Pro SolarReserve
Dear Saguache County Commissioners and Land Use Office:
Regarding the proposal made by SolarReserve for their large twin tower plan for producing renewable energy at a plant near Center, I would like to comment that:
While other avenues of producing renewable energy through “distributed generation” might be preferable in terms of less ecological disturbance and better distribution of the energy produced for local use, I feel that the SolarReserve plan does have merit in other areas. The fact that the technology has built into it the capability of producing electricity on-demand day and night is a huge advantage.
Also, while such industrial development will certainly be sending much of the energy produced outside of the Valley, I don’t think that this is necessarily a bad thing. Our country is sorely in need of converting to renewable sources of energy as quickly as we possibly can, and that means that we should move forward with responsible projects of all kinds that meet criteria that are acceptable for land use and other regulations.
Ultimately I feel that the acceptability of the Solar Reserve project should be evaluated primarily according to whether the local people in Center and the surrounding region who will be most impacted by its presence have the final word on whether they want it in their back yard or not. They are the ones who mostly will have to live with it!
—Kelly Hart
SolarReserve will benefit our Valley
Dear Editor:
SolarReserve will enhance our Valley’s electric grid. Because it stores solar energy as heat, it provides smooth, sustained electric generation even after sunset, unlike PV electricity, which fluctuates as clouds pass and stops at night. This will make our Valley grid more robust, reliable and easier for the electric companies to interface with. The generated electrons will be utilized here first even if the electricity is billed and paid for somewhere else. Concentrating Solar Power compliments rather than competes with Distributed PV Solar.
SolarReserve will benefit agriculture in our Valley. They purposefully chose dry air-cooling over water-cooling, in order to retire a huge amount of ground water that will be made available for farming.
SolarReserve will bring 50 long-term jobs to the area, and will bring tax revenue to our county. The parent corporation, Rocketdyne, has a long track record of highly technical achievements including putting satellites into orbit. They have the engineering from the first solar power tower in the world that operated in the 90’s in California. There is a project under construction in Utah, which will be followed by one in Spain, then California, and then hopefully here.
We have followed and studied this project from its beginning and support their application. We feel this is appropriate technology and an appropriate project for our Valley. Come to the February 2 public meeting.
Sincerely,
Vince and Mary Palermo
Anderson declares for County Commissioner
To my fellow Saguache County residents:
I am writing to publicly announce my intention to serve as County Commissioner for Saguache County, Colorado, District 1.
I’ve lived in the Crestone/Baca area since 1996, being drawn here as a mountain guide [with] a love for the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range. Like all of us who’ve made a home here, I fell in love with this place—its serenity, silence, and grandeur doing its “thing” on me. I travelled frequently, cobbling together a life that included building my own straw-bale home, working for the Colorado Outward Bound School as a course director and in their professional development program, and directing a regional youth corps program. My life changed in a dramatic and wonderful way with meeting my wife, Angela. We are now married, with two young boys, Matias and Talus.
Settling down to grow a family, I realized that I wanted work that engaged my interest in alternative energy, and provided service to the community.
After intensive training and apprenticeship, I started Agua Solar, a company dedicated to providing solar heating solutions. I love the challenge of figuring out the perfect balance of efficiency, cost, and simplicity in designing systems that meet homeowners’ needs.
My official public service started with a position on the Baca Grande POA Board, where I developed a deeper appreciation for my community, and the ability to synthesize many diverse viewpoints.
I feel that I can be an effective County Commissioner, as I am committed to the values that support our lives here in Saguache County. I want to continue to live in a place that supports a strong family life—where the air and water are clean, the wild lands remain wild, and piercing quiet is the sound in our ears. We face many challenges ahead for our county, and becoming more sustainable in our local economies will be of paramount importance in the coming years. A focus on infrastructure, which supports the production of local goods and services, as well as cultivating the new paradigm of alternative energy, will be a quantum leap towards sustainability. A renewed focus on efficiencies, cost management, and transparency will be key for Saguache County governance, and the growth of our economy.
But I can’t do this alone. I see myself as a conduit for the good folks of this county, and I urge you to contact me with your concerns and issues. I can be reached via phone: 719-256-4040, email: jasonanderson1008@gmail.com, or come by the Well Knit Café in downtown Crestone on Thursday mornings around 9am. I look forward to connecting with you and serving as your next County Commissioner.
