NORTH FORK TIMES
SURFACE CREEK NEWS
BOUNTIFUL HARVEST Mountain Harvest Festival celebrates all things local, B4-6
SPORTS
DOING GOD’S WORK
Church delivers boxes of goodies to area’s first responders, C2
DELTA COUNTY
RANKED #1
Paonia volleyball team remains undefeated at 8-0, C8 SEPTEMBER 21, 2016 VOL. 133, NO. 38
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INDEPENDENT
www.deltacountyindependent.com
Ag education eyed for Rogers Mesa site BY PAT SUNDERLAND Managing Editor
A vision for the Rogers Mesa Research Center is taking shape as collaborators come together to revitalize a unique community resource. Established in 1961, the CSU Rogers Mesa station engaged in research in tree crops, grapes, vegetables and alternative crops. The station was closed in June 2011 and put on the market for sale. CSU was dissuaded from selling the site by stakeholders who asked for time to
study alternative uses of the property that could promote local economic development. A feasibility study was funded by Delta County, Region 10 and the Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station. The study resulted in a call for letters of intent to determine which organization(s) would take the lead for any new programs at Rogers Mesa. While ideas were plentiful, the only formal response came from Teens on Farms, which shares CSU’s vision for mul-
DMS teacher shares vision for ag station BY PAT SUNDERLAND Managing Editor
Evan Cummings, a science teacher at Delta Middle School, also sees the potential for students to gain hands-on experience in many aspects of science at the Rogers Mesa Research Station. “In 2005, when our family moved to Delta County, one of the first things I did was contact Dr. Ron Godin at the Rogers Mesa Research Station,” Cummings said. “I thought that it would be a wonderful resource for me to take my students to, to learn about so many different aspects of science. Well, Dr. Godin gave me a wonderful tour and then at the very end told me that CSU was closing down the station!” Then last year he learned CSU was considering alternate uses of the facility in conjunction with local businesses, farmers, schools and county government. He immediately contacted the school district office to indicate his
interest in facilitating a connection between students in the school district and the Rogers Mesa facility. Cummings describes himself as a passionate self-starter who is willing to organize groups from each district school to come out and learn about agriculture and food production, farming practices and equipment, greenhouse use and many aspects of rural life and sustainable practices. “This would all be aligned with standards and teacher friendly,” he explained. Since the school district has already pledged funds to the research station, Cummings said those funds could be used for his stipend, substitutes, buses and necessary equipment making it easy for district teachers to sign up and bring their students out for the program. If that relationship doesn’t materialize, Cummings said he could also work with local farmers and ranchers to accomplish the same goals.
tiple public uses for the site that would support agriculture, education and economic development. The concept of a “Center for Experiential Ag” was launched. In early 2016, Teens on Farms hosted an open house in hopes of recruiting project partners. Cassandra Shenk, founder of Teens on Farms, said the open house was well attended but no one was willing to make a commitment. Then Ross Allen, a fifth generation rancher and a nearby property owner, expressed interest in bringing the hay fields back into production.
The Delta Area Chamber of Commerce is excited to announce a “Kickoff to Christmas” community event this year, in conjunction with Small Business Saturday on Nov. 26. The Parade of Lights will be moved up to that weekend. “In years past, we have done the Christmas parade on the first Friday of December, which has left us competing with Montrose and Grand Junction parades,” said executive director Darnell Place-Wise. “It also happens to be a heavy weekend for high school sports, which means that a big number of families miss out. By moving up a weekend, to Nov. 26, we can create a real community event that will kick off in the mid to late afternoon and run into the evening. What’s great about this is that we will be sup-
INDEX
Accent ........................... A4 Activities ......................A11 Back Page ................. D10 Business ........................ A9 Church ........................... D8 Classifieds .................. D1-2 Editorial ......................... A2 Health & Fitness .........B7-9 Legals ......................... D3-7 North Fork Times ........B1-6 Obituaries ....................A11 School Zone .................. A5 Service Directory ........ D9 Sports ........................C8-10 Surface Creek News ...C1-4 TV Listings ..................C5-6
porting our local businesses by working with them, and ultimately driving foot traffic through their doors. Kids will be home from college, there are no sporting events to go to; our hope is that it will be a wonderful community event where we can all come together and kick off the Christmas season! And of course we will end the evening with the Christmas parade and Santa!” Deltarado Days dates are also moving to the last weekend of July, to July 27-30, 2017. Place-Wise explained, “The main reason for this is so that we are not competing with other fairs in the area, or the Night Vision event, like what happened this year. We are putting this out now, so that those planning family or class reunions have ample time to plan!”
have been identified — leasing revenue and educational revenue. The Rogers Mesa site is comprised of 83 acres of land adjacent to Highway 92, and includes an orchard, vineyard, irrigated land with water rights, a residence, a classroom/laboratory building, offices, cold storage facilities, greenhouse and equipment/ storage sheds. The offices, greenhouse, cold storage and classroom are all available for lease. Educational revenues would be generated by providing experiential AG EDUCATION TO A3
Photo submitted
During a Teens on Farms 4-H garden project, Odessa Shenk leads a soil classification exercise (the “ball and ribbon” method) to check the soil at the garden plot at Delta County Fairgrounds. This is an example of the hands-on education envisioned to occur at the Rogers Mesa Research Center.
