Brief by Ed Quillen
Local News – April 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
County Emergencies
Both Park and Lake counties have declared emergencies this year. Lake County’s came about on account of potentially toxic water backed up behind a spill in the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel. The tunnel’s owner, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, has responded by pumping water from the Gaw shaft to reduce the pressure until a bigger pump can be installed, along with plumbing to take the water to the treatment plant.
Park County’s emergency declaration on Feb. 12 resulted from too much snow and wind, which, as the Fairplay Flume put it, “had trapped an estimated 100 people in their houses, left numerous roads in the county impassable, and stretched Park County resources to their limit.” Total costs were estimated at $1.1 million, a big strain on the county’s budget.
The emergency declaration allowed Park to get help from other counties and the state government, and it remained in effect until Feb. 19 when the last outside equipment went home.
One measure of the severity of this winter: As of March 7, U.S. 285 had been closed 17 times between Fairplay and Kenosha Pass since winter began. In 2005-06, there were four closures, and in 2004-05, only three.
When facing ground blizzards in the Jefferson area, we’ve often joked that South Park gets only a foot of snow every year, but that foot stays in suspension all winter on account of the wind. This year, it got a lot more than a foot, which could be easily seen from the mountains of discarded snow on the sides of the road.
Custer County also needed some outside help to dig out from wind-blown snow on Feb. 7, but didn’t have to declare an emergency to borrow a large snowblower from neighboring Huerfano County. The Verdemont, Copper Gulch, and Colony roads had all been blown shut, but were opened by Feb. 12.
Too much of a good thing?
Even though the snowpack was well above average at the start of February, cloud-seeding continued in the Gunnison Country. On Feb. 7, part of the metal roof buckled under the heavy snow load at Western State College’s Savage Library.
On Feb. 25, cloud-seeding was suspended for the season. For one thing, the snowpack was already above its historic average for the entire winter, and the big snows usually come in March. For another, there were worries about spring flooding — a concern shared in much of the state this spring.
Because high water is expected in the Gunnison River, the Gunnison River Festival has been postponed from May 23-25 to Aug. 15-17. When the river flows at more than 2,500 cubic feet per second, the river park’s standing waves turn into awkward bumps.
Drought and floods, booms and busts, avalanches and rock slides; Colorado conditions can certainly seem capricious.
More shakin’ goin’ on
A minor earthquake, centered about nine miles south of Bailey, was recorded at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 28. It ranked 2.9 on the Richter scale, which is about the smallest that humans will generally notice.
However, it was felt by Lake George resident Steve Plutt, who said “Our whole house shook, the windows rattled, and it sounded like the roof was coming off.”
A 3.1 earthquake struck the Cotopaxi area on Jan. 25. The two epicenters are about 25 miles apart, Some exploring for a connecting fault might be in order, but on the other hand, what can anyone do about it?
The crud was really going around
Every year about this time, many of us succumb to aches and coughs, a contagion known locally as “the crud that’s going around.”
It certainly got around the Wet Mountain Valley, Custer County residents found the local medical center in Westcliffe closed on Feb. 26 because nurse practitioner Charlotte Stark showed up under the weather. Clinic CEO Terry Nimnicht send her home and closed for the day because “It just wasn’t a good idea to have a sick person seeing patients.”
Beef with beef
Buena Vista’s school lunch program had to dispose of about 400 pounds of ground beef in the wake of a national recall of products from the United Food Group of California because it was contaminated with coliform bacteria.
The district will be reimbursed by the state. The school district purchased the beef from a Pueblo distributor. The distributor notified the district, which checked its inventory and found 400 pounds.
Another reason to shop locally, perhaps?
Chicken Legal
An ordinance to allow residents to keep an unlimited number of chickens on their property was approved by the Salida City Council on first reading Feb. 18. The only limitation is that they can’t become a nuisance on account of disease, odor, noise, or the like.
Police Chief Terry Clark wanted a limit of six chickens, but that amendment was rejected, with Mayor Chuck Rose breaking the tie. We wonder whether the Salida Police Department really had the time to conduct a regular chicken census to enforce such a limit.
Plus, the animal squad can still enforce the prohibitions against roosters, goats, sheep, swine, rabbits, mink, foxes, ducks, turkeys, geese, and peacocks.
We note that a neighbor of ours, long ago when we lived in a different house, kept a pet rabbit. They couldn’t determine its gender, so they named it “Boy George.” We now feel mortified that we failed to report this crime to the authorities.
Not exactly a snow day
Leadville gets a fair amount of snow, but the last time we checked its schools had never closed on that account.
So a closure on Feb. 25, after a night of heavy snow, had people wondering. The closure was snow-related, sort of. A chunk of ice fell off the roof of the bus barn, hitting the gas meter and leaving a small crack on a gas pipe. The inflammable gas spread inside the barn, and the aroma was noticed by the manager and a mechanic when they came to work at 6:30 a.m. that Monday.
They decided that starting the buses might spark an explosion or fire, and therefore school was canceled for the day. Xcel Energy repaired the pipes that day, and perhaps to the dismay of Cloud City children, classes resumed as scheduled the next day.
Presentations
Don Garate, a National Park Service ranger who impersonates Juan Bautista de Anza, will speak at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 17, at the Colorado Springs Pioneer Museum. It’s free and open to the public, but reservations are required; call 719-385-5990.
