Mindy Leary, Gilpin County. On February 4, 2020, the Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners met at the Gilpin County Courthouse for their regular meeting. Commissioners Gail Watson, Linda Isenhart and Ron Engels were in attendance. Highlights include a Boundary Line Adjustment, two Resolutions, and a presentation on the NoCo Places 2020 Workplan.

The applicant, Carl Schembri for Bonanza Land LLC, is requesting approval of moving a boundary line between the two parcels in Russell Gulch on Golden Dollar Drive further to the southeast. This will allow the applicant to retain ownership of the historic Prompt Pay shaft house. 

The applicant is selling Parcel B, but the buyer has indicated they do not wish to retain ownership the historic Shaft House which is currently in the northeastern corner of the parcel. The applicant is keenly interested in preserving the Shaft House, which he wants included in Parcel A.

The reconfiguration of these two parcels also creates legal access via Golden Dollar Drive to Parcel B, renamed Parcel I, which did not exist before. The move to approve BLA 20-01 was made, seconded and all were in favor.

Resolution #20-02, Approving an Amendment to the Gilpin County Employee Handbook concerning vacation hours was approved unanimously, allowing employees to get paid for up to 208 vacation hours if unused as a benefitted employee upon separation from employment, with part-time employees who work over 24 hours a week getting up to 104 hours of paid, unused vacation hours.

Resolution #20-03, Joining Colorado Communities for Climate Action (CC4CA) was also approved unanimously with a small amendment. “The presentation at our last meeting was exactly what we wanted to hear and I believe we all want to be engaged on,” said Watson. 

She continued, “The only change I would like to add to this that doesn’t address the biggest threat to Gilpin County is in the first ‘Whereas,’ we need to add fire danger. Wildland fire is our biggest threat up here and certainly tied to climate change.”

Amended it reads, “WHEREAS, the Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners recognizes the significant environmental impacts to our community and many others that are already taking place, and the likelihood that these impacts will continue to intensify in the coming years, including wild fires, additional infrastructure costs, health impacts to community members, economic impacts to businesses, water supply and water quality challenges, among others.”

The final highlight was a presentation by consultants Steve Coffin and Alex Alma on NOCO PLACES 2020 Workplan, which stands for “Northern Colorado People – Land – Access – Conservation – Ecosystems – Sustainability.” 

“As our population is growing and as demand for outdoor visitation and recreation is growing, our mountains, of course, aren’t.” said Coffin. One of the consequences of this is traffic; the parking lots in wildlife areas are not sufficient with cars lining the road. Not to mention erosion, environmental degradation and threat to wildlife. 

The proposed three-part strategy for managing impact of growth on Colorado’s mountains includes: convene Colorado’s civic and community leadership, secure support of elected officials and systemic change in Public Land Management.  

The 2020 Workplan outlines that NoCo will conduct half-day meetings that focus on core topics that affect every future management decision that NoCo may develop to handle increased visitor traffic and outdoor recreation demand. Some of the core topics mentioned to research are Behavioral Science, Wildlife Management, Forest Health and Equitable Access.

Participating counties include Jefferson, Clear Creek, Gilpin, Larimer, and Boulder. USFS, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and the National Parks System are also part of this ambitious project.

Watson responded, “This is happening at a really great time for Gilpin County because we have been working on our Comprehensive Plan which we’ve never had. So now we’re working on all these issues at one point so the nexus is really rich.”

 The next regular meeting for the Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners will be held at 203 Eureka St, 2nd Floor, Central City Courthouse on Tuesday, February 18, 2020, at 9 a.m. 

(Originally published in the February 13, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)