Posted on: November 25th, 2012

GOLD HILL TOWN MEETING NEWSLETTER

Minutes of the October 8th, 2012, Town Meeting

 

Next Town Meeting is Monday, December 10th, 2012, 7:30 p.m. at the Community Center.  

Amy Hardy, Chair, called the meeting to order.  Eleven people were present: Bear Carlson, Cherry & John Sand, Michael Albes, Marilyn Soby, Steven Barnard, Debra Yeager, Gretchen Diefenderfer, Amy Hardy, Johathan Porter, and Bobby Vrba.

Minutes were approved as read.

Treasurer’s Report – In Adriana’s absence, Amy read the Treasurer’s report (full report is always accessible on the website https://goldhilltown.com/ under Community Finances).  Our account total is $20,332.85. General Fund                          2,509.95            Community Planning                 82.00 Fire Fund                        13,331.03            Cemetery Fund            3,595.21 Forest Mgmt                               75.22            Weed Mgmt                           526.70 Historical Zoning                    11.23            Trails                                         31.29 Safe Site                              170.22   Given the money in the cemetery fund, Marilyn brought up the need for repainting the Cemetery Annex sign.  John would also like to see the old sign replaced and reported that Leub Popoff made the signs for Gold Hill at each end of town.  Gretchen said that we have good pictures of the old sign so that we should be able to reproduce it pretty accurately.  Gretchen moved that we replace the old sign and repaint the Annex sign, which passed unanimously.  Gretchen will talk to Bob Walter, Chair of the Cemetery Committee.

Community Planning –no report.

Historical Zoning – Cherry reported that they had a brief meeting just before this town meeting.  Larry Worster has replaced their upstairs windows.  The stop work order has been lifted on the Brookhart’s little cabin and they are working on the modifications approved by the County.  The main issue for the meeting was the need for a new board member.  Michele Bar-Evan applied and was approved.  She has some good experience working with the County and HZ on her cabin renovations.  Present board members are: Steve Barnard, Bear Carlson, Richard Oxley, Cherry, and Michele.  Cherry would also like to resign since she will be gone to Arizona for much of the winter, but will stay on until a 5^th member is found. The committee conducts most of its business by email. Marilyn wondered why Larry’s windows would even need approval.  Cherry reported that Denise Grimm from the County says that even replacing a broken window would require approval. Amy has suggested that they write a vision statement in order to be more proactive and the committee thinks this is a good idea.

Forest Management & CWPP – Amy read Kris Gibson’s report: To follow up on the lands south of Hill/High Street, Susan Fernalld, Barry Bennett (Fire Mitigation) and I walked the patch cuts made in the Gold Hill South Fuels Mitigation Project.  Our assessment was that the town property does not have enough down scatter to warrant using town fire funds to clean up.  Property owners in the area have, to varying degrees, mitigated their land over the years, which obviously add to the health and safety of the forest near the town.             FYI, Hugh Moore did tell me that he plans on removing downed/black tree logs that he cut on town and Schmidt’s property at some point in the near future.             October is Healthy Forest Initiative and Wildfire Awareness Month.  Please go to Ryan Ludlow’s website and sign up for the Wildfire Mitigation Challenge.  We can win recognition as the Fire District with the most residents doing so.  

Fire Department – FEMA-AFG – Thanks to Bear Carlson and his work on this grant with Kris Gibson (Assistance to Firefighters Grant) for $87,000.  The Fire Department had to commit to paying 5% of the overall grant request.  The 5% will come out of the budget.  Next steps: research specific SCBA features and purchase 13 sets.  We will be considering other neighboring district equipment in making this decision. John asked what the policy is on removing slash.  Apparently, it depends – more is chipped now and it can also be taken to the sort yards. Bear reported that Ted Stevens educated him and Kris on the ins and outs of writing this grant and how to write the narrative and they resubmitted their application from last year (which was not approved). Amy reported that Adriana has resigned from the Fire Board, so they will be looking for a new member.

Weed Management – Amy read Susan Fernalld’s report: Cherry and I walked up through the area of town-owned land over the town meadow – the area where the kids sled, which we seeded post-fire.  The seed mix supplied by the County came up nicely, and we can expect that cover to compete with the weeds.  We saw quite a few weeds, especially ragweed.  Ragweed is actually a native plant that encroaches for a while on disturbed soil.  It can be expected to be around for a few years, but eventually diminish as other native plants gain a foothold.  Some of the other weeds we saw were not as numerous as the ragweed, but they are actually noxious (meaning both invasive and non-native), so they will require more assertive efforts. Bear asked about the Aspen that we all planted in the patch cuts and the big ones in the meadow.  Gretchen said that, per Susan, they were doing well at last report.

