis,  Leslie Finn, Matt Connery, Kris Gibson, Amy Fortunato, Virginia Schultz, Fire Board Chair Rich Lopez, Marybeth Neal, Chief of Fourmile Bret Gibson, Chief of Lefthand Chris O’Brien, Assistant Gold Hill Chief Whitey Debroux, Fire Board members Chris Dirolf , Kent Coghill, and Boyd Brown, Dave Sturtz, Don Brookhart, Val Crist, Bear Carlson, Torkin Wakefield, Chris Finn, Shivaun Hoyle, Donal Maloney, Kathleen Gilgannnon, and Secretary Gretchen Diefenderfer. Please let me know if I’ve left anyone out.

Marcus reported that the idea for this is to give the two joint Chiefs, Bret  Gibson and Chris O’Brien and Assistant Chief Whitey DeBroux an opportunity to bring out plans for this year, to facilitate broader cooperation throughout the community and the fire department, and to answer questions.  He also wanted to announce that we submitted a concept paper for an AIM grant, it was approved, and we have been invited to submit a formal grant application.  This grant is for up to $75,000 for mitigation work, house hardening, etc., and will require close collaboration with the fire department on establishing our priorities.

         Rich Lopez added that recently questions have come up concerning the Mine and Mill.  A group of people from Lefthand and the GHFPD put together a list of concerns and submitted them to the Mined Land folks

Bret then spoke as “the interim ½ Chief “ and expressed thanks for calling this meeting.  He stressed that the community is not just the town of Gold Hill, but the entire Fire District including Rowena and more of Lefthand, the Gold Run Subdivision and west of town, but we do have a big advantage in that we have a community and a community center  to gather together.

Lefthand Chief Chris O’Brien then introduced himself.  His first fire was the Black Tiger Fire when he was working at the Inn.  He comes at it more from the forestry side and then added structure fire training.  He’s been with Lefthand for 12 years now.  He serves on the Boulder County Fire Fighters Association board with Bret and they’ve made great progress in the last years.

         Part of the team they are bringing is Ellie Crane, an administrator for Fourmile.  She reports that she’s finishing her degree in Environmental Studies at CU, working on the CWPP in Nederland, and is contracted with the USFS. Fourmile, Sunshine, Gold Hill, Sugarloaf are working on a collaborative CWPP as well.

         They wanted to dispel any rumors – Fourmile and Lefthand are not going to take over the Gold Hill Fire Department.  They’ve signed a one year MOU to come in to help assess, come up with plans, and present them.  The objective is to establish our  personnel, procedures and policies, to install a new Chief, and have a successful platform to build on.

         Bret then spoke re: Civics 101 – The Fire Department is a Special District formed with the primary purpose of fire protection.  The Board of Directors (needs to be an odd number) are elected as community members and, by statute, they appoint a Fire Chief, a position of phenomenal responsibility and authority – the authority to commandeer almost anything – land, equipment – and then becomes responsible for them.  He can prevent you from returning (can’t make you leave)  in an emergency situation.  Responsible for creating volunteers, training them and also taking on liabilities. 

         What’s the goal of the fire department?  It’s a community decision with the board.  All Special Districts are the same – only as strong as the community supports.  The firefighters have to be supported with proper training and equipment.

         Chief O’Brien added that Chiefs are always looking at how to do the best job and need to have the support of the Board.  All have to work together and it’s a big responsibility.

         The Chief job is operational director (not planner), implementing the direction provided by the Board, and the board’s mission is to support the operational mission.

         Question in the Zoom chat – It took 9 years to get a call box in Lefthand.  What will it take to get one west of town?  A discussion with the Chief and Board, need to do a cost/benefit analysis and decide whether to pursue it.

         Bear asked how Fourmile and Lefthand were selected for the MOU.  Bret replied that both chiefs asked their boards for advice and got their support.  You guys in Gold Hill are our back door and it’s in our enlightened self-interest to work with you and support you.  Also, both Fourmile and Lefthand have some paid staff, so it’s easier for them in some ways.  Fourmile has the mill levy and an administrative assistant to staff a 3-12 person crew Monday – Friday, so evenings and weekends Gold Hill actually has more volunteers to respond. Our different capabilities are why it’s critical that we break down any barriers and work together  We’ve all made amazing progress in Boulder County over the years, from 16 different independent departments originally to working together well.  So, Chris O’Brien and I would like to help Gold Hill re-imagine itself.

EXERCISE:  Bret conducted an exercise asking those present to write on sticky notes and those on Zoom to write in the chat what kind of abilities everyone would like to see in our Fire Department.  The answers ranged from the ability to respond to fires and medical emergencies, participating in mitigation planning and work, having a strong relationship with the community, to providing education and equipment to all volunteers.  Bret stressed that this requires active volunteers, Fire Board members and the Community  

         Next, he asked us to think about  about what we expect of the Fire Board and gave a little history.  Way back when his father Bob came to town, the question arose about fire protection.  The town had consisted of 2 basic groups of community members: Bluebirds and a few olde miners.  Added to that now were a few newbies.  They decided everyone should have a fire extinguisher purchased by the town, and a bucket of sand. When the school bell (which doubled as our fire alarm) rang, everyone responded.  This was the first Gold Hill Fire Department and Town agreement.  The community came up with the most realistic solution they could make happen.  There wasn’t the Urban/Interface problem we have today.

         The exercise answers centered on supporting the Chief and volunteers. Communication with the community, as well as a lot of focus on mitigation.  Fortunately we now have the Boulder Watershed Collective, the 4 Department CWPP, and IGA authority, so there is pretty good energy to  support home hardening, and mitigation work, with Wildfire Partners providing education and implementation, too. 

