PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID MONUMENT, CO PERMIT NO. 32 **ECRWSS**
Postal Customer Issue #133 — Volume 12 Number 3 — Saturday, March 3, 2012
Majority in survey support proposed D-38 bus fee
Upcoming Local Events See pages 31-35 for details of these and many other local events. Visions of Light Free Opening Reception at TLCA, Sat., Mar. 3, 5: 30-7:30 p.m. Fox Run Regional Park 2012 Improvements Open House, Mon., Mar. 5, 6:30-8:30 p.m. D-38 Chess Tournament, Sat., Mar. 10, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Western Museum of Mining & Industry (WMMI): Family Exploration Day–Women In Mining, Sat., Mar. 10, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. NEPCO Meeting, Sat., Mar. 10, 10 a.m.-noon. Xeriscape. Wendy Woo Concert, Sat., Mar. 10, 7 p.m. Chamber Bowl, Sun., Mar. 11, 1-4 p.m. Palmer Lake Historical Society Meeting: “Colorado Railroad Ice Houses”, Thu., Mar. 15, 7 p.m. Poetry Night, Fri., Mar. 16, 5-8 p.m. Jerry Barlow Concert, Sat., Mar. 17, 7 p.m. Rocky Mountain Music Alliance Free Concert, Sat. Mar. 17, 7 p.m. Tri-Lakes Community Blood Drive, Tue., Mar. 20, 3-7 p.m. WYNOT Radio, Sat., Mar. 24, 7 p.m. Palmer Lake After Dark, Fri., Mar. 30, 8-11 p.m. Stephanie Bettman Concert, Sat., Mar. 31, 7 p.m. Palmer Lake and Monument Easter Egg Hunts, Sat., Apr. 7, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Palmer Lake’s Easter Pancake Breakfast, Sun., Apr. 8, 7-11 a.m. ■
In this issue D-38 News 1, 6-12 Fracking 12-13 Big R Rezoning 14 Baptist Road News 14-16 Highway 105 Planning 16 Water & San District News 17-19 Monument News 20, 22 Palmer Lake News 22-23 Fire District News 23-24 WIA News 24-25 Weather 25 Letters 26 Books, Birds, and Arts 26-28 Snapshots of Our Community 28 Library Events and History 29-30 Special Events and Notices 31-32 Our Community Calendar 32-35 OCN information 35
Free
Above: From Feb. 2-4, the Tri-Lakes area received 16-24” of snow. Palmer Lake children used a hill by Estemere and snow to make jump, creating their own sled riding challenge. Photo by David Futey. See page 28 for an additional photo. Correction - Make that LPES not PLES: The caption for our Feb. 4 front page photo of D-38 students who won a Rubik’s Cube contest said they were from Palmer Lake Elementary School. As noted in the adjoining article, the students were actually from Lewis-Palmer Elementary School. OCN regrets the error.
A Perspective on Our Community
Nutrients, wastewater, and why you should care By Susan Hindman Starting on March 12, and scheduled to last for at least three days, Colorado’s Water Quality Control Commission will hold hearings on regulations it hopes to pass that are intended to further clean up the treated wastewater discharged into streams and rivers from wastewater treatment facilities across the state. On the surface, this sounds like a good thing. The problem is that the regulations would target all facilities uniformly, even if their “effluent” is already clean—and in many cases, it is. And if they are approved, hold on to your wallet: The cost to comply is going to be staggering, and everyone in the Tri-Lakes area who is a customer of a wastewater district will pay. The prospects of complying with the proposed Regulations 31 and 85—which would impose numeric restrictions on
various compounds of phosphorus and nitrogen in effluent—has infuriated and frightened many wastewater districts’ staffs, boards, and constituents across the state. State officials point to their science and the need to satisfy the EPA; experts that districts hired found that science flawed. The fight has finally caught the attention of state legislators. Efforts to delay, stop, or modify the regulations have intensified over the past year, spawning the formation of coalitions of districts intent on protecting their constituents from the jaw-dropping dollars this will cost them. These coalitions have hired numerous experts on ecosystems—environmental lawyers, statisticians, stream and reservoir biologists, laboratory chemists, and civil engineering firms—who have worked nonstop to dissect the hundreds of megabytes of (Continued on page 2)
By Harriet Halbig On Feb. 16, two members of the committee to investigate bus transportation fees reported to the Board of Education that a majority of survey respondents favored the proposed fees. Georgina Gittins, a Bear Creek parent, and Tom Pulford, a Bear Creek teacher, represented the committee. Gittins said that committee members had met with parent-teacher organizations at all schools and with such community groups as the Kiwanis and the Tri-Lakes Women’s Club to get input. Gittins stated students on free or reduced-cost lunches and those whose Individual Education Plan (IEP) required bus transportation would not be charged a fee for bus use. The community submitted 416 survey responses. Gittins and Pulford summarized the responses, noting that 56.5 percent favored a transportation fee if it would help to maintain a quality education in the district. Some common responses on the survey were: • Charging a fee per ride rather than a monthly flat fee is fairer. • There should be a cap to the fees charged each family. • Adding a fee for transportation seems like a tax increase. • There should be a discount for families with several children who use the service. Gittins said that video of the public meetings is available on the district website, or go to www.ustream.tv/channel/lpsdlive. Gittens listed these among the positive effects of charging a fee: • $200,000 raised annually would result in fewer cuts. • Only those who use the service would pay the fee. • The equipment needed to implement the fee has been funded by a grant received last year. Among the negative effects are: • It would present a financial hardship to those in a weakened position. • The burden of cost is on users only. • Traffic congestion would increase around schools as more parents drive their children to school. Representing the district’s administration, Assistant Superintendent Cheryl Wangeman and Transportation Manager Robin Mossman said that a decision must be made by March to allow time for implementation in the 2012-13 school (Continued on page 6)