Historic Gold Hill – Marilyn reported that they had a good year and are financially sound.  The Museum is closed for the winter, but is available for tours – call any board member: Chellee Courtney, Joan Few, John Sand, Rick Sinner, Richard Oxley, Barbara Barnard or Marilyn.  2013 Calendars are for sale at the Gold Hill Store, the Gold Hill Inn and from Marilyn.

Gold Hill School – no report except that Gretchen mentioned that the Fall Festival is coming up Wednesday, November 7^th.

Safe Site – Amy went to the last Fire Board Meeting to present a report on Safe Site.  The Fire Board was supportive, but worried about liability issues if the Safe Site was actually affiliated with the GHFPD.  She has been working with Mike Chard of the Office of Emergency Management along with the other communities in the IMA (Inter Mountain Alliance).  He advised that it is up to us to define ourselves as an autonomous group and then just report to the GHFPD what we can do in an emergency.  After the Fourmile Fire, the Mountain Mayors Group (which is now the IMA) submitted a grant with Boulder County OEM to take care of flood (or other) victims and received a Tuff Shed and basic equipment including a generator.  We also have put together Neighbor Link (our phone tree to notify our community of evacuations or other emergencies).  We are presently shoring up our internal structure, including personnel and supplies, and we will be having a meeting in Gold Hill to set up how to self-activate when needed. Deb heard on NPR a Japanese man reporting that, after the Tsunami, communities who had a system to respond to emergencies were 3 times as effective. Amy reported that Jamestown and the Bar K (who had around 50 people at their last meeting), Ward, Lyons, Nederland, Allenspark, etc., are taking our model and modifying it for each community. Mike Chard emphasized the importance of using a cost/cause model versus a cause/cost.  This means that we have to figure out how much energy we have to expend on this and design our response around that versus trying to design a perfect system that will take more energy and time than we can maintain. Chris Wilderman of the Boulder Valley School District has said that we can use the school for our short-term emergency evacuation center.  He will get an agreement written up.  He can open the school remotely and has given Amy his personal cell phone number.  His attitude is that he is going to help make this happen.

OLD BUSINESS             At the last Town meeting it was agreed that the Town Council would draft a Petition requesting communication between the Fire Board and the Town Meeting to work together for the good of the community on an agreement for the use of the Community Center. Gretchen presented a draft for consideration.  Amy has requested time to speak about this at the next Fire Board Meeting.  She reports that Sunshine allows all sorts of community uses – they figure it benefits the community, which benefits the Fire Department.  They work it out with their liability insurance.  Amy will research additional liability insurance with Sunshine and Fourmile Departments. It is a big value to us to have this space available. Debra reported that, regarding the bathroom issue, Max has researched it with the County and the County would allow us to build a privy on top of the vault that is now used for the FD bathroom. There was a discussion about Amy signing the liability form presented to the Town Meeting by the Fire Board.  It seems to be mostly a formality (the FD does have liability insurance on the building), but we could possibly be sued if anyone were injured at one of our meetings here.  We have liability insurance but, from our present insurance company, it could cost a great deal more to insure community events (like IMA meetings, First Aid trainings, Fire Mitigation Meetings, etc.).   Bear added that if it costs us more, it just may be the cost of doing business.  It was decided to sign the liability agreement and that Amy would look into liability insurance further. After some additional discussion, it was decided to table the idea of a petition for now.  Bear volunteered to speak with Chief Chris Finn and the Fire Board about the community’s desire for an agreement assuring our ability to have town meetings and host other meetings like the IMA in the Community Center as well as solving the bathroom issue. Amy will ask other communities who share space how they handle it.

Bake/Rummage/Craft Sale – Debra reported that it went well, although it needed to be shortened due to the Melodrama.  We learned some things to apply to our next one.

Septic Meeting Update – Bear reported that he, Max, Amy, Jack Laughlin, and Rick Geesaman met with Mark Williams from the County.  This was a preliminary, exploratory meeting to address the Health Department’s decision that all county properties shall comply with current regulations by 2016.  The County is up against State regulations, too.  Mark Frey is considering allowing his property to be used as a shared septic system.  The county regulations are based on water use of 75 gallons per person per day, which most of us, because we conserve, generally don’t begin to approach.  The group asked the county to show us the problem because many of our systems, although not certified, work well.  They discussed grey water, which is now treated essentially like black water.  We can have a grey water system, but it is just like a regular system except 2/3 the size.  They encouraged Mark to see if there is any flexibility regarding a more lenient disposal of grey water.  As far as vaults, current rules require a water meter on your well, people have to show receipts showing the number of times the vault is pumped out, and they have to match up.  The 2016 date may have some wiggle room if one is staying put, but if you sell or need a building permit, your system will have pass all the current regulations.  See SepticSmart.org for more information. Amy will bring up septic concerns at the next IMA meeting.  Numbers of people might have more influence on regulations.  Apparently the State is in the process of rewriting their regulations, too, so there are some unknowns.

