News
1- ECN 12.5.13
Elbert County
December 5, 2013
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourelbertcountynews.com
Elbert County, Colorado • Volume 118, Issue 45
Glitch triggers recount No results change after second tally of ballots By George Lurie
glurie@ourcoloradonews.com
Above, Dan Tweedy’s front yard holiday display is located off State Highway 86 midway between Elizabeth and Kiowa. Below, Tweedy’s holiday display features Santa and his eight John Deeres. Photos by George Lurie
Santa and his eight John Deeres Dan Tweedy, who lives midway between Elizabeth and Kiowa off State Highway 86, spent a month setting up his annual Christmas display, which includes eight vintage John Deere tractors. Tweedy has been putting out the Yuletide display for 15 years. “I started with one tractor and it got out of hand,” he said. “I got into a competition with a couple of other guys and just haven’t quit adding to it.” Tweedy said that depending on how many of his kids are “around to help, it usually takes about a month” to set up the entire display. “People seem to like it,” Tweedy added.
New oil-gas regs to be unveiled Ross fails in bid to reappoint former chairman Thayer By George Lurie
glurie@ourcoloradonews.com At a meeting coming soon, the Elbert County Planning Commission is expected to vote on a long-awaited and much-debated set of revised zoning regulations to guide future oil and gas development in the county. The new regulations, which have been in the pipeline for more than 2½ years, must be approved by both the planning commission and Board of County Commissioners. Community and Development Services Director Kyle Fenner has been working with the planning commission to finetune the regulations and confirmed the group will hold a workshop Dec. 5 to dis-
cuss the proposed oil and gas regulations. At their next formal meeting on Dec. 12, Fenner said she expects the planning commission will “vote on the final document.” The nine members of the planning commission are paid a $30 stipend per meeting but otherwise serve as volunteers. In recent months, the group has been shedding members: • Former longtime chairman Grant Thayer resigned in July after Commissioners Schlegel and Rowland voted down a set of revised oil and gas regs that the planning commission — and the now disbanded “editing committee” — had put more than two years into crafting. • Earlier this year, planning commission member Paula Koch resigned prior to moving out of state. • And in late November, Paul Crisan, who’d been on the commission for 10 years, was fired during a meeting of the
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BOCC. Crisan had taken over as chairman since Thayer’s resignation and was charged, by Commissioners Rowland and Schlegel, with being difficult to work with and rude to both staff and county residents. At the Nov. 26 BOCC meeting, the recent drama surrounding the planning commission took another strange turn. Reading a prepared statement, Commissioner Larry Ross said: “Elbert County is faced with some very significant challenges in the years ahead. Primarily, the manner in which we respond to growth in residential, commercial and industrial sectors will shape the character of the county. Transportation, natural resources and related infrastructure are key elements requiring substantial planning in order to be both successful and compatible with our rural lifestyle …” Ross went on to state the county’s planning commission “can and should maintain an important role” in shaping the county’s future, adding: “Mr. Grant Thayer expressed to me his offer to resume his term on the planning commission.” After describing Thayer as someone with “character, maturity, experience and a willingness to continue in valuable service” to the county, Ross nominated the former chairman to be put back on the commission. The move caught both of his fellow Gas continues on Page 5
A “computer glitch” in the reporting of county election results forced Elbert County election officials to conduct a recount of all ballots on Nov. 23. The glitch was discovered by election officials and reported to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, Board of County Commissioners Chairman Robert Rowland said. “It was a minor technical issue,” Rowland said, “and really not a big deal.” Andrew Cole at the Secretary of State’s office said the issue “was related to uploading memory cards into the Election Management system.” Election officials spent more than eight hours on a Saturday re-tabulating votes. After finding the revised results did not change the outcome of any of the races or ballot measures, including the razor-close school board races in the Big Sandy and Elizabeth school districts, the election results were certified. Rowland said he came to the courthouse on Nov. 23 — a Saturday — for a few hours to monitor the recount. Deputy county clerk Mandy Taylor explained the glitch as “an error on one of the tapes that come out of the machines.” “We knew exactly what happened,” Taylor added. “But to satisfy everyone, we reran the tape.” Taylor said the recount “did not change a single number.” Two representatives from the Secretary of State’s office monitored the recount. The county’s Democratic and Republican canvas members were also present to witness the proceedings. The recount was open to the public. “We did have a few people come in and observe,” Taylor said. County clerk and recorder Dallas Schroeder and elections manager Sherry McNeil were appointed to their positions just a few months before the November election, and with the help of both Douglas County election officials and representatives from the Colorado Secretary of State’s office, both Schroeder and McNeil underwent a crash course in election management in the weeks leading up to the vote. “With a new election manager and county clerk, it was a pretty stressful situation,” Taylor said. “Really, it was amazing that there was just a single glitch.” On Nov. 26, Taylor said county election officials were notified by the Secretary of State’s Office that there will be a mandatory recount in the Big Sandy school board race, which was a multi-county election involving Lincoln and El Paso counties as well as Elbert County. In that race, just 6 votes separated second-place finisher Paul Warnecke from third-place finisher Lori Ellefson. Only the top two vote getters win seats on the Big Sandy school board. Taylor said county election officials have yet to be notified whether a recount in the Elizabeth school board race will need to be conducted. In that race in which three board members were elected, a 32-vote margin separated third-place finisher Deb Spenceley from fourth-place finisher Amilda Heckman. Spenceley and first- and second-place finishers Christopher Richardson and Carol Hinds were installed on the Elizabeth school board at a meeting held Nov. 25.