Feds’ deadlines burden county BY HANK LOHMEYER
Chamber events have new dates
By combining for-profit operations like Allen’s with the experiential learning offered through Teens on Farms, and with the backing of educational institutions like CSU and Delta County Joint School District #50, Shenk believes the research station can be re-opened. Potential benefits to the community include connecting area producers and food to people in need, as well as educating youth for the future of farming and food production in Delta County. To ensure sustainability, two main sources of revenue
Staff Writer
The county administration and commissioners are finding their resources stretched thin in order to meet deadlines for submitting official comments on federal public lands policy documents. On Monday, the BoCC issued a request to Brian St. George, a BLM deputy director, asking for a 60-day extension of time for commenting on the Gunnison Sage Grouse Rangewide Draft Resource Management Plan Amendment and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The deadline for commenting on the document is Nov. 1 which is the same day the county’s comments on the massive Uncompahgre Field Office Resource Management Plan (UFORMP) are due. “Delta County has limited capacity to read through each plan and currently staff has spent the majority of their time on the UFORMP,” states the county’s extension request to St. George. County staff so far has only outlined the county’s positions on UFORMP issues that are seen as criti-
cal to the county’s people and economy in the future. In a related matter, the county’s local government designee, Bruce Bertram, reported on Monday that comments on the UFORMP will focus on key areas — Gunnison sage grouse, wild and scenic rivers, wilderness study areas including Adobe Badlands north of Delta, and issues surrounding oil and gas exploration and development. In other business at their Sept. 19 regular meeting, the county commissioners dealt with the following matters: • The county’s auditor gave commissioners a progress report on his annual financial review. “The county is in better financial condition at the end of 2015 than at the end of 2014,” said auditor Pete Blair. The cumulative total of all fund balances is showing an increase of about $500,000, he reported. This year’s audit process has required a low number of accounting adjustments with few “anomalies” to reconcile. Commissioners and administration await a final report after review of departmental
financial control procedures. • The commissioners adopted a resolution supporting a grant for a county trails master plan and a grant from GOCO for funding it. • The commissioners received jail census reports for Sept. 19 and 13. On Sept. 19 there were 51 detention inmates and six in work release. A week earlier on Sept. 13 there were 46 in detention and seven in work release. • The commissioners approved bills payable from all funds between Aug. 20 to Sept. 9 of $487,243, and in addition a monthly county payroll of $1.02 million. • The commissioners adopted an amended county emergency operations plan. Staff explained that having the plan is a requirement to qualify for federal financial reimbursement in the event of an emergency response to wildfire, flood, or other incidents requiring large scale first-responder involvement. • The commissioners approved a liquor license renewal for Kuros LLC dba Alexander Lake Lodge.
Kebler Pass closures
Fair board members sought
Gunnison County Road 12 at Kebler Pass, about four miles west of Crested Butte, will be closed for two-hour periods between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday from now through midOctober. The road closures will occur at the winter trailhead outside of Crested Butte on the east end of the project and at Splains Gulch on the west side of the project. Motorists who may be starting their travel from Delta may consider the more southern route of US Highway 50 to reach Crested Butte, instead of trying to cut across Kebler Pass Road. Travelers should expect up to two-hour delays. Waiting traffic (one direction at a time) will be allowed to pass through the construction area every two hours, in order to accomplish increments of work. After approximately 5:30 p.m. until 8:00 a.m. the road will be open for through traffic.
The Board of Delta County Commissioners is recruiting interested volunteers to serve as representatives on the Delta Fair Board. Positions are available in each district — North Fork, Surface Creek and Delta areas. Appointments are made annually and are effective as of Oct. 1 of each year. Board terms are for three years and will expire Oct. 1, 2019. The Fair Board is responsible for producing the annual Delta County Fair. The Fair Board typically meets in the evening of the first Tuesday of each month. Interested persons are requested to submit a letter of interest stating their qualifications and interest in serving by Sept. 29. Letters should be delivered or mailed to the Delta County Commissioners, 501 Palmer Street, Suite 227, Delta. For more information, call Gary Peebles, Fair Board president, at 921-4074.