Elbert County News 0521 by Colorado Community Media

May 21, 2015 VOLUME 120 | ISSUE 16 | 75¢

ElbertCountyNews.net E L B E R T C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O

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NEWS IN A HURRY New principal for middle school

Elizabeth Middle School has a new principal, Pam Eschief. She will take over for Jodi Elkins, who decided to resign at the end of the school year. Eschief is the dean of students and athletic director at the middle school. She has been an employee of the Elizabeth School District for 16 years.

ElizaBash draws near

The annual ElizaBash festival is scheduled for June 6. Thousands of people typically attend the event, which features vendors, arts and crafts, live music and more on Elizabeth’s Main Street. ElizaBash will begin after the morning’s Stampede Rodeo Parade. Find more information at www.elizabethchamber.org

Fundraiser for track rescheduled

The Cardinal Clay Challenge originally scheduled for May 15 has been rescheduled for Aug. 15. Participants may sign up as a team of four or as an individual. The event will support the Elizabeth High School Track and Field Initiative to resurface the track and to repair the pole vault and jump runways. The event will be held at Quail Run Sporting Club, 6852 Quail Run Circle, Kiowa. Register at www.elizabeth.k12. co.us. Questions may be directed to Clay Terry at (303) 646-3868.

This photo shows the condition of Coal Creek Drive, a road located in northwest Elbert County, south of County Road 186. Photos by Rick Gustafson

Weather puts spotlight on roads

County faces tough decisions about paving as traffic increases By Rick Gustafson Special to Colorado Community Media

POSTAL ADDRESS

ELBERT COUNTY NEWS (USPS 171-100)

OFFICE: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210 Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 PHONE: 303-566-4100 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Elizabeth, Colorado, the Elbert County News is published weekly on Thursday by Colorado Community Media, 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT ELIZABETH, COLORADO and additional mailing ofﬁces. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210 Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 DEADLINES: Display: Thurs. 11 a.m. Legals: Thurs. 11 a.m. Classiﬁeds: Mon. 10 a.m.

PL E ASE RECYCLE T HI S C OPY

For more than two weeks, Elbert County, like much of Colorado, has received more than its share of rain, hail and snow. At one point, areas in the county received eight inches of rain from a single storm. While most residents can appreciate the muchneeded moisture, the heavy rain has taken its toll on many of the county’s 1,000 miles of dirt and gravel roads. According to County Manager Ed Ehmann, in some areas roads became so saturated that attempting to fix them would have done more harm than good, because the sodden roads were unable to support the weight of the equipment sent to repair them. At the Board of County Com-

Elbert County resident Kevin Lang talks about the poor condition of roads in the northwest part of the county during the Board of County Commissioners meeting May 13. missioners meeting on May 13, county resident Kevin Lang, who spoke on behalf of more than 200 households in the northwestern part of the county, told the BOCC that residents of his community were not appealing for paved roads, but that their concerns

went beyond the damage created by the current wet weather. “The conditions of the roads there are such that even our firefighters can’t get down roads, because it turns to slush. The road base is just sand and mud,” Lang said. “We just want roads that are

safe.” Ehmann acknowledged the high amount of traffic damaging the roads in the area. “It’s one of those areas we identified in 2008 that required paving on many of those roads, because the traffic volumes exceeded what we could maintain as gravel roads,” Ehmann said. “It’s hard for us to maintain that road and haul in materials. That’s why you see a blade out there more frequently than not.” Though road crews have been scrambling to maintain roads during the wet spring weather, the reality is that there are not enough paved roads in the county. The Western Elbert County Transportation Master Plan developed in 2008 identified 138 miles of road in the northwest part of Elbert County where traffic exceeds 200 vehicle trips per day, the threshold of traffic indicating a road needs to be paved. The county has completed paving Roads continues on Page 7

Ethics complaint against Rowland dismissed Group said residents stayed anonymous due to fear By Rick Gustafson Special to Colorado Community Media

The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission dismissed an ethics complaint against Elbert County Commissioner Robert Rowland at its monthly meeting on May 11. The IEC voted 3-2 to dismiss the complaint filed by Colorado Ethics Watch against the Republican District 1 commissioner as frivolous. Amy DeVan, executive director of the IEC, notified Rowland of the decision in a voicemail on May 12, informing him that he would be receiving no future contact from the IEC regarding this

issue. In an email addressed to members of the media and some county staff, Rowland wrote, “While these radically motivated distractions are a nuisance, and while we respect the different points of view of our rational citizens, this is just Rowland another example of a small, angry, destructive wing of this party that instead of offering constructive, positive input to help our county, continues to pursue a very confusing and counter-productive approach to injecting their ideology into the processes here in our county.” Colorado Ethics Watch Director Luis Toro said the decision surprised him, and he was disap-

pointed that the process had not been more transparent. Toro said that he felt the case against Rowland was stronger than a similar case brought by Ethics Watch against Jefferson County Commissioner Kevin McCasky, who spoke and voted in support of increasing public funds to the Jefferson Economic Council while he was applying for the position of its executive director. In that case, the IEC voted 2-1 that McCasky acted improperly. “Our track record is pretty strong,” Toro said. “We’ve put a lot of effort into this, and we strongly disagree that there is anything frivolous about this case. It is the job of the IEC to hold people accountable, and I think the people of Elbert County deserve better.” According to Toro, Ethics Watch filed the March 2014 complaint on behalf of “concerned Elbert County residents” who pre-

ferred to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. The complaint to the IEC alleged that Rowland violated state ethics laws on Jan. 16, 2014, when he seconded and later voted in favor of a motion made by thenCommissioner Kurt Schlegel authorizing the Elbert County attorney to represent Rowland’s appeal of a $1,000 fine levied against him for violating Colorado campaign finance laws. In April 2014, the IEC voted unanimously to stay any action on the ethics complaint until the appellate court reached a decision regarding Rowland’s appeal of the fine. The charge against Rowland and subsequent fine for violating Colorado campaign finance laws was brought by Jill Duvall, chairwoman of the Elbert County Rowland continues on Page 7