Elbert County News 1217

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December 17, 2020

ELBERT COUNTY, COLORADO

A publication of

ElbertCountyNews.net

VOLUME 125 | ISSUE 46

COVID-19 restrictions tightened

BY TABATHA STEWART SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

Students at Singing Hills Elementary didn’t let a little thing like a worldwide pandemic stop them from gathering 2,396 cans of food during the school’s annual food drive. The food was donated to the American Legion Post 82 in Elizabeth, and will be distributed to families in need this holiday season.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment notified Elbert County officials Dec. 7 that they had moved the county to level red/extreme risk on the COVID dial, due to increasing numbers of positive cases in the county. CDPHE directed the county to impose tighter restrictions on its businesses and residents at midnight Dec. 9.

Level red restrictions include no personal gatherings between people of separate households, outdoor or takeout dining only for restaurants, and personal services such as hairstylists be cut to 25% capacity.

Elbert County Commissioner Chris Richardson said he believes Richardson local restaurants cannot survive if forced to adhere to level red restrictions.

“It seems like, without evidence, there’s greater restrictions being placed on restaurants,” said Richardson. “Most of our restaurants don’t have space to expand to outdoor dining, and we have had no known cases linked to any eating establishment in the county.”

The county commissioners send a letter to CDPHE Nov.30, asking the agency to consider granting a variance for Elbert County, similar to one that CDPHE granted Mesa County.

“Elbert County is home to approximately 20 dine-in establishments,

SEE STUDENTS, P14

SEE COVID-19, P6

Wearing masks and working in isolated groups, students at Singing Hills Elementary didn’t let a worldwide pandemic stop PHOTOS COURTESY OF PAM KARCHER them from gathering 2,396 cans of food during their annual food drive.

Singing Hills students feed the hungry Due to COVID safety protocols, students at Singing Hills Elementary got creative with bringing in all the cans of food donated for the annual food drive.

Annual food drive netted nearly 2,500 cans of food

BY TABATHA STEWART SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 8 | LIFE: PAGE 12 | CALENDAR: PAGE 13

HOLIDAYS ON ICE

Some rinks are open for family-friendly fun despite pandemic P12

2 Elbert County News

December 17, 2020D

Never too young to give back Rylan Coleridge, 10, holds annual U R Loved toy drive

BY NICK PUCKETT NPUCKETT@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Rylan Coleridge does not like to put a number on the number of donations she expects to collect for a given fundraiser she is organizing.

With close to six years of experience running her nonprofit, U R Loved, Coleridge knows setting a bar can be limiting.

“Every year is different,” Coleridge said. This year is no exception.

When it comes to toys for underprivileged kids, every donation matters. Few know that better than the 10-year-old Coleridge.

“It means a lot to me and it also means a lot to other people,” Coleridge said. “I have lots of friends who have tough situations with family members lately due to COVID, so it’s really important for me to give back.”

Coleridge began her fourth annual U R Loved toy drive in December.

She set up a donation site Dec. 7 at the Holiday Inn in north Parker.

Her toy drive has collected about 200 donations last year, according to Coleridge’s mother, Candice.

Masked and donning a pageant sash, Coleridge greeted guests at the hotel behind a table with piles

Every year since she was 4, Rylan Coleridge, 10, has collected toys for underprivileged youths as part of her own nonprofit, U R Loved. Coleridge says she has collected more than 200 toys since she began her annual toy drive.

of toys stacked almost as tall as herself.

The toy drive this year is different from what Coleridge usually does.

Coleridge’s “Cookies for the Cause” fundraiser is a cookie-baking party normally held at her Parker home where friends bring a toy to donate.

Due to COVID-19, she had to improvise. Coleridge partnered with local Rotarian Kam Breitenbach to hold her toy drive at a Santa and Mrs. Claus photo shoot at a local Holiday Inn. As of Dec. 8, Coleridge has collected 219 toys.

Coleridge’s toy drive is collecting donations through Dec. 18. Her next event is Dec. 13 at Holiday Inn, 19308 Cottonwood Drive, from noon-4 p.m.

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This year, Coleridge partnered with Impact, a Denver-based nonprofit, to donate the toys to kids in Denver homeless shelters.

Coleridge’s mother, Candice, said they noticed Rylan’s desire to give back early on and wanted to nurture that and encourage it.

“She’s very blessed, and so I’m like `you need to understand that your situation isn’t normal,’” Candice Coleridge said. “You can be a good human and you can give back and you can put people before yourself, and that’s OK. Just remember that, and be thankful for what you have, but if you have the ability to give, you should give.”

Rylan Coleridge said she makes plenty of time to draw, play games and watch movies with her friends.

Due to COVID-19, and a hectic, crosscountry beauty pageant schedule, Coleridge is doing fifth grade remotely this year. She attends Cherokee Trail Elementary School in Parker, where she is involved with the student council. Coleridge was elected to be the student council’s community outreach chair.

Coleridge’s next goal is to help kids who need proper bedding for a regular, good-night’s sleep.

“There’s some days it seems like maybe today isn’t the best day, but maybe there’s people I helped today,” Coleridge said. “I can be an inspiration to people to just keep going.”

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For more information, visit U R Loved Project on Facebook.

Coleridge has had a heart to give since she was 4, when she founded U R Loved Project with the help of her parents.

“It really was a struggle for me to get involved and that’s why I feel like kids aren’t getting involved,” Coleridge said. “It’s not every day you see an organization that says, `hey we’re looking for mainly kids (to volunteer),’ so that’s why I created my platform.”

Coleridge’s nonprofit helps kids get involved with volunteer work.

She works year-round organizing events or volunteering with other organizations.

At first, she started small, baking cookies for first responders.

Coleridge got involved with local charities she liked and recruited her friends to volunteer, too.

As her organization grew, Coleridge began to organize her own charity drives for underprivileged kids. At 6, she started her holiday toy drive.

“This is actually really important to me because I love volunteering, but it’s really important that I get to do the work and see it go to people in need,” Coleridge said. “There’s just certain platforms I love to work with because I see everything going on from collecting the toys and getting them out to kids.”

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Rylan Coleridge, 10, started her own nonprofit U R Loved when she was 4, with the help of her parents. Coleridge’s organization has worked to feed the homeless and underprivileged youths, fill school backpacks for kids and donate toys to kids in need.

Next, Coleridge says she plans to help with a program to give kids what they need for PHOTOS BY NICK PUCKETT a proper night’s sleep.

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Elbert County News 3

0December 17, 2020

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4 Elbert County News

December 17, 2020D

Summer is likely timetable for most to get vaccine Colorado to start with workers in health care, residents of nursing homes

BY JESSE PAUL AND JOHN INGOLD THE COLORADO SUN

The general public in Colorado likely won’t have access to a coronavirus vaccine until the summer of 2021, state officials said, though inoculations for health-care workers and nursing home residents could start as early as this week.

A distribution plan unveiled Dec. 9 by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment prioritizes health-care workers, namely those who interact with COVID-19 patients, and nursing home residents and staff for the first doses of vaccine in what’s being referred to as “Phase 1A.” Since coronavirus reached Colorado early this year, nearly 1,400 residents of nursing homes and senior care centers have died from COVID-19. More than 5,700 nursing home staff have caught the disease and as many as 10 have been killed by it.

In “Phase 1B,” which is expected to continue through the winter, first responders — like firefighters and police officers — and people who work in home health, hospice care and dental settings will be

prioritized to receive vaccines.

A vaccine developed by Pfizer, which requires two doses, could be approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration this week. Another vaccine being manufactured by Moderna, which also requires two doses, could be available as soon as a week after the Pfizer vaccine gets the OK from federal regulators.

“We know that in the early weeks and months of vaccine distribution, supplies will be limited. This have been a historic effort to create this vaccine in a record period of time,” said Scott Bookman, Colorado’s coronavirus incident commander. “And while we’re going to get there, it’s going to take many months to get this out to the general public.”

Colorado officials have been racing to prepare for the arrival of the vaccine, running tests and developing protocols to ensure the state doesn’t waste any doses.

CDPHE and Gov. Jared Polis’ office are also working to ensure the vaccine is stored securely and can’t be stolen or tampered with.

“The vaccine is really a gateway to the end of the pandemic,” Polis said Dec. 10 “We can see the end in sight.”

“Phase 2” of Colorado’s vaccine plan is expected to begin in the spring and include essential workers — like teachers, grocery store staff and meatpacking employees — and people over 65 years old.

Anyone with a preexisting condition, like diabetes, chronic lung disease, heart disease and cancer, or who is immunocompromised will also get a vaccine during this phase.

Anyone between the ages of 18 and 64 without high-risk conditions will be vaccinated in “Phase 3.” Bookman said it’s unclear how long the third phase will last and that it depends on how much supply Colorado receives from the federal government.

Availability is crucial

Health officials cautioned that all of their timelines for vaccine distribution could change based on availability.

“We know that early doses will be limited,” Bookman said, “but they will expand.”

Bookman said the vaccine will be provided for free for anyone who wants it.

The new plan differs in significant ways from the initial version that the state submitted to the federal government in October.

People who live in nursing homes have been moved up in priority. Health-care workers who are not directly treating patients with COVID-19 have been moved down slightly.

But the biggest change is that the state has removed people who live in congregate housing situations — namely prisoners — from the priority list entirely.

People in those living situations — such as college students living in dorms, seasonal workers at ski areas living in shared housing, people experiencing homelessness living in shelters, and people who are incarcerated — had been at a now-deleted “Phase 2A” of the initial plan. Public health experts had urged making them a priority because they are at high risk of catching and transmitting the virus, creating large outbreaks that can spread across entire communities.

As of last week, 14 of the state’s 15 largest COVID-19 outbreaks had been in correctional facilities or on college campuses. At least 14 Colorado prisoner deaths have been tied to COVID-19.

But, in his announcement on Dec. 9, Polis made clear that the main consideration for the new priority list was whether someone is at increased risk of death from COVID-19.

“If we want to save lives, we need to prioritize based on who is the most vulnerable from this virus,” Polis said. “… The moral path for society to take is to protect those who are far more likely to lose their lives to the virus.”

Bookman echoed that sentiment.

“It does not matter where you live, it matters what you’re susceptibility to this illness is,” Bookman said.

SEE VACCINE, P15

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Elbert County News 5

0December 17, 2020

Mental health experts urge vigilance during holidays Pandemic collides with season to create ‘stressor on top of a stressor’

BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

The holidays are usually a time filled with large celebrations, being near loved ones and focusing on what there is to be thankful for.

This year, mental health experts are urging the community to be extra vigilant in keeping up their mental health as the holiday season collides with the COVID-19 pandemic and creates a “stressor on top of a stressor.”

