Chronicle Parker
Parker 10-25-2013
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 11, Issue 52
October 25, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourparkernews.com
Prairie dog survives in silence Some residents angry about mystery gassing By Chris Michlewicz
cmichlewicz@ourcoloradonews.com Employees at businesses neighboring an exterminated prairie dog village have become protective of a lone survivor. Parker residents continue to talk about the apparent gassing of the now-barren colony, which encompassed at least half a dozen properties on the northeast corner of Mainstreet and Twenty Mile Road. There are no development plans for the land, a point that has some questioning why the extermination took place. A handful of residents have reported seeing workers spraying and filling in holes at the site, but did not notice the name of the company hired for the job. One
RE/MAX employee says she even confronted one of the men, who confirmed that they were there to exterminate. Less than a week later, dozens of small white crosses were put on the burrows. The only prairie dog left sits silently each day on his burrow near an access road to a retail building at Twenty Mile Road and Stage Run, just west of the AMC Twenty Mile 10 movie theater. He doesn’t chirp because there are no other prairie dogs with whom to converse, said Rick Wilson, a real estate agent for RE/MAX. “He’s out there all day long. It’s something that just goes to your core,” Wilson said. “He stands there looking around, like he’s the last person on Earth after Armageddon.” Cheryl Baker, an Elizabeth resident who works in Parker, says when she saw Gassing continues on Page 24
A last remaining prairie dog from an exterminated colony sits in a vacant field northeast of Mainstreet and Twenty Mile Road. Photo by Chris Michlewicz
Voters face town ballot questions Five language-changing items go to Parker residents By Chris Michlewicz
cmichlewicz@ourcoloradonews.com
FLAT-OUT FUN
Eighteen-month-old Bailey Classick tries with all of her might to heft a pumpkin at Flat Acres Farm on Oct. 19. It was her first visit to a pumpkin patch.
Hundreds of families stopped by Flat Acres Farm Oct. 19 to soak up the cool, sunny weather and fall festivities. They kept busy by navigating a corn maze and making careful selections in the pumpkin patch. Hayrides were loaded to the gills and the area surrounding each play structure was alive with the sounds of laughter. The locally owned farm is southwest of Twenty Mile Road and Dransfeldt Road.
PHOTOS BY CHRIS MICHLEWICZ
Parker residents will vote on five ballot questions that will give town council the power to impose higher municipal fines and announce meetings electronically. Ballot questions 2J, 2K, 2L, 2M and 2N will change language in the town charter, a policy guiding document first adopted in 1984. By law, any amendment to the charter must go before voters. Questions 2J and 2M deal with penalties imposed by Parker’s municipal court. Currently, monetary fines are capped at $1,000, and the maximum jail term that can be imposed is one year. Town spokeswoman Elise Penington said the charter amendment is in response to a change in state law due to House Bill 13-1060, which allows municipal courts to assess fines of up to $2,650 for violations of municipal ordinances. If approved by voters, fines and penalties would be established by town council ordinance. The state legislature changed the fine amount to adjust for inflation, and Parker is trying to change its language “to be consistent with state law,” Penington said. Ballot questions 2J and 2M would permit town council to decide on penalties through ordinance instead of putting minor wording changes to a public vote each time, she said. Ballot questions 2K, 2L and 2N would give town officials more “flexibility” in deciding how to announce public meetings, special meetings and notices, with the exception of those dealing with annexations and liquor licenses. Questions 2K and 2L would replace existing language that requires the Town of Parker to announce public meetings in two ways, including the newspaper of record, the Douglas County News-Press. The DCNP is a sister publication of the Parker Chronicle. Voters continues on Page 24
Two young girls navigate their way through the haunted cornfield at Flat Acres Farm on Oct. 19. Hundreds of families have stopped by for hayrides, pumpkin picking and other fall festivities.
Printed on recycled newsprint. Please recycle this copy.