Lynn Hirshman, Gilpin County. Last Wednesday, August 12, Commissioner Linda Isenhart posted this notice on Facebook:

“For Gilpin County Residents: Public meeting TONIGHT … re: Polar Gas locating a propane storage facility at 15147 Highway 119 (adjacent to the Ameristar warehouse). The planned facility will house two 30,000 gallon storage tanks. Please plan to come to the meeting at Timberline Station #7 ... Timberline Chief Glenn Levy and Gilpin County Community Development Director, Tony Petersen, will be there to discuss the project and answer residents' questions.”

For many Gilpin County residents, this was the first they had heard of a potential tank farm in central Gilpin County. There were a number of concerns raised – primarily those of safety and aesthetics – and Timberline’s new Chief, Glenn Levy made the unprecedented proposal of holding a public meeting to discuss the issue.

Probably because the notice was so short, only about 15 members of the public attended the meeting. Among them were two Gilpin County Commissioners, Linda Isenhart and Gail Watson, as well as a representative from Ameristar.

Chief Levy had prepared a detailed and comprehensive presentation on the qualities of propane as a fuel, emphasizing its essential safety – although he also showed a rather alarming video of a propane tank exploding after it was deliberately heated. Even so, Levy stressed how difficult it was to actually get the tank to explode because of the nature of the liquefied propane and the safety features included in every tank. “I’ve been on several propane emergencies,” he said, “but propane is mostly incredibly safe if the vessels are maintained.”

The proposed installation “meets all the criteria of the fire code,” he added. In any case, Timberline will put together a response plan for anything that could possibly happen with the property. The state inspects such facilities once a year; Timberline will also make an inspection at the “opposite end of the year.”

Tony Petersen explained that the County had no control over the permitting of the tank farm; the County’s only powers in this situation regarded zoning, and the Polar facility is squarely in the center of the County’s main commercial and industrial zone, between the Ameristar warehouse and Underground Liquor. According to Petersen, the permits should be ready “late this week or next week for sure,” and construction would start immediately afterward.

Local residents of Colorado Sierra who will be living right behind the facility were concerned not only with safety, but with the aesthetics of the place. Petersen shared the site plan, which showed a security fence encircling the facility, as well as noting that the tree line would be maintained both in back of the facility and in front in order to conceal it. “You shouldn’t even be aware that it is there once it is finished,” he said.

The two 10’ by 66’ tanks will be in the yard permanently, accompanied by a varying number of (empty) 500-gallon tanks to be placed with customers. Polar expects no more than two trucks in and two trucks out each day; those trips will all be during business hours.

In his final words to the group, Chief Levy stressed that “They [Polar] have a compelling reason to do everything right.” The group left somewhat more reassured than when they had entered.