Trilakes tribune 0723 by Colorado Community Media

July 23, 2014 VOLU M E 49 | I S S UE 27 | 7 5 ¢

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Pot to be on November ballot in Palmer Lake Group collected required number of signatures to get recreational marijuana on Nov. 4 ballot By Danny Summers

dsummers @coloradocommunitymedia.com If you thought the defeat of the Palmer Lake recreational marijuana bill in April ended all future pot talk in the small El Paso County municipality, get ready for round two of the battle that is sure to make headlines during the next few months. Bob Radosevich, deputy clerk for the town of Palmer Lake, announced that enough signatures were gathered to put the measure back on the ballot for the Nov. 4 election. “They only needed 99 signatures and they got more than 160,” Radosevich said of a group that collected the signatures. “They easily met the criteria.” The 99 signatures were based on 5 percent of the registered voters (about 1,900) in Palmer Lake.

Marijuana parafanalia is available at Salvatore’s Wellness Center. Photos by Danny Summers

Dino Salvatore is the owner of the Palmer Lake Wellness Center.

Pot continues on Page 13

Salvatore’s Palmer Lake Wellness Center is located at 850 Commercial Lane in Palmer Lake.

A giant mural of the rock band the “Rolling Stones” greets customers who enter Salvatore’s establishment.

POSTAL ADDRESS

There’s always something happening with the Black Forest Fire Board Jim Rebitski is acting fire chief By Danny Summers

dsummers@coloradocommunitymedia.com

TRI-LAKES TRIBUNE (USPS 418-960)

OFFICE: 325 Second Street, Suite R Monument, CO 80132 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. 10 a.m. G ET SOCIAL WITH US

P L EA SE R ECYC L E T H I S C OPY

It’s been several months since the revamped board has been in place for the Black Forest Fire/ Rescue Protection District. And while positive steps continue to be taken to be repair the trust that was seemingly lost among Black Forest residents since the June 2013 massive fire, much more work is yet to be done. “I think the majority of the residents of our area want to move on,” said Rick McMorran, chair/ president of the Black Forest Fire District “We’ve had a lot of distractions and a lot going on in the last year and it’s time for this community to heal.” McMorran replaced Eddie Bracken as chair when Bracken was not reelected. McMorran made it publicly clear that he did not support Bracken and other former board members who gave the go-ahead on a costly report concerning the early stages of the Black Forest fire. In May, three new members joined the Board: PJ Langmaid, Jayme McConnellogue and Rick Nearhoof. They, along with the three existing board members, have vowed to get things in order. “We want to be prepared for the next time something happens,” McMorran said. “Right now things like fire mitigation and getting our budget in order are at the top of our agenda.” Also near the top of that list is getting the fire chief situation resolved. In early June, Black Forest Fire Chief Bob Harvey placed himself on sick leave for reasons of post traumatic stress disorder. Chief Harvey read a statement at the June 4 Black Forest Board meeting stating, among other things, “… that the actions by certain members of the board in threatening his job status during their recent campaign may be additional cause for stress.” The acting fire chief is Jim Rebitski, who was the assistant chief. He was appointed the acting chief at the June 19 Board meeting.

The three newest members of the Black Forest Fire Board were sworn into office in May. Standing left to right with their arms raised are PJ Langmaid, Jayme McConnellogue and Rick Nearhoof. Courtesy photo “This is a personnel matter and that’s about as much as I can discuss at this point,” McMorran said. “Chief Harvey is still the chief. He just happens to be on sick leave at this point. Anything to change that would be a Board issue. Right now we’re in a holding pattern.” Darryl Glenn, the El Paso County Commissioner whose area includes Black Forest, was also critical of Harvey’s handling of the fire. But Glenn has no say-so in the matter when it comes to the hiring or firing of a chief. Black Forest Fire public information officer Kathy Russell is focusing her efforts on fire mitigation, rather than getting caught up in the media circus. “As a fire department we have been pushing fire mitigation for more than 10 years,” she said. “After the fire the requests for assessments went through the roof. The fire taught us that come mitigation is

good, but more is better.” Russell added that getting five or more neighbors together in the same area or street is critical to achieving the best possible fire mitigation success. “If we can get five contiguous neighbors work together as a group that goes such a long way,” she said. “A neighborhood in Black Forest is 25 to 30 acres. “We’ve got three fire-wise neighborhoods right now. That number will rise when people see other people in the Forest coming together to help.” Russell said that the relatively wet summer has helped decrease the fire danger, but it is will always exist in the Black Forest. “We can enjoy the rain, but the weather has always been volatile here,” she said. “I like the rain, but I would hate to give the impression we have breathing space for a year.”