         Regarding evacuation plans, we need education – the Fire Chiefs need to train the firefighters and engage with the Fire Board to push the message out to the community.  Go to the Boulder Office of Emergency Management for updates during an emergency, and sign up for Alerts through Everbridge (the County reverse 9-1-1)   https://www.boulderoem.com

         As far as fast response and collaborative regional response, Boulder County is miles ahead of counties that border us.  Boulder County rocks, actually.

         Chris O’Brien added that we’re always working on intercollaborative cooperation.  BCFFA is central to this effort.

         Medical response is huge.  We all face the same things, we’re on our own until an ambulance gets here.  So we work together, practice skills – medical calls are somewhere around 60% to 80% of our calls.  Bret asked Rich Lopez what our expectation is responding to a cardio vascular incident – a realistic response time.  This generated a long discussion. Of course, it depends on where it is, and 20 minutes seems to be the hopeful answer – would be less if it’s close like on Main Street.  Then Bret added that countywide departments are looking at how much money to spend to decrease response times. 

         Questions: What kind of messages does the fire department want to send to the community?  For instance, if you dial 9-1-1, stay in place for certain emergencies – stay put.  But for some others, load and go? To get to definitive care?

         Back to the Exercise, what are our expectations of the Fire Board?  Some answers were: budget and financial management of funds, support the firefighters and Chief with equipment, education and training.  Coordinate with other departments to help provide coordinated response to emergencies, appoint the Chief, interact with the community,  coordinate with the community on long term planning for the department, support mitigation work.

         A question was asked of Bret re board elections in Fourmile.  He replied that they really haven’t had them.  If there are only enough candidates to fill the positions no election is needed and elections are expensive.  Single issue candidates can be a problem.  They had one who didn’t want the department to do mitigation work and spent 4 years taking up time even though outvoted by the rest of the board.  There are 2 kinds of board members – ones who just show up for 2 hours once a month, and those committed people who do lots of work.

         Bret asked Rich Lopez how he sees the board responsibilities.  Rich listed planning and supporting the goals and needs of the department, fiscal management, long term plans for equipment, etc.  He added that, now with the mill levy increase, the will have roughly 2 times as much money to improve our equipment, training, participating in the CWPP.

         Bear asked, now with the mill levy increase, are we more equal to other departments?  Bret pointed out that Gold Hill’s mill levy will now provide around $80,000 a year.  Fourmile’s is the largest mill levy in the County and provides $480,000.  Average home values are higher in Fourmile, so it’s not a direct comparison.  Indian Peaks has the largest square mile area in the County, but it’s mill levy provides only $20,000.  Left hand’s mill levy is 16, Fourmile’s is 24, and Gold Hill’s is now 16, but property values and areas are vastly different.

         Bret emphasized that you get the government you allow so be there and be engaged.  SOPs and SOGs are a collaboration between the Board and the Chief – enforcement is the Chief.  Our equipment is a big issue going forward.  A lot of it has deferred maintenance issues.  Why?  We’ve been a poor department operating on a shoestring and it’s now caught up with us.  So, decisions need to be made. One piece of equipment cannot roll – it’s not safe.  How much of our new money should go into new equipment and/or maintenance? Significant decisions need to be made.  Do we want a paid administration position for grant writing, record keeping, etc.?  We can pass a bond initiative, but that could cost every property owner some money.  He’s encouraged that this many people have showed up for this meeting, although this is a crisis response and we need to have long term involvement.

         The last question of the exercise is what services can we, as a community provide the district.  Fourmile built a $2.5 million Fire Station – the Community came together.  Ellie, their administrator, made a point of community involvement and organization.  We need to connect and utilize people with different skills and foster a symbiotic relationship between the community, the fire department, the board. What is our mission statement?

         Chris O’Brien pointed out that it’s great that we have the ability to welcome the community into the fire station and be together and have these conversations.

Bear added that the space we’re in was built to be the Community Center, but then the Fire Department’s needs expanded and they walled off some of the space and now it can’t function as fully as a community center.

         Bret added some more history.  When the subdivision was built, the town had huge concerns about how it would be part of Gold Hill.  The reality is that the fire district encompasses a lot of small communities outside the Gold Hill platted townsite.  What about Rowena?  Our challenge is to include the whole district.

         Marcus pointed out that the community and the fire department need to attract some good person to be the Chief, someone willing to take on the responsibilities and liabilities.  Bret said that guidelines need to be established and then we need to not step outside them. We already have many and need to fine tune them.  He stressed that the Gold Hill Fire Department is not broken, but that we need to move out of the last 5 years into the next 20.  We need to reevaluate and determine where we want to be tomorrow.

         Please send additional comments to Chief O’Brien at cjobrien_42@nullmsn.com

Bret added that he wanted to leave with the assurance that he has a lot of confidence in the GHFPD and community.  Both he and Chris O’Brien support having strong uphill neighbors.  And, we can all improve.

         Chris Dirolf added that we appreciate everyone coming together tonight.  We need transparency and everyone needs to show up and pull together for our collaboration to work well.

         Bret illustrated this with the story of the Chicago Fire.  Chicago burned down on that night because of the inability of the fire departments to work together – each separate department even used different threads on their hose set ups.  Early on the BCFFA came up with two fittings: 6” draft and 2 ½ “ feed – two standards for the County.  Now, we’re behind the departments on the flats and have more work to do.

Thank you all for coming

         Donal added that the fact that the district has Gold Hill and the Fire Department as a center is a great opportunity to further excellent community cooperation and utilize the opportunity for outreach.  He urged  volunteers to come in and we’ll train you to do what you can do to help – we can always harness that desire to be part of it.  Everyone doesn’t have to be a firefighter.

Respectfully Submitted, Gretchen Diefenderfer, Secretary, GHTM

Shape note singing on April 15. All Gold Hill residents and friends are invited to an afternoon of shape note singing at Paul Landskroener’s & Marybeth Neal’s home, 629 Dixon Rd on Saturday, April 15.

