All Entries Tagged With: "Amtrak"
Amtrak Touching Local Bases Following Award of $15M Tiger Grant
Amtrak officials paid a visit November 4th, to several cities along the Southwest Chief route including La Junta and Lamar, promoting the latest federal $15M Tiger grant that will help repair track along the railway. The U.S. Department of Transportation recently awarded the funding to La Junta which will be used to work on the Burlington Northern […]
Lamar Council Okays Funding to Support Southwest Chief Route
Lamar Police Chief Kyle Miller gave the oath of office to the city’s newest officer, Thomas Dunagan, who recently graduated from the Otero Junior College Law Enforcement Agency. He began his orientation training in Lamar on April 30 of this year. “With Officer Dunagan’s hiring, we’re now at our budgeted strength of 20 officers for […]
Crowder Town Hall Meeting Focuses on Education, Finance
State Senator from District 35, Larry Crowder, tried to cover as many topics as possible for the full audience for his Town Hall Meeting this past Saturday, February 21, before he was on the road to La Junta for another session. In anticipation of the pending weekend snows, Senator Crowder was in town Friday night […]
City Seeking Funding for Main Street Water Main Repairs
The City of Lamar will take advantage of CDOT’s deep resurfacing project along US Highway 287/Main Street through Lamar next year, and will replace all the affected water and storm water lines during the highway construction. JVA Consulting Engineers have estimated the water project at $3,246,800 with the bulk of the cost amounting to $1,228,000 […]
Amtrak CEO Makes Whistle-Stop Visit to Lamar, La Junta
Joe Boardman, Amtrak President and CEO visited with Lamar Mayor Roger Stagner and City Administrator, John Sutherland and other well-wishers this past Friday, July 11. Boardman was making a tour of several cities in Kansas and Colorado, meeting with local officials, regarding the future of the route of the Amtrak Southwest Chief between Albuquerque, New […]
PCDI Reviews Business Seminars, Discusses Front Range Awareness for Local Businesses
“We had a good response on the first round of business meetings,” according to PCDI Executive Director, Lance Benninghoff. He was summarizing the attendance at the two business oriented sessions held last week at the Rodeway Cow Palace Inn, the first of several seminars planned by Prowers County Development Incorporated. During the monthly board meeting, […]
City Council Discusses Airport Hangar Development, Camera System at Library
The Lamar City Council and area residents were presented with the latest concept designs for the city’s Park’s, Recreation and Trails Master Plan during a council work session, Monday, April 28, at the Cultural Events Center. Britina Design Group was commissioned by the council to develop a series of ideas for four main recreation […]
Commissioners Pass Resolution on Drought, Common Core
Doug Dowler, Executive Director of SCEDD, Southern Colorado Economic Development District, spoke about a three county regional economic assessment that will be conducted this fall. Dowler was meeting with the Prowers County Commissioners, Thursday, April 24. “We’re going to assess the economic strengths and weaknesses of the assets found in Prowers, Kiowa and Baca […]
Amtrak Cuts Costs to Maintain Rural Colorado Service
Udall Welcomes Amtrak’s Commitment to Southwest Chief, Rail Service to Trinidad, La Junta ‘The Southwest Chief Plays a Critical Role in Supporting Jobs, Keeping … Southern Colorado Connected to Broader World’ Mark Udall, a strong advocate for rural Colorado, welcomed remarks from Amtrak’s CEO that the company is cutting costs in an effort to […]
Brophy Says He’ll Represent All Coloradans
State Senator, Greg Brophy, continued his 64 county campaign swing for governor through Lamar this past Monday, November 4, with a stop in Lamar and a Tuesday visit to La Junta residents planned. Brophy, who described himself as a conservative senator, is building a platform that he says seeks to end cultural divisiveness between […]
Lamar Bypass Offers Financial Concerns for City, County
The Lamar City Council devoted its work session this past Monday, June 10, to the pros or cons of creating a non-scientific City of Lamar website survey which could provide some local comments from concerned citizens about the project. The city was told by CDOT that the Highway 50/287 bypass, or Reliever Route as […]
Less Water, Higher Water Restrictions for Lamar Residents
Lamar is feeling the impact of the current drought and lack of ditch water, moving to more stringent water restrictions two weeks after the first Stage was approved. The Stage 2 water conservation resolution, approved during the city council meeting May 13, allows properties east of Highway 287 to water only from Midnight to 6am and […]
National Train Day Celebrated Saturday in Lamar
Amtrak will join communities across America to celebrate the importance of trains to their town at the sixth annual National Train Day. More than 200 communities are expected to host events at local train stations, railroad museums and other locations commemorating this year’s theme “trains matter.” Saturday, May 11, Lamar will also celebrate […]
City Approves State Minimum Wage, New Water Manager Hired
Former Lamar City Councilman, P.J. Wilson was sworn in as Lamar’s most recent police officer during Monday’s regular meeting, January 14. Wilson, a local businessman, had been a councilman until he moved from the area and was replaced on the council by Oscar Riley last year. Lamar Police Chief Gary McCrea stated that Wilson began […]
Congressman Gardner Meets with Lamar Council
Touching upon such subjects as Wind Production Tax Credit, the Arkansas Valley Conduit, agricultural growth in Colorado, the national budget and EPA restrictions, U.S. Fourth Congressional District Congressman, Cory Gardner, met with the Lamar City Council and department heads this past Friday, October 5. Gardner was touring a portion of his district in southeast […]
Search Narrowing for Lamar City Administrator
The City of Lamar received 19 applications for the position of city administrator by the June 1 deadline, according to interim administrator Steve Rabe. He informed the council during their meeting, Monday, June 11, that the list has been narrowed to seven semi-finalists who participated in phone interviews. Rabe said the council will receive a […]
City Council Revises Resolution Supporting PMC Expansion
Prowers Medical Center board member Candy Ruedeman provided additional information to the Lamar City Council during their Monday night work session, April 9, as they considered a resolution of support for the $5 million expansion project, providing a 13,000 square foot Outpatient Rehabilitation Center. Last month, PMC Chief Executive Officer James Fairchild presented a hospital overview to […]
City Council Ponders Employee Compensation, Amtrak Lobbying Funds
The Lamar City Council dealt with several financial issues during their February 27 meeting…compensation for city employees who furthered their education for increased job performance, funding to help maintain an Amtrak route through southeast Colorado, a home winterization project for qualified citizens and the purchase of a replacement bookmobile for the Lamar Library. The evening […]
Lamar Council Will Discuss Merit Compensation for City Employees
Various forms of merit compensation for Lamar City employees will highlight the Lamar City Council work session set for this evening, February 27. City Administrator Bill Pfeilsticker will ask council members for guidance regarding compensation for city employees who have completed education or training incentive programs. The city has no written incentive program, but it has been generally […]
Lamar City Council Reviews Transportation Terminal at Chamber Office
Paul Westhoff, CDOT Resident Engineer, and Lamar City Administrator Bill Pfeilsticker, discussed the pros and cons of the construction of a Multi-Modal Transportation building for east of the Lamar Chamber of Commerce building. The council had discussed CDOT’s earlier proposal to construct a 1,200 square foot addition to the train terminal which would provide shelter and […]