Di Thompson, the medical director for physician wellness at Centura Health, said 2020 holidays will be difficult for some community members as they steer far from tradition.

“Perhaps one of the ways that we can better cope with that is to acknowledge that,” she said. “This is not going to be the Hallmark Christmas that we plan for.”

Altering expectations can help, she said. Most important is finding connection “while we can’t physically always be with people.”

Zoom, call, text and stay in touch with loved ones however possible.

She also suggests people stick to healthy coping strategies — exercise, listening to music — and

check in with themselves each day to gauge how they are doing.

Never be afraid to seek additional support like counseling or therapy, she said.

Glenn Most is executive director of West Pines Behavioral Health and spokesman for the Let’s Talk Colorado campaign, which encourages people to start conversations about mental health.

A year fraught with a public health crisis, a tense political environment, and locally a devastating wildfire season is testing the community’s ability to adapt, Most said.

“In my memory, I’ve never experienced a year like the year we’ve been having,” he said. “It’s something that none of us, most of us, have never experienced.”

Those working in the field are seeing increased rates of depression and anxiety, Thompson and Most said. Most attributed much of that to the “deep, deep isolation” created by the pandemic.

“I think people saw the holiday season as a relief, as a break from what they were seeing as really marking the end of 2020,” Most said. “And what it has turned into is not necessarily the relief that people were expecting.”

During the holidays, Most suggested strategies like planning early and clearly communicating holiday plans to family. He also stressed avoiding blaming holiday plans or their disruption on family.

Making choices about how to spend the holidays can be difficult, and there has been “increased judgment” toward one another during the pandemic, Most said.

“This isn’t the time to try to convince people about certain practices that they might be doing, that are right or wrong,” he said.

“This is not the time to argue about COVID.” He and his family chose not to gather with relatives outside their immediate family for Thanksgiving. Instead they opted for Zoom calls, and will likely do the same for Christmas, when they typically travel to California.

Just like he’s advised others to do, Most said, his family made a plan for Christmas early and communicated that to their loved ones.

Amber Berenz is program manager for Colorado Spirit Program — AllHealth Network’s initiative to provide free psychological support to people of all ages during the pandemic.

The program is grant funded through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and under the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s oversight. The grant is often used following natural disasters and has been deployed in Colorado after wildfires, Berenz said.

This time it’s in use to address a public health disaster, which calls for many of the same response

strategies, she said. Usually the grant would enable crisis response teams to go door-to-door to connect people with resources.

During the pandemic, the program is doing that virtually, Berenz said.

The holidays are typically a happy time for many, Berenz said, but they can also inflame trauma from loss or feelings of grief. For some community members, “the holidays are a difficult time any time of year.”

“For a lot of us, helping other people, supporting other people is a way we can manager our own stress,” she said.

In addition to strategies to help yourself cope — meditation, exercise, eating well, getting sleep — people can also care for the ones around them by checking in on them and asking how they are doing.

Thompson said starting those conversations can be uncomfortable but it’s one of the simplest and most effective ways to let someone know they are supported.

Most urged people to keep their guard up as they weather COVID fatigue amid promising news of vaccines becoming available. The community must continue working together “to get through this.”

“I’m very optimistic that this time next year,” he said, “we will be celebrating the holidays together.”

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6 Elbert County News

December 17, 2020D

COUNTY FROM PAGE 1

only five of which seat more than 30 to 35 guests. Since March of this year there have been zero cases of proven COVID-19 transmission at any dining establishment in Elbert County. Only four dine-in establishments (three Subway and 1 Taco Bell) are not family-run or owner-operator type businesses that have always supported our communities. We have received numerous communications from owners of these businesses indicating their desperation and just how tenuous their viability is. Based on our analysis of local COVID-19 data, it does not appear that restricting the operations of these businesses more severely than other business types is supportable,” wrote the commissioners.

Dec. 4, the commissioners reached out to Gov. Jared Polis, again propos-

ing a 5-Star variance program such as Mesa County’s, asking that Elbert County “allow(s) participating businesses to operate at 50 percent of their normal capacity, regardless of the risk level the county is at, and “allow any county the opportunity to participate without having to go through an arduous process of approval through CDPHE, resulting in true local control among the various local partners within each county.”

Frustrated with communication between CDPHE and commissioners, Richardson said they do not have the time or resources to enforce new restrictions within the county.

“The best use of our resources is keeping our public informed,” said Richardson.

In a letter sent to CDPHE Dec. 8, commissioners expressed their disappointment that the recent special legislative session did not result in any additional resourcing for public health agencies.

“Any effort to shift our limited

resources to enforce more rigorous compliance may impact our abilities in other areas and could potentially result in increased non-compliance and virus transmission,” the commissioners wrote. “Like many counties in the more rural parts of the state, our citizens prefer to be part of the solution vs. being dictated to as if they are the problem.”

Richardson said local businesses have been compliant thus far, and they’ve only received a few complaints about businesses not having signage stating masks are required.

“Our first step is to make sure everybody understands what the expectation is,” said Richardson. “It will be up to the store policy whether or not they honor people’s personal exemptions or medical exemptions that prevent them from wearing a mask.”

Elizabeth town officials passed Resolution 20R57, opposing the CDPHE’s move of Elbert County to level red on the COVID-19 dial.

“Whereas, other neighboring counties whose COVID-19 incidence rates are comparable to, or in excess of, those in Elbert County, have not been moved by the State to Level Red, indicating unequal treatment of our area’s counties, and whereas the Town of Elizabeth’s restaurants have adhered to capacity restrictions and to 6-foot distancing, face-covering, cleaning, party size and other requirements set forth by the State during the COVID-19 pandemic,” state some of the reasons for the resolution. “The Board of Trustees demands the State reverse this unsustainable move and reopen indoor dining in Elbert County to Level Orange or less restrictive level on the COVID-19 Dial.”

Elbert County Sheriff Tim Norton said the move to level red will not change how his department has been enforcing restrictions throughout the pandemic.

“We are going to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” said Norton.

It’s clear this stream is grateful.

Our streams want to say thanks for giving them a gift this year.

Your actions made a difference in keeping our water clean. You chose to properly dispose of household chemicals, pet waste and trash. You used fertilizers appropriately and kept harmful material out of runoff’s path. You volunteered at local events to preserve our waterways. Keep up the good work.

Local stormwater agencies are teaming up to bring you this message. We take this so seriously we posted this ad rather than send you more garbage in the mail.

One thing is clear: our creeks, rivers and lakes depend on you.

THIS STORMWATER MESSAGE BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Visit onethingisclear.org to: • Report accidental and illegal dumping to your local agency • Search local volunteer events • Find more helpful tips Make your New Year’s Resolution now; get involved. Contact your local agency for upcoming events.

Photo taken along East Plum Creek in Castle Rock.

Colorado Community Media agrees: Please recycle this newspaper responsibly and partner with our communities for a better tomorrow.

Ad campaign creative donated by the Town of Castle Rock Utilities Department, Stormwater Division.

Elbert County News 7

0December 17, 2020

Bidding wars for nurses threaten smaller hospitals COVID-19 crisis introduces new turmoil to health-care industry

BY MARKIAN HAWRYLUK AND RAE ELLEN BICHELL KAISER HEALTH NEWS

In March, Claire Tripeny was watching her dream job fall apart.

She’d been working as an intensive care nurse at St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood and loved it, despite the mediocre pay typical for the region. But when COVID-19 hit, that calculation changed.

She remembers her employers telling her and her colleagues to “suck it up” as they struggled to care for six patients each and patched their protective gear with tape until it fully fell apart. The $800 or so a week she took home no longer felt worth it.

“I was not sleeping and having the most anxiety in my life,” said Tripeny. “I’m like, `I’m gonna go where my skills are needed and I can be guaranteed that I have the protection I need.’”

In April, she packed her bags for a two-month contract in then-COVID hot spot New Jersey, as part of what she called a “mass exodus” of nurses leaving the suburban Denver hospital to become traveling nurses.

Her new pay? About $5,200 a week, and with a contract that required adequate protective gear.

Months later, the offerings — and the stakes — are even higher for nurses willing to move. In Sioux Falls, South Dakota, nurses can make more than $6,200 a week. A recent posting for a job in Fargo, North Dakota, offered more than $8,000 a week. Some can get as much as $10,000.

Early in the pandemic, hospitals were competing for ventilators, COVID tests and personal protective equipment. Now, sites across the country are competing for nurses.

The fall surge in COVID cases has turned hospital staffing into a sort of national bidding war, with hospitals willing to pay exorbitant wages to secure the nurses they need. That threatens to shift the supply of nurses toward more affluent areas, leaving rural and urban public hospitals short-staffed as the pandemic worsens, and some hospitals unable to care for critically ill patients.

“That is a huge threat,” said Angelina Salazar, CEO of the Western Healthcare Alliance, a consortium of 29 small hospitals in rural Colorado and Utah. “There’s no way rural hospitals can afford to pay that kind of salary.”

Surge capacity

Hospitals have long relied on traveling nurses to fill gaps in staffing without committing to long-term hiring. Early in the pandemic, doctors and nurses traveled from unaffected areas to hot spots like California, Washington state and New York to help with regional surges. But now, with virtually every part of the country experiencing a surge — infecting medical professionals in the process — the competition for the finite number of available nurses is becoming more intense.

“We all thought, `Well, when it’s Colorado’s turn, we’ll draw on the same resources; we’ll call our surrounding states and they’ll send help,’” said Julie Lonborg, a spokesperson for the Colorado Hospital Association. “Now it’s a national outbreak. It’s not just one or two spots, as it was in the spring. It’s really significant across the country, which means everybody is looking for those resources.”

In North Dakota, Tessa Johnson said she’s getting multiple messages a day on LinkedIn from headhunters. Johnson, president of the North Dakota Nurses Association, said the pandemic appears to be hastening a

Keep It Up, Douglas County!

COVID safety measures help restaurants stay open. Thank you for your continued support. Servers and staff appreciate your gratuity. Learn more at douglas.co.us/douglascovid19/ keep-it-up-douglas-county

Holiday fireworks planned for Dec. 19 Welcome the holiday season and celebrate the resilience and positive spirit of our community by watching high-in-the-sky fireworks shows Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. The 30-minute displays will launch from Rueter-Hess Reservoir and near Rocky Heights Middle School. Watch from the safety of your home or vehicle at a nearby location. For more information visit douglas.co.us/fireworks

COVID-19 Impact Grants available Applications are being accepted for the Restaurant and Indoor Event Venue Grant and Small Business Grant Programs until Dec. 30. Grants are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. To review eligibility details and deadlines for each program and apply visit douglas.co.us/cares-act

Community COVID-19 testing events through Dec. 30 COVID-19 swabbing and antibody testing with or without health insurance are available at locations throughout the County. To preregister and to learn more visit douglas.co.us/covid19-testing/events.

