NORTH FORK TIMES
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First responders honored for saving heart attack victim, B1
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CELEBRATING COMMUNITY Orchard City hosts annual picnic, debuts old-time fiddle contest, C1
DELTA COUNTY
BACK TO SCHOOL
New teachers are committed to success in the classroom, A5-6 AUGUST 19, 2015 VOL. 132, NO. 33
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INDEPENDENT
www.deltacountyindependent.com
Kids head back to school today BY PAT SUNDERLAND Managing Editor
The 2015-16 school year is off and running, bringing the implementation of new K-12 math curriculum, a “magnet” school in the North Fork and implementation of a “breakfast after the bell” program at Lincoln Elementary School in Delta. “Today, the yellow busses will roll, the school bells will ring, and the 2015-2016 academic year will begin for about 4,800 students and about 600 staff in Delta County School District,” said superintendent Caryn Gibson. “Our schools have spent the past few months preparing for the first day, and we are looking forward to the new school year with enthusiasm and optimism. I am thrilled at the opportunity to work together with staff, students, families and our communities to help our students not only reach, but exceed their educational goals.” Gibson said the school district’s primary focus continues to be the academic performance of students, school safety, professional development and parent/community involvement. “Everything we do — from establishing a budget and operating a school nutrition program to providing instructional technology and building partnerships with the business community — directly influences student achievement. We are committed to doing everything we can for the children of Delta County Schools.” In addition to the math cur-
riculum, Delta County School District has revised the English language arts curriculum for all of the district’s traditional schools. Within the walls of Paonia Elementary School, the North Fork School for Integrated Studies embraces the Waldorf philosophy for families seeking additional options. Two classrooms are set aside for students in grades K-1-2 and 3-4. The two new NFSIS instructors, Lauren Ziccardi and Jenica Schevene, are among 40 new instructional staff members joining the school district this year. See pages A5-6 for photos and brief introductions to all 40 of the new teachers. At Lincoln Elementary School, students will be eating breakfast in their classrooms every morning. While breakfast is an option for students throughout the school district, the “breakfast after the bell” program at Lincoln is mandated by a federal law that’s now in its second year. Breakfast must be provided at no charge to all students enrolled in a public school where 70 percent or more students are eligible for free or reduced price lunches under the national school lunch program. Lincoln Elementary is at 74 percent free and reduced. Food services director Rhonda Vincent says the menu options will vary from those served in cafeterias elsewhere, simply because of the necessity for portability. Students in grades 3-5 will pass through the cafeteria, picking up a bagged breakfast SCHOOL TO A3
A sea of yellow
Row after row of bright yellow sunflowers catch the eye of motorists driving by the old Davis place on 5th Street just west of Delta. The farm was purchased last spring by Dan Varner, who put a total of 55 acres in sunflowers. He will harvest the sunflowers later this fall and extract the oil.
Gardner roundtable targets economic opportunities BY PAT SUNDERLAND Managing Editor
Through a series of economic roundtables across the state, U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner is gathering input from business and community leaders. Thoughts from those meetings will be compiled into a “white paper” that will help shape policy to reflect economic opportunity. “I recognize that in Colorado the only people who seem
Commissioners review audit, student numbers BY HANK LOHMEYER Staff Writer
Delta County’s conservative approach to financial management yielded dividends in 2014 with increasing fund balances and spending that came in below budget estimates. The commissioners received the official 2014 audit during a regular meeting session on Monday. The BoCC also had a discussion of school student enrollment. The county’s approach to finance is “really conservative,” said auditor Pete Blair. “That’s a good thing.” Blair reported the following financial results for the county in 2014: • Taking all of the county’s dozen or so governmental funds together, there was a cumulative increase in fund balances of approximately $900,000 in 2014 over 2013. • Compared with 2013, the county general fund increased by almost 10 percent, or some
INDEX
Accent ........................... A4 Activities ....................... A7 Back Page ................... D6 Church ........................... D4 Classifieds .................. D1-2 Editorial ......................... A2 Health & Fitness .........B6-8 Legals ............................ D3 North Fork Times ........B1-4 Obituaries ......................B5 School Zone ............... A5-6 Service Directory ........ D5 Sports .............................C6 Surface Creek News ...C1-5 TV Listings ..................C3-4
$300,000. • The county’s capital improvements fund increased by $600,000. (Sometimes capital spending accounts show increases because budgeted projects weren’t completed.) • Sales tax receipts for 2014 were “slightly up” from 2013. • Though revenues available to the county overall in 2014 were on par with those available in 2013, county departments spent about $300,000 less in 2014 than they did the year before. Blair said, “You guys did a really fantastic job. Management did a good job, too. You stayed within your budget.” In a separate discussion item, commissioners asked Blair, a member of the District 50 school board, about student population trends. Blair explained the district had budgeted for a loss of student enrollment slightly higher than 150 students, and it is now looking as if that will
Photo by Pat Sunderland
be close. “But we won’t really know until the official count comes in on Oct. 1,” Blair noted. He told the commissioners the district lost about 450 students in the previous four years. A loss of 150 this year would bring the total to 600 fewer students in the last five years. Student population peaked at about 5,250. The pupil counts are important because state funding for schools is based on the number of students in the district. Commissioners asked if the student population decline was from lost coal jobs. Blair commented that lost coal jobs and jobs lost also from coal mining support businesses accounted for the numbers. The school enrollment declines seem to be countywide and not just in one area. The number of students lost this year could be “the last big hit” before the economy begins coming back, Blair remarked.
