The Golden Gate Fire Protection District Board discussed the engineer’s report for Station 83 drainage during a regular meeting on August 22 at the Grange. All Board members were present:, President Deb Curlee, Vice-President and Treasurer Niffy Ovuworie, Secretary Marith Reheis, Dave Primmer, and Steve Green.
Regarding the Engineer’s report, Ovuworie said that it is online under Resources and Board of Directors. He moved to accept two of the recommended corrections in the report, and to have the executive committee work with the engineer as necessary.
The engineer, Drew Schneider with Insight Engineering, Inc., inspected property adjacent to the station and found a culvert that is flooding on the adjacent property. Steve Green is the property owner, so the executive committee should talk with the County and have them contact Green.
According to the report, “The purpose of this letter is to provide our professional opinion on drainage affecting this unmanned fire station at the above location, and recommend upgrades to prevent continual sediment nuisance conditions and periodic building flooding.
“The site is located off Golden Gate Canyon Road and consists of a two-bay wood/metal framed garage structure with bathroom addition. There is a private shared driveway located on the west side of the building, along with a natural drainage between the private drive and the building from the valley above.
“The hillside behind the building is steep and has a private driveway serving a residence that cuts across behind the building approximately 200 feet uphill. Evidence of drainage from the property above enters onto the fire station property behind the structure, carrying sediment and debris, which deposits out in the parking area, behind and along the east side of the building, and periodically floods the building through the east side access door and under the rear wall framing.”
Recommended Corrections:
“1. The obvious and easiest correction is to have the property owner above remove the cross culvert that was installed … and grade the roadside ditch past the gate to direct all drainage into the existing natural drainage collection system that parallels the private drive adjacent to the fire station. This corrects the problem of the added culvert and restores the historical drainage pattern.
“2. Should this not be allowed due to property lines or other potential conflicts, the property owner above could be directed to install an armored rip-rap lined cut-off swale in the hillside above the fire station below the culvert point source discharge and graded to direct all flows to the west … above the fire station before the drainage crosses onto fire department property. A design can be provided upon request. This would effectively allow the driveway cross culvert to remain, but correct the issues ….”
The third recommended correction was not included in the motion.
Ovuworie said Green is sending the water on the property. No lawyer is involved with this, Curlee said, adding that Jefferson County will deal with this. The motion was approved.
Green introduced a motion about the bookkeeper position, saying that “we don’t need a firefighter doing our books.” Nor, he said, should Mr. Creech do the books. Curlee said that the books were all done electronically and that Creech didn’t write any checks.
Ovuworie said that this issue should be discussed in executive session. Primmer and Green voted in favor of the motion, but the rest of the Board voted it down.
Curlee brought up the 2025 Budget, saying that the Board should talk about a budget committee to get it started. Deadlines are in October and November. The budget will be complicated this year, he added.
The Board needs to reform the committee, he said, with two Board members and the Chief. When asked, Primmer said he didn’t want to serve on the committee, so the Board approved Ovuworie, Reheis, and the Chief for the committee.
Green moved to overturn the executive committee. He voted for it, but the rest of the Board were opposed.
Green asked how the agenda is developed, to which Curlee replied that Board members have three opportunities to add to the agenda before the meeting and twice during each Board meeting. Green then left the meeting before it was over.
During Public Comment, Chris Creech said he was appointed to the Treasurer’s position while on the Board and now is bookkeeper. He cannot make a single decision. He volunteers to post transactions in the books for five hours per week at zero cost.
Chief Kyle Benson left the meeting for an urgent telephone call, but came back at the end of the meeting. He reported that during the last 30 days there have been a lot of wildfires.
At the time of the meeting, there was 100 percent containment of the Goltra Fire west of Golden on Highway 6. It took thousands of hours of work, including the work of Golden Gate. He is proud of the firefighters; there were no injuries and no evacuations. The District also worked on the Quarry fire, spending a week on that fire.
The District received a grant to update the website. Benson needed Board authorization to receive the grant, which the Board approved.
The next regular board meeting will be on September 26, at 7 p.m., at the Grange, 25231 Golden Gate Canyon Road, Golden. For more information, go to https://MAIN - Golden Gate Fire Protection District.