Sincerely,
Jason Anderson
Lakish candidate for County Commissioner
Greetings friends,
2012 will be an important election year at all levels of government. Sadly, 2011 has been marked by divisiveness, from the national level to our own Saguache County. Having witnessed these battles as a journalist covering the monthly County Commissioners meetings for the last three years, I want to help heal our divided county. I am seeking to represent you, my fellow Crestone and Saguache County citizens, as County Commissioner for District 1 in November of 2012.
I feel that we must celebrate our strengths. But there are challenges along with our opportunities. Many dry years and a receding water table are testing our farmers and ranchers. County revenues are drying up. Renewable energy companies seek sites for huge projects that could offset large amounts of CO2, but take power and control out of the Valley. Solar gardens offer clean power for local folks, but need financing. We need creative solutions for our economic future.
I have investigated and reported on these issues for several years, and have lived in Saguache County for nearly 20 years. I have worked in many capacities for economic opportunity, environmental protection, for social welfare, and for educational advancement.
If I am elected I will work to bring civility and collaboration back to County government. I will encourage dialogue among citizens with various viewpoints with hopes of arriving at the best mutual decisions. Why? Because the future of water, agriculture, energy and our economy and quality of life are all at stake in our county, as they are in our nation.
I want to thank Commissioner Sam Pace for representing our community so well for many years. He will be ending his term at the end of 2012, and will not be running again, as he is term limited. I hope you will support me in serving you for the next four years.
Sincerely,
Matie Belle Lakish
CCS in session on MLK Day?
Dear Editor,
This Martin Luther King Day, while meditating on the civil rights struggle and Dr. King’s timeless wisdom, I happened to notice the Crestone Charter School (CCS) was in session. A friend commented that his child said they had learned nothing of Dr. King that day. Why does the school celebrate Columbus Day as a holiday and not Dr. King’s? It seems to me that a public school would be among the first to celebrate our greatest champion of the civil rights struggle. We must remember how the civil rights struggle is about bringing an end to segregation of all kinds once and for all.
I have noticed a trend in our school district that points to the economic disparity here. The Moffat School has 21% of the students considered “homeless” and over 75% qualify for free or reduced lunch. CCS has 0 homeless and less than 25% qualify for free or reduced meals. CCS is getting a new 6+ million dollar school for only 60 students, while Moffat continues to provide for many more with no new facility. CCS’s governing council is also the only one in the state elected from within, not by public election.
Anyone could easily draw a comparison here to the “separate but equal” schools of the south, in which poor black schools did not receive the same funding as the wealthier white schools of the day, which Dr. King decried as “inhumanity”. Dr. King began a legacy that influenced Cesar Chavez in the Hispanic rights struggle that helped bring an end to segregation here in the San Luis Valley with Hispanics.
Now, here in our community, we have segregation by economics instead of ethnicity, and Dr. King’s message still echoes. It is time to hold CCS accountable and demand change. We must remember our liberators (MLK) and cease to celebrate our oppressors (Columbus). It is our moral duty.
William C. Baca Welty
MLK Day at CCS
Dear Editor,
In many parts of the nation Martin Luther King Day is a time to gather in community for parades, ceremonies and civic unity. Lacking these offerings in our area, students have more opportunity to learn about Dr. King in their classrooms that day than if they stayed home. CCS classes held direct instruction on the significance of MLK Day or current civil rights issues including reading King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, watching age-appropriate historical videos, hearing from an elder in community who attended the March on Washington in 1963, and reading the book Warriors Don’t Cry, a memoir of the battle to integrate Little Rock High by Melba Pattillo Beals. While CCS strives to meet new levels of educational accountability, it is at the heart of the school’s values to teach to the deepest humanity of each student. In this hard, worthwhile work we can take inspiration from Dr. King who said, “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.”
Respectfully,
The Governing Council
of Crestone Charter School
Our current emergency services
Dear Editor,
The story about the local fire last month confirms what I’ve felt all along. There is “nothing” wrong with our current emergency services.
The CrESD is a solution to nonexistent problems invented by people that want this tiny community to equip and finance their own little enterprise, an enterprise they admit will accomplish nothing but “maintaining the protection level the community has had in the past.” Our country is drowning in public/private enterprises that “always” offload costs and liabilities we cannot afford, onto our backs, with no added benefit.
There were just a few allegedly “pressing” reasons given for needing this district, one being that the current dispatch system is inadequate. According to the local fire story, I’d say the current dispatch system worked exceptionally well.
Another reason was, as a government entity, the district couldn’t be sued. To my knowledge, there has never been a lawsuit over egregious emergency services.