Zero Waste Community Grants are available through the County Commissioners, but the application is due in November.   Respectfully submitted, Gretchen Diefenderfer, Secretary

Addendum: FYI, after the town email about bear spray, I received an interesting email from Chris Krenz (who used to live up here):   I live in Alaska now and have some experience with bears and bear deterrents.  The air horns work great, and loud whistles work pretty darn well, too.   I’ve never had to use pepper spray, but we often carry it when hiking here.  Care should be taken when using bear spray, as with a little bit of wind it is easy enough to debilitate oneself and not the bear.  Just like a fire extinguisher, it is highly recommended people practice using pepper spray before actually needing to use it.   As pointed out by others, the biggest issue is not giving bears a reward for coming around.  If there is food and a bear is hungry, it will come.  If the bears continue to get fed, deterrents like air horns will become useless – the bears get accustomed to them.  

P.S.  If you receive this newsletter by mail and would be able to get it by email, please let me know.  It would save me time and money, which I would appreciate.   In the continuing interest of communication, however, I am always willing to mail it to those who don’t have email.  If you know someone in the Town Meeting area who does not get the newsletter, but would like to, please have them get in touch with me.

gretchend@nullmac.com or 303-442-3847

October 3, 2012 – Second Draft of Petition

The purpose of the following petition is to demonstrate the town’s need and desire to promote discussion and cooperation with the GHFPD around sharing the Community Center.  For many years, the town owned the Gold Hill School and we had our meetings and gatherings there.  However, it transpired that the BVSD took quiet title to the school and it could no longer serve the Community Center function for us.  Therefore, the idea of building the new Firebarn to serve both the Fire Department and the town developed and was eventually realized.

WHEREAS people who were involved in the early 1970s can confirm that almost every able-bodied person in Gold Hill who was around at the time helped to build the Fire Barn/Community Center in 1972 with community labor and funds;

WHEREAS the clear intention of both the Fire Department and the Gold Hill Town Meeting was that the downstairs of the Firebarn would be for the use of the Fire Department and the upstairs would be the town’s Community Center (CC) for various town uses, including town meetings, classes, and other gatherings.  The Gold Hill Town Meeting obtained a Federal CETA grant to finish the upstairs for the CC.  Bob Dorsch, the Chair of the GHTM, hired Michael Albes to finish the space for the town;

WHEREAS Don VanWie, who was Fire Chief at the time and a driving force behind improving the Fire Department and building the building, has said that the intent was always to provide the downstairs for the Fire Department and the upstairs for the Community Center and that the Fire Department has a moral obligation to honor that intention; WHEREAS, when the Firebarn was built, we had a 99-year, $1.00, lease from Mrs. Ellen Regnier because she wasn’t certain about giving the land to what she was afraid was a bunch of hippies (this was before the Town Meeting incorporated or the Fire Department was a tax district).  When she died, she willed the land to Dorothy Knapp and Don VanWie to hold.  In 2002, Don and Martha Knapp deeded the land to the Fire Department;

WHEREAS the Gold Hill Fire Protection District holds title to the land, and therefore the building, and the Fire Board has now made clear to the Town Meeting that we can have our Town Meetings in the Community Center at the sole discretion of the Fire Department and only if we sign a liability waiver.  The Fire Board has asserted at Town Meetings as well as Fire Board meetings that the Fire Board does not have to consult with the Town Meeting regarding the Community Center for any reason, and

WHEREAS we citizens of Gold Hill are all members of the Community and communication between us all is beneficial to our sense of community and essential for working out difficulties that naturally arise;

THEREFORE, the Gold Hill Town Meeting and the undersigned residents of Gold Hill request that the Fire Board and representatives of the Town Meeting work together for the good of the community to draft a joint agreement between the Fire Board and the Town Meeting on the use of the Community Center. The Town Meeting requests that the Fire Board formally recognize the prior claim of the Town Meeting to the Community Center and, at the same time, the Town Meeting recognizes that, in any emergency, Fire Department needs may take priority over community use of the Community Center space.  Issues to discuss include, but are not restricted to, working out a potential lease agreement which could include payment by the Town Meeting to the Fire Board to help with expenses connected to the Community Center (including contributing to the GHFPD’s liability insurance expense), arranging to share cleaning and repairs, establishing a schedule for future meetings with a mechanism to address any future issues that may arise regarding the use of the space, and mutually coming up with a solution to the need for a restroom so that the town of Gold Hill has a more feasible place to hold trainings, meetings and other valuable community gatherings. Attached is page of pictures of townspeople working on the construction of the building.