Singing will commence at 1 pm with a half hour of instruction, followed by singing until 4 pm, with a break for refreshments midway. 

Here’s a link to a seven-and-a-half minute summary of what Shape Note singing is all about, to give you an idea:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaLnG7vfVOc

We will sing from The Sacred Harp, the most popular shape note songbook, first published in 1844. Loaner books will be available. “Shape note” refers to the musical notation that uses four shapes to denote the tones in a scale. Shapes help new singers to more easily learn how to sight sing easily.

This is a participatory activity. No auditions, rehearsals, or performances are involved. Anyone who loves to sing is welcome. Instruction and support will be provided. Singers from the Boulder-Denver shape note community will join us and all Gold Hill residents are invited. 

Call Paul at 612-990-2248 for more information.

COVID protocols: Please do not come if you have a cough, fever, aches, or other COVID symptoms. If you are not vaccinated against COVID, or if you’ve spent time with a COVID-positive person within the last week (even if you are vaccinated), please take a home-based COVID test the morning of the event and come if it’s negative. We will sing outdoors if weather permits. We will not require anyone to wear a mask, but you are free to do so.

You’re Invited!  

GHTM Party With a Purpose

 

Dear Neighbors,

You love Gold Hill, right?  How do we keep Gold Hill the special place we know and love?  How can we make it even better?  This is where the Gold Hill Town Meeting (GHTM) comes in.  But what exactly is the Town Meeting?  (Spoiler alert- it’s so much more than a bi-monthly meeting.) What is this organization even doing?  What does this have to do with me?  These are the great questions we plan to answer at our GHTM Party With a Purpose Visioning Happy Hour.  Please join us for some drinks and snacks, as well as a presentation and discussion about who we are and where we’re going.  We hope to see you then!  Wednesday, April 19th, 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at the Maedke’s, 412 Boulder St.

 

 

Tap to RSVP to Gold Hill Town Meeting Party with a Purpose evite.me <evite_logo_square.png>

 

Best,

 

Chrissy

 

Christine Maedke
Gold Hill Town Meeting Treasurer

Columbia Give-Away Invite

Dear Neighbors and Friends,

On Sunday, April 2nd, The Gold Hill School will be hosting another of Jenna Balberg’s Columbia clothing give-aways.  As most of you know, Jenna is a sales rep for Columbia, and ends up with large amounts of samples that she is not allowed to sell.  Lucky for us, she is allowed to give it all away.  We have about 20-30 boxes of various sizes and styles of clothing and outerwear to pass on to the community.  We hope you can come between 10am-12 to collect some goodies.  Even if you’re stocked up, these make amazing presents.  

These clothing pieces are not for sale.  But we will have a donation jar set up to contribute to helping Jenna recover from her car accident.  Jenna has a long road ahead of her still, and we are her local family.  If you’re able to drop a few bucks in the jar, that would be appreciated.  

Here is a link to an evite page: http://evite.me/5WqwQ8wgMG

We look forward to seeing you then!

GOLD HILL TOWN MEETING, Inc. NEWSLETTER

Minutes of the February 13, 2023, Zoom Town Meeting

Next Town Meeting is Monday, April 10, 7:00 p.m.

The meeting was called to order by Chair Marcus Moench.  Marcus reiterated again that legally we are a 501(c)3, and the most important thing is to make sure everyone has a voice here.  Gretchen added that she wanted to clarify that we are more than just a 501(C)3.  We have been meeting since the mining days and only became incorporated in 1970 in order to own property – the Meadow, cemetery, and People’s Park.  We authorize many activities and have spoken for the community many times over the years.  We do have to be judicious about it.  When we were dealing with an issue like paving our roads, for instance, we had many meetings and sent out questionnaires, but we can and do represent the town. 

Twenty-seven people attended by Zoom: Marcus, Boyd Brown, Gretchen Diefenderfer, Whitey DeBroux, Liz Wiig, Chrissy and Dan Maedke, Pam Leland, Kris Hill, Val Crist, Leslie  Finn, Maya MacHamer of the Boulder Watershed Collective, Shivaun Finn, Amy Fortunato, Steffi Wilson, Marybeth Neal, Luke Finn, Heidi Kessler and Richard Roth, Erich Gundlach, Dana Hatleid, Virginia Schultz, Emily Rose, Deb Yeager, Terry Walter, Bret Gibson, Cat Price.  Please let me know if I’ve missed anyone.

Minutes of the December meeting were approved as published. 

Fire Mitigation: Gold Hill and the Wider Context.  Maya MacHamer of the Boulder Watershed Collective presented a Power Point outlining the big picture followed by what we’ve done up here and our goals for the future.  So much is happening in Wildfire Mitigation and planning.  The Federal Infrastructure Bill passed a couple of years ago and our Front Range was identified as a priority fire shed.  In 2022, $18 million was allocated to the National Forest Foundation for the Front Range.  Many groups can apply for funds including the Boulder Watershed Collective, City of Boulder, Boulder County, enabling us to implement large scale projects.  Wildfire Ready Watershed is a new program to help pre-plan for post wildfire impacts for communities, including flooding and other issues.

         Boulder County voters last November also passed 1A for approx. $9 million per year meaning a new focus on the entire county, east as well as west, urban communities and the mountains – big change – plus new innovative approaches can also help with matching funds required.

         The 4 department CWPP (Gold Hill, Sunshine, Sugarloaf, Lefthand) is close to completion.  The St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership with the Watershed Collective will help with planning, acquiring grants,  and implementing wildfire resilience projects.  Around Gold Hill, the Ashram and Ashley 104 acres mitigation projects are moving forward.  She knows some of the clearcutting can be jarring, but it’s science based and will help protect firefighters as well as decreasing the potential for a large wildfire close to town, plus increasing forest health and diversity. 

