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Issue #127 — Volume 11 Number 9 — Saturday, September 3, 2011
Upcoming Local Events See pages 35-39 for details of these and many other local events. Donala Water & Sanitation District Town Meeting, Wed., Sep. 7, 7 p.m NEPCO Meeting: President’s Roundtable, Sat., Sep. 10, 10 a.m.-noon Retro Rods & Rockabilly Car Show & Concert, Sat., Sep. 10, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., School Safety Forum, Mon., Sep. 12, 6:30 p.m. Palmer Lake Historical Society Meeting: “Two Wheels and a Path.” Thu., Sep. 15, 7-9 p.m. Tri-Lakes Business Incubator Free Monthly Evening Seminar: Influence & Power of Social Media, Tue., Sep. 20, 7-8 p.m. Art Hop, Thu., Sep. 15, 5-8 p.m. Music by the Creek, Thu., Sept. 15, 6-9 p.m. Chili Cook Off and Salsa Tasting, Sat., Sep. 17, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Tri-Lakes Community Blood Drive, Tue., Sep. 20, 3-7 p.m. D-38 10K/5K/1-mile Fun Raiser Run/ Walk for D-38 schools, Sat., Oct. 1, 9 a.m. for 5K and 10K, 11:30 a.m. for 1-mile Fun Run 38th Annual Christmas Arts & Craft Fair, Sat.-Sun., Oct.1-2, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat.; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun. ■
In this issue Direction 38 Forum 5 Water & San District News 7-16 Fire District News 16 Monument News 17 Palmer Lake News 19 BRRTA News 22 WIA News 24 Weather 25 Letters 25 Books, Gardens, Birds, Arts 27-29 Snapshots of Our Community 30-32 Library Events, History 33-34 Special Events and Notices 35 Our Community Calendar 36-39 OCN information 39, 40
Above: On Aug. 19, about 100 regional firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service and El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, as well as the United States Air Force Academy, Black Forest, Fort Carson, Green Mountain Falls, Larkspur, Manitou Springs, Palmer Lake, Peyton, Tri-Lakes Monument, and Westcott fire departments worked to keep the Beaver Creek forest fire away from the houses at the west end of Bronco Drive and Green Mountain Drive. The wildfire, which started about 2 p.m., spread to over 60 acres in a very rugged upslope area above the houses at the west end of the Hay Creek Road corridor west of the I-25 Baptist Road interchange. An Airtractor AT-802F single engine air tanker (SEAT) with a Fire Retardant Dispersal System (FRDS)
delivered about 2,400 gallons of slurry as requested by the incident commander during three flights on Friday to help contain the fire (see www.airtractor.com/at-802f). A Monument Helitac Aerostar Type 3 helicopter dropped water from its dipping bucket directly on the largest flames. The firefighters used the rocky areas on the upslope face of the mountain range to contain the fire and were aided by winds that blew the fire uphill to the west. Cool weather and rain helped with containing the fire. A large Sikorsky S-64 Sky Crane Type 1 helicopter made several water drops on Sunday. See pages 30 for additional photos of the Beaver Creek fire. Photo by Michael Foote.
Judge denies Donala’s request to use ranch water; district to hold town meeting Sept. 7 By John Heiser At the Aug. 16 monthly meeting of the Donala Water and Sanitation District Board of Directors, Dana Duthie, district general manager, announced that on July 28, water court Judge Dennis Maes denied the district’s request to change to municipal use the water formerly used to irrigate the Willow Creek Ranch. The judge ordered the district to continue negotiations with the Colorado State Engineer’s Office and the Colorado Water
Conservation Board (CWCB), the sole remaining objectors to the proposed change in use. The parties were to report back to the judge by Aug. 28 on the progress of the negotiations. In November 2008, Donala completed the purchase of the ranch near Leadville and has been reducing irrigation on the ranch and seeking conversion of the excess irrigation water, which flows to the Arkansas River, for use by the district. The district is hoping to obtain rights
to about 280 acre-feet of water per year, which would cover about 20 percent of Donala’s current demand. If that is the final figure ultimately approved by Judge Maes then, under the terms of the ranch purchase agreement, the district will be obligated to pay Ronald Strich, the former owner of the ranch, an additional fee of about $408,000. Prior to the case going to Judge Maes, settlement had been achieved with all the (Continued on page 7)
Lewis-Palmer School District 38 Board of Education, Aug. 18 and 22
D-38 approves new contract with Monument Academy; enrollment down less than expected By Harriet Halbig The Lewis-Palmer District 38 Board of Education has approved a new five-year contract with Monument Academy (MA). The board met twice during the summer to approve extensions of the contract as
negotiations continued. The contract will be retroactive to July 1. District Superintendent John Borman said that he, Assistant Superintendent of Operations Cheryl Wangeman, and board member Robb Pike had met with MA Ex-
ecutive Director Dan Griffin and the MA principal over several months. Attorneys were present at some early meetings to expedite discussion, while the final meetings were between Borman and Griffin. The two parties will continue dis(Continued on page 2)