NORTH FORK TIMES
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DOG TALES
Remote Area Medical clinic coming to Delta County, B1
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Program has kids reading to the animals, B4
Fourteen teams golf at football fundraiser, B6
DELTA COUNTY
JULY 24, 2019 VOL. 136, NO. 30
75¢
INDEPENDENT
www.deltacountyindependent.com
DMEA will withdraw from Tri-State next spring BY KATHARHYNN HEIDELBERG Montrose Press
Delta-Montrose Electric Association will withdraw as a member of Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association next spring. The two entities, engaged in a months-long battle over DMEA’s attempt to have a buy-out figure set, last week notified the Colorado Public Utilities Commission of a pending settlement, which was signed July 19. The amount DMEA will pay is confidential. The figure is to be released once DMEA is officially withdrawn, slated for May 2020. Under the agreement, DMEA is purchasing various transmission assets, transitioning these facilities to its own metering, and has agreed not to further challenge TriState’s jurisdictional status at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), admission of new co-op members, or Tri-State’s status as a public utility under the Federal Power Act. The settlement will also help Tri-State’s recently announced pursuit of a cleaner energy portfolio, that entity said in the parties’ statement regarding the settlement.
The withdrawal process is expected to be complete May 1; the agreement allows for DMEA to purchase power from Tri-State beyond that time, if necessary. “We’ve been working on this for over 10 years,” DMEA board president Bill Patterson said Monday. “I’m just excited. This gives DMEA the flexibility to, in our eyes, properly plan for the future and be able to utilize more local generation, and do it at a better cost that we have in the past.” DMEA’s contract with TriState was valid until 2040. Last year, after negotiations for an agreeable exit fee failed, DMEA took its case to the PUC, which found it had jurisdiction to hear DMEA’s complaint. As the hearing process was underway, Tri-State’s board of directors voted to add a type of membership class that would put it under FERC’s rate-authority; the development led to further battles with DMEA, which enlisted other co-ops in its argument that Tri-State should wait on such a decision. But just a little more than a week after Tri-State voted to pursue FERC regulation, the parties notified the PUC
of a pending settlement, then formalized it July 19. Patterson said among the first and many complicated steps that come next are separating transmission assets and signing a new power purchase agreement with another power supplier. DMEA previously announced its consideration of Guzman Energy, although the board has not voted yet on such a contract and there is not a power purchase agreement with Guzman at this time. “We’ve got everything prepared. Mostly, it’s going to be the transmission assets. It’s going to take time to get all the metering changed. In the meantime, we’re under our Tri-State contract,” Patterson said. The goal is to have everything completed by May 2020. “That’s what we’re really shooting for, is that time or before. Once we do that, we will be out of the Tri-State contract. We will have negotiated another power purchase agreement, most likely with Guzman Energy,” he said. Again, such an agreement has yet to be approved. Per the agreement, DMEA’s DMEA TO A3
Shooting sports mark start of 114th Delta County Fair BY TAMIE MECK Managing Editor
There’ll be a lot of noise when the 114th annual Delta County Fair opens this Saturday morning. It’s tradition. The first event of the fair is the 4-H shooting sports competitions, which take place at the Delta County shooting range on Trap Road in Eckert. “What a lot of people don’t know is that the fair starts with shooting,” said Kathy
Welt. She and husband Terry have been active in 4-H shooting for many years. One of the newer 4-H shooting sports is the Western Heritage shoot. On July 5-6, Paonia 4-H member Dawson Morgan placed second in state at the 4-H Western Heritage Shoot in Whitewater. Morgan was invited to attend the national competition July 30Aug. 1 in Winton, Calif., but decided to wait until next year until he’s had more practice.
Photo submitted
Paonia 4-H member Dawson Morgan, second from left, competed in the 4H Western Heritage State Shoot held July 5-6 in Whitewater. Part of the 4-H Western Heritage Project, the event combines shooting skills with knowledge of Western heritage. It is one of several shooting events that will mark the opening of the Delta County Fair this Saturday at the Delta County shooting range in Eckert.