         Phase 2, 45 acres is in planning.  West of Gold Hill, 125 acres is in planning with Boulder Valley and Longmont Conservation District, and Colorado State Forest Service.  They have ½ the money needed and are looking for additional funding.  The goal is for these areas all to tie in with other areas – not piecemeal approach – to create a healthier landscape overall.

Other – The Gold Hill Mountain Stewards are working on structure protection education, and slash disposal in a wholistic approach.

         For the Ashley/Ashram project, it will provide a firebreak adjacent to town, protect the town and firefighters and increase forest health.  We’ve known overly dense forests around her and are now trying to create more open meadow-like areas – good for wildlife and over time will look more natural.

         Check the Boulder Watershed Collective website for more information 

https://www.boulderwatershedcollective.com

They are working to id. and include more smaller areas and would love to know people who would want mitigation work done and will continue to add them to the list.  They are very interactive with landowners to make sure they are involved with the design of the projects.  They do have to adhere to certain standards for the work to be effective – depends on slopes, homes involved, and the goals of the landowners.  The goals include good forest health as well as wildfire mitigation.

Erich asked Deb and Gretchen about our ridge.  Gretchen said they’ve worked on mitigation – low-limbed and thinned trees,  cleaned gutters, raked pine needles – there’s always more to be done and would love to be on the list to get more help.

Another question concerned the 1A tax money and how Gold Hill is affected.  The money is collected by Boulder County and the County Commissioners decide where it goes.  Many fire districts wanted to be represented on the advisory committee to develop the grant programs.  Marcus thinks Gold Hill is in a good position because of all the work we’ve done.  We are applying for a grant to replicate and expand last year’s work.

Gold Hill Fire Department – Whitey was asked for an update in light of recent Fire Department changes.  He reports that Chris Finn has retired as Fire Chief and they want to thank and honor him for all the time he’s dedicated.  There was a gathering at the Store to celebrate Chris, but they feel like the town should do something as well.  It’s now time for change, they are in a transition phase, and it’s hard for everyone – like grief –  we have to go through the stages.  Please be patient as we work through all this.  The Board has signed an MOU with Chris O’Brien, the Lefthand Chief, and Bret Gibson, Fourmile Chief  and those 2 chiefs will oversee and respond – back us up.  Our firefighters and fire department are committed. Whitey will remain as Assistant Chief and will all be working with Chiefs O’Brien and Gibson to inventory all our resources and formulate plans to move forward, to be good partners with our neighbors, to increase the participation of all our members, attract new ones and improve training.  They are working on the process to select a new chief, but for now they want to honor Chris.

         Bret asked for time in the future to see what the fire department and community thinks is achievable and desirable to help guide changes and improvements.  Marcus will call a meeting – knows many people are interested in mitigation work.

         Boyd has heard questions from people in this transition process wanting to know more about the Fire Board Operations.  They have elections every two years, including this year and want to encourage anyone interested to join the process. Self-nomination forms are available from our DEO (designated election official) Liz Wiig. More information will follow.  If no more people than those needed to fill the positions decide to run, the election can be cancelled.  The Board decides within itself who fills the various positions – Chair, Secretary, etc.

Emerging Issues – The Cash Mine has plans to re-activate it’s permit for milling on site.  There seems to be the potential for milling from nearby mines as well, and they are looking to get their water supply from Lefthand.  Hearings will be held.

ATV Usage, Particularly in the Switzerland Trail area – Boyd reported that an ATV rental place in Estes Park, because of the Estes Park regulations, suggests to people they can come here.  He suggested that we look at how Estes Park has limited usage and see how and what we can do – what is it that we support?

Shooting Issues – Marcus asked that people send an email and we’ll get someone to come and speak to the issue.  Boyd said that the shooting issue is similar to the ATV issue in that we need know the regulations and  how to get them enforced.  Work with the Sheriff’s Department?  Hunting is a separate issue – legal in hunting season, but target shooting, etc., is different.

Visioning – The Town Council has been considering how to get more people involved, build participation.  Chrissy added that we’re thinking about who we are and who we are not, studying the bylaws, particularly the section on purpose.  She is putting together a Powerpoint presentation.  The goal is to get the Council all on the same pate and then send it out.  She thinks it’s an important exercise and is a work in progress.

Land Acknowledgements – Marcus reports that we’ve been thinking about building on what the Museum did in their presentation on the Sand Creek Massacre and our prehistory before mining came to Colorado and find ways to incorporate indigenous areas in our stewardship.  Deb suggested we contact Rick Williams, who made the Museum presentation and he could come in again.  We could also make placards like those on our old historic structures about what the town was like beforehand. Chrissy suggested that we need to include the concepts of stewardship, collaboration, and education and she will put out suggestions and ideas.  Boyd suggested that we add Native American wording to it and that Rick Williams would be a good resource.  Emily Rose added that the Boulder Museum has lots of information about the Cheyenne, Utes, and Arapahoe who were all here and have worked with them,  as well as NARF at CU as a resource.

COMMITTEE REPORTS         AirLink – no report     Cemetery – no report

Community Planning and Fundraising – Dan reports that he has placed a small order for pint glasses.  Chrissy reports that the next event planned is a sledding party with lots of events – Addendum – postponed until further notice due to weather.

Gold Hill School – Chrissy reports that it’s been a nice couple of months.  It may be cold outside, but that’s no reason for us to slow down!

Right after our last meeting, we had a visit from Joanne Cole, Becky Martinek and Carol LaMela, who brought a ton of great art materials to the school, and spent the afternoon making holiday wreaths with the children!   The wreaths spent the week at the store, so many of you had a chance to see them adding to the holiday spirit at the store.  The kids were so proud to see their art on display.  And then that Saturday, many of you even bought one of the wreaths!  The school kids raised a little under $200 on this sweet project.  Special shout out to Santa-Larry for making the day so much fun!  And many, many thanks to Joanne, Becky and Carol.

