PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID MONUMENT, CO PERMIT NO. 32
Happy Holidays! from the volunteers at
**ECRWSS**
Postal Customer Issue #130 — Volume 11 Number 12 — Saturday, December 3, 2011
Big R store proposed for Tri-Lakes area
Upcoming Local Events See pages 31-35 for details of these and many other local events. Historic Monument Small Town Christmas, Sat., Dec. 3, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Kiwanis’ 6th Annual North Pole at TriLakes Arts and Crafts Fair, Sat., Dec. 3, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 4, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Third Annual Jingle Bear 5K Run, Sat., Dec. 3, 8 a.m. check in, 9 a.m. start Holiday Boutique & Bazaar, Sat., Dec. 3, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Palmer Lake Yule Log Pot Luck Dinner, Tue., Dec. 6, 6 p.m. “The Gift of Christmas” Free Holiday Concert, Fri.-Sat., Dec. 9-10, 7 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 11, 2 p.m. Night of Lights, Fri.-Sun., Dec. 9-11, 6-9 p.m. Gleneagle Festival of Lights Hayride, Sat., Dec. 10, 5-8 p.m. Christmas Handbell Concert, Sat., Dec. 10, 7 p.m. John Fielder & Chuck Pyle Concert, Sat., Dec. 10, 7 p.m. Annual Palmer Lake Yule Log Hunt, Sun., Dec. 11, 1 p.m. Santa on Patrol, Sat., Dec. 17, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Above (L to R): Major John Bennett, El Paso County Salvation Army Coordinator and Steve Stevenson, President, Monument Hill Kiwanis, are ringing bells at the Monument King Soopers. Monument Hill Kiwanis is participating in the 2011 Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign at the Monument Safeway, Walmart, and King Soopers stores. 100 percent of donations to the kettles will be given to the El Paso County Salvation Army. Last year, as a result Tri-Lakes area donations, a record $40,074 was collected at the Red Kettles located at these three stores. Photo by Mike Wicklund.
Tri-Lakes Monument Fire Protection District, Nov. 16
District receives Colorado Ambulance Service of the Year Award
Christmas Tree Pick-up & Recycling for Boy Scout Troop 194, Sat., Dec. 31 and Sat., Jan. 7. ■
In this issue Fire District News 1 D-38 News 3-10 Monument News 10-15 Water & San District News 15-20 Baptist Road News 21 WIA News 22 Weather 22 Letters 24 Books, Gardens, Birds, Arts 23-26 Snapshots of Our Community 26-29 Library Events, History 30 Special Events and Notices 31 Our Community Calendar 32-35 OCN information 34-36
Free
From left are Tri-Lakes Monument Fire Protection District President Charlie Pocock, District Training Officer Mike Keough, Treasurer John Hildebrandt, Director Rod Wilson, Battalion Chief of Emergency Medical Services Greg Lovato, Fire Chief Robert Denboske, Director Roger Lance, EMT Rudi Gillette, Director Barbara Kelly, and EMT Keegan Black. They welcomed the Colorado Ambulance Service of the Year Award for 2011. Photo by Bernard Minetti. By Bernard L. Minetti On Nov. 16, Battalion Chief Greg Lovato presented the Colorado Ambulance Service of the Year Award to the Tri-Lakes Monument Fire Protection District Board of Directors and to Fire Chief Robert Denboske. Lovato had received the honor on behalf of the district and for Denboske at a meeting of the Emergency Medical Services of Colorado. The award is presented by Emergency Medical Services and the Colorado State Board of Health. District Board President Charlie Pocock congratulated Lovato for being instrumental in the acquisition of this honor in his post as battalion chief of Emergency Medical Services and
remarked that it was one of the highest awards ever received by the district. Pocock added that the award was received because of the high standards of professionalism demonstrated by the district’s fire medical personnel and that they are all to be congratulated.
Financial update
Treasurer John Hildebrandt said that through October, the district had received $3.2 million, or 98.51 percent of the budgeted property tax revenues and $237,448, or 86.62 percent of the budgeted specific ownership taxes for the year. Ambulance revenues were $505,635, or 103.19 percent of the annual budget. (Continued on page 2)
By Steve Sery Big R, a farm/ranch-oriented business, similar to the old Brookhart’s without the building materials, is proposing a store near I-25 and Baptist Road on the northeast corner of Struthers Road and Spanish Bit, south of Baptist and north of Northgate Road (see vicinity map below). It is proposed on an approximately 10-acre site that is part of the Chaparral Hills subdivision. This parcel and others were reserved for commercial use by the developer. It is currently zoned R4, an obsolete zone. This particular part of the zone is designated multifamily. The developer/builder, Hammers Construction, is asking for a zone change to CC, commercial community. A neighborhood meeting, hosted by the developer, was held Nov. 15. About 20 residents of Chaparral Hills attended. The site plan, elevations and artist’s sketches of the project were displayed. The main points of concern were the appearance of the building (a generic metal structure); the access off Spanish Bit, a residential road (El Paso County Engineering will not permit an access off Struthers Road); and the overall incompatibility of the building and the business with Chaparral Hills. The covenants, in reserving the area for commercial use, stated it must be compatible, which is difficult to define. Hammers Construction and the Big R owners noted the concerns of the residents, made some revisions, and are holding one-on-one meetings with the residents who attended the meeting to see if they can get support for the project. Once the developer has prepared the final plans, it will submit them to the county Development Services Department. If the department is satisfied with the changes, the next step will be to present the zone change and the proposed Big R store to the county Planning Commission and then to the Board of County Commissioners. The public will have an opportunity to be heard at both hearings. If approved, the business could open in about one year. Steve Sery can be contacted at stevesery@ocn.me.