Courier View Pikes Peak
Pikes Peak 4/3/13
Teller County, Colorado • Volume 52, Issue 14
April 3, 2013
75 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourtellercountynews.com
Sheriff launches quarterly town hall meetings Meets residents of Woodland Park, Victor, Cripple Creek By Norma Engelberg
nengelberg@ourcoloradonews.com
Teller County Sheriff Mike Ensminger launched a series of quarterly town hall meetings with a meeting on March 25 in Woodland Park City Hall where he talked about the state’s new gun control laws. He also had meetings that week in Cripple Creek and Victor. Photo by Norma Engelberg
El Paso County hosts flood meetings Special to the Courier El Paso County Office of Communications
El Paso County will host two flood preparedness town-hall-style meetings on April 8 and 9 at Ute Pass Elementary School, 9230 Chipita Park Road. As flood season begins, partnering agencies in the Pikes Peak region including El Paso County and the City of Colorado Springs are uniting to launch an emergency preparedness campaign with a special “Flood Awareness” component the week of April 8-13. “Emergency Preparedness Starts with You,” a public awareness campaign, will address how residents can best respond to incidents such as flash flooding and wildfires. The campaign empowers area residents to know their personal risk for potential disasters, to make a plan, and to communicate it to their family so they can make the best decisions during an emergency. On April 8, the town-hall meeting will address flash flood preparedness concerns for Green Mountain Falls. Green Mountain Falls Mayor Lorrie Worthey and Town Trustees have been invited to attend. On April 9, the town-hall meeting will focus on Chipita Park and Cascade. Both meetings run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Subject matter experts will discuss the flash-flood risk coming off the Waldo Canyon Fire burn scar. Other topics include flood insurance, mitigation of high-risk property, how you can prepare for a flash flood, fire and flood mitigation, a watershed update and information about the inundation study. Invited presenters include the National Weather Service, the U.S. Forest Service, FEMA/National Flood Insurance Program,
Rocky Mountain Insurance Agency, AspenPointe, the El Paso County Office of Emergency Management/Sheriff’s Office, El Paso County Department of Transportation/ Recovery Coordinator, Coalition for the Upper South Platte (CUSP), and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Resident District 3 El Paso County Commissioner Sallie Clark will facilitate the informational County meetings. At 6:30 p.m. on April 15, and April 24, El Paso County will host similar meetings for Manitou Springs at the Manitou Springs City Hall, 606 Manitou Avenue. Colorado Springs will host a meeting from 6-8 p.m. on April 11 at Glen Eyrie, 3820 N. 30th St., to discuss flash flood concerns for residents of the Pleasant Valley neighborhood. For more information on the El Paso County meetings contact Matt Andrews, Fire Recovery Manager, at mattandrews@ elpasoco.com or 719-520-6391. Homeowners impacted by the Waldo Canyon Fire, or who live in high flood-risk areas on the Westside of Colorado Springs may receive pre-filled sandbags to place on their property for flood mitigation. Sandbags will be loaded onto vehicles 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on April 13 at the Verizon Wireless building, 2424 Garden of the Gods Road. On-site contact is Ken Hughlett, Colorado Springs Office of Emergency Management at 208-5930. The City of Colorado Springs and AspenPointe will distribute a flood preparedness brochure and customizable flood preparedness magnet to high flood-risk neighborhoods. Volunteers will be dropping off packets at residents’ front doors throughout the month of April, beginning April 8. Contact Kim Melchor, for more information at 719-385-5248.
About 75 people, including several deputies and Teller County Posse volunteers, gathered at Woodland Park City Hall on March 25, when Teller County Sheriff Mike Ensminger launched a series of town hall meetings. “I want to show you where I’m coming from,” he said. “I, and the 63 other county sheriffs in Colorado, took an oath to defend the U.S. and Colorado Constitutions.” He then repeated that oath. “I am a man of faith and I take my oath seriously,” he said. “I represent my constituents, the citizens of Teller County, and I take that seriously, too.”
These town hall meetings are designed to cover Colorado’s new gun control laws, but, before taking up each law by number, Ensminger read off a series of statistics to show that guns are not the real problem. “We have a warped focus,” he said. “The number one cause of death for children (nationwide) is child abuse. …In 2010, we lost five children a day. …In 2009 we lost more than 37,485 people to drug overdoses. Where is our focus?” He also listed the top 10 causes of adult death in 2010, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and said that guns were nowhere on that list. However, also according to the CDC, the No. 10 cause of death, suicide, is more likely to involve firearms than all other suicide methods combined. “I am not an expert on these laws and Sheriff continues on Page 11
new windows
This is an example of the already restored windows in the St. Peter’s Church sanctuary. These windows are being used as the models for some of the church’s replacement windows. For more photos on the St. Peter’s Church sanctuary, turn to page 8. Photo by Norma Engelberg
Victor public works plans busy summer By Norma Engelberg
nengelberg@ourcoloradonews.com With the summer construction season right around the corner, the Victor Public Works Department will soon be hopping. During his report to Victor City Council
on March 28, Public Works Director Dan Delaney said his department is wrapping up drainage projects on Second Street and is moving on to Third Street. One section of Fourth Street is completed with curbs, gutters and asphalt and this summer that project continues on a second section.
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The city has worked out a deal with the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Co. to use piles of their waste rock located around the city for street work and top soil being removed by the mine as part of Mine-Life Extension II project could be available for a Gold Bowl improvement project. Work at the water treatment plant is also continuing. “The bid for the water tank work came in over budget so that project is on hold for a while,” Delaney said, adding that while the tank repairs are on hold, the water plant’s emergency generator project should still continue to move forward. If power goes down at the plant there is no back-up system, he said. “Velocity Constructors had the low bid and we should approve a contract with
them to install an emergency generator,” he said. Council agreed later in the meeting when they awarded the almost $85,000 generator installation contract to Velocity. When the high bids came in, a representative from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs suggested that the city submit a grant request, which has been done. While much of the department’s work will center on drainage and curb and gutters, some of the work has already focused on beautification. “We added flagstone steps and flower beds at the community garden,” Delaney said. “The iron fencing around two graves at the cemetery looks better than it’s been in 50 years and restoring the fencing is Victor continues on Page 15