For information about other testing providers visit douglas.co.us/covid19-testing-locations

SEE NURSES, P9

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County Offices Christmas Holiday closures Douglas County offices will be closing at noon on Thursday, Dec. 24 and closed on Friday, Dec. 25 in observance of the Christmas Holiday.

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Visit douglas.co.us

8 Elbert County News

LOCAL

December 17, 2020D

VOICES Music won’t stay silent, for better or worse

W

hat’s science got to do with it?

What’s science but a secondhand emotion?

Music, eventually, finds its way into almost everything, including a pandemic. The same is true for all of the arts.

Visual artists, QUIET filmmakers, writDESPERATION ers, and others have been reacting to COVID-19 ever since it began to hit America and, in many ways, limit Americans.

Musicians have responded to dire conditions, authority, wars, prejudice, Craig Marshall Smith and innumerable hardships forever.

Some of us may have been initiated by Woody Guthrie’s politically charged anthems. He also wrote “This Land is Your Land.”

The decade of the 1960s was a ripe period for musicians, many of whom were tagged as “protest singers,” especially Bob Dylan, but also

Peter, Paul, and Mary, Phil Ochs, Richie Havens, Joan Baez, Nina Simone, even Marvin Gaye.

A British band at the time, Them, was uninvolved, and recorded hits such as “Gloria,” “Baby, Please Don’t Go,” and “Here Comes the Night.”

The lead singer, who was born in 1945, went solo and still performs.

I was half-surprised to read about a song he’s written and recorded titled “No More Lockdown,” and anti-lockdown tune.

“No more celebrities / No more celebrities telling us / Telling us what we’re supposed to feel / No more lockdown.”

He takes a bigger swing at “experts.”

“No more Imperial College Scientists making up crooked facts.”

It’s not smooth and pretty, is it?

Neither was Dylan’s “Masters of War,” a song I have outgrown; not one I’m likely to listen to on a Sunday in 2020.

As an artist, I have always avoided current events, choosing instead to find solace in painting and drawing rather than a forum.

The news right now is a bombardment.

Listening to music is one of the ways I (try to) overcome the frustrations and anxieties. I don’t invite “protest” music into that as I did during, for example, the Vietnam War. Music and movies are my antidote. After a day saturated with “Breaking News” I want comedy, romantic comedy, drama, but I don’t want violence, revenge, meanness or cruelty. There’s plenty of that in the paper.

After he left Them, Van Morrison recorded “Brown Eyed Girl,” which you can hear at least once a week on the radio.

“Skipping and a jumping / In the misty morning fog with you” is a long old way away from “No more celebrities.”

Often it’s the other way around.

Artists protest when we’re young, then soften (or resign) as we get older.

Of course, many go down fighting whatever it is.

Pete Seeger was still being Pete Seeger until the day he died (2014 at

the age of 94).

I probably won’t add “No More Lockdown” to my playlists. However, I understand Morrison’s desire to produce such a song.

I’ll let you in on a secret: These columns give me an opportunity to achieve the very same thing, albeit without the edge or the angle.

Morrison is adhering to the unwritten “Artist’s Responsibility.”

Choosing to will cost him some of his audience.

A best friend and I have been exchanging daily messages, each swathed in humor, wordplay, and nonsense.

Another friend and I dwell on the pandemic and politicians.

Which do you think I look forward to the most?

One day, Mark and I exchanged, explained, and debated our favorite humorists. It was hotly contested, meaningless, without importance or merit.

And wonderful.

Craig Marshall Smith is an artist, educator and Highlands Ranch resident. He can be reached at craigmarshallsmith@comcast.net.

Who is on your Have Not Called list?

A

special thanks to one of our community families, Mr., and Mrs. Arthur Emerson, for inspiring this week’s column, your encouragement is greatly appreciated.

Who is on your Do Not Call list? I don’t mean the businesses you have asked to stop calling you, or the Do Not WINNING Call lists that you have registered your WORDS telephone number with to stop telemarketers from trying to reach you. No, I am referring to the people in your life who have made your Do Not Call list.

Well, maybe we don’t refer to it as a Michael Norton Do Not Call list, but for too many of us, somehow along the way we have intentionally or inadvertently created our own Have Not Called list. Life gets in the way, we grow apart, work is too demanding, our calendars are already jam packed, we have been on video calls and conference calls all day and just can’t make time for one more call. Our ears are sore, our voice is

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crackling, and we just need to hit the pause button.

Let’s back up eight months to when this pandemic became more real than many people had predicted. As we were going through restrictions and quarantines, many families took advantage of the time to schedule family video conferences, bringing in aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws, and friends together as a way to stay in touch during a crisis. It was more than we had ever done before the pandemic came around. And it was awesome, tiring maybe, but awesome all the same.

It seems that the longer this virus hangs around, the more serious it has become; the more our calls and video conferences may have slowed down as well. For those of us who were all working remotely, and in some cases, going to an office or other place for that human touch, we had some of our needs met through interactions or engagement with others. Unfortunately, this is not the case for many other folks. And they are not “just other folks,” they are our folks, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, and friends who have been shuttered in place for a very long time.

Who is on your Have Not Called list? That question was in no way intended to make you feel guilty, if you have read this column before, you will know that is true. Instead, consider it encouragement to make calls, send texts, write letters or quick notes, send cards, drive by their home, wave through a window, or anything that will let anyone close to you know that they are loved, not forgotten, appreciated, and important to you.

There is that saying about being lonely, even when we are not alone. And when I think about that, I think about the nurses, doctors, first responders, military personnel, teachers, and others who have been on the front lines from day one. They are usually never alone, but many have shared that they have never felt lonelier. I’ll bet that each one of us knows someone who serves our community who would love to receive a call, a text, a card or anything letting them know that they are not alone, and that they are in our thoughts.

The list of excuses we can use to convince ourselves that we don’t have the time will only provide us with a temporary sense of absolution. The day will come when we

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will think to ourselves that we could have tried harder, we should have called, written that letter, or drove by their home so they can see us through the window. We will wish that we would have let those on the front lines know how much we appreciate, respect, and love them.

One of my very favorite motivational speakers and influencers on my life was a man by the name of Jim Rohn. His quote here may just sum up my encouragement to you this week, “Don’t say, If I could, I would. Instead say, If I can, I will.” You can make that call, you can reach out, and you can make the difference in the life of someone who really needs to not feel lonely or alone today.

So how about you? Is there someone on your Have Not Called list? I can’t wait to hear what happened when you contacted them or let them know how much you care when you email me at mnorton@ tramazing.com. And trust me, when you make that call, it really will be a better than good week.

Michael Norton is the grateful CEO of Tramazing.com, a personal and professional coach, and a consultant, trainer, encourager and motivator to businesses of all sizes.

Columnists & Guest Commentaries Columnist opinions are not necessarily those of the Elbert County News.

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Elbert County News 9

0December 17, 2020

NURSES FROM PAGE 7

brain drain of nurses there. She suspects more nurses may choose to leave or retire early after North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum told healthcare workers they could stay on the job even if they’ve tested positive for COVID-19.

All four of Utah’s major health care systems have seen nurses leave for traveling nurse positions, said Jordan Sorenson, a project manager for the Utah Hospital Association.

“Nurses quit, join traveling nursing companies and go work for a different hospital down the street, making two to three times the rate,” he said. “So, it’s really a kind of a rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul staffing situation.”

Hospitals not only pay the higher salaries offered to traveling nurses but also pay a commission to the traveling nurse agency, Sorenson said. Utah hospitals are trying to avoid hiring away nurses from other hospitals within the state. Hiring from a neighboring state like Colorado, though, could mean Colorado hospitals would poach from Utah.

“In the wake of the current spike in COVID hospitalizations, calling the labor market for registered nurses `cutthroat’ is an understatement,” said Adam Seth Litwin, an associate professor of industrial and labor relations at Cornell University.

“Even if the health care sector can somehow find more beds, it cannot just go out and buy more front-line caregivers.”

Litwin said he’s glad to see the labor market rewarding essential workers — disproportionately women and people of color — with higher wages. Under normal circumstances, allowing markets to determine where people will work and for what pay is ideal.

“On the other hand, we are not operating under normal circumstances,” he said. “In the midst of a severe public health crisis, I worry that the individual incentives facing hospitals on the one side and individual RNs on the other conflict sharply with the needs of society as whole.”

Some hospitals are exploring ways to overcome staffing challenges without blowing the budget. That could include changing nurse-topatient ratios, although that would likely affect patient care. In Utah, the hospital association has talked with the state nursing board about allowing nursing students in their final year of training to be certified early.

Growth industry

Meanwhile business is booming for companies centered on healthcare staffing such as Wanderly and Krucial Staffing.

“When COVID first started and New York was an epicenter, we at Wanderly kind of looked at it and ysaid, `OK, this is our time to shine,’” said David Deane, senior vice president of Wanderly, a website that allows health-care professionals to compare offers from various agencies. “`This is our time to help nurses get to these destinations as fast as possible. And help recruiters get those nurses.’”

Deane said the company has

St. Anthony North registered nurses Amy Espinosa, left, and Laura Soileau chat as they get ready to depart Denver International Airport April 21, bound for Newark, New Jersey. The nurses headed east to help four New Jersey hospitals deal with the initial surge of COVID-19 patients, due to the area’s shortage of nursing staff. Now that the whole country is dealing with rising COVID-19 cases, that nursing shortage has also COURTESY PHOTO spread.

doubled its staff since the pandemic started. Demand is surging — with Rocky Mountain states appearing in up to 20 times as many job postings on the site as in January. And more people are meeting that demand.

In 2018, according to data from a national survey, about 31,000 traveling nurses worked nationwide. Now, Deane estimated, there are at least 50,000 travel nurses. Deane, who calls travel nurses “superheroes,” suspects a lot of them are postoperative nurses who were laid off when their hospitals stopped doing elective surgeries during the first lockdowns.

Competition for nurses, especially those with ICU experience, is stiff.

After all, a hospital in South Dakota isn’t competing just with facilities in other states.

“We’ve sent nurses to Aruba, the Bahamas and Curacao because they’ve needed help with COVID,” said Deane. “You’re going down there, you’re making $5,000 a week and all your expenses are paid, right? Who’s not gonna say yes?”

Krucial Staffing specializes in sending health-care workers to disaster locations, using military-style logistics. It filled hotels and rented dozens of buses to get nurses to hot spots in New York and Texas. CEO Brian Cleary said that, since the pandemic started, the company has grown its administrative staff from 12 to more than 200.

“Right now we’re at our highest volume we’ve been,” said Cleary, who added that over Halloween weekend alone about 1,000 nurses joined the roster of “reservists.”