to get a lot of attention are the people between Fort Collins and Pueblo,” he said at a roundtable in Delta last week. “You go to Denver and see the cranes on the skyline, and that’s great for them, but it hasn’t necessarily spread around to the rest of the state. We need economic opportunity in all parts of the state, not just along the Front Range.” Policies taking shape in the nation’s capital are indeed impacting Delta County, from the war on coal, to management of Forest Service and BLM lands, to a growing number of regulations that are seen as obstacles to business expansion and job creation. County commissioner Doug Atchley said Delta County must maintain a diverse economy that includes both agriculture and an energy portfolio that incorporates coal. “Coal cannot be just wiped out even with the current EPA onslaught,” he said. “We need probably around 30 percent to maintain the current electrical grid and we’re acting like we don’t need any of it.” On top of the job losses Delta County has already experienced, commissioner Mark Roeber said listening sessions about raising royalties could deal another blow to coal. “In the state of Colorado a committee reviews all the regulations that flow from the executive branch,” said State Rep. Yeulin Willett. “If they’re out of bounds, we can put a stop to it. We need that at the federal level.” In addition, he said, “We need the ability to bring a lawsuit, to get a temporary restraining order or injunction against executive branch overreach.”
Listening sessions target coal royalties
The U.S. Interior Department is holding a series of listening sessions targeting a recent proposal to raise royalty rates on leased federal coal. The first listening session was held in Golden Aug. 18. While some citizens are calling for a fair return from coal mining on public lands, industry representatives say coal producers already pay above market rates for federal royalties. “The system is working well and, as a result, royalties on federal coal produced in Colorado have returned hundreds of millions of dollars to federal coffers over the years,” said Stuart Sanderson, president of the Colorado Mining Association. “But mandates to shut down coal plants and end coal use have caused coal production in Colorado, the bulk of which takes place on federal leases, to decline by nearly half during the past 10 years. As a result, Colorado royalty payments have fallen by more than one third in recent years.” Funding for public schools and other government functions is being impacted, he said, and any increase in royalty rates would further harm Colorado’s economy.
Gardner agreed a sunset review process is needed, but by that time, businesses and industries have often expended a great deal of time and expense to respond to the regulations. County administrator Robbie LeValley said even when regulations are modified, the initial decision making is often incorporated into standards and guidelines with the same result. “There needs to be an extra step,” she said, referring specifically to the development of resource management plans for federal lands. Discussion of the economy moved to broadband, an issue of great importance to all of rural Colorado. Roundtable participants recognize the recent $5.2 million DOLA grant is a huge step forward for Delta-Montrose counties, but much work is left to be done. “There’s a long way to go, to get fiber to homes and to businesses,” said Mark Eckhart, a local businessman and DMEA board member. DMEA is providing access to its fiberoptic infrastructure, which will bring high speed Internet to a central location in participating communities. Full buildout could run $93 million, just in DMEA’s service territory. “We need it, we need it bad, but who’s going to pay for it?” Eckhart asked. “That’s a great place to look for leadership from you,” State Senator Kerry Donovan told Gardner. “Everyone outside of the I-25 corridor has similar dollar figures, and we’ve got a real tight purse to put in substantial infrastructure that varies from community to community. It’s appropriate ROUNDTABLE TO A3
Recruiting firm chosen
At a special meeting Aug. 11, Delta City Council reviewed three proposals from recruiting firms interested in assisting with the city manager search. Pending final approval at the regular council meeting Aug. 18, the city will engage Mercer Group of Carbondale. The service will cost $12,600, plus direct expenses not to exceed $2,500. Mercer Group has prepared a 95-day timeline that calls for the search to be launched Sept. 11. Application deadline is Oct. 5. Mercer Group will forward the leading candidates to the city council, and finalists will be named Oct. 27. Interviews would take place the week of Nov. 9. Mercer Group offers a 24-month guarantee following the date of placement.