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ELBERT COUNTY, COLORADO
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Transportation master plan in the works County gets grant from state to help with update BY TABATHA STEWART SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
nine recently told her story to more than 500 people at the ThanksUSA annual gala in Maryland, where she and her family were named Family of Honor for 2019. “My main point at the gala was that most people don’t realize it’s not just deployments that are hard,” said Bonine. “It’s having to say goodbye to family members for drill weekends, training, courses, and not having parents for a lot of significant events in your life.”
Elbert County has received a $190,000 grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs to update its existing Transportation Master Plan. Grant funds came from state Energy and Mineral Impact Assistance, and will be matched with $190,000 from the county’s 2020 budget to pay for consultants to analyze major travel corridors, areas anticipated to see future business growth and roads affected by existing industrial facilities, and to present recommendations to update the current plan, which was created in 2008. The county hopes to have a new master plan approved by the end of 2020. “The current master plan was done in 2008, with a strong focus on western Elbert County,” said Rory Hale, the county’s director of public works. “It hasn’t been updated for a while, and it’s pretty clear we need to look at all of the county and prepare for growth and development.” The county is in the process of sending out a request for proposals to engineering consultants, with a high emphasis on traffic experience. According to Hale, once the RFP has been awarded, the county will start moving forward with creating a new plan, including holding citizen meetings to receive input.
SEE MILITARY, P8
SEE PLAN, P10
Elizabeth resident Courtney Bonine speaks before more than 500 people at the ThanksUSA annual gala honoring military families. COURTESY OF THANKSUSA
Military family honored at gala Courtney Bonine and parents cited as 2019 Family of Honor BY TABATHA STEWART SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
Courtney Bonine, 20, spent her entire life moving around the country every few years before moving to Elizabeth when she was in seventh grade. She also missed out on having
her parents attend important events in her life, spent long periods of time separated from her parents, and equally long periods of time worrying that one or both of her parents would never come home again. Both of Bonine’s parents are in the military. Her mother, Theresa is a Black Hawk helicopter pilot for the Army, and her father, Gregory, is a disabled/retired Purple Heart recipient after serving in Afghanistan. Bonine’s life of lost childhoods, deployments and long separations is typical for military families, and Bo-
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The 11.4 inches of snow measured at Denver International Airport in October was nearly three times the typical total for that month. Source: National Weather Service
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ElbertCountyNews.net
VOLUME 124 | ISSUE 40