With a base rate of $95 an hour, he said, some nurses working overtime end up coming away with $10,000 a week, though there are downsides, like the fact that the gig doesn’t come with health insurance and it’s an unstable, boom-and-bust market.

Hidden costs

Amber Hazard, who lives in Texas, started as a traveling ICU nurse before the pandemic and said eyecatching sums like that come with a hidden fee, paid in sanity.

“How your soul is affected by this is nothing you can put a price on,” she said.

At a high-paying job caring for COVID patients during New York’s first wave, she remembers walking into the break room in a hospital in the

Bronx and seeing a sign on the wall about how the usual staff nurses were on strike.

“It said, you know, `We’re not doing this. This is not safe,’” said Hazard. “And it wasn’t safe. But somebody had to do it.”

The highlight of her stint there was placing a wedding ring back

on the finger of a recovered patient. But Hazard said she secured far more body bags than rings on patients.

Tripeny, the traveling nurse who left Colorado, is now working in Kentucky with heart surgery patients. When that contract wraps up, she said, she might dive back into COVID care.

Earlier, in New Jersey, she was scarred by the times she couldn’t give people the care they needed, not to mention the times she would take a deceased patient off a ventilator, staring down the damage the virus can do as she removed tubes filled with blackened blood from the lungs.

She has to pay for mental health therapy out-of-pocket now, unlike when she was on staff at a hospital. But as a so-called traveler, she knows each gig will be over in a matter of weeks.

At the end of each week in New Jersey, she said, “I would just look at my paycheck and be like, `OK. This is OK. I can do this.’”

This story is from Kaiser Health News, a nonprofit news service covering health issues. It is an editorially independent program of Kaiser Family Foundation, which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. Used by permission. For more, khn.org.

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Elbert County News 9

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December 17, 2020D

LOCAL

LIFE

Here is a list of outdoor skate rinks that are open — and two that are closed.

Rink at the Rock, Castle Rock ABOUT: The covered ice rink in downtown Castle Rock is open through Feb. 15. The rink is reserved for private sessions MondayWednesday.

WHERE: 414 Perry St., Castle Rock OPEN SKATE HOURS: Thursday 4-8 p.m.; Friday 4-8 p.m.; Saturday 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.-

5 p.m.

COST: Adult (12 and up), $10; child (11 and under) $8; skate rental, $4 MASKS: Required to be worn while skating.

Highly encouraged in waiting areas.

RESERVATION: Not required.

WEBSITE: www. downtowncastlerock. com/rink-at-the-rock-1

Discovery Park Ice Trail, Parker

Outdoor skating a holiday refuge amid pandemic

BY NICK PUCKETT NPUCKETT@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA. COM

B

ryan Rankin did his best to keep up with his daughter on the ice. Alora, the Ponderosa High School sophomore, darted around the Parker Ice Trail Dec. 3, at times lapping her father.

Alora egged on her father, urging him to try synchronized spins as they glided around the short loop at Discovery Park. Bryan relished the daddydaughter time.

“I feel extremely blessed we even have a place like this to go to because I know a lot of cities don’t have an

Alora Rankin smiles skating with her father, Bryan, at the Discovery Park Ice Trail in downtown Parker Dec. 3.

The skating loop is available by reservation only, and is one of a few outdoor ice rinks still open following level red public health orders.

PHOTOS BY NICK PUCKETT

ice-skating rink, especially outdoors and as nice as this one,” Alora said. “Also, amid COVID, it’s nice that we’re still able to come have an outlet.”

The ice trail at Discover Park is one of only a handful of outdoor ice rinks still open following the level red public health

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orders. Masks are not required to skate, but capacity is limited.

In order to skate, visitors must fill out a registration form online and schedule a reservation two days in advance. Visitors can request a spot in a two-hour time slot. The trail is open through the winter. For more information, visit ParkerRec.com.

Mary Colton, Parker’s parks and recreation director, said in a Dec. 4 email that the ice loop is a winter activity that lends itself to being a safe, family atmosphere.

“With such limited recreational options

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ABOUT: An outdoor, loop ice trail in downtown Parker, open through the winter.

WHERE: 20115 Mainstreet, Parker OPEN SKATE HOURS: Monday-Friday 5-9 p.m.; Saturday 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.-7 p.m.

COST: Adult (11 and

up), $8; child (10 and under), $6; skate rental, $4 MASKS: Not required to be worn while skating.

RESERVATION: Required two days in advance online.

WEBSITE: www. parkerrec.com/1954/ Parker-Ice-Trail

Olde Town Arvada Ice Skating Rink, Arvada ABOUT: The new, synthetic ice rink opened in Olde Town Arvada this fall to bring a little joy to people’s holiday season amid the pandemic.

WHERE: 57th and Old Wadsworth Boulevard, Arvada OPEN SKATE HOURS: Sunday-Saturday noon-8 p.m. (Hours

subject to reservations).

COST: Adult (11 and up) $8; child (10 and under) $5. Ticket includes skate rental.

MASKS: Required at all times.

RESERVATIONS: Required for one-hour time slots. Online only.

Website: oldetownarvada.org/skating-rink/

Longmont Ice Pavilion, Longmont ABOUT: A seasonal, full-service ice facility offering public skating as well as private rentals throughout the winter.

WHERE: 725 Eighth Ave., Longmont OPEN SKATE HOURS: Monday 11:15 a.m.-1:30 p.m., 3-5 p.m.; Tuesday 3-4:45 p.m.; Wednesday 11:15 a.m.-1:30 p.m., 3-5:15 p.m.; Thursday 3-5:15

p.m.; Friday 11 a.m.6:15 p.m.; Saturday 12:15-6:15 p.m.; Sunday 1:15-6 p.m.

COST: Adult resident/nonresident (1854) $5.75/$7.25; youth resident/nonresident (11-17) $5/$5.75; child resident/nonresident (2-10) $4.50/$5.50; senior resident/nonresident (55 and up) $5/$5.75; tot (under 2) free.

SEE SKATING, P16

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Elbert County News 13

0December 17, 2020

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December 17, 2020D

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“The kids really get behind it,” said Pam Karcher, school registrar.

“They know it goes to help families that are struggling, both through the holiday season and after.”

Students gathered canned food for two weeks, and two classes with the most donations received a pizza party to celebrate. Mrs. Stout’s second-grade class and Mrs. Smith’s fifth-grade class received first-place honors.

Students and staff were careful to adhere to COVID safety precautions, with classes remaining separated from each other, and students using carts to bring dona-

tions in from outside.

“The kids are driven, and they do not disappoint,” said Karcher.

“They feel good about helping others, and I think this is one of the things that helps them feel more comfortable with what’s going on in the world.”

Principal Regina Montera said the food drive is one of the traditions that is important to students during the pandemic, and the school is trying to maintain other traditions to create some sense of normalcy during the difficult school year.

“Our classrooms will be celebrating the holidays in a variety of ways,” said Montera. “We will have holidays around the world, traditions and holiday parties on our last day. Our school’s tradi-

tional holiday tree is up and the children decorate it with ornaments they’ve made in their classrooms. And we will continue to have our annual door decorating contest.”

One tradition that will see changes this year is the school’s holiday program assembly, where staff members usually perform for the students. Due to COVID restrictions that do not allow for classes to all meet in an assembly, staff members will each make a JibJab video that will be sent to teachers to share with their classes.

“We miss having our parents and school families in our building this year, but we want to continue to create a safe environment for our children,” said Montera.

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Elbert County News 15

0December 17, 2020

VACCINE FROM PAGE 4

The new plan still prioritizes people who are “workers serving people that live in high-density settings.” Those individuals are placed in Phase 2 of the vaccine rollout, meaning, for instance, that people who work in homeless shelters will likely be eligible for vaccination before many people experiencing homelessness are.

Groups crafted different plans

Public health and medical experts worked for months on creating the state’s initial vaccination priority plan. An advisory committee of medical experts — the Governor’s Expert Emergency Epidemic Response Committee — drafted one plan. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment had its own teams also working on roll-out plans, and the two were ultimately merged to create the plan the state sent to the federal government earlier this year.

That initial plan largely followed the advice of a committee of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, which also singled out people living in congregate housing as being worthy of priority. Two Colorado experts — Dr. Ned Calonge,

the president and CEO of The Colorado Trust, and Dr. Jonathan Samet, the dean of the Colorado School of Public Health who is leading Colorado’s pandemic modeling efforts — reviewed and provided feedback for the National Academies report before it was released.

The governor also promised Dec. 9 that vaccination information about Coloradans will not be shared with the federal government. That’s despite the fact that The New York Times reported Dec. 9 that the Trump administration is requiring states to submit the personal information of people who get the COVID-19 vaccine so that it can better track who is inoculated and any adverse reactions.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo balked at the idea, warning that the information could be used to deport people living in the U.S. illegally.

Polis asked Coloradans to be extra vigilant in protecting themselves and others against coronavirus in the next few months.

“It’s a marathon,” he said.

“We’re getting there.”

This story is from The Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. Used by permission. For more, and to support The Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com.

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KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION: DEC. 1 - JAN. 20, 2021 PRESCHOOL REGISTRATION: JAN. 5 - JAN. 20, 2021 CHILD-CENTERED PROGRAMMING TRADITIONAL SCHOOL CALENDAR OUT-OF-DISTRICT FAMILIES WELCOME! VIRUTUAL INFORMATION NIGHTS KINDERGARTEN OPTIONS: · Free full-day programs at all LPS schools · · Tuition-based extended day programs · PRESCHOOL: · Available at 5 Locations ·

For More Information: Visit Your School’s Website Or Call 303-347-3334

16 Elbert County News

December 17, 2020D

C R O S S W O R D SKATING P U Z Z L E

Closed

The Rink at Belmar, Lakewood

FROM PAGE 12

available due to COVID-19, Discovery Park offers a unique opportunity to recreate outdoors for improved physical and mental health, which are so important to all of us right now,” Colton said.

But many communities aren’t so lucky.

The Rink at Belmar in Lakewood was forced to close after the state moved to level red orders Nov. 20. The 7,000-square-foot rink at the Belmar Shopping Center is a popular spot for outdoor skating in any other year.

Tom Quinn, executive director of Alameda Connects, a business association for the Alameda corridor, said the organization is searching for new ways to give people a holiday feel despite closures and indoor shopping limitations.

“What we really focused on is: ‘What can we do, with the restrictions, to keep the holiday spirit alive?’” Quinn said.

The shopping district will be decked out with holiday lights.

The City of Lakewood is holding its yearly lamp post decorating contest at Belmar Park Dec. 18.

Streets of Southglenn Skating at the Cube, Centennial Santa is making appearances at Belmar through Dec. 24 as well.

For details, visit BelmarColorado. com.

Arvada unveiled its synthetic ice rink this fall in Olde Town Square, thanks to the Arvada Business Improvement District.

