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Volunteers reporting on community issues in Monument, Palmer Lake, and the surrounding Tri-Lakes area Issue #122 — Volume 11 Number 4 — Saturday, April 2, 2011
See pages 31-35 for details of these and many other local events. Electronics Recycling Event Sat., Apr. 9, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Drop off your old electronics for a nominal recycling fee. All proceeds will benefit Palmer Ridge High School Baseball. Mothers’ Day Market: Great Gifts & Baked Goods Tue., Apr. 12, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Shop for Mothers’ Day gifts and help a local charity–special drawing to benefit Tri-Lakes Cares.
Above: Students of the Celtic Steps Irish Dance Studio perform a hard shoe dance at the Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts. Left: Ceol Ceili band members, from left, Heidi McClure, Roy Jackson, Steve Hart, and Kari Wilson. Photos by David Futey.
Free income tax filing assistance by trained AARP volunteers. Through Apr. 18. Palmer Lake Historical Society Meeting: Historical Tour of the Black Forest Thu., Apr. 21, 7-9 p.m, Palmer Lake Town Hall. Led by Terry Stokka.
Palmer Lake’s Easter Pancake Breakfast Sun., Apr. 24, 7-11 a.m. Hosted by the Palmer Lake Fire Department Protection Association. A Taste of Tri-Lakes Cares Mon., Apr. 25, 5:30 p.m. Local chefs will prepare dishes using only items from the USDA Federal Commodity program; items that can be found in food pantries throughout El Paso County. 35th Annual Pine Forest Antiques & Garden Show & Sale, April 30, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and May 1, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., at Lewis-Palmer High School, See ad on page 10. All proceeds benefit the School District 38 community. ■
In this issue Water and Sanitation Districts 1-12 Monument News 13-15 Palmer Lake News 16 D-38 News 17-19 Fire District News 20 County Planning 21 WIA News 21 Weather 22 Letters 23 Gardens, Bees, Birds, Arts 24-26 Snapshots of Our Community 27-29 Library Events 30 Local History 30 Special Events and Notices 31-32 Our Community Calendar 32-35 OCN information 23, 35
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Postal Customer
Free
Assessor reports big declines in average assessed property values
Upcoming Local Events
Palmer Lake’s Annual Easter Egg Hunt Sat., Apr. 23, 10-11 a.m., Palmer Lake Village Green and Town Hall.
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID MONUMENT, CO PERMIT NO. 32
Irish music and dance energize TLCA By David Futey On March 11, the Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts (TLCA) hosted two events in celebration of the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day. The evening opened with students from Celtic Steps, an Irish dance school, bringing a high-energy performance to the TLCA dance floor. Caryn Morgan, coordinator with Celtic Steps, said the organization was formed by Lord of the Dance dancers Aisling and Shaun Casey. The school teaches traditional Irish step, hard shoe dance, and other dance techniques. The Colorado Springs school has 200 students, and they were scheduled to have five performances at various locations during the St.
Patrick’s Day week. Information on Celtic Steps is at www.celticsteps.org. The second event saw a return of Ceol Ceili to the TLCA stage. The Colorado Springs-based Irish band performed a mix of traditional Irish songs and its own compositions. The band last played the TLCA in 2008 and since that time has been performing throughout the area, working on a new CD and integrating a new band member, Roy Jackson. Information on Ceol Ceili is at www.ceolceili.com. Information on upcoming events at the TLCA is at www.trilakesarts.org. David Futey can be contacted at dfutey@ocn.me
Monument Sanitation District Board, March 17
Plea to governor points out high costs of proposed regulations By Jim Kendrick On March 17, the board of the Monument Sanitation District unanimously approved a letter of concern to Gov. John Hickenlooper regarding the expected extremely high costs for proposed state-mandated capital additions to the Tri-Lakes Wastewater Treatment Facility to remove additional total phosphorus and total nitrogen from facility effluent. The letter stated that the costs would be imposed by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment with no demonstrated scientific basis that the facility modifications would produce significant water quality improvements in Monument Creek.
The executive summary and the full text of the Monument district’s letter to Hickenlooper are reprinted on page 4.
JUC update
District Manager Mike Wicklund noted that the directors of the Tri-Lakes facility’s Joint Use Committee (JUC) had unanimously approved seeking help directly from Hickenlooper and state and county elected officials in reviewing the state Health Department’s new water quality regulations regarding phosphorus and nitrogen removal for publicly owned wastewater treatment facilities. Letters will also be written by the districts that will also ask the elected officials to help (Continued on page 3)
By John Heiser At the March 12 meeting of the Northern El Paso County Coalition of Community Associations (NEPCO), Mark Lowderman, El Paso County assessor, estimated that assessed values of properties in the county will decline an average of about 15 percent. He estimated the average decline in the Tri-Lakes area at about 10 percent. He said the greatest declines are being seen in the eastern part of the county, with some declines over 40 percent. Lowderman noted that the declines in assessed values will result in a decline of about $7.5 million in the county’s general fund. Significant reductions in property taxes will also affect many districts, including the Pikes Peak Library District, fire protection districts, and school districts. Some highlights of Lowderman’s presentation and responses to questions: • El Paso County has the highest number of parcels of land of any county in Colorado. There are currently about 260,000 parcels in the county. In 2000, there were 190,000 parcels. The increase over the past 10 years is mostly due to residential subdivisions. • All properties must be reassessed every odd-numbered year. • The new assessed value is used to determine property taxes due the following year. • The assessments are based on 24 months of sales data ending six months prior to the current year. For the assessments being done now, the data being used is for sales that closed between July 1, 2008, and June 30, 2010. • There are usually about 25,000 sales during the two-year period. This time there are only about 13,000 sales. • Over the prior 20 years, the county has seen double-digit property value increases. • In some areas, half the sales were of bank-owned properties. Many of these properties are not in good condition and tend to accelerate declining market values. • Property owners will receive notices of the new assessed value of their properties by May 1. Appeals of assessed values must be filed prior to June 1. • Appeals should be based on comparable sales. Lowderman encouraged residents to contact his office for help with appeals. He said his office’s mission is to arrive at a fair and accurate value of each property. He added that about half of all appeals result in a reduction in the assessed value. The value is never increased as a result of an appeal. (Continued on page 2)