 The next day we hosted the town’s holiday party.  What a fun evening of cookies, latkes, music and friends!  Thank you to everyone who came and brought cookies, and especially to the latkes chefs who put a lot of labor into those yummy treats!  Thank you as well to GHS Alumni, Haiden Davis for providing the evening’s entertainment.  The night was a lot of fun, and we look forward to doing it again next year!

As I’ve mentioned before, we secured a wonderful grant this year from SCFD- The Science and Cultural Facilities District.  We’ve had a few field trips sponsored by SCFD since the last meeting.  In December, we went to the Denver Center for Performing Arts (DCPA) to see Little Red, the musical and participate in an acting workshop.  In January, we were back to the DCPA to see the Colorado Symphony’s Drums of the World Youth Concert.  Then this last week, we went to the Arvada Center to see the play, Charlotte’s Web.  All of these field trips were paid for by this wonderful grant.

Also in January, we had a field trip to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.  The classes were studying space at the time, and we were able to go see the Apollo exhibit.  We also saw the ongoing space exhibit, the oceans exhibit, and caught a 3D oceans movie in the newly renovated infinity theater.  We also had another trip to CU.  There, we went to see the Boulder Philharmonic at Macky Auditorium.  They had a special student concert, where they looked at the science of sound.  They had a physicist onstage presenting alongside the orchestra.  The school is also in the middle of studying energy and waves, so this was a really fun curricular connection.  In the afternoon, we went to the Fiske Planetarium where we watched a great movie about Einstein and gravity, were treated to a private star tour and participated in a really fun laser workshop.  

We’ve been very busy in the classroom as well.  At the end of January, the 3-4-5 class finished their American History study by putting on a musical about the American Revolution.  I know those of you that made it to the show had a great time because the kids were fantastic!  Our new neighbor, Brenda Cobb has started volunteering at the school weekly, and that has been fun having someone around to witness our daily celebrations and shenanigans.  Thanks Brenda, for hanging out with us! 

At the end of this week, the students will get their scripts for the upcoming big, whole-school play!  The title of the play has not yet been announced- everyone will find out on Friday.  But, we have already begun preparing!  We’ve prepped the scripts, and we’ve begun pulling and ordering costumes.  This year we have a brand new stage!  We pooled our grant money from the Big Red F/Janos Wilder dinner at the Inn donation (We love you, Janos!), the Elevation movie donation, and from our Read-a-thon last year to purchase a new stage!  This is a big purchase for us that we’ve been saving for for years.  We can’t wait to open up the giant pile of boxes and put it all together!  The play will be at the Gold Hill School on Wednesday, March 22nd.  We’ll have both a morning and evening performance.  We hope you can make it!  If that date doesn’t work, maybe consider stopping in on Monday or Tuesday to catch a bit of our rehearsals!  

Next week we’ll have interviews for our new principal, as our current principal, Scott Boesel is retiring.  Candidates have begun coming by for tours.  There has been a lot of interest, as this principal has the distinct honor of being the principal for Flatirons Elementary, Jamestown Elementary and Gold Hill- which means they will be principal for a large swath of the mountain communities.  

Some of you have met our new school pets as they walk to and from school with Jojo and me everyday.  In the K-1-2 classroom we have a sweet hedgehog named Toast, and in the 345 classroom, we have an adorable house-rabbit- a velveteen lop named Coconut.  They’ve been wonderful additions to the school community.

If you know of anyone that may be interested in sending their kids to the Gold Hill School, please send them our contact information.  As always, we appreciate your interest and support!  

Warm Regards, 

Chrissy, Jojo, Eva & Dan Gold Hill School Staff 

The New School Play will be Wednesday, March 22

IMA – Marybeth Neal IMA Report to GHTM for January 2023

Last meeting of the IMA was January 19, 2023. 

Our GHTM chair, Marcus, gave a fantastic presentation and answered questions on mountain hydrology wrt to water well concerns across the mountains.  Since Marcus has talked about this here at home, no need to recap in our check-in.

Other news:  Boulder County Public Health, updated by our rep, Colleen Sinclair: 

After hearing about the Cash mine application in Marcus’ Gold  Hill check-in, our BCPH rep will recommend BCPH look into it from a public health perspective.

Also, BCPH is going to set up kiosks throughout the mountains where residents can self-test for covid. You get the result in 24 to 48 hours. I don’t know if it’s for other

things besides covid. Areas/towns can request a kiosk. Will send more info when it comes out.

Also–Avian Flu is very high in BoCo. Lyons especially. Do not touch any dead birds. BCPH will be coming out with directives on this.

Recreational/Sport Shooting in the Boulder County Mountains: Teagan gave the update.

She will be presenting to GHTM on this hopefully soon, so I won’t go into detail here.

In a nutshell: other Front Range counties are nearing completion on building their firing ranges, which will siphon forest shooters to those ranges; this will take and keep them out of the forests near where people live, keeping mountain residents safer.

Boulder County on the other hand, as of recently, has actually gone backwards on any shooting range. So those shooters elsewhere on the Front Range who don’t want to go to a shooting range but still want to free range in the woods — it would be logical for them to come here, where we live, as we are still a free-range county because

we are nowhere near having a shooting range. We already have too many free-range shooters right now as it is.

 It is the county commissioners’ responsibility to take the same steps as other FR counties to protect mountain residents and hikers.

The USFS has done their part. They will close 80,000 acres in BoCo to rec shooting once the county puts up a range to funnel shooters to. Teagan will explain further. 

The IMA has put this issue back on our radar (it was there in 2013) because we are back at Square One.

Mountain Town Community Socials:

Here’s what a couple of other towns are doing in terms of community socials for their residents (we are invited as well, as fellow mountain residents):

Nederland said goodby to Frozen Dead Guy Days with a touch of nostalgia and a sigh of relief. It had gotten up to 20,000 participants from elsewhere.   Got too big and overwhelmed the town. As you probably know, Estes Park bought the rights to the festival. They have bigger infrastructure to handle it.