This is boilerplate fear mongering. We’re expected to embrace a fear that our neighbors, who put themselves in harm’s way to protect us and our property, “may” do something we would have to sue the POA for. We’re supposed to accept that we must eliminate all accountability in order to solve this nonexistent problem.
This is utterly bass-akward thinking. Accountability is not a bad thing. It is one of the primary deterrents to bad behavior society has. If you haven’t noticed, the entire planet is in turmoil because nobody is held accountable.
Finally we are told we need this district because of a potential catastrophic fire. Seriously. No fire service can stop a catastrophic fire because they are freakin’ CATASTROPHIC!
I am sick of ALL fear mongering especially when it means we have to deal with another governmental entity driven by private interests that we don’t need and that “will” push for more money we can’t afford. Government is a hydra that sprouts new heads whether you cut one off or not.
This small group has foisted upon us problems that don’t exist, wasted thousands of dollars and untold hours having to fight them off. I don’t know about you, but I have plenty of “real problems” to deal with.
—Bruce McDonald and Barbara Seideneck
Misinformation & truth
Dear Editor,
A small group of wealthy landowners have all their guns blazing trying to kill the new fire and ambulance district. It is vitally important to clear up the lies and explain why these people have launched this misinformation campaign.
For years wealthy landlords who own multiple rental properties on adjacent lots in the Baca have used a loophole to get a free ride and not pay their fair share for emergency services protection. These few people, who each own several million dollars of rental properties, have consolidated their adjoining lots into one single huge lot. They only pay one POA fee each year per lot, even if they have millions of dollars of rental property that they earn huge amounts of rent money from each year … money that often comes from hard working tenants who may be vacant lot owners who are trying to build their own modest homes.
Because they won’t pay their fair share to keep the fire department and ambulances running, all the other property owners who own one modest house or an empty lot have to pay the difference. Is it fair that someone with a $140,000 house or vacant lot worth $6,000 pays exactly the same as someone who owns six rental houses plus their own house?
Public versus private: Private fire departments cannot provide immunity from financial claims in the event that we have a huge fire here. Government departments are protected. If we had a large fire and Federal firefighters came to help us, they could charge potentially tens of millions of dollars to fight a large fire—the kind that happened in many western states last year. These dangers are real. Under the old system, POA property owners could be liable to pay back the costs of fighting a major fire. That could cost each of us tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. The new district protects us from that scenario. It also improves our ability to get government grants and improves communication systems.
For owners of undeveloped lots, the new system will save about $40 each year. Property owners in the town of Crestone will only pay $5 to $15 more per year in taxes for homes worth $100K to $300K. A $100,000 home in the Baca will pay only about $70 more per year. A $300,000 home will pay around $300 extra per year. This is very cheap for all the additional benefits and reduction of liability.
But millionaire landlords are enraged they will have to pay an additional $1,000 or more each year on their multi-million dollar rental empires. They want you to ignore that the new Baca tax rate would be almost exactly the same tax rate as Crestone, Moffat and Saguache pay right now.
So they are spreading lies to convince everyone else that this is bad for the rest of us, when it is really very good for ordinary people and normal POA members.
—William Alder Lakish
Just Say’n . . .
Dear Editor,
Special Districts are purveyors of “taxation without representation”. Yes, we elected a board of directors but we all know how responsive elected officials are to the voters!
I retired here in ill health hoping to spend the rest of my time studying and practicing my “spiritual path”, thinking it would be possible to afford living here as long as taxes, fees, energy, and food/supply costs remained at least close to what they were in ‘05. But alas, since January 2005:
1. Electricity costs have sky-rocketed with the monthly line maintenance fee doubling and kw/h rates increasing, with more to come as the electric utilities (coops) recoup any cost outlay for the industrialized solar plant.
2. Food and household supply costs have increased by 30 to 50%.
3. Firewood (pine or spruce) has gone from $155 a cord delivered to between $175 and $210 delivered.
4. Fairpoint’s low cost land-line, $18 a month, is now $27 a month (mostly taxes and fees)
5. My monthly mortgage has increased by $79 per month all due to increased property taxes.
To any of us on fixed incomes, physically unable to work even in good times, how will we keep our homes here in the Crestone/Baca? How long will all our middleclass retirees be able to keep their homes here if property taxes, fees, etc., continue to rise without abatement? (our new water district mil levy has risen form 14 to 46 mil!)
I realize we are in hard times, but increasing financial burden on the many for the benefit of the few is simply unsustainable. Folks, this is how our world economy went belly-up.