Anza’s journal of his 1779 Comanche campaign is the first written record of much of Central Colorado, and most years his entrada is commemorated with Anza Day in Poncha Springs. Garate has spoken twice at that event, in 1997 and 2004.
And in Salida, there’s the question of “Who Needs Denver?” The answer may come from a debate that starts at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 11, at the Steam Plant. Dr. Tom Noel, a/k/a “Doctor Colorado” and professor of history at the University of Colorado in Denver will argue that the city remains a necessity.
Opposing him will be our own Ed Quillen, who will argue that Denver has abandoned the hinterland it once built, and that backwater towns have learned to manage without it.
“Granted, there are things you can get in Denver that you can’t get in Salida,” Quillen observed. “But we could get by without the Brown Cloud, gridlock, and drive-by shootings.”
Tickets are $10 at the door, and it’s a fund-raiser for Historic Salida, Inc.
An odd reverse
The Longfellow Parent Association, which works with Longfellow Elementary School in Salida, generally holds a carnival in March to raise money for school activities and special projects.
It was canceled this year, not because there weren’t enough volunteers, but because there weren’t enough leaders, according to Brenda Thomerson, co-president. “We have plenty of people who are willing to work, but not enough to lead the efforts,” she said.
Volunteer organizations often face the opposite problem, as expressed in the old saying “Too many chiefs and not enough Indians.”
Vandals
Three Mormon missionaries are suspected of decapitating a statue of a Mexican martyr at a shrine near San Luis. The vandalism apparently happened in 2006, but was not noticed because the head of Manuel Morales, who led Mexico’s League for the Defense of Religious Liberty before his execution in 1926, was placed back on the statue.
Then pictures appeared on an Internet photo-sharing site in early March, showing the three men holding the severed head, preaching from an altar, and pretending to sacrifice each other.
The LDS church has issued apologies and provided Costilla County authorities with the men’s names. Aside from possible criminal charges, they will face church discipline as well.
If a shrine isn’t sacred, neither is the Alma Cemetery. The back gate had been padlocked to keep snowmobilers from riding in and possibly damaging historic headstones, but on Feb. 18, neighbors noticed that vandals had applied a bolt cutter to the chain and lock, then taken the gate. “It breaks trust in the community,” said Annette McGrew, who first noticed the vandalism. “What will angry snowmobilers break next?”
A mountain lion was spotted walking through town on the evening of Feb. 10; perhaps they could get it to take up residence in the cemetery.
Digging In
Despite declines in other parts of the economy, like housing, metal prices have held up pretty well lately. And as usual, that means more mining proposals and promotions, as well as opposition.
In South Park, Horizon Nevada Uranium Co. proposes to drill for uranium on land about seven miles northeast of Hartsel. It plans an in-situ process where deep wells would be drilled into an aquifer amid uranium-bearing sediments. Uranium salts would be in the water, which would be pumped to the surface for concentration.
In theory, it’s a closed system, and would be sealed so as not to affect the shallow aquifer above it, which supplies residents and downstream users. In practice, the neighbors are worried. The company plans to answer questions after a presentation to the Park County Commissioners this month.
Molybdenum was $30.25 a pound a year ago, hit $35 in October, and was $33 at press time. That’s high enough for work to continue on re-opening the Climax Mine, and for continued effort toward opening the Lucky Jack Mine near Crested Butte.
The company has state approval to dig an access tunnel so it can evaluate the deposit. But it may need county approval, and then there’s Crested Butte’s watershed protection ordinance. High Country Citizens Alliance has petitioned for a hearing to reconsider the state’s approval, calling the exploration tunnel “a back-door attempt to begin constructing the mine without approval of the affected public.”
Observations
“Heckman indicated that there were multiple reasons surrounding their decision to close the cafe [in the Fairplay Hotel] and that, especially in Park County, prosperity and success of small businesses were very cyclical.”
Amanda Garrison in the Fairplay Flume, Feb. 22
“I have been a resident for 15 years, the last nine years as a full-timer, but I guess you would still consider me a ‘do-gooder and a newcomer.’ During those years I have seen numerous improvements and amenities added to our community, which I am sure you have used and enjoyed. Without the vision and financial support of the new people, many of these projects would never have occurred in the valley.”
Martha Jones, letter in the Wet Mountain Tribune, Feb. 28
“… invite neighbors over to watch a movie. Wind comes up about sundown. Snowdrifts start to grow across dining room floor. Snow is coming through every pinhole in logs and windows. Wind velocity and wine consumption increase concurrently …”
Shawn Shelly in the Fairplay Flume, Feb. 22
“My courage and pride take a bow, To the fellows who handle the gators. Thanks, guys, I’ll stick with the cows.”
Peggy Godfrey in the Saguache Crescent, Feb. 21.
“One of the things that burns me, aside from climate change, war, disease, poverty, greed, hypocrisy, menopause, and other human-related disaster, was the inability to view February’s lunar eclipse on the 21st because Nature intervened with cloud-covered skies.”
Doug Larsen in the Crestone Eagle, March 2008.
“Back in the day, Crested Butte locals were known as super-friendly, if not always professional. We’ve traded that for belligerence, rudeness, and anger?”
John Norton in the Gunnison Country Times, Feb. 28