Instead, now Ned is concentrating on events for residents (and friends, such as us in GH). They are calling them Nederdays–family friendly events like square dances and sledding. The first of these will be March 24-5

Jamestown is having town socials Friday evenings with pizza in one of their parks every Friday in the warm season and also brunch parties in the park with music on weekend mornings. There seems to be an uptick in community socials recently. We’ve never seen so many.

The IMA is also finally doing a social of our own, Thursday June 22, for old and new and prospective members.

The benefits of the IMA came in large part because we have knitted mountain communities together over the past decade by meeting in person, sharing the kind of discussion that can only happen in person, which has always led us to working well together on common needs, getting grants together, getting on the radar of county entities together. And snacking on banana bread together. Networking for the common good of mountain residents and the land we live in.  Our “motto” is “communities helping communities.”

We have lost this social component by going online during covid and some of our original members have aged out or now work during meeting times.

So we are going to have regular socials (albeit at long intervals) to revive this most important aspect.

If you are interested in mountain-wide issues as a resident or as a rep of a partner organization, join us.

It will be in Jamestown around the noon hour, outdoors in one of their beautiful parks June 22.

Mountain Stewards – Virginia reports that Marcus and Maya have worked on the latest grant.  We may need to do some fundraising to provide matching funds.  May 6 will be the Wildfire Mitigation Preparation Day – they’re looking at hardening more homes, education, getting more heat pumps installed in Gold Hill (6 last year). If you’re interested, please get in contact (Virginia.Schultz@nullColorado.EDU ).  They are meeting with the County and have connected with DOLA.  Still working on the EV charging station.  Should hear in April on the Boulder County Solar Bulk Buy.  The AIM Grant application is due in March.  Addendum: Our concept paper was accepted and we’ve been invited to submit a formal grant due in April.

Museum – Deb reports that there’s lots going on.  They have new board members, are updating the website, applying for grants to update the structure along with other needs.  The Community Outreach this year will focus on the recent anniversaries: the Gold Hill Inn, the Ranch, the School, the Museum and more.  Their hours are changing to Saturdays and Sundays from 12 to 5. 

SafeLink – Deb wants to remind everyone that the Tuffshed behind the Firebarn is the SafeLink supply shed and includes a freezer, fridge, heat lamps, emergency equipment and supplies, medical supplies and pet supplies.

NeighborLink – Deb continues to put together and get Welcome Buckets to new people.  They include information on town functions, etc.  She will connect with Dina about AirLink.  Our NeighborLink network continues to be alive.

Treasurer’s Report – Chrissy reports

Chrissy requests input on what we want in these reports.  She has set up three accounts: General, Grants, and Savings.  The bigger question is what do we intend to do with our funds.  Presently all our funds are allocated to pay our anticipated bills of approx. $2,000 this year, without projecting any income.  She would like to raise money for Cemetery headstones, we need matching money for many grants, and we can’t buy merchandise right now without going into budgeted funds.  She would also like to support the Community outside the Relief Fund (which is designated basically for emergencies) with ideas like haircuts, a town pantry, helping people plow out cars and driveways (specifically our elder populations).  She would like to see something like Health and Human Services as a new line item.

         She has submitted the forms to get us a tax exempt license and will be submitting our annual report to the state.

         Questions: Who are we and what are our goals and where is the money to support our goals?  She has done the paperwork to get our little property on Pine Street and Lickskillet included in our tax exempt properties. 

         Marcus pointed that we have quite a lot of things to raise funds for.  If people have ideas or priorities, please let us know. We have operational filing fees, etc., each year.  Anyone who would like to donate money, would be very much appreciated.

Town Clean-up – Gretchen is looking at the town clean-up for this year.  Chrissy asked if we need money up front to do that, but Gretchen replied that usually we have collected enough in donations and fees charged to pay for it.  Marcus moved that we have the Spring Town Clean-up, Erich seconded and the motion passed.  In response to Chrissy’s concern about any money needed, Gretchen and Marcus offered to cover expenses if they do not get covered.

Museum Signs – Deb expressed interest in having small signs attached to our Historic Gold Hill signs at each end of town regarding when the Museum is open and the hours.  Gretchen pointed out that the Gold Hill Club put up the signs originally.  Kate will do them, so they will be beautiful.

CSA – Liz Wiig will send out an announcement about this year’s CSA

    Respectfully submitted, Gretchen Diefenderfer, Secretary

CALLING ALL GOLD HILL ARTISTS!  The museum is needing some new art for the summertime!

This summer we are focusing on the great history of so many different venues in Gold Hill:  The school, the Inn, the Ranch, the Red Store, the Museum, the Yellow House on Main Street and possibly a few others.  We need some great new art for a t shirt.

Please create the art that you’d like to share with us by April 30^th so that we can present it to our guests for the summertime.  The winner will receive a free t shirt for their effort and bragging rights.  Stefi Wilson won the contest with the block print shirt that says GOLD HILL with pictures of items around Gold Hill.  A member of the summer crew at the Ranch won for the great image of the pick and ax that is on the pint glasses.  Be creative and go for it.  We’re so excited to see what you can create and if the image lends itself to more than a t shirt, you never know where your great design might land (the museum has the right to print your art on different items).  If we print on more than the t shirt, you will also receive an item of each that we create.

Please return all art by April 30^th , 2023, to deb@nullmountainvisions.net (Debra Yeager) and the Board will vote on the best design.  The designs will be anonymous to the Board so everyone will get a fair chance.

Thanks for your effort and for sharing your great talent.  We are excited to see what you create!