Executive Director Joe Hengstler told Colorado Community Community Media it was the perfect time to open a rink following the strife caused by the pandemic.

The Streets at SouthGlenn decided against putting up its annual ice-skating rink this year due to COVID-19 concerns and looks forward to bringing it back in 2021, according to a spokesperson for the shopping district.

Evergreen could open skating at Evergreen Lake Dec. 18, weather permitting, according to the city’s recreation department’s website.

Bryan Rankin, able to catch his breath at the Parker Ice Trail Dec. 3, is thankful just to spend time with his daughter on the ice.

“Hopefully, normalcy kicks in soon,” he said.

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18 Elbert County News

December 17, 2020D

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PUBLIC NOTICES

Public Notices call Sheree 303.566.4088 Legals City and County Public Notice NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING FOR AN AMENDMENT TO THE DEVELOPMENT GUIDE AGREEMENT FOR THE SPRING VALLEY RANCH PUD (CASE NUMBER: DG-20-0073) NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE SPRING VALLEY RANCH DEVELOPMENT GUIDE LOCATED GENERALLY SOUTH OF THE INTERSECTION OF COUNTY ROAD 174 AND COUNTY ROAD 17/21, COUNTY OF ELBERT, STATE OF COLORADO, SHALL BE CONSIDERED FOR AN AMENDMENT TO A DEVELOPMENT GUIDE PURSUANT TO ELBERT COUNTY REGULATIONS. THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT SEEKS TO MODIFY CERTAIN OFFSITE ROAD OBLIGATIONS AS THEY PERTAIN TO CR 13, CR 17, CR 17-21, CR 174, CR 178, CR 186, AND THE FUTURE INTERSECTION OF CR 178 AND DELBERT ROAD. THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT ALSO ADDREESES UPDATES TO THE PROJECT PHASING, LAND USE AND WATER CONSERVATION SECTIONS OF THE GUIDE AND CONFIRMS COMMITMENTS TO PAY INCREASED COUNTY GROWTH IMPACT FEES AND NEW COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FEE FOR ALL REMAINING LOTS WITHIN THE DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT A BUILDING PERMIT. THE AMENDMENT DOES NOT INCREASE MAXIMUM UNIT COUNTS. FURTHER INFORMATION CONCERNING THE PROPOSAL MAY BE OBTAINED BY CALLING THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT OFFICE AT (303) 621-3136.

THE HEARING IS TO BE HELD BEFORE THE PLANNING COMMISSION ON THE 5TH DAY OF JANUARY, 2021, BOTH VIA ZOOM AND IN-PERSON: • ZOOM: o MEETING ID: 927 3180 4644; o PASSWORD: 123123; o PHONE: (720)928-9299,, 92731804644#,, 0#,, 123123# • IN-PERSON: IN THE AGRICULTURAL BUILDING AT THE ELBERT COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS, 95 UTE AVENUE, KIOWA, COLORADO, AT 7:00 P.M., OR AS SOON THEREAFTER AS POSSIBLE. -ANDTHE HEARING IS TO BE HELD BEFORE THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONES ON THE 27th DAY OF JANUARY, 2021, IN THE AGRICULTURAL BUILDING AT THE ELBERT COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS, 95 UTE AVENUE, KIOWA, COLORADO, AT 1:00 P.M., OR AS SOON THEREAFTER AS POSSIBLE. PLEASE CHECK THE COUNTY WEBSITE FOR DETAILS ON HOW TO PARTICIPATE. CONTACT ELBERT COUNTY COMMUNITY & DEVELOPMENT SERVICES FOR MORE INFORMATION: 303-621-3136.

LEGALLY DESCRIBED AS: ALL OF THE LAND, LOTS, TRACTS, AREAS OR PARCELS WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE SPRING VALLEY RANCH PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT PLAN/ REZONING EXHIBIT DATED MAY 29, 2001 AND THE PRELIMINARY PLAT FOR SPRING VALLEY RANCH BOTH OF WHICH WERE RECORDED ON SEPTMEBER 5, 2001 AT RECEPTION NO. 20091, AS AMENDED IN THE RECORDS OF THE ELBERT COUNTY CLERK AND RECORDERS OFFICE. AND ALL OF THE LAND WITHIN THE RIGHT OF WAY FOR CR13, CR 17, CR 17-21, CR 174 CR178 CR 186 AND THE FUTURE INTERSECTION OF CR 178 AND DELBERT ROAD IDENTIFIED AS PART OF THE DEVELOPMENT GUIDE. Legal Notice No. 24515 First Publication: December 10, 2020 Last Publication: December 10, 2020 Publisher: The Elbert County News

Public Notice NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING FOR CJ’s ANIMAL ADVENTURES SPECIAL USE BY REVIEW

• IN-PERSON: IN THE AGRICULTURAL BUILDING AT THE ELBERT COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS, 95 UTE AVENUE, KIOWA, COLORADO, AT 7:00 P.M., OR AS SOON THEREAFTER AS POSSIBLE. -ANDTHE HEARING IS TO BE HELD BEFORE THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ON THE 27th DAY OF JANUARY, 2021, IN THE AGRICULTURAL BUILDING AT THE ELBERT COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS, 95 UTE AVENUE, KIOWA, COLORADO, AT 1:00 P.M., OR AS SOON THEREAFTER AS POSSIBLE. PLEASE CHECK THE COUNTY WEBSITE FOR DETAILS ON HOW TO PARTICIPATE. CONTACT ELBERT COUNTY COMMUNITY & DEVELOPMENT SERVICES FOR MORE INFORMATION: (303)-243-1339.

LEGALLY DESCRIBED AS: PARCEL A: A TRACT OF LAND IN SECTION 13, TOWNSHIP 7 SOUTH, RANGE 64 WEST OF THE 6TH PRINCIPAL MERIDIDAN, ELBERT COUNTY, COLORADO, MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF SAID SECTION 13 AND CONSIDERING THE SOUTH LINE OF SAID SECTION 13 TO BEAR S 89° 41’ 36” W WITH ALL BEARINGS CONTAINED HEREIN RELATIVE THERETO. THENCE S 89° 41’ 36” W ALONG SAID SOUTH LINE A DISTNACE OF 1412.11 FEET; THENCE N 0° 07’ 43” W A DISTANCE OF 1852.10 FEET TO THE CENTERLINE OF A 60.00 FOOT WIDE ROADWAY EASEMENT; THENCE S 89° 59’ 56” E ALONG SAID CENTERLINE A DISTANCE OF 1404.64 FEET TO THE EAST LINE OF SAID SECTION 13; THENCE S 0° 21’ 38” E ALONG SAID EAST LINE A DISTANCE OF 1844.55 FEET TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING. PARCEL B: ROADWAY EASEMENT FOR INGRESS AND EGRESS AS DESCRIBED IN INSTRUMENT RECORDED IN BOOK 357 AT PAGE 601 OF ELBERT COUNTY RECORDS. Legal Notice No. 23519 First Publication: December 10, 2020 Last Publication: December 10, 2020 Publisher: The Elbert County News Public Notice NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING FOR CARLSON REZONE & MINOR PLAT (CASE NUMBER: RZ-19-0016 & MD-19-0017) NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT PROPERTY AT 36411 PARADISE CIRCLE, ELIZABETH, SHALL BE CONSIDERED FOR A REZONE OF 17.68 ACRES ON A LARGER 60.01 ACRE PROPERTY FROM AGRICULTURE (A) TO AGRICULTURE RESIDENTIAL (AR), AND SUBSEQUENT SUBDIVISION PURSUANT TO ELBERT COUNTY REGULATIONS. THE HEARING IS TO BE HELD BEFORE THE PLANNING COMMISSION ON THE 5TH DAY OF JANUARY, 2021, BOTH VIA ZOOM AND IN-PERSON: • ZOOM: o MEETING ID: 927 3180 4644; o PASSWORD: 123123; o PHONE: +17209289299,, 92731804644#,, 0#,, 123123# • IN-PERSON: IN THE AGRICULTURAL BUILDING AT THE ELBERT COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS, 95 UTE AVENUE, KIOWA, COLORADO, AT 7:00 P.M., OR AS SOON THEREAFTER AS POSSIBLE. -ANDTHE HEARING IS TO BE HELD BEFORE THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ON THE 27th DAY OF JANUARY, 2021, IN THE AGRICULTURAL BUILDING AT THE ELBERT COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS, 95 UTE AVENUE, KIOWA, COLORADO, AT 1:00 P.M., OR AS SOON THEREAFTER AS POSSIBLE. PLEASE CHECK THE COUNTY WEBSITE FOR DETAILS ON HOW TO PARTICIPATE. AN ADMINISTRATIVE DECISION WILL BE MADE ON THE MINOR PLAT (MD-19-0017) TO SUBDIVIDE THE LARGER 60.01 ACRES INTO TWO PARCELS, PARCEL A & PARCEL B. PARCEL A IS PROPOSED TO BE 42.333 ACRES (PROPOSED ZONING: A) AND PARCEL B IS PROPOSED TO BE 17.68 ACRES (PROPOSED ZONING: AR.) CONTACT ELBERT COUNTY COMMUNITY & DEVELOPMENT SERVICES FOR MORE INFORMATION: (303)-621-3136.

THE HEARING IS TO BE HELD BEFORE THE PLANNING COMMISSION ON THE 5TH DAY OF JANUARY, 2021, BOTH VIA ZOOM AND IN-PERSON:

LEGALLY DESCRIBED AS: A TRACT OF LAND SITUATED IN THE EAST ½ OF THE EAST ½ OF SECTION 33 AND THE WEST ½ OF SECTION 34, TOWNSHIP 7 SOUTH, RANGE 64 WEST OF THE 6TH PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, ELBERT COUNTY, COLORADO, MORE PRECISELY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS. COMMENCING AT THE NORTHEWEST CORNER OF SAID EAST ½ OF THE EAST ½ AND CONSIDERING THE WEST LINE OF SAID EAST ½ OF THE EAST ½ TO BEAR S 00°04’59” E WITH ALL BEARINGS CONTAINED HEREIN THERETO. THENCE S 00°04’59” E ALONG SAID WEST LINE A DISTANCE OF 1996.70 FREET TO THE TRUE POINT OF BEGINNING;

• ZOOM: o MEETING ID: 927 3180 4644; o PASSWORD: 123123; o PHONE: +17209289299,, 92731804644#,, 0#,, 123123#

THENCE S 00°04’59” E ALONG SAID WEST LINE A DISTANCE OF 890.73 FEET; THENCE N 89°17’43” E A DISTANCE OF 929.57 FEET; THENCE S 00°04’59” W

(CASE NUMBER: SU-20-0058) NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT PROPERTY AT 8809 COUNTRY CIRCLE, ELIZABETH, 80107.

