Tri lakes tribune 0618

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June 18, 2014

75 Cents

hzVolume 49, Issue 22

tri-lakestribune.net

Page 8 Tri-Lakes Region, Monument, Gleneagle, Black Forest and Northern El Paso County

A publication of

Tri-Lakes Monument Fire Protection District is the product of the 2008 merger of two districts, Tri-Lakes Protection and Monument- Woodmoor Fire. Photos by Rob Carrigan

A ‘Hugelkultur’ garden is made up of layers that, as they decompose, will feed and water vegetables for the next several decades without watering or feeding. Here members of the Accent Church Vertical Student Ministry cover the pile of cardboard, logs, sticks, grass and weeds with a layer of well-rotted straw. After this they will cover the pile with compost and soil. Photo by Norma Engelberg

Garden Community shares experiences Members learn from each other, explore sustainable gardening ideas

Tri-Lakes Monument fire Protection District Chief Christopher Truty will offer his recommendation regarding the possible merger of departments with Larkspur Fire at the June 25 board meeting.

By Norma Engelberg Contributing writer

Monument has a community garden at Lavelett Park but those who plant there are invited to be members of the Tri-Lakes Garden Community. “Our main goal is to educate each other,” said community member Rebecca Duke. “A community garden is where people plant if they can’t plant at their homes but most of us do have our own gardens so we are a community of gardeners so we turned the words around.” The garden community plans all kinds of activities throughout the year, including summer walking tours of local gardens, movie nights featuring a movie about some aspect of gardening and a dessert pot-luck and “Crop Mobs” where members explore gardening and planting ideas. “We want people to learn how to grow their own food with an awareness of our elevation and water needs,” Duke said. “We have started several experimental gardens and we’re always looking for ways to draw people together to grow more food and have

Fire departments consider merger Chief will make recommendation June 25 Members of the Accent Church Vertical Student Ministry add a layer of leaves to the top of a ‘Hugelkultur’ garden. The leaves and all the other layers of organic material that go into the garden will grow vegetables for decades without irrigation after the first year. Courtesy photo by Donna Wood more fun. ‘More Food, More Fun’ could be our slogan.” At the June 9 Permaculture Crop Mob, gardener Janet Sellers invited teens and preteens in the Vertical Student Ministry group at Accent Church in Woodmoor to her home to learn about “Hugelkultur.” “This is a type of gardening that has been practiced in Eastern Europe for about 200 years,” she told the group. “When it’s done right, you should never have to water it

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after the first year and a tall Hugelkultur garden can last up to 30 years or longer.” She explained that a Hugelkultur garden is put together in layers like lasagna. She had already cleared a space about 3 to 4 feet wide and about 6 to 8 feet long. Layers include a piece of plastic mesh to keep gophers and voles from digging through the

Garden continues on Page 13

TRI-LAKES TRIBUNE

By Rob Carrigan

rcarrigan@coloradocommunitymedia.com Fire Chief Chris Truty said he will make a recommendation on whether or not to to continue to pursue a possible merger between Tri-Lakes Monument Fire Protection District (TLMFPD) and the Larkspur Fire Protection District at the TLMFPD meeting June 25. “I will tell my findings to the board and they will decide whether or not go further,” Truty said Friday. “If the boards approve, we will develop broad recommendations on how to proceed.” Merits behind such a merger, Truty says, are complementary staffing, fleet depth, and the ability work with each other. By combin-

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OFFICE: 325 Second Street, Suite R, Monument, CO 80132 MAILING ADDRESS: PO Box 340, Woodland Park, CO 80866 PHONE: 719-687-3006 A legal newspaper of general circulation in El Paso County, Colorado, the Tri-Lakes Tribune is published weekly on Wednesday by Colorado Community Media, 1200 E. Highway 24, Woodland Park, CO 80863. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT WOODLAND PARK, COLORADO. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 DEADLINES: Display: Thurs.11 a.m. | Legal: Thurs. 11 a.m. | Classified: Mon. 12 p.m.

ing resources, the two departments would enjoy economies of scale and may be able to provide better services collectively that they could separately. “In the long term, it makes all kinds of sense,” he says, and notes that TLMFPD has 42 operational staff members, 14 per shift, in three stations, and Larkspur is smaller with 15 operational, five per shift, in two stations, with a volunteer compliment. “My board is very open, to the extent of investigation, of the possible merger.” The current TLMFPD is the product of 2008 merger in which the surrounding Tri-Lakes district merged with Monument-Woodmoor departments. Discussion of merging the entire North Group, which includes Donald Wescott, Black Forest Fire, and Falcon, may even be possilbe in an overall longrange plans.

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