Notes on the GH Fire Board Meeting 2-21-23 by Gretchen Diefenderfer

Joint Meeting of Fire Department, and the Community regarding the MOU with Chiefs Gibson and O’Brien Monday, March 20, 7:00 p.m. at the Firebarn and by Zoom

President of the Board, Rich Lopez, called the meeting to order.  Present were board members Jessica Brookhart, Boyd Brown, Kent Coghill and Chris Dirolf as well as community members Max Yeager, Steffi Wilson, Gretchen Diefenderfer, Virginia Schultz, Liz Wiig, and Kris Gibson, and Assistant GH Chief Whitey DeBroux.  Maya MacHamer of the Boulder Watershed Alliance Zoomed in and Chiefs Bret Gibson and Chris O’Brien, our Acting Chiefs presently, were also in attendance.

Minutes of the January meeting were approved.

Assistant Chief’s Report – Calls: Whitey reported that we had 2 calls in February.  The first, on 2-4, was above Jamestown and we were called off, and on 2-20 there was a downed phone line in Gold Hill, which caused no damage.  He thinks we need to get a direct contact person with the phone company.

         Trainings: We had a good turnout for CPR training – 14 GH people turned out.  Truck trainings continue.  Our three latest recruits are Marcus Moench, Austin Miller and Dave Foley.  Austin has volunteered to take over the FD calendar.  Chris Dirolf reports that he wants us to purchase new software (called “I Am Responding”) that will improve our planning and communications – Chief O’Brien likes it, too.  Should be very user friendly.  Kurt made a motion that we approve spending $600 for the year or $1000 for three years.  Motion passed unanimously.

         Trucks and Maintenance: Whitey would like to remove 2 trucks – the F150 pickup and the late 70 brush truck (along an identical spare parts only truck) – possibly donate them.  He and Kris Gibson took it out for a spin and it broke down twice.  Bret suggested that it would be good to bring a mechanic up to look at all the trucks as part of a general inventory and develop a process to get rid of trucks and any other equipment.

Election – Rich introduced Liz Wiig, who has agreed to serve as the DEO (Designated Election Official), and suggested she can consult the FD attorney, John Chiml (sp?)with any questions.  This needs a formal resolution to make this legal. Jess moved to appoint Liz and, at Chief O’Brien’s suggestion, also give her the authority to cancel the election if there are not enough candidates to require an election.  The motion passed unanimously.  Chief Gibson also gave her the name of the Fourmile Board Secretary, who has been DEO for them. Self-nomination forms are due Friday and the form to be a write-in candidate (which needs to be notarized) is due by the 28.  All 5 positions are up for election.  Voters have to be registered voters and either property owners or residents of the district. 

Four District CWPP – Chris Dirolf reported that Paul Dennison is reviewing the draft and meeting with representatives of the districts and is close to completing the document.  It looks great and it seems every other district now wants to borrow the format.

UTV – Chris reports that Jay Jones, the UTV training guy, is working to get the out the official cards for trained operators.

Budget – Jess reports that they were $7,000 in the red last year as far as budgeted expenditures (they do have the money), so it’s very good that we passed the mill levy increase.

Grants – Maya and Marcus reported on the draft for the AIM Grant.  She’s met with Marcus and Virginia.  The goal is to work on the middle area between the forest and the houses including community land.  They’ve talked about possibly grazing goats in the town meadow.  Also, more house hardening like Teens, Inc. worked on last year – gravel around the perimeters, weed whacking, etc. – asking for $75,000 (spent $6,000 for labor last year plus $3,500 for materials – gravel, etc.).  The concept paper is due Friday.  They’ve been looking at priorities – want to do the May 6 Wildfire Day like last year – food and dumpsters, education as well as the home hardening were a big success.  Virginia added that they still need to get rid of all this cut wood (fuel) still in the forest.  After submitting the concept paper, if invited, they will submit the actual grant application.  Email Maya (maya@nullboulderwatershedcollective.org) or Virginia (Virginia.Schultz@nullColorado.EDU) with suggestions.

         Kris G. supported the same priorities as last year and wanted to add the Cemetery dead wood to be mitigated.

         They worked on 6 homes last year and hope to double that this year.  Max suggested buying materials in bulk to save money.  The suggestion was also

made for the homeowners who can to help purchase the materials so the money could go farther.  Maya thanked Max for all his work moving the materials, gravel, etc.

         Teens, Inc. (part of Conservation Youth Corps) brought 15 kids, and they use some of their own funds, etc. furthering their goal of developing leadership skills.

         Another suggestion is to update the mapping of all cisterns in the district, inside as well as outside.

         Maya added that this grant comes up 2-3 times a year and asked if the GHFPD will be a partner.  The Board all agreed.

State Grant – Kris G reported that they have applied for an additional state grant for 5 more sets of bunker gear – got 5 in November.

Joint Grant with 9 districts – Jess signed the grant applying for new radios and got reimbursement for hose purchases that Chris Finn applied for.

Joint Meeting of Fire Department, and the Community regarding the MOU with Chiefs Gibson and O’Brien – Rich and Marcus agreed on having at least one joint meeting and will work out a time and place – Addendum – the first meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 20, 7:00 p.m. at the Firebarn and by Zoom.  Suggestions were also made to meet in Lefthand/Rowena.  The main objective of the meeting is to see what people think about where we are, where we want to be, and where we can get to. 

UTV Site behind the barn – Max reported that the trees have been cut and removed by Dustin Geesaman (and thank you to Dustin).  They want the biggest shed they can fit in there – hopefully 14 x 16’  The ground is cleared, propane line is dealt with,  and ready to go ahead for spring.

New Chief – Steffi asked the board to talk about how they are looking for a new fire chief.  Kent replied that they are hearing from firefighters, former Chiefs and will put out to the community regarding a part-time paid position for a year to start. Looking at figuring out what we need and don’t need.  Would be open to someone out of district – capabilities, maximun response times, people skills are vital and the new software will help.

