JOURNAL   01/14/07

So it's been awhile since I last reported in. Perhaps this has saddened you;
perhaps not. At any rate, it's the season of two jobs, and I'm glad to
report that business is up in the screen printing world, and seems to be
doing quite well at the airport, too. Plus, it's hibernation season, and my
time management failure means that I spend much time asleep or wishing I was
asleep.

But the GVCA has been motoring along, although we did take a two-week
holiday break.

Our new meeting format is more scattershot, but I think it's been more
productive. It's less informational in the broad sense -- we don't get
weekly reports on public meetings. But the agendas are attached to our
meeting agenda, and if anyone has a question, they should feel free to post
it to this list, and I'm sure someone (at least one someone) will have an
answer for you.

That doesn't mean we don't find things to talk about. (Was that a double
negative? Try this: We can always find plenty to talk about.)

Of interest to us lately: Finding a means for the county to once again
accept clear and green glass for recycling; community gardening; the charter
school and other possibilities; energy; the junior livestock show; and
development within and adjacent to the City of Gunnison.

Let's start with that last item: Several of us, due to our proximity to it,
are tracking progress on Van Tuyl Village. I, for one, have been thinking
that this would have been a great place to put into practice some of the
concepts the city planning commission has been going over for the past
couple of years. Row houses, for instance, might lend a trifle more mass to
the houses along Spencer, although it's difficult to see what you gain from
the five or eight feet that will separate you from your neighbor, and if
only the roofs had been pitched north-south to allow for solar electric or
in-floor heating. (And I see that the community development office lauded
Gloria Beim for her new building's design, when all I see is a wasted
expanse that could have supported solar panels. Although one council member
has made it clear to me, through an intermediary, that he considers solar
panels a blight on the landscape.)

After several starts and stops, Joe Matyk appears to be moving forward with
his plan for single-family residences in West Gunnison, at the same time the
city's consultants are at work on overarching plans for that entire area
(Joe Matyk will only be developing a piece -- there are many landowners in
West Gunnison).

But the one we would like to see more people paying attention to is Gunnison
Rising. Hundreds of people, both pro and con, turned out to hear about and
weigh in on the possibility of a Super Wal-Mart going up at the north end of
town, but so far there seems to be little awareness of the reality of a far
more vast development, one that will include commercial (we think there's a
distinct possibility that among the commercial installations will be that
Super Wal-Mart, and maybe even a scaled-down version of a Home Depot) as
well as residential.

We may be thinking of this as yet another of Dick Bratton's projects, but
really, this project belongs to Steve Shuck, a professional developer from
Colorado Springs. Jaclyn, I believe, can provide us with a list of projects
and properties developed by Shuck, who once ran for governor of Colorado.
It's an extensive list.

You can take a look at the proposed project at www.gunnisonrising.com, and
this Wednesday the planning commission, along with interested city council
members, will hear from BBC, the firm retained by the city (at the
developer's expense) to study impacts to the city of this proposed
annexation. BBC will be discussing its approach, since it hasn't started its
study.

The GVCA would be interested in seeing if some of this study can be tied to
the needs assessment that the county Housing Authority is preparing to
undertake countywide. This assessment aims to determine not only what is
needed now, but what might be needed in the future.

I would urge all of you who were concerned about the impacts -- positive,
negative or both  -- of a Super Wal-Mart to pay even closer attention to
this proposal. Impacts, both during development and then thereafter, will be
substantial and this proposal should bear all the scrutiny we all can bring
to it.

***
The Junior Livestock Show

Narcissa reported to us that the county commissioners have asked our
extension agent (whose name I can't recall) to meet with the Junior
Livestock Committee to address three items: 1) The uber-high bids of the
last couple of years that have priced out many long-time supporters of the
sale (held in conjunction with Cattlemen's Days); 2) The uber-high bids that
have built up unrealistic expectations among junior stockgrowers; and 3)
Putting into place some sort of protection lest an out-of-town buyer write a
hot check that then leaves the junior stockgrower high and dry. (An in-town
buyer could do the same thing -- I think the thinking was that recourse
would be easier to gain locally, but I'm not sure that's always true, so
hopefully a new policy would address any bad check.)

***
Energy

The county commissioners today will vote on a resolution urging Gunnison
County Electric not to extend its contract with Tri-State, an electricity
delivery company hell-bent on upping its rates as high as 75% to help pay
for three coal-burning plants that could be obsolete before they're built.
(The Gunnison Country Times has been following this quite closely and has
several informative articles on he topic.) I believe the current contract
extends until 2025, but Tri-State wants members to re-up through 2050.

Don and Richard are reading about some new sort of nuclear power plant that
is beginning to be tried in India and other places. I'm afraid I didn't
grasp any of the particulars enough to repeat them, but Richard did post a
link last week.

Butch is keeping a close eye on all the possibilities available locally
(like as not, intended for extraction and use elsewhere), such as the
coal-bed methane along Ohio Creek that Exxon has mapped. We may want to
remain a tourist destination, but I suppose it depends on how desperate we
all become for energy. (I'm reading now in a May 2005 Smithsonian magazine
about how many underground coal fires -- one of them near Glenwood Springs
-- are burning out of control, polluting the air and consuming huge
quantities of coal. And I recently read an article from truthout.org that
says the invasion of Iraq and the recent proposal to add more troops is
about gaining enough stability for U.S. oil companies to venture in for easy
oil pickings. Call me cynical, but I believe it.)

***
Charter School

As perhaps you read in the paper, proponents of the Loudin Mullin Charter,
which was denied by the RE-1J school board, are appealing to the state.
Either way, the state decision is final: neither side may appeal. In the
meantime, the school district has appointed a committee to look into what
the district might do to address the concerns raised by charter proponents.
This committee is co-chaired by Mark White, of the charter school steering
committee, and Andy Hanks, GES principal.

***
Community Gardening

Karen is offering a meeting on some date I didn't write down (Jan. 23?) to
see what sort of interest there might be in community gardening, along with
some tips on extending your growing season. The school district has said it
will entertain a proposal to install a community garden on its weed-infested
property at the Lake administrative building, and the garden at Bill's Park
(north of the old City Market lot), but Karen would like to see wht sort of
interest is out there first.

***
Recycling

It turns out that there are several potential local uses for crushed glass,
including as construction fill and in concrete aggregate. However, the
biggest impediments are the lack of a glass crusher (perhaps a $70,000 item)
and storage space for glass collection. Plastic collection has taken over
much of the recycling center, and there isn't space to store green and clear
glass, particularly if it's being stored without a plan for re-use. The
county has suggested in the interim that you look for products that come in
plastic (such as applesauce, although that won't work for Corona). If you
have the space at home, we'd encourage you to not throw your glass in the
landfill just yet, because we think there's a workable solution at hand.

***
City Council

Elections are four months away for the seats currently occupied by Stu
Ferguson, Rick Miller and Jonathan Houck. As she did two years ago, City
Clerk Gail Davidson is hosting an informational presentation for anyone
contemplating running for council. This will take place in council chambers
at noon on Jan. 25. I attended the last one, and it was very informative,
with Reta Calkins and Stu Ferguson both stressing the time commitment
required. If you're thinking about running, or even if you're just wanting
more information about what being on council entails, I'd encourage you to
attend the meeting. I think there's free food, and there's absolutely no
obligation that results from attending.

Okay, that's it for me today. It's back to work or hibernation, whichever
comes first.

TL