John Scarffe, Gilpin County.  Work on the buildings at the Moffat Tunnel, where the trains go through the mountains west of Rollinsville to Winter Park, could destroy a historic wall, the Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners learned during a regular meeting at 9 a.m. on July 24, 2018, at the Gilpin County Courthouse. The Board also decreased fire restrictions from Stage Two to Stage One and discussed an after-school program at the Community Center.

Sheriff Bruce Hartman told the Board that Gilpin, Jefferson and Boulder counties will all be reducing fire restrictions from Stage Two to Stage One. Lower vegetation is moist due to recent rains, but the larger trees and vegetation still haven’t recovered. Fires are now only allowed at attended campgrounds or private land but no charcoal grills.

Deputy Clerk and Recorder Gail Maxwell announced that the County’s Motor Vehicle Division will be closed for technology upgrades beginning August 1 for a few days, so residents needing early August motor vehicle business should take care of it in late July.

Tami Archer, secretary of the Gilpin Historic Preservation Advisory (HAC), said Union Pacific requested they replace the roof on the head building for the Moffat Tunnel. “On May 24, I received a permit application proposing to replace the roof on the head building for the Moffat Tunnel,” reported her memo to the Board.

“Subsequent submissions revealed that Union Pacific planned to do much more than replace the roof; they had included repair and waterproofing to the existing stone and concrete walls,” according to the memo. The additional proposed work triggered a full review by the HAC.

HAC considered this application at a July 19 meeting and decided to reject it as incomplete and require Union Pacific to communicate with the State granting them permission to move forward with the roof replacement, according to the memo. HAC then asked Union Pacific and their contractor to provide their plans and scope of work for the historic walls to the State.

Archer told the Board that Union Pacific is going to damage a historic wall. On Thursday, she presented this to the Historic Preservation Commission, and the architect went through the plans and said the material they will be using is for a roof, not a wall.

They want more review from the State and to pull a permit. Archer found out from Joe Salazar, who is with the State, that the Federal Railroad Administration has authority but the State does not. They are waiting to hear from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) who actually owns the tunnel.

Commissioner Linda Isenhart said it would be okay to do the roof, but they must be careful while completing the sand blasting phase not to damage the concrete. Commissioner Gail Watson said that the issue is that “1923” would fall off the building.

Archer said the building was proposed to be on the National Register, but no one followed through. “We’re looking at rewriting the ordinance so that could give consent.”

Archer said they have offered tours, so members of the community could see the tunnel. Board Chair Ron Engels asked her to let the Board know and they will advertise as needed.

Archer said Union Pacific can move forward on the building, and there is nothing they can do about it. “We are a lower level of government, If the federal government says they can move forward...”

Watson said the Commissioners can give their opinion to the federal government, which is that they don’t want this. Isenhart said that it’s a historic structure and so important to the County and Grand County.

Next on the agenda, Parks and Recreation Director Kyle Benedict introduced After School Programs for the Community Center and handed out a rough draft of program ideas. He told the Board he has been talking to the County attorney about how best to approach this.

A bus from the Gilpin Schools drops kids off at the Community Center on school days, Benedict said. It is a stop. “I don’t know how we got set up as a stop, but we are.” The Community Center could have 10 to 50 kids on any day.

The Community Center already has a program for 10 and under, and it’s a statewide, structured program with check in and check out. They recently raised the age for the program to 12 and under, Benedict said.

“That still leaves us with the 12 to 17 year olds. We need to create a policy in which a certain age can do certain things,” Benedict said, adding that this is all pending review from legal and figuring out how to best address the situation.

Benedict’s proposal includes creating a time when certain ages, Monday through Thursday, 4:15 to 6:30 p.m., must abide by the Community Center’s structure. Center staff will stipulate the parts of the building they are in based on numbers and time of the year.

“This gives structure and gives the kids an opportunity for a learning base, education, athletics and social integration with normal staff in place right now,” Benedict said. “Within day camp, we have several levels of discipline we follow and having documentation and can track repeat offenders,” Benedict said.

“Kids get off the bus and never come in to the Community Center, so who is responsible?” Benedict asked. Parents and kids sign a waiver, and they have that to fall back on. They also will be meeting with the parents and establishing what the expectation is.

Isenhart said: “I love this. That’s pretty cool to attend Taekwondo so they are not making out on the gym floor.” Benedict said that’s in the policy.

“The entire complex are the grounds and facility, and you can’t be there if you’re not in the program,” he said. They can still go to the gym or the pool. My big question was what we need as far as approval from the Commissioners. This is not the final version of this.

Engels asked if the Commissioners have granted approval for other programs at the Community Center, or if they have just been rolled out. Watson replied that the Commissioners haven’t had people bringing this to them, but she really appreciates him bringing it and the Board should have approval of a policy like this.

Benedict said they have no supervised programs at the ball fields across the highway from the Community Center. What do they do if they get off the bus and don’t come into the facility and want to go sit in the corral? We want them in the Community Center and not sitting in the parking lot.

Engels said that one of his fundamental concerns about this is the fact that there is only one place to get off the bus. “What is the school’s role?”

Benedict said they can’t stay at the school. Watson said that it’s up to the parents to know where their kids should be. Engels said that we’ve got this in place and someone gets off and hasn’t signed the form or come in to the center and gets injured.

Benedict said if there is an individual or group in the parking lot, a staff member will tell them if they want to be at the facility they have to come in.

Engels said that first and foremost it needs to be established if the safety of the kids is a liability for the center. This seems to cover that. “What if something should happen and a parent decides we were liable?

County Attorney Jim Petrock said: “I think we’re covered because it’s up to the parents to know where their kids are dropped off. The element that was missing was the parent’s approval form.”

Benedict said they are trying to tighten that up and let parents know what the expectations are.

(Originally published in the August 2, 2018, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)