         Bret added that when he became chief, Margaret was done and practically any warm body would do, but they were in a good position in Boulder County regarding available training and mutual aid and he knew he could rely on the people beneath him.  This position requires a coordinator/leader and will have all the local agencies to help – there is a lot of mutual respect and understanding out there.  Kent added that we want to mirror procedures and operational SOPs of our neighboring departments.  We’re in a building state right now to improve the department and serve the community.

Gold Hill Mill – Virginia asked what’s known about the new permit application – do they have actual water rights and so on?  The comment period is almost over.  Bret expressed concerns about the water use and then putting it back where?  They can’t just discharge it back into Lefthand – need some good water treatment.  Chris O’Brien reported that the Bruno Mine above Jamestown has failed. 

Our Department – Val, regarding our looking for new talent, stated that she wanted to point out we have more talent here than the community actually knows to stand up and respond.  Boyd reported that there is a lot of misinformation out there and asked people to please double check and not put out totally wrong information.  We need to pull together for the good of the department and the community.

Reported by Gretchen Diefenderfer

GOLD HILL FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT

March 21, 2023

7:00 PM

IN PERSON MEETING IN THE FIRE BARN 

FOR THOSE WHO CAN’T ATTEND A ZOOM LINK

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86372563061?pwd=dVlwN0lPNlU1TmV2RjMxWG9BTjNPZz09

Meeting ID: 863 7256 3061
Passcode: 169399

CALL TO ORDER

ATTENDANCE

APPROVAL OF MINUTES 

FIRE CHIEF’S MINUTES          Chief Gibson, Chief O’Brien  and Assistant Chief DeBroux

CALLS:   

Type of call

Initial response

Number of volunteers who arrived.

Who took command and transfer (if any)?

Equipment used.

Other Departments who arrived.

Lessons learned.

TRAINING: 

                      Training team members

                     Past training:  

                      Upcoming training

         New volunteers

MAINTENANCE: 
         Vehicles   

                     Equipment

EQUIPMENT: 

                     Inventory

                     Condition

OTHER BUSINESS

JOINT MEETING: Town Meeting and FPD 

FIRE CHIEF: Job Description discussion

         GRANTS:  DFPC  Kris Gibson

         ELECTIONS:  Liz Wiig, Boyd

CASH MINE:  Residents of Rowena, Gold Hill FPD, Town Meeting and Fourmile FPD letters covering a wide range of concerns.

          MITITGATION: 

Four-District CWPP:  Chris D.

GOLD HILL FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT AND GOLD HILL TOWN MEETING

JOINT MEETING 

Monday March 20, 2023

7:00 PM

In Person at the Fire Barn

We are hosting a joint meeting to provide a brief overview of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Gold Hill FPD, Chief O’Brien, Chief Gibson and Assistant Chief Whitey DeBroux.  The purpose is for the Chiefs, Fire Board and GHTM to learn what the town desires for the future and to communicate the nature and roles of the new leadership.  The MOU is in effect for one year.  Operationally, the department has made no changes so far.  The GH Fire Board will be preparing a job description for a part time position to help lead the department.  There should be ample time for questions and discussion. 

We hope this will be a lively meeting with lots of chance to discuss the role the GHFPD is currently playing and the additional steps it might take to address existing and emerging fire and other emergency response needs.  

For those of you who can’t join in person, we’re providing the zoom link below – but please join in person if you can!! 

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Join Zoom Meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/2644805716?pwd=Ny9rUW83eWRSeVBpeXdzL3Iz

M29Wdz09  Meeting ID: 264 480 5716

Passcode: GHTM

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From: ima-local@nullgooglegroups.com <ima-local@nullgooglegroups.com> On Behalf Of Baumhover, Dawn
Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2023 3:05 PM
To: ‘ima-local@nullgooglegroups.com‘ <ima-local@nullgooglegroups.com>
Cc: Abendroth, Kurt <kurta@nullnederlandco.org>
Subject: [ima-local] Ride the Rockies

Stage 6

• Friday, June 16
• Gilpin County  (Black Hawk and Central City) to Ft. Collins – 91 miles
• Elevation Gain: +5,285′

Although it seems daunting, this 91 mile ride back to the host venue in Ft. Collins has a good deal of climbing (6,000’) in the first 35 miles, then… pretty much all downhill from there. Following Colorado’s oldest scenic byway, the Peak to Peak highway was established in 1918 and is worth the ride! At roughly mile 35 of the route, cyclists will drop down the freshly paved St. Vrain canyon to the town of Lyons where riders can stop in and refill before making the last 35 miles into Ft. Collins and the celebration of the 350 mile 31,600’ 2023 Ride the Rockies

Now that you know the route, checkout the following pages for more information.

Registration

FAQ Page

Accommodations

Dawn Baumhover

Community Center Manager

dawnb@nullnederlandco.org

W 303.258.9721 x3010

C 303.810.1125

Under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA), all messages sent by or to me on this town-owned e-mail account may be subject to public disclosure.

Dear Families and Friends,

On Wednesday, March 22nd, the Gold Hill School students will be performing an original musical play titled, Gentlemen of Fortune: A Pirate’s Story.  This musical comedy based on the classic, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, is sure to delight.  We will have two performances at the Gold Hill School next Wednesday, March 22nd.  The morning performance will begin promptly at 10am (doors open at 9:30), and the evening performance will begin at 6:30pm, (doors open at 6:00).  Run time for the show is about 2 hours.  There will be a reception following the 6:30 show.  The evening performance is typically a full house, so if you’re weary of crowds, you may want to consider attending the morning performance.  This is not a ticketed event.  The seats are first come, first serve.  We look forward to having you there to cheer on our little performers. 

The Gold Hill School Staff

GoF Flyer 2023

Christine Maedke

3-4-5 Teacher

Boulder Valley School District

Gold Hill School

890 Main St.

Boulder, CO 80302

School: 720-561-5940

Classroom: 720-561-6015

Personal Cell: 303-668-6809

Pronouns: She, her, hers