SHALL BE CONSIDERED FOR A SPECIAL USE

BY REVIEW TO OPERATE A ZOOLOGICAL PARK WITH EXOTIC ANIMALS, PURSUANT TO ELBERT COUNTY REGULATIONS.

legals@coloradocommunitymedia.com

A DISTANCE OF 817.04 FEET; THENCE N 89°43’41” E A DISTANCE OF 1036.08 FEET; THENCE N 00°34’53” E A DISTANCE OF 1711.65 FEET; THENCE S 89°25’07” W A DISTANCE OF 1985.51 FEET TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING; CONTAINING 60.01 ACRES, MORE OR LESS.

granted only in part or on certain conditions. Such Statement of Opposition must be filed by the last day of JANUARY 2021 (forms available on www. courts.state.co.us or in the Clerk’s office) and must be filed as an Original and include $192.00 filing fee. A copy of each Statement of Opposition must also be served upon the Applicant or Applicant’s Attorney and an affidavit or certificate of such service of mailing shall be filed with the Water Clerk.

Legal Notice No. 24520 First Publication: December 17, 2020 Last Publication: December 17, 2020 Publisher: The Elbert County News

Legal Notice No. 24523 First Publication: December 17, 2020 Last Publication: December 17, 2020 Publisher: The Elbert County News

Water Court Public Notice DISTRICT COURT, WATER DIVISION 1, COLORADO NOVEMBER 2020 WATER RESUME PUBLICATION TO: ALL PERSONS INTERESTED IN WATER APPLICATIONS IN WATER DIV. 1 Pursuant to C.R.S. 37-92-302, you are notified that the following is a resume of all water right applications and certain amendments filed in the Office of the Water Clerk during the month of NOVEMBER 2020 for each County affected.

20CW33 MICHAEL and BARBARA EATON, 38539 CR 13, Elizabeth, CO 80107, 970-6402367 APPLICATION FOR UNDERGROUND WATER RIGHTS IN THE DENVER BASIN AQUIFERS IN ELBERT COUNTY. Eaton Well located SW 1/4 NE 1/4 S24 T7S R65W 6th PM at a point approximately 2440 ft from N and 1620 ft from E; Subdivision: Country Lane Farm, Lot 7. Permit No 166274; UTM Zone Northing 4364265.1 Easting533409.6 Zone 13; Date of Appropriation: September 16, 1992 Amount 15 gpm. Use: water wind break trees, ornamental trees and fruit tress that are not included in the 1 acre lawn/garden area.

WATER RIGHTS CLAIMED OR HERETOFORE ADJUDICATED THE WATER RIGHTS CLAIMED BY THESE APPLICATIONS MAY AFFECT IN PRIORITY ANY WITHIN THIS DIVISION AND OWNERS OF AFFECTED RIGHTS MUST APPEAR TO OBJECT WITHIN THE TIME PROVIDED BY STATUTE OR BE FOREVER BARRED. YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that any party who wishes to oppose an application, or an amended application, may file with the Water Clerk, P. O. Box 2038, Greeley, CO 80632, a verified Statement of Opposition, setting forth facts as to why the application should not be granted, or why it should be granted only in part or on certain conditions. Such Statement of Opposition must be filed by the last day of JANUARY 2021 (forms available on www. courts.state.co.us or in the Clerk’s office) and must be filed as an Original and include $192.00 filing fee. A copy of each Statement of Opposition must also be served upon the Applicant or Applicant’s Attorney and an affidavit or certificate of such service of mailing shall be filed with the Water Clerk.

Legal Notice No. 24524 First Publication: December 17, 2020 Last Publication: December 17, 2020 Publisher: The Elbert County News Public Notice DISTRICT COURT, WATER DIVISION 1, COLORADO NOVEMBER 2020 WATER RESUME PUBLICATION TO: ALL PERSONS INTERESTED IN WATER APPLICATIONS IN WATER DIV. 1 Pursuant to C.R.S. 37-92-302, you are notified that the following is a resume of all water right applications and certain amendments filed in the Office of the Water Clerk during the month of NOVEMBER 2020 for each County affected.

20CW31 FRANK and LAURA MELISH, 36478 Forest Trail, Elizabeth CO 80107 (303) 6466000; melishfrank@gmail.com and lauramelish2020@gmail.com APPLICATION FOR UNDERGRUOND WATER RIGHTS IN THE DENVER BASIN AQUIFERS IN ELBERT COUNTY All applicants listed have joint ownership of the parcel and/or joint consent to withdraw the water underlying the parcel(s), which is/are the subject of this application. All of the parcels of land claimed in this application are contiguous (that is, no part of land claimed in the application is physically separate from the rest of the land). The parcel of land consists of 5.11 acres, more or less, in Elbert County, Well Permit No 101485 located generally in NW 1/4 SW1/4 , S33, T7S, R64W of 6th PM, UTM 537328.8/4360742.7. Applicant(s) requesting to Adjudicate the domestic well rights.

WATER RIGHTS CLAIMED OR HERETOFORE ADJUDICATED THE WATER RIGHTS CLAIMED BY THESE APPLICATIONS MAY AFFECT IN PRIORITY ANY WITHIN THIS DIVISION AND OWNERS OF AFFECTED RIGHTS MUST APPEAR TO OBJECT WITHIN THE TIME PROVIDED BY STATUTE OR BE FOREVER BARRED. YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that any party who wishes to oppose an application, or an amended application, may file with the Water Clerk, P. O. Box 2038, Greeley, CO 80632, a verified Statement of Opposition, setting forth facts as to why the application should not be granted, or why it should be

Public Notice DISTRICT COURT, WATER DIVISION 1, COLORADO NOVEMBER 2020 WATER RESUME PUBLICATION TO: ALL PERSONS INTERESTED IN WATER APPLICATIONS IN WATER DIV. 1 Pursuant to C.R.S. 37-92-302, you are notified that the following is a resume of all water right applications and certain amendments filed in the Office of the Water Clerk during the month of NOVEMBER 2020 for each County affected.

20CW3189 NICHOLAS FRENCH and ALISON FRENCH, 41322 London Drive, Parker, CO, 80138. Matthew S. Poznanovic, Eric K. Trout, Petrock Fendel Poznanovic, P.C., 700 17th Street, Suite 1800, Denver, CO, 80202. APPLICATION FOR AMENDMENT OF AUGMENTATION PLAN IN ELBERT COUNTY. Decree for Which Amendment is Sought: Case No. 2013CW3086, decreed on January 24, 2014, associated with 8.22 acres generally located in the NW1/4 SW1/4 of Section 3, Township 7 South, Range 65 West of the 6th P.M., Elbert County, Colorado, as shown on Exhibit A (“Subject Property”). Applicants are the owners of the groundwater as decreed in Case No. 2013CW3086.

Applicants are owners of the Subject Property.

Proposed Amendment: In the original decree, an augmentation plan was approved for use of 2.9 acre-feet per year of not nontributary Upper Dawson aquifer groundwater of which 2.3 acrefeet per year would be used for irrigation of lawn, garden, bushes, and trees which may be irrigated anywhere on the property. By this application, Applicants request that 0.5 acre-feet per year of irrigation use be changed to commercial use.

The actual depletion at 100 years of pumping is 0.961% of the annual amount withdrawn, and return flows from in-house, irrigation, and commercial use are sufficient to replace the required actual depletion for 100 years. Depletions occur to the Coal Creek stream system and return flows accrue to that stream system. No other provisions of the original decree will be changed. Applicants request that this Court enter a decree granting this application and for a finding that the change requested herein will not injuriously affect other owners or users of vested or conditional water rights, and for such other relief as it deems proper in the premises. 3 Pages.

WATER RIGHTS CLAIMED OR HERETOFORE ADJUDICATED THE WATER RIGHTS CLAIMED BY THESE APPLICATIONS MAY AFFECT IN PRIORITY ANY WITHIN THIS DIVISION AND OWNERS OF AFFECTED RIGHTS MUST APPEAR TO OBJECT WITHIN THE TIME PROVIDED BY STATUTE OR BE FOREVER BARRED. YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that any party who wishes to oppose an application, or an amended application, may file with the Water Clerk, P. O. Box 2038, Greeley, CO 80632, a verified Statement of Opposition, setting forth facts as to why the application should not be granted, or why it should be granted only in part or on certain conditions. Such Statement of Opposition must be filed by the last day of JANUARY 2021 (forms available on www. courts.state.co.us or in the Clerk’s office) and must be filed as an Original and include $192.00 filing fee. A copy of each Statement of Opposition must also be served upon the Applicant or Applicant’s Attorney and an affidavit or certificate of such service of mailing shall be filed with the Water Clerk Legal Notice No. 24527 First Publication: December 17, 2020 Last Publication: December 17, 2020 Publisher: The Elbert County News

Public Notice DISTRICT COURT, WATER DIVISION 1, COLORADO NOVEMBER 2020 WATER RESUME PUBLICATION TO: ALL PERSONS INTERESTED IN WATER APPLICATIONS IN WATER DIV. 1 Pursuant to C.R.S. 37-92-302, you are notified that the following is a resume of all water right applications and certain amendments filed in the Office of the Water Clerk during the month of NOVEMBER 2020 for each County affected.

20CW3188 ARAPAHOE COUNTY WATER AND WASTEWATER AUTHORITY (“ACWWA”), c/o Steve Witter, General Manager, 13031 East Caley Avenue, Centennial, Colorado 80111, Telephone: (303) 790-4830; United Water and Sanitation District (“United”), c/o Robert Lembke, 8301 East Prentice Avenue, Suite 100, Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111, Telephone: (303) 773-1005. The above-listed parties shall be collectively referred to as the “Applicants.” APPLICATION TO AMEND DECREE

TO ADD DELIVERY LOCATIONS IN ADAMS, ARAPAHOE, DENVER, DOUGLAS, ELBERT, LARIMER, MORGAN AND WELD COUNTIES. Please send all pleadings and correspondence to: Brian M. Nazarenus, Esq., Sheela S. Stack, Esq., William D. Wombacher, Esq., Stacy L. Brownhill, Esq., NAZARENUS STACK & WOMBACHER LLC, 8301 E. Prentice Avenue, Suite 110, Greenwood Village Colorado 80111, (Attorneys for ACWWA); Tod J. Smith, Esq., Law Office of Tod J. Smith, LLC, 5777 Central Avenue, Suite 228, Boulder, Colorado 80301, (Attorney for United). 2.

General Description. ACWWA seeks to amend paragraph 4.1. of the decree entered on February 21, 2015 in Case No. 10CW313 (“10CW313 Decree”) to add locations of delivery and paragraph 4.1.1. to add augmentation stations from which ACWWA will deliver its Fulton shares to the South Platte River. 3. Direct Delivery of Fulton Shares.

