Posted on: February 23rd, 2020

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GOLD HILL TOWN MEETING NEWSLETTER

Minutes of the February 10, 2020, Town Meeting

Next Town Meeting will be Monday, April 13, 2020, 7:00 p.m. at the Community Center

The meeting was called to order by Chair Marielle Sidell.  Attendees: Mari Sidell, Vice Chair Emma Salmon, Marcus Moench, Treasurer Martha Knapp, Member-at-Large Dan Maedke, Cat Russel, Virginia Shultz

Minutes: There were no additions or corrections to the minutes from the December 9^th meeting.

Treasurer’s Report – Martha reports – At the previous regular Town Meeting in December 2019 our bank balance was $13,512.13.  Our current total cash assets are $12,925.60.

Revenue Summary:  None

Expense Summary: Insurance $297; website work $166.25; postage $55.00; property taxes $68.28.

Fund transfers: none

Current fund totals:                                                                                                  

General Fund $1792.01; Cemetery $6,339.85; Safe Link (combined funds for SafeSite, Airink, NeighborLink projects) $2,466.79; Community Planning/Fundraising $0 (zero;) Forest Management $0 (zero;) Community Relief $2,326.95.

Anticipated operational expenses for 2020: General Fund $410.00 for filing fees, bank fees, porta-potty maintenance and $800 town cleanup dumpsters.

Conversation around the Community Relief Fund – Consensus to remind community members that it is there if needed. See attached relief fund at end of minutes

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Mountain Stewards – Climate/Sustainability Update: Marcus and Virginia gave an update on the kickoff at the Gold Hill School where there were roughly 35 attendees. They mentioned that the County Commissioner, Matt Jones, was in attendance. It was reported that it would take roughly 6 months to a year of planning to come up with the potential plan for a solar microgrid battery and what types of other things would be helpful to have. The grant they are applying for is a design grant to tee up for potential resources for next year. The project will potentially help to increase low carbon energy and secure power for communication, water pumping, and more. It will help in times of critical need when the power is out due to fire, flood, high winds, etc. The area of study is the Gold Hill Fire Protection District. Note: Mountain Stewards meet every 3^rd Monday of the month and this is discussed further there – public  welcome. There is also a series of informal meetings. The next meeting is Monday, Feb. 24 at 6 pm. at 601 Gold Run Road, Gold Hill – behind the GH Store – Marcus and Elisabeth’s.

There is a website to read and post conversation (Image attached). The public can create a login and password and begin posting. Virginia mentioned that there will be a design charette in May to discuss logistics. More info: www.resilient goldhill.com

Declaring a Climate Emergency: Cat discussed the idea to declare a climate emergency. She did one talk already and will be speaking again on March 1^st at Wild Bear in Nederland for people who want a second chance to converse. The event will be from 1-4, with the first half being a presentation of slides and information about the current impactions and future predictions. The second half will give people the chance to create climate action maps (one page graphics to organize steps to take toward reducing carbon footprint and increasing resilience). The idea is to take steps to lower the carbon imprint and show that our community is aware of the issue and express the desire to take responsibility. Martha asked for examples of other declarations to review as part of the agenda for the net town meeting for us to vote or modify to our town. Marcus mentioned that on April 26 he, Megan Melamed, and Pam Sherman are leading another session – more info to follow.

CSA: We will be using Black Cat Farm again. Interested parties should talk to Debra Yeager for ¼, ½, or full share. Money is due by the 27^th for early pricing. There is lots of variety – sometimes lots of one thing, but we have some choices each week.

Community Resilience/Association for Aging/County Resources: Martha wants to remind the community that it is not just for aging, but people in need and the organization visits the store each month. It would be great to post on Nextdoor and in the Newsletter. This brought up the topic of Town Meeting signs. Dan has them and will start putting them up again.

Forestry: Virginia reported that the grant that Maya worked on with the State Forest Service has had some changes made – additions and corrections, but it won’t be out until June.

Gold Hill School: Dan reported that the students are in their second week of the ski program, changed to Mondays. The annual school play will be in March (Dan will report back with date).

Museum: No messages from museum, but Martha reported on the progress of the shed and said it is almost complete. There was another donation for a display case from the store and Marcus mentioned that he is donating his 1923 truck. This will likely happen in the spring.

Community Planning and Fundraising: Dan didn’t have anything for Gold Hill specifically, but wanted to revisit the Gold Rush Bike Rally coming to Gold Hill in September. Josh Kravitz wanted assistance in applying for a land permit to run the race through, but the deadline is too close, so we won’t be able to help. There are other permits he still would like assistance with, including the liquor license. There was discussion around liability of being responsible for the liquor license and the philosophical view of a non-profit assisting with a for-profit organization. The consensus is for Josh to write a formal proposal outlining the agreement with the town, what his role is, what our role is, and how we each benefit from this arrangement. A special meeting will be called before the April town meeting to dedicate a full meeting to this cause and to make sure we can provide an answer in a timely manner. It was noted that Josh puts on many events including Old Man Winter and his goal is to get the community involved with his events for their benefit wherever possible. The special meeting will be advertised on the town meeting email list and on the website (goldhilltown.com) along with Josh’s proposal so that the public can give their input.

Cemetery: No updates.                          Safelink/Neighborlink/Airlink: No updates.

IMA: No updates.                                  Weeds:  No updates.

Historical Zoning: Marcus reported that 1101 Pine Street has a revised proposal for plans. This will be addressed when Bear is back in town, likely after the 29^th. The new proposal is a significant enlargement of the prior plan. There were questions about how this information is communicated to the town (Nextdoor, flyers, posted in the store, etc).

 Community Center: Mari proposed that we find a building that needs repair and go through the historical review process. The community center would be useful as a remote work center, solar power production area, etc. Cat mentioned the idea of using the greenhouse for sale on Dixon Rd as a community center. Martha made a motion to start the committee and moved that we form a community center committee to review the possibility of using existing structures in the Gold Hill area for renovation as a community center. Mari seconded the motion and all were in favor. Virginia offered to pass along the wish list from prior meetings. Marcus, Cat, and Mari all volunteered to be on the committee, so they can be contacted for more information or if others want to help out and be involved.

Mining: Mari reported that a permit was approved for the mill at top of Horsfall. The permit was approved, but had a contingency that no one quite knew, but might be about pumping water from Lefthand creek.   Addendum: For information from the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety on the status of permits for the Colorado Milling Company LLC, go to  https://dnrweblink.state.co.us/drms/search.aspx?cr=1   put in M1994117 under permit number, and select the dates you want to know about.  It definitely requires some detective work.  There are years of filings there.

Fire Department: Marcus said that the election for fire board members is coming up. Addendum: Gretchen reports that she has been appointed the Designated Election Official (DEO) for the election, which is scheduled for May 5 when three members of the board are up for re-election for three-year terms: Bobby Vrba, Jessica Brookhart, and Boyd Brown.  Self-Nomination forms are due by Feb.28, and anyone wanting to submit a write-in candidate form must get it to me by March 2.  If there are no more candidates than positions open, the election can be canceled on March 3, provided there are no further issues on the ballot.

The Fire Board Meetings are the third Thursday of each month, 7 pm at the Community Center

Notes by Emma Salmon, acting Secretary, addendums from Gretchen Diefenderfer, Secretary