Royallynn Allen
Fire District offers a better way
Dear Editor,
We write in support of the Crestone Emergency Services District (CrESD). The community has voted to create this structure and it is now time to take the steps we must to put it into effect. The Special District was created in part because it offers better administrative structure, including economies of scale, and because of the attainment of governmental immunity from ordinary liability. After much study the volunteers, the POA Board, then the voters endorsed it. However, there is continuing opposition to the support by money (taxes) and the transfer of equipment to this well-regarded organization. We cannot see any possible upside to withholding the money and equipment for the District’s operation.
We feel we should strive to offer support to our thoroughly professional volunteers. They risk their health and lives for us; we should respond to their reasonable requests. It is a reasonable request that the equipment they use be available to them. Transferring the equipment to the new District in no way causes its loss to us: it stays here and is used here. As for taxes, an increase is tightly regulated and must go to a vote. Creating the CrESD and then denying it funding seems against our communal well being.
Our emergency services should be adequately provided for. Let’s work together for the common good and make our emergency services district as effective as possible.
—Bill Sutherland & Judy Gilbert
Local affairs
Dear Editor,
Hello Crestonians, far and wide, wherever you may reside,
As a former resident for 12 winters from ‘96 to 2008, and, as Saguache County reporter for 7 of those years, I beg to make comment on (your) local affairs.
Noted with interest was Kizzen’s remark about the accelerated vitriol in your locale. I think events locally and globally took a downward spiral when Mark Jacobi ceased waving to all and sundry passing in and out of the Baca. (He used to be the local cheerleader, always smiling, cheerful and willing to acknowledge new comers and locals alike with a friendly wave.) Can’t remember when he stopped, but it was a few years ago, and it was lamented in passing by at least one, i.e., me.
Like caterpillars in the autumn, rings on trees, this was an indicator of early winter. To another prognosticator who covers “The Letters Beat”, well, revisit your predictions and predilections in this the New Year that new agers must be facing with stocked pantries and paranoia rife. Hey, and keep your dog leashed, please. Because something “might” happen. I mean, what “if”. You can’t be too sure.
Happy new year Crestone, to those who might remember me, and even those “locals” who arrived and took over after my departure. (It only takes a few days to establish residency, and a few months to crap the bed, then leave others to clean up the mess.)
So keep your eyes ahead, a smile on your face, and watch your back for daggers.
Ciao,
Doug Larsen
Baca Bubble
Dear Editor,
I came to the Baca to escape Big City life and reality. Our small isolated eclectic community provided the perfect bubble to project all of my idyllic fantasies of life free from the dark greedy corrupt oppression of the big bad world out there. Unfortunately there are still a few outside realities the Baca Bubble cannot shelter me from like taxes and government.
I have had enough government control and interference in my life. The last thing we need here is to pay for another layer of government. And Special Districts are the worst kind of government. They are Republican Big City creations designed to corporatize American communities with no regulation.
Make no mistake, Special Districts are private for-profit corporations operating as quasi-governmental agencies with no public participation in decision-making and few regulations with no “teeth” or penalties. Special Districts are notorious for corruption, cronyism and mismanagement leading to burgeoning debt, escalating fees, and ever-increasing taxes. Special Districts are bankrupting communities all across America and several states are enacting legislation to curtail the stranglehold Special Districts impose on their constituents.
Those living in Crestone or the Grants have had no first-hand experience with the Water & Sanitation Special District. But W&S is a perfect example of what we have to look forward to—ever-increasing taxes, fees and service rates, and debt payback of over $20,000,000.00. As for “local control” or public participation, witness their Board’s reaction to months of wide-spread complaints about toxic additives in our water.
This has nothing to do with liking or trusting those currently promoting the new district. Their control is only temporary. W&S is clear evidence of how Special Districts morph over time. As self-perpetuating bureaucracies, their only goal is to expand and generate maximum revenue to fulfill their specific agendas with no responsibility for the community’s overall economic welfare.
