July 21, 2022 Vol. 21, No. 35 Serving Manitou Springs, Old Colorado City and Lower Ute Pass
$100
Peanut Pusher conquers
the mountain “Not having to push a peanut anymore was a really good incentive.” — Bob Salem
Courtesy of the city of Manitou Springs
Bob Salem displays congratulatory letters on the Pikes Peak summit Friday, July 15.
By Rhonda Van Pelt Most of us have done this: We see something interesting on social media and decide to try it, buy it or go see it. Bob Salem took that to a whole new level — 14,115 feet, to be exact. He saw that the Manitou Springs Heritage Center and Museum wanted someone to carry on the daffy tradition of pushing a peanut up Pikes Peak with his or her nose. MSHC Board President Michael Maio had
posted about how cool it would be to recreate the stunt as part of Manitou’s 150th anniversary celebration. “I just simply typed in, ‘I’ll do it.’ And he was surprised. I was surprised,” Salem said, laughing, on Monday, July 18. The 53-year-old Colorado Springs resident spoke to the Bulletin between interviews with Canadian, Australian and German media.
See PEANUT PUSHER/page 5
Council revisits trash talk, irons out fine details By Marcus Hill It took a bit of clarification, but City Council approved a resolution to adopt a universal fee schedule for businesses that violate city trash ordinances. During the meeting on Tuesday, July 19, members voted 6-0 to adopt the fee schedule, which will include an escalating charge per violation. Mayor Pro Tem John Shada did not attend the meeting. “$250, plus $100 per hour per city employee,” said Mayor John Graham as he read what council would implement regarding the universal fee. “The next line would still say $250 for the first offense, the next line would say $400 on the second offense, next line would say $700 all subsequent offenses. I would propose an asterisk for all three of those offense values and say ‘within a 12-month period.’” After one year, any violation will drop down to the initial $250 fine rather than ascend to the next tier. The introduction of the fee schedule comes on the heels of City Council’s July 12 session, when Hannah Van Nimwegen, Manitou Springs planning director, spoke about a litter and waste control ordinance and long-term waste control. At that time, Van Nimwegen said there had been “an increase in trash and trash-related complaints” throughout the summer in recent years. Councilors discussed how some downtown businesses didn’t flinch at the price of fines and council considered adopting a fee schedule to encourage business owners to keep their areas clean. This led to Tuesday’s discussion, during which Van Nimwegen and councilors developed a plan to levy fines should businesses not adhere to the new ordinance. “If paying that much money doesn’t encourage the violator to solve the problem, then we can always just revoke their business
See COUNCIL/page 3
INSIDE CITY ADMINISTRATOR UPDATES COMMUNITY.............PAGE 4 EASY-PEASY E-BIKE RENTAL AND PURCHASE.............PAGE 7 SHARPTON HAS MINERAL WATER IN HIS BLOOD........PAGE 8