Posted on: January 13th, 2020

GOLD HILL TOWN MEETING NEWSLETTER

Minutes of the unofficial December 9, 2019, Town Meeting

Next Town Meeting will be Monday, February 10, 2020, 7:00 P.M. at the Community Center

 This was an unofficial town meeting as we did not have a quorum of town council members present, which means no votes can be taken. A quorum is three and, in fact, we only had one, Secretary Gretchen Diefenderfer.  Gretchen called the meeting to order.  There were six members present: Dina and Mark Elder, Bob Walter, Gretchen, Tony Vrba, and Virginia Schultz.

Minutes – There were no additions or corrections to the minutes from the October 14^th meeting.

 Treasurer’s Report – Gretchen read Martha Knapp’s report:

At the previous regular Town Meeting in October 2019 our bank balance was $11,147.78.

Our current total cash assets are $13,512.13.

Revenue Summary:  Gold Rush net revenue: $1040.35; pint glass sales: $96; t-shirt sales: $1256.

Expense Summary: Bank fee for returned checks $28.

Fund transfers: none

Current fund totals: General Fund $2378.54; Cemetery $6,339.85; Safe Link (combined funds for SafeSite, AirLink, 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 $868.00 for insurance, office supplies, property taxes, filing fees, bank fees, porta-potty maintenance.

Dina suggested that the SafeLink Fund be renamed the Sustainability Fund.

Committee Reports

Mountain Stewards – Climate/Sustainability Update – Dina reports that they have been working with Susie at Boulder County and with their backing we got a DOLA Grant for $65,000 to work on a plan for renewable energy for the town.  They have sent out a request for people with relevant experience to be on the technical advisory board.  Eight people so far have come forward including Paul Melamed from west of town who had the first wind generator up here.

DOLA requires the County to put out RFPs (requests for proposals), so they have chatted with Seth Portner, the guy who helped GH study our climate change options and approaches.  They got him to apply to be the General Contractor.  We had asked for people with specific small town experience and to date 12-18 people have signed up on the website for RFPs.  Here is the link to the RFP on the County website   https://www.bouldercounty.org/government/bids-and-purchasing/bid-opportunities/

Forestry and Forest Management – Virginia reports that they are working on a second grant application for $200,000 for major mitigation work.  We got $4200 from the Sunset Trail Running Festival this summer.  This race was organized by the Fourmile Watershed people for the 4 Fire Departments affected by the Fourmile Fire and they tagged us this year for the profits since the race was centered in Gold Hill.  We expect to use these funds to tie into the 2019 CAFA Mitigation Project (involves the Ashram and the Ashley property) with adjacent GH properties.  Chad with NRCS is working on plans for the mitigation work.  We will have to come up with matching funds.  We have the Fourmile Team, the NRCS, and Team Rubicon (a volunteer organization that does mitigation work) involved and Maya from the Fourmile Watershed is working on the grant application.

Virginia also reported that Joe Grant, the organizer of the Sunset Trail Running Festival, received a very nice letter from K.C.Becker, Speaker of the Colorado House, thanking him for his leadership in bringing awareness to climate change in addition to raising money for local fire departments and the Fourmile Watershed Coalition.

They were looking for letters of support for the grant application, but since this is not an official town meeting and no votes can be taken, the Mountain Stewards/Sustainability Committees will write letters and will pledge $600 from their allocated funds toward the project.  The focus will be north and west of Gold Hill.  We won’t know until June about the grant. 

 Gold Hill School – Gretchen read Dan Maedke’s email report:

– The fundraiser put on by Janos Wilder and Dave Query and the Big F Restaurant raised $10,000.

– The Fall Fiesta was a massive success as well, raising $13,000.  The school could not continue to operate with the overwhelming support of the community. Thank you just doesn’t say enough.

– The Winter Holiday program will be December 19^th at 6 pm.

– The school has taken on the adventure of trying to grow vegetables in the greenhouse over the winter.

 Community Planning/Fundraising – Dan also attached the following regarding the proposed fall bike race.

“I am writing to give you a little more information and details about the Gold Rush Bike race that is coming to town next September.  I have been in contact with Josh the organizer and will relay what we know so far.  Josh has submitted the paperwork in order to receive all the permits necessary to hold an event September 2020.  His goal is to hold a bike race with a few different courses that will bring guests into town for the day.  Josh has students at the school and was very helpful in my planning of this year’s Gold Rush community fundraiser.  He has grown fond of Gold Hill and is hoping to show people the amazing and unique atmosphere Gold Hill has. From the beginning Josh has talked about how to make this a community event and how to give money back to the community.  When planning an event he tries to give a percentage of any profits to a non-profit in the community.  This would mean that a non-profit would apply for a temporary liquor license, and then would receive a percentage of all profits.  This has not been determined yet and could include Gold Hill Town Meeting or another non-profit.  Monies could then go toward a cause such as fire mitigation.  This is something that could be an easy way for the Town Meeting to fundraise.  I think the town meeting has found themselves in a rut when talking about fundraising.  I think there is more we could be doing for the community without a whole lot more work.  There is always a sort of ‘town politics’ that occurs whenever anything changes.  This seems to be the largest area of hesitation toward this event.  I am afraid people will start to see Gold Hill as unwelcoming if we fight every event that comes through our community.  There will be more events, that is inevitable as long as guests continue to fall in love with our community. We need to figure out an appropriate way to handle these.  For this particular event, I had talked to Josh about the GHTM being the non-profit. If that were to be the case, we could easily quadruple our fundraising with this one event.  I understand that it could be an inconvenience to the community, but I would argue that it is worth it.  Josh would be working with the Gold Hill Store and Pub to make this event happen.  At this point it appears the Colorado Mountain Ranch and the Gold Hill Inn are not participating in the event because of the politics and such.  When Josh goes through Boulder County and other channels to obtain permits it means an event will be happening whether we want to support it or not.  I feel it would be beneficial to support it.  If we do not want to be the non-profit in order to avoid further angering the community, then we should at least set up a booth and sell food and merchandise.  There will be much more information to come as the event unfolds over the next year.  I would like people to feel comfortable reaching out and asking questions. Details of the event are not set in stone, this is the time to voice concerns.”

This generated some discussion with Bob and Gretchen noting that in the past Gold Hill really didn’t want any publicity or to attract more attention. In fact, there was a rule that no one would advertise any business or activity in Gold Hill, and a small group used to routinely take town road signs to Gold Hill on the Peak to Peak and Boulder Canyon.   So, we do need to find out what the community thinks.

Museum – Gretchen reports that the Museum has almost finished a shed that will house a composting toilet that was donated to us.  Also, there are lots of 2020 calendars left.  They are available at the GH Store, the Inn, and from Marie Brookhart.

Cemetery – Bob reports that Maggie Simms is the Chair, along with David Brigham, and Bob is a consultant.  Chellee Courtney is also on the committee.

Bob also wanted to report that he is working with the County on two projects.  #1. There is a Hill Street road easement through Maggie and David’s driveway on down to Bob’s property platted on the old town map.  They are asking the County to vacate this below Maggie and David’s.  This easement will then go half and half to the town meadow and to Bob on the other side.

#2. He would like to combine into one lot Lots 1 and 2 (Bob’s house) and 3 and 4 (the corner, grey house).  This will simplify his property and access as well as eliminating the option for a second dwelling.  The Grey House is unused and he may turn it into a shed or workshop.

Respectfully submitted, Gretchen Diefenderfer, Secretary