2014 Year in Review-May/June

The close of 2014 will put us at the halfway mark for the decade.  Some use the passage of time as a measuring tool…how much have we done…how much time have we got left.  But the timetable for a city or county should probably be measured in accomplishments, not a calendar.  Some projects and programs come with a deadline, and although they can be met, the ramifications will be on-going.  We’ll take note of past events for 2014, some of which will continue to impact our lives as we measure out the years to come.

May:

Gerry Jenkins was approved to replace Lamar Councilman Skip Ruedeman for his Ward Two seat following his resignation.  Jenkins has been employed by Rocky Mountain SER for a number of years as well as a member of Voces Unidas and has been active with the Lamar Eagles Lodge.  Councilman Kirk Crespin was selected to serve as Mayor Pro-Tem, filling another position held by Ruedeman.

Judge Stutler Administers the Oath of Office to Jenkins

Another replacement was announced with City Administrator, John Sutherland, informing the council that Brian Long will become the new resident engineer from CDOT, replacing Paul Westhoff, who retired from that service earlier this spring.  Sutherland said Long is known to the council and community as he had worked with Westhoff for a number of years.

Prowers Medical Center, in need of expansion and refurbishment, held a public hearing in mid May, to educate the general public about the renovations and funding sources for the multi-million dollar project.  Seven areas at the hospital are under consideration including the HVAC system, registration area, nurse’s station, physical therapy, operation and emergency rooms, patient bay, operation pre-op and a private recovery room.  The changes represented more concrete alterations, based directly from hospital staff observations and recommendations.  An earlier remodeling version was presented to the public for funding several years ago and was soundly defeated, based on what many residents believed were frills.  The audience was informed that funding for the project would not require a tax on residents living in the hospital district, nor a vote from the public.

Sergeant David Reid at News Conference

A growing concern about drug abuse, especially the increase in heroin use in the Lamar community brought physicians, local law enforcement and local county and city representatives to develop a plan to help inform residents about the impact of the drug and its effects on the population, especially local youth.  Concerned citizens and city and county representatives attended A May 20 public session conducted by Prowers County Sheriff Senior Deputy Sam Zordel and Colorado State Patrol Corporal Vince Benavides, Kathy McCorkle of RESADA and Cindy Vigil of the Task Force.  The Task Force had been meeting for the past several months and this was the first that was held to help educate the community about the types of drugs that are being used and the consequences, physical and mental, that come from their use.

Wade Parker

Lamar Community College honored its 2014 Outstanding Alumnus of the Year at Antelope Night on Friday, May 2. Head Baseball Coach Scott Crampton gave an introduction for Wade Parker that had most of the audience in tears. Wade’s Parents, Danny and Michelle, were present to receive the posthumous award in his honor. He attended LCC in 2009-2010 and was a member of the Runnin’ Lopes Baseball team.  At the end of the 2010 spring semester, he chose to return to Arizona to pursue his dream of becoming a firefighter like his father.  Wade passed away with 18 of his fellow Granite Mountain Hotshot firefighters last summer in the Yarnell Hill Fire.

June:

Judy Douglass retired as the manager of the Lamar Welcome Center after 14 years of service.  The open house proved an opportunity to meet Leslie Stagner who took over her duties.  The event also marked the 23^rd year of operation for the Center which hosts thousands of visitors passing through southeast Colorado each year.  Since the addition of the windmill and water tank next to the Steam Engine in the Center’s parking lot, coupled with the 100 foot wind turbine blade, the site has become one of the most photographed displays of all the welcome centers in the state.

Speaking about visitors…The City of Lamar was chosen to host the 2014 Colorado American Legion Convention.   Almost a year ago, Denise Carder, then Lamar Chamber of Commerce President and Shawna Hodge, Executive Director of Lamar Partnerships, Incorporated, made a presentation on behalf of the city to state American Legion dignitaries during their 2013 convention in Ft. Collins, CO.  Lamar and Montrose were the final two communities being considered by the American Legion representatives.  After Lamas chosen, Carder said, “We expect to see about 400-500 representatives come to Lamar for those three days.”   Hodge added that those numbers were just the memberships and did not include family members who might also make the trip.  