—Diane Dunlap
W&S response
Dear Residents,
This letter is an appeal to common sense. The Baca Grande Board of Directors holds your ability to accurately and objectively discern important information in the highest regard. We implore you to check into unsupported, broad brush statements. We stand on our record, which is indeed quite public and fully disclosed to all. We are confident that as an educated consumer and elector you will not fall victim to misstatements, half-truths and political demagoguery. As public servants and fiduciaries of the community, currently we find ourselves in a state of continual response to salacious and misleading information. We call upon you to draw your own informed conclusions. Once again some corrections are in order. They are as follows:
1. “Worst kind of government” – Special Districts are as good as the people that comprise their respective boards. This goes for any organization. In an election year this is of particular importance. They have advantages and disadvantages, strengths and weaknesses. Their strengths include the ability to provide financing for very large infrastructure projects at rates that would otherwise be extremely difficult if not impossible for small governmental bodies. Because Districts utilize tax revenue, they have a very reliable and low-cost revenue collection method. Through pooled insurance resources they make insurance premiums for operations and property coverage affordable for small governments. They provide services in unincorporated areas where it is not practical for cities, towns, or counties to do so. Those that serve on their boards must also pay the taxes and fees they impose.
2. “Republican big city creations designed to corporatize American communities with no regulation” – As of press time we have been unable to find any information that would confirm or dispute that the creators of Special Districts have a particular political affiliation, or whether they reside in big cities. Perhaps the author of the opinion piece can provide the research supporting this statement. Cutting to the chase, the facts are as follows: Districts are highly regulated. The laws governing Districts are expressly written into the Colorado Revised Statutes, particularly Titles, 1, 29, and 32 as well as the State Constitution.
3. “No public participation in decision making” – Districts are governed by an elected board. The board is elected by the public, and meetings are open to the public. Public comment is a standing agenda item for every meeting.
4. “Notorious for corruption, cronyism and mismanagement leading to burgeoning debt, escalating fees, and ever-increasing taxes” – With respect to the quality of management, Districts are no different than any organization; they are as good or as bad as those who run them. Organizations by virtue of their structure are not accountable for the decisions made by their officers; people are accountable, and therefore must be carefully selected to make the decisions expected of a good fiduciary.
5. “Ever-increasing taxes, fees and service rates, and debt payback of over $20,000,000.00”–A distinguishing characteristic of Baca Grande is the fact that in this rural area we are served by a Water and Sanitation District. This is a service which adds value and quality of life to the residents of this community, and providing the service requires vast collections, distribution and treatment systems. The fiduciaries sitting on the board pay the same taxes and fees as their constituents. They see the service as important and have made remarkable progress in recent years to revitalize major portions of the public infrastructure. Yes, rates will have to keep up with the cost of service; this is simply a fact of life regardless of the governing body providing the services. The actual amount of debt payable over the 30 year life of the District’s debt is shown in the table below. A significant portion of this figure is due to refinancing existing debt (incurred prior to 2008). The District has obtained over $300,000 in grant funding for infrastructure projects, and approximately $1,500,000.00 at an interest rate of 2% through governmental assistance. Please take note; this is in stark contrast to the number cited above.
6. “months of wide-spread complaints about toxic additives in our water” – The board has been barraged by complaints by a group which asserts that the District’s water treatment process to control lead and copper levels is toxic. The product used to control lead and copper is SeaQuest Liquid Ortho Polyphosphate. This product is part of the water treatment plan approved and required by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (“CDPHE”). The product is a food-grade treatment product which is administered to the water system in the minimum amount deemed effective at 0.5 parts per million. This product, which is certified as being safe by the National Sanitation Foundation, EPA, and CDPHE in concentrations up to 56 times greater than that used by the District, has been under intense scrutiny by some, while the known adverse effects to health of lead and copper ingestion have been of surprisingly little concern. That said, the District’s board of directors is open to exploring treatment options and recently engaged an independent consultant to review all available options. A new treatment plan is being reviewed by the CDPHE, and once approved will be implemented. This corrosion control water treatment was implemented in 2007, by previous management. The board prioritized the need to review this plan at its board retreat in 2011, one year ago. It is unfortunate but we believe a misinformation campaign was instigated regarding the use of this product for political purposes. The Board and Staff had already been pursuing a change to the treatment method, prior to the misinformation campaign to incite the public.
7. “only goal is to expand and generate maximum revenue to fulfill their specific agendas with no responsibility for the community’s overall economic welfare” – The only goal of the board of directors is to serve the community to the best of its ability. The District serves people and is run by people who live here, who own property and raise families here. People want the purest water and as little taxation as possible. Serving as a true fiduciary is often difficult and requires doing what is best for the community and without personal agenda. Diversity of opinion and appropriate discourse are invited, and are the cornerstone of what makes any government, no matter how small, work its best. Our meetings and our decisions are open to public inspection and scrutiny. It is unfortunate that we must once again use your public resources to correct widely distributed misinformation.
—The Baca Grande Water & Sanitation District Board of Directors