3.1. United Reservoir No. 3. In Case No. 16CW3195, currently pending before this Court, ACWWA seeks to store its Fulton Shares in United Reservoir No. 3. By this Application, ACWWA makes clear that it also seeks the right to directly deliver its Fulton Shares to United Reservoir No. 3, using: (1) the United Reservoir headgate, located in the SW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Section 35, Township 1 South, Range 67 West of the 6th P.M., Adams County, Colorado, and/or (2) the 124th Avenue Augmentation Station, described in paragraph 4.2.7, below. 3.2. Holton Lake No. 1. Holton Lake No. 1 is located in portions of the SE 1/4 of the SW 1/4, the SW 1/4 of the SW 1/4, and the SW 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 6, and the NE 1/4 of the NW 1/4, the NW 1/4 of the NW 1/4, and the NW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Section 7, Township 1 North, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., Weld County, Colorado. ACWWA may deliver its Fulton Shares using the Holton Augmentation Station, to be constructed in the SW 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 8, Township 1 North, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., Weld County, Colorado, and/or through the CCWCD Augmentation Station, described in paragraph 4.2.2, below.

4. Delivery of Fulton Shares Using Augmentation Stations. 4.1. List of Currently Decreed Augmentation Stations. Paragraph 4.1.1 of the 10CW313 Decree authorizes ACWWA to deliver its Fulton shares to the South Platte River using the following augmentation stations: 4.1.1. Upper Augmentation Station. Central Colorado Water Conservancy District’s augmentation station (“CCWCD Augmentation Station”), located in the SE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 7, Township 1 North, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., Weld County, Colorado, delivers water to the South Platte River, in the SE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 7, Township 1 North, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., Weld County, Colorado. 4.1.2. Ft. Lupton Augmentation Station.

The Ft. Lupton augmentation station, located in the NW 1/4 of Section 9, Township 1 North, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., Weld County Colorado, delivers water to the South Platte River, in the NW 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 31, Township 2 North, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., Weld County, Colorado. 4.1.3. Lower Augmentation Station. An augmentation station may be constructed at the head of the Fulton Wasteway, located in the NE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 28, Township 2 North, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., Weld County, Colorado, which would deliver water to the South Platte River, in the NW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Section 30, Township 2 North, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M. Weld County, Colorado. 4.1.4. Midland Fulton Augmentation Station. The City of Brighton’s augmentation station, located in the SW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Section 5, Township 1 South, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., Adams County, Colorado, delivers water to the South Platte River via the City of Brighton’s North Storm Drain Outfall, in or near the SE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 31, Township 1 North, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., Weld County, Colorado. 4.1.5. 148th Avenue Augmentation Station on the Fulton Ditch.

The City of Brighton’s augmentation station, located on the south edge of the SW 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 17, Township 1 South, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., Adams County, Colorado, delivers water to the South Platte River via the outlet of Ken Mitchell Lakes, which is located in the SE 1/4 of Section 11, Township 1 South, Range 67 West of the 6th P.M., Adams County, Colorado, approximately 416 feet from the South section line and 1,071 feet from the East section line. 4.2.

Augmentation Stations Added to the 10CW313 Decree. ACWWA seeks to add the following augmentation stations as locations of delivery pursuant to the 10CW313 Decree. 4.2.1. The Fort Lupton Augmentation Station. The decreed location of the Fort Lupton Augmentation Station, described in paragraph 4.1.2, above, was incorrect in the 10CW313 Decree. The correct location of the station is at the 72” storm sewer outfall, at a headwall in the SW 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 31, Township 2 North, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., Weld County, Colorado, a distance of approximately 1,320 feet from the South section line and 1,720 feet from the East section line. 4.2.2.

The Central Colorado Water Conservancy District Augmentation Station (“CCWCD Augmentation Station”). The decreed location of the CCWCD Augmentation Station described in paragraph 4.1.1, above, was incorrect in the 10CW313 Decree. The correct location of the station is in the NW 1/4 of Section 8, Township 1 North, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., Weld County, Colorado, the outfall of which is located at a point in the SE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 7, Township 1 North, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., Weld County, Colorado, approximately 2,590 feet from the North section line and 1,640 feet from the West section line. ACWWA may use the CCWCD Augmentation Station to directly deliver and store its Fulton Shares in Holton Lake No. 1, subject to approval of such delivery and storage by CCWCD. 4.2.3.

The South Adams “Headgate” Augmentation Station, located in the NW 1/4 of Section 16, Township 2 South, Range 67 West of the 6th P.M., Adams County, Colorado, at or upditch from 104th Avenue, to release water to the South Platte River,

Elbert County Legals 12.17.20 * 1

Elbert County News 19

0December 17, 2020

Theater offers holiday show in streaming style

“F

rom Vintage, With Love,” described as a “Holiday Cabaret,” featuring Randy Chalmers, Isabelle Duran, Elisha Horne, Traci Kern and Mary SONYA’S Louise Lee, will be avail- SAMPLER able through streaming starting Dec. 11. The holiday show is conceived by Christopher Page-Sanders and J. Allen Roberts. Tickets Sonya Ellingboe cost $20, from Vintage Theatre. See VintageTheatre.org.

Y/OUR Denver 2020

Winners of the “Y/OUR Denver” 2020 photography competition will be on display through March 1 on the Denver Architecture Foundation and Colorado Photographic Arts websites — DenverArchitecture.org and cpacphoto.org/exhibitions.

Best in Show: “Crossed

entry is on the half hour and is limited. denverbotanicgardens.org. (Another “Stay at Home” order could interfere — stay tuned. The Christkindl Market is at the Denver Civic Center this year, with lots of gift ideas, hot drinks and goodies.

Downtown Littleton: Check downtownlittleton.com for weekend programs on Littleton’s Main Street. (Saturday afternoon.) Or just appear to shop and perhaps enjoy a treat ...

Paths” by Scott Wilson; Best Exterior: “Reconstruction of the Denver Art Museum” by Faina Gurevich; Best Interior: “Belly of the Cathedral” by Edward Huang; Best Detail: “Denver Series # 72” by Rodney Gene Mahaffey. The annual “Doors Open Denver” event consisted of three weeks of virtual tours this year.

Benchmark Theatre

Benchmark will hold its annual “Feverdream Festival,” following a 48-hour playwriting festival. Writers will take guidelines, genre, holiday prompts and create a 10-minute play. All plays will be on Benchmark’s website and a select few will be performed. For details, visit benchmarktheatre.com. No entry fee, no competition — get together with other creatives.

Town Hall Arts Center

Starting in mid-December, Town Hall will showcase new concerts from local artists: David Nehls, Matt Dailey and more. Visit the website for more informa-

Bemis Library “From Vintage, With Love” is a holiday show available via streaming COURTESY IMAGE by going to VintageTheatre.org.

tion soon. As of press time, during box office hours, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday, doors are open for a visit to “It’s A Small World” exhibit by Littleton Fine Arts Guild members, who will present rotating exhibits in the gallery in the future ...

History Colorado Center

The History Colorado Center at 1200 Broadway, Denver,

is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Tuesday to Sunday. Visit the website for program information.

Other escapes

Other Level Red options during the holidays include The Denver Zoo (Zoo Lights is magic), Denver Botanic Gardens, Blossoms of Light at the Gardens, and Trail of Lights at Chatfield Arboretum in Littleton. Timed

Bemis Library in Littleton is on a curbside service status. Call ahead for books you seek. 303-795-3961.

Walk for the holidays

Remember that the High Line Canal paths and walking paths in our parks and along the South Platte River are available over the holidays to work off youthful steam and possible excess cookies for adults. Look for birds who stay through the winter with us. You may see a straggler from another flyway who got lost!

Public Notices near the East section line of Section 17, Township 2 South, Range 67 West of the 6th P.M., Adams County, Colorado. 4.2.4. The County Line (aka Midland) Augmentation Station. The decreed location of the Midland Augmentation Station described in paragraph 4.1.4, above, was incorrect in the 10CW313 Decree. The correct location of the station is in the SW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Section 5, Township 1 South, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., Adams County, Colorado, the outfall of which is located near the North section line of Section 6, Township 1 South, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., Adams County, Colorado. 4.2.5. The Gravel Lakes Augmentation Station will be located in the SE 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Section 9, Township 2 South, Range 67 West of the 6th P.M., Adams County, Colorado, the outfall of which is located at any of the three following locations in Township 2 South, Range 67 West of the 6th P.M., Adams County, Colorado: 1) the NW 1/4 of Section 9; 2) the SW 1/4 of Section 4, above the headgate of the Brantner Ditch; or 3) near the north quarter corner of Section 3. 4.2.6. The 148th Avenue Augmentation Station on the Fulton Lateral (“Fulton Lateral Augmentation Station”), located on the SE corner of the SW 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 18, Township 1 South, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., Adams County, Colorado, the outfall of which is via the outlet of Ken Mitchell Lakes, described in paragraph 4.1.5, above. ACWWA may use the Fulton Lateral Augmentation Station to directly deliver and store its Fulton Shares in Ken Mitchell Lakes, subject to approval of such delivery and storage by the City of Brighton. 4.2.7. The 124th Avenue Augmentation Station, located on the north edge of the NE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 35, Township 1 South, Range 67 West of the 6th P.M., Adams County, Colorado, the outfall of which is via the 124th Avenue Reservoir Outfall, located in the NW 1/4 of the SE1/4 of Section 35, Township 1 South, Range 67 West of the 6th P.M., Adams County, Colorado. ACWWA may use the 124th Augmentation Station to directly deliver and store its Fulton Shares in United Reservoir No. 3 subject to approval of such delivery and storage by the City of Brighton. 4.2.8. The 144th Direct Augmentation Station, located on the east edge of the NE 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Section 24, Township 1 South, Range 67 West of the 6th P.M., Adams County, Colorado, the outfall of which is via the outlet of the Ken Mitchell Lakes, described in paragraph 4.1.5, above. ACWWA may use the 144th Direct Augmentation Station to directly deliver and store its Fulton Shares in Ken Mitchell Lakes, subject to approval of such delivery and storage by the City of Brighton. 4.2.9. The Erger Direct Augmentation Station, located on the NW corner of the SE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 18, Township 1 South, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., Adams County, Colorado, the outfall of which is via the outlet of the Ken Mitchell Lakes, described in paragraph 4.1.5, above, via Brighton’s South Drain Outfall, located in the SE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Section 12, Township 1 South, Range 67 West of the 6th P.M., Adams County, Colorado; and via outlet from Erger’s Pond. 4.2.10. The United Augmentation Station will be located in the SE 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Section 17, Township 1 North, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., Weld County, Colorado, the outfall of which will be located in the NE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 18, Township 1 North, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., Weld County, Colorado. 4.2.11. The United Reservoir Headgate Augmentation Station, located in the SW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Section 35, Township 1

South, Range 67 West of the 6th P.M., Adams County, Colorado, the outfall of which is via the United Reservoir No. 3. The United Reservoir No. 3 outfall is located in the NE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 26, Township 1 South, Range 67 West of the 6th P.M., Adams County, Colorado. 5. Names and Addresses of the Owner of the Structures and Diversion Facilities Listed Above. 5.1. The Fulton Ditch is owned by the Fulton Irrigating Ditch Company, 25 South 4th Avenue, Brighton, Colorado 80601. 5.2. The Fort Lupton Augmentation Station is owned by the City of Fort Lupton, 130 South McKinley Avenue, Fort Lupton, Colorado 80621. 5.3. The CCWCD Augmentation Station is owned by Central Colorado Water Conservancy District, 3209 West 28th Street, Greeley, CO 80631. 5.4. The South Adams “Headgate” Augmentation Station is owned by South Adams County Water and Sanitation District, 6596 East 70th Avenue, Commerce City, CO 80022. 5.5. The Gravel Lakes Augmentation Station is owned by the City and County of Denver, acting by and through its Board of Water Commissioners, 1600 West 12th Avenue, Denver, Colorado 80204. 5.6.