The June 24 Primary election for Prowers County Commissioner for District Two showed challenger Ron Cook defeating incumbent Joe Marble by a vote of 1153 to 570.  As there are no other candidates for the position, Cook will become the new commissioner in early January 2105.  Cook will need to resign his seat from the Lamar City Council and the City of Lamar is currently seeking applications for his replacement.

Ron Cook

The other primary race in Prowers County came down to two candidates on the GOP ticket from an early field of five.  Senior Deputy Sheriff Sam Zordel won in his bid to replace retiring sheriff Jim Faull, who announced early in the year that he would not run for another term.  The vote was 888 for Zordel and 804 for Undersheriff Ron Trowbridge.  The race for sheriff was not over at that point, as Senior Deputy Ron Manly declared himself as an unaffiliated candidate for the sheriff’s office, and would petition to place his name on the November ballot.

Pelsue Operation, South of Lamar on Hwy 287

Pelsue in Englewood, Colorado reopened its assembly center for Fiber Optic Splicing Trailers in Lamar.  Mike Bryant, who was hired as the manager of the business, said the staff has been in operation since late May.  Pelsue, located on the west side of Highway 287 and south of Spreading Antlers Golf Course had been closed for several years.  At one time it was the location of the Gunsmithing Academy before that business venture ended and Pelsue took over, around 2006.  Bryant said the site continued with its earlier venture, assembling self contained trailers which serve as mobile repair shops for broken fiber optic lines.  Bryant said the shells are manufactured out of light-weight composite materials in Lamar at C.F. Maier and some of the electrical wiring is supplied by Altek Systems, also in Lamar.

Rick Rigel, ARPA General Manager

ARPA, Arkansas River Power Authority held several public hearings in June during which General Manager, Rick Rigel, explained how a series of problems developed during the construction period of the Lamar Repowering Project resulting in cost overruns turning a gas fired power plant into a coal burning operation.  Rigel outlined two options before the ARPA board.  One is to continue to seek to develop a plant that can deliver sufficient power without exceeding air quality permit limits, but there are numerous additional costs built into that cold standby plan which has no guarantee of success regarding the boiler operation.  The plant won’t even be able to come back online until 2025, once a court imposed injunction on the operation has expired and a long-term power purchase agreement with Twin Eagle Resource Management LLC has run its course.   The other plan is to decommission the entire plant and sell off equipment to recoup some of the losses.  Value estimates run between $8M and $1.3M, given what may be a glut on the market for coal fired plants in 2024 due to new emission and greenhouse gas regulations.

Many in the audience appeared to want the ARPA board to declare the operation a failure and walk away from the project and the $156M in construction bonds that funded the development of the operation.  Regardless of which of the two options are selected, Rigel said the debt service for the construction bonds will still have to be paid off by municipal customers of ARPA, as well as increased costs if the plant is placed in cold standby for ten years.  Rigel explained that defaulting on the bonds would only place them in receivership with a chance that increased costs would be associated with that move.

Other levels of frustration with the project, especially the cost of the construction bonds, were voiced during the meeting.  Over the past several years, residents have complained that their increased utility bills were a result of the construction cost overruns for a project that hasn’t functioned since late 2011 and they will continue to be billed under present circumstances for the life of the bonds.  Legal issues and lawsuits would continue to mount against ARPA through the remainder of the year.

David Dougherty

Seeking a way to reduce operating costs, Granada Trustee Shannon Venturi, asked for a motion to disband the town’s two-person, full-time police department.  Other Trustees wanted a discussion first, to review the impact the change would have on the community.  A workshop and several other meetings showed the community was not ready to give up the department, offering alternatives ranging from a small tax increase on utilities, to grant funding sources, or working with a part-time department.  Granada Police Chief, David Dougherty, said he had no idea a motion to eliminate the department was being considered and he could not afford to live on a reduced, part time schedule.  Other ideas included combining patrols into Holly which could combine salaries, but that community had entered into a one-year renewable contract for police coverage with the Prowers County Sheriff’s Office.  As the year closed, the proposal had not been settled, but also had not been included in the meeting agenda.  The Year in Review for the months of July and August will be available on December 29.
By Russ Baldwin