INDEX
Accent ........................... A4 Activities ....................... A7 Back Page ................... D8 Business ........................ A8 Church ........................... D4 Classifieds .................. D1-2 Deltarado Days ...........C1-8 Editorial ......................... A2 Legals ............................ D3 North Fork Times ........B1-3 Obituaries ..................... A6 Service Directory .......... D7 Sports .............................B6 Surface Creek News ...B4-5 TV Listings ................. D5-6
Western Heritage combines 4-H shooting sports with the history of the western frontier from 1860-1900. More than just shooting, the sport gives 4-H members and adult leaders a chance to experience the lifestyle and culture of the American west while instilling gun safety and personal responsibility. Participants choose a persona based on a real western character who lived during that time. Think Billy the Kid or Wyatt Earp. Using single-action revolvers, level-action rifles, and doublebarreled shotguns, they shoot at round steel targets. Scoring is based on time and accuracy, knowledge of western history, and authenticity of period clothing. Started by Montana State University, Western Heritage is part of the 4-H Western Heritage Project. The sport has expanded south into Wyoming and Colorado. While about 10 counties now participate in Western Heritage shootouts, Delta County was the first in the state to offer it, said Terry Welt. Morgan portrays Reuben Dove. Featured in local history books, Dove was a recluse who lived some 30 years beneath a cliff up Hubbard Creek outside of Paonia starting in 1890. Kirk Morgan, Dawson’s dad, said Dawson wanted to portray a local COUNTY FAIR TO A4
Photo courtesy Matt Soper
Flag presentation
District 54 Rep. Matt Soper (standing right of the podium) presents U.S. and Colorado state flags to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen during a July 19 ceremony held at the Colorado State Capitol. The event by Tsai marked the first a Taiwan president has visited Colorado.
Soper honored to present flags STAFF REPORT
Matt Soper finds himself in some surreal moments in his new role as the state representative for District 54. None has been more surreal than leading the presentation of flags that flew over the State Capitol on July 19, in the presence of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. Tsai was presented with both the U.S flag and Colorado flags. Joined by seven colleagues from the House and Senate. “The members of the Colorado legislature wish to welcome President Tsai and hope that these two flags will serve not only as a commemoration of this historic visit to Colorado, but a reminder to return to the Centennial State,” said Soper, who was the only one to speak at the ceremony. The visit marks the first
time a president from Taiwan has visited Colorado. Tsai was in Denver for two days on her return trip home after visiting Caribbean countries with which Taiwan has diplomatic ties. According to Soper, Taiwan is Colorado’s 10thlargest trade partner and the visit yielded good results for Colorado beef producers, traditional and alternative energy alliances, and student exchanges. “Taiwan has pledged to make Colorado beef preferred and we will be selling energy fuel and providing renewable scientists to help develop alternate energy in the future, along with expanded student exchange programs,” said Soper in an email to the DCI. “It was a very historic day for Colorado, and as the only legislator to speak, I feel honored they chose the guy from Delta.”
School district to ask for funding override BY TAMIE MECK Managing Editor
The Delta County School District will ask voters this November to approve a mill levy override to fund transportation. If approved, the district would receive annual revenues of about $525,000. That would allow the district to purchase four or five route buses per year, said district finance officer Jim Ventrello. The school board could decide in some years to purchase smaller buses. The most recent activity bus, which is more expensive than route buses, was purchased in 2016 “and it’s already got a bunch of miles on it,” said Ventrello. The 1.5 mills the district is requesting would cost property owners about $10.73 in taxes per year for every $100,000 of
real property value. A property valued at $200,000 would be taxed at about $21.46 per year, or about $1.79 per month based on an assessed value of $14,300. Commercial and vacant lands are taxed at a higher rate. A property valued at $200,000 would be taxed at about $87 per year based on an assessed value of $58,000. “We just feel it’s the right thing to do for our kids,” said district assistant superintendent Kurt Clay. “If it doesn’t pass, we’re going to get to a critical time in the next two or three years where we’re going to have to do something drastic.” The district’s bus fleet is aging, said Clay. Most of the buses were purchased between 2002-2004. To put it into perspective, said Clay, SCHOOL DISTRICT TO A3
Fair seeks singing talents
Sweitzer Lake beach remains closed
The Delta County Fair Board is looking for local talent interested in auditioning to sing the Star-Spangled Banner during the 114th annual Delta County Fair. The fair is scheduled to run Aug. 3-10 at the Delta County Fairgrounds in Hotchkiss. The fair is already a showcase for talents of the communities. Anyone interested in auditioning for one of seven opportunities to sing the national anthem during the fair should be at the fairgrounds at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 30. For more information or questions please call Teresa Burns at 970-270-4493.
The swim beach at Sweitzer Lake State Park will remain closed until unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria drop to a safe level. The beach was closed July 18 and park staff is testing the water daily. The E. coli level will drop naturally; there is nothing that can be done to influence a decline. The lake remains open to other water activities such as boating, water skiing, paddleboarding and fishing. Only the area at the swim beach is closed. Located just south of the town of Delta, Sweitzer Lake is filled with agricultural irrigation run-off water. An increase in E. coli levels can result from urban and agricultural run-off, and from concentrations of wildlife — primarily waterfowl. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment mandates testing of water at public beaches. For more information and updates on the closure, call 970-874-4258 or visit https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/ cdphe/swim-beach-monitoring.