The County Line (a/k/a Midland Fulton) Augmentation Station, Fulton Lateral Augmentation Station, the 124th Avenue Augmentation Station, the 144th Direct Augmentation Station, and the Erger Direct Augmentation Station are all owned by the City of Brighton, 500 South 4th Avenue, Brighton, Colorado 80601. 5.7. The United Augmentation Station, United Reservoir No. 3, and the United Reservoir Headgate Augmentation Station are owned by Co-Applicant United. Holton Lake No. 1 is owned by an affiliate of United, CAW Equities, LLC. WHEREFORE, Applicants requests that the Court enter a decree approving the amendment to the decree entered in Case No. 10CW313 to add delivery locations and augmentation stations and for such other relief which it deems proper.

(8 pages, 0 exhibits).

WATER RIGHTS CLAIMED OR HERETOFORE ADJUDICATED THE WATER RIGHTS CLAIMED BY THESE APPLICATIONS MAY AFFECT IN PRIORITY ANY WITHIN THIS DIVISION AND OWNERS OF AFFECTED RIGHTS MUST APPEAR TO OBJECT WITHIN THE TIME PROVIDED BY STATUTE OR BE FOREVER BARRED. YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that any party who wishes to oppose an application, or an amended application, may file with the Water Clerk, P. O. Box 2038, Greeley, CO 80632, a verified Statement of Opposition, setting forth facts as to why the application should not be granted, or why it should be granted only in part or on certain conditions. Such Statement of Opposition must be filed by the last day of JANUARY 2021 (forms available on www. courts.state.co.us or in the Clerk’s office) and must be filed as an Original and include $192.00 filing fee. A copy of each Statement of Opposition must also be served upon the Applicant or Applicant’s Attorney and an affidavit or certificate of such service of mailing shall be filed with the Water Clerk.

Legal Notice No. 24526 First Publication: December 17, 2020 Last Publication: December 17, 2020 Publisher: Elbert County News Public Notice DISTRICT COURT,

WATER DIVISION 1, COLORADO NOVEMBER 2020 WATER RESUME PUBLICATION TO: ALL PERSONS INTERESTED IN WATER APPLICATIONS IN WATER DIV. 1 Pursuant to C.R.S. 37-92-302, you are notified that the following is a resume of all water right applications and certain amendments filed in the Office of the Water Clerk during the month of NOVEMBER 2020 for each County affected.

20CW3167 SMITH LIVING TRUST, DATED FEBRUARY 12, 2013, 46469 Sundance Trail, Parker, CO 80138. Matthew S. Poznanovic, Eric K. Trout, Petrock Fendel Poznanovic, P.C., 700 17th Street, Suite 1800, Denver, CO, 80202.

Application for Underground Water Rights from Nontributary and Not Nontributary Sources and Approval of Plan for Augmentation, in the Nontributary Lower Dawson, Denver, Arapahoe and Laramie-Fox Hills Aquifers and the Not Nontributary Upper Dawson Aquifer in ELBERT COUNTY. Subject Property: 35.87 acres generally located in the SW1/4, Section 5, Township 7 South, Range 64 West of the 6th P.M., Elbert County, Colorado, also known as 41527 County Road 17-21, Elizabeth, CO, 80107, as shown on Exhibit A (“Subject Property”). Applicant is the sole owner of the Subject Property. Well Permits: There is one existing Upper Dawson exempt well on the Subject Property registered under well permit number 113640, which will continue to operate under its existing permit. Additional well permits will be applied for prior to construction. Source of Water Rights: The Upper Dawson aquifer is not nontributary as defined in C.R.S. § 37-90-103(10.7), and the Lower Dawson, Denver, Arapahoe, and Laramie-Fox Hills aquifers are nontributary as defined in C.R.S. § 37-90-103(10.5). Estimated Amounts: Applicant estimates the following annual amounts may be available for withdrawal, based on 100 years of pumping: Upper Dawson, 6.79 acre-feet (NNT)*; Lower Dawson, 8.09 acre-feet (NT); Denver, 15.62 acre-feet (NT); Arapahoe, 14.17 acre-feet (NT); Laramie-Fox Hills, 12.70 acre-feet (NT). * Amount reduced by 4 acre-feet annually for existing Well Permit No. 113640.

Proposed Uses: Domestic, commercial, irrigation, stockwatering, fire protection, and augmentation purposes, including storage, both on and off the Subject Property. Jurisdiction: The Court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of this application pursuant to C.R.S. §§ 37-90-137(6), 37-92-203(1), 37-92-302(2). Summary of Plan for Augmentation: Groundwater to be Augmented: Approximately 2.25 acre-feet per year of Upper Dawson aquifer groundwater for 300 years. Water Rights to be Used for Augmentation: Return flows from the use of not nontributary and nontributary groundwater and direct discharge of nontributary groundwater. Statement of Plan for Augmentation: The Upper Dawson aquifer groundwater will be used in-house use in up to two (2) residences (0.3 acre-feet per residence; 0.6 acre-feet total), irrigation of 20,000 square-feet of lawn, garden, and trees (1.3 acre-feet), and stockwatering of up to 28 domestic animals (0.35 acre-feet), through one or more wells, on the Subject Property. Applicant reserves the right to amend the amount and uses without amending the application or republishing the same. Sewage treatment for in-house use will be provided by non-evaporative septic systems. Return flow from in-house use will

be approximately 90% of that use, and return flow from outside irrigation use will be approximately 15% of that use. During pumping Applicant will replace actual depletions pursuant to C.R.S. § 37-90-137(9)(c.5). Depletions occur to the Running Creek (Box Elder Creek) stream system and in-house return flows accrue to that creek system and are sufficient to replace actual depletions while the subject groundwater is being pumped. Applicant will reserve an equal amount of nontributary groundwater underlying the Subject Property to meet post pumping augmentation requirements.

Applicant requests the court approve the above underground water rights, find that Applicant has complied with C.R.S. § 37-90-137(4) and water is legally available for withdrawal, find there will be no material injury to the owners of or persons entitled to use water under any vested water right or decreed conditional water right, and grant such other and further relief as is appropriate. 4 pages.

WATER RIGHTS CLAIMED OR HERETOFORE ADJUDICATED THE WATER RIGHTS CLAIMED BY THESE APPLICATIONS MAY AFFECT IN PRIORITY ANY WITHIN THIS DIVISION AND OWNERS OF AFFECTED RIGHTS MUST APPEAR TO OBJECT WITHIN THE TIME PROVIDED BY STATUTE OR BE FOREVER BARRED. YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that any party who wishes to oppose an application, or an amended application, may file with the Water Clerk, P. O. Box 2038, Greeley, CO 80632, a verified Statement of Opposition, setting forth facts as to why the application should not be granted, or why it should be granted only in part or on certain conditions. Such Statement of Opposition must be filed by the last day of JANUARY 2021 (forms available on www. courts.state.co.us or in the Clerk’s office) and must be filed as an Original and include $192.00 filing fee. A copy of each Statement of Opposition must also be served upon the Applicant or Applicant’s Attorney and an affidavit or certificate of such service of mailing shall be filed with the Water Clerk.

Legal Notice No. 24525 First Publication: December 17, 2020 Last Publication: December 17, 2020 Publisher: The Elbert County News

### Public Notice NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGS Notice is hereby given that the Planning Commission and Board of Trustees shall hold public hearings concerning a sketch plan and preliminary plan request for the property described in Exhibit A and generally located south of State Highway 86 and east of Black Saddle Parkway, pursuant to the Town of Elizabeth Land Development Ordinance.

The public hearings are to be held before the Planning Commission on January 5, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. and Board of Trustees on January 26, 2021 at 7:00 p.m., or as soon as possible thereafter. The public hearings shall be held virtually at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89656412175?pwd= NzRhRklwZmZqekFVelp5N1NvaHJwdz09 on January 5th and https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86309839455?pwd= Y2M5Y0dTOTRZTGY4YlpVVVJMWlZ5QT09 on January 26th, or at such other time or place in the event this hearing is adjourned. Further information is available through the Town Community Development Department at (303) 646-4166.

ALL INTERESTED PERSONS MAY ATTEND. EXHIBIT A (legal description) TRACT OF LAND IN THE NORTH HALF OF SECTION 13, TOWNSHIP 8 SOUTH, RANGE 65 WEST OF THE 6TH P.M., TOWN OF ELIZABETH, COUNTY OF ELBERT, STATE OF COLORADO Legal Notice No. 24528 First Publication: December 17, 2020 Last Publication: December 17, 2020 Publisher: The Elbert County News

Notice to Creditors Public Notice NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Robert H. Frank, Deceased Case Number: 2020PR30030 All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the Elbert County Combined Court, Probate Division, Colorado on or before April 19, 2021, or the claims may be forever barred.

Robert C. Frank, Personal Representative 599 Legacy Trail Elizabeth, CO 80107 Legal Notice No. 24521 First Publication: December 17, 2020 Last Publication: December 31, 2020

Publisher: The Elbert County News

“Trust Us!” Without public notices, the government wouldn’t have to say anything else.

Public notices are a community’s window into the government. From zoning regulations to local budgets, governments have used local newspapers to inform citizens of its actions as an essential part of your right to know. You know where to look, when to look and what to look for to be involved as a citizen. Local newspapers provide you with the information you need to get involved.

Notices are meant to be noticed.

Read your public notices and get involved!

Elbert County Legals 12.17.20 * 2

20 Elbert County News

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