NORTH FORK TIMES
SURFACE CREEK NEWS
SPORTS
CONCERNED CITIZENS
CAUSE UNKNOWN
ON THE ROAD
Oil, gas lease meetings draw 1,000+ North Fork residents, B1
Fire destroys Cedaredge home; no injuries reported, C1
Delta girls capture team title at Cortez basketball tourney, B5
DELTA COUNTY
JANUARY 11, 2012 VOL. 129, NO. 2
75¢
INDEPENDENT
www.deltacountyindependent.com
Animal control officer hits the streets of Delta tor, said the partnership will allow the city to again provide animal services to its citizens while providing needed visibility and accessibility for animals awaiting adoptions. CAWS will immediately begin training with existing shelter staff and will officially assume all operations and management of the shelter on April 1. BY PAT SUNDERLAND “We are so pleased to have Managing Editor Animal control officer Ryla this opportunity to work Pavlisick has completed train- with the City of Delta and ing and has begun working to restore the shelter to its the streets of Delta Monday- previous operating capacity,” Friday from 9 a.m. to noon. Kalanek said. The shelter has 12 dog kenPolice officers will continue to respond to reports of dog bites nels, six of which will be dediand vicious or aggressive ani- cated to the City of Delta for mals when Pavlisick is not on impounds and quarantined dogs. The other six will house duty. The resumption of ani- adoptable pets in CAWS’ promal control enforcement in gram, some of which may be city impounds the City of Delta which have been is part of a tworelinquished after pronged approach a five-day holding that includes collabperiod. oration with Delta CAWS will be County Citizens for assuming $39,650 Animal Welfare and in expenses, repreShelter (CAWS) to senting the majoroperate the city’s ity of annual operanimal shelter. ating costs for the Both the animal shelter. The City of shelter operation Delta is providing and animal control Kallsen use of the facility, enforcement were including utilities severely curtailed and any needed in 2011 due to budrepairs, and will get constraints. pay CAWS approxThe agreement imately $7,000 with CAWS is seen annually in fees as a win-win situassociated with the ation for both the care and feeding of city and CAWS, animals impounded which does not or quarantined by have an animal City of Delta anishelter. CAWS’ mal control. JoAnn Kalanek, The fines levied who will be acting Pavlisick for dogs at large, as the shelter direc-
Volunteers needed to ensure successful partnership
non-licensure and animal cruelty will continue to be paid to the City of Delta. The animal shelter is open Thursday through Monday from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Walkins are welcome, but appointments are preferred. If you have lost a pet and think it may be at the shelter, call 874-1078. Eventually, CAWS intends to staff the shelter seven days a week with trained volunteers, augmented by paid staff. Animal shelter technician Teresa Kallsen is currently the sole paid employee. As of April 1, she will cease being a city employee and will become an employee of CAWS. “Getting the community involved in the shelter is one of our biggest goals,” said Alison LePage, CAWS development director. “There will be a variety of volunteer opportunities at the shelter and we really need people who care about animals to join us in making the shelter a success.” ANIMAL SHELTER TO A3
Photo by Pat Sunderland
Ringing in 2012 Anthony Cole Lorimor was heralded as the first baby of 2012 born at Delta County Memorial Hospital. Dr. Susan Bright delivered Anthony by C-section at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 3. Born to Paula and Tyler Lorimor, he joins Ivary, 5, Brayden, 4, and Amelia, 18 months, at their home in Delta. “He completes our family,” Paula said. Anthony weighed 6 pounds, 11.4 ounces and was 19 inches in length. Hospital staff and volunteers joined forces to fill a car seat with gifts for the new arrival.
Grand opening planned for farmworker housing Community Resources and Housing Development Corporation (CRHDC) will celebrate the opening of a new farmworker housing community in North Delta on Jan. 12. Alta Vista de la Montana will provide agricultural workers in the area with access to safe, decent, and affordable housing in proximity to where they work.
The building will be open for visits and touring from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12, to mark the grand opening. Brief remarks will take place at 11:15 a.m. All festivities will take place at Alta Vista de la Montana, located at 7108 Highway 50. Please RSVP to Robin Wolff at robin@crhdc. org. The development provides
BLM extends comment period BY HANK LOHMEYER Staff Writer
The Bureau of land Management has extended its deadline for public comments on an August 2012 quarterly oil and gas lease sale plan that has swamped the Delta County Commissioners with e-mails from around the world. On Monday, commissioners said their e-mails have been piling up with communications from far beyond the county line. Commissioners Bruce Hovde, Olen Lund and Doug Atchley said incoming e-mails on the topic have been originating from venues such as Michigan, Maine, Germany and Korea. The BLM’s comment period extension had been requested by the Delta County Commissioners and others. The planned lease sale includes 22 parcels located in Delta and Gunnison counties. The comment deadline is now Feb. 9. Opposition to the proposed
BoCC swamped with e-mails on North Fork gas lease sale lease sale has come also from Delta County residents, particularly in the North Fork Valley where a number of the lease parcels are located. Comments on the proposed BLM lease sale should not be addressed to the county. The county has no direct jurisdiction in the lease sale. Instead, comments should be sent to the BLM’s Uncompahgre Field office in Montrose. Type BLM UFO without quotes in your search engine and then navigate to the appropriate site to comment.
Comments must be submitted in writing. They can also be sent to the BLM Uncompahgre Field Office, Attn: Oil and Gas Lease Sale, 2465 S. Townsend Ave., Montrose, CO 81401; or by fax, (970) 2405368. According to an information advisory distributed by the BLM, “This public comment opportunity is the first step in determining whether or not oil and gas leases will be offered on public lands. An environmental assessment and a public lease notice will also provide the public an opportunity to provide input prior to any parcels being offered for sale.” Explaining the comment period extension the BLM said, “Comments from local cities and counties requested the deadline extension in order to provide specific details on whether parcels should or should not be leased.” Barb Sharrow, UFO field manager, was quoted saying, “Based on the amount of inter-
est and the requests for additional information, this extension will provide additional time for the public’s input to better inform the BLM’s decision.” The BLM also stated, “The Uncompahgre Field Office is evaluating about 30,000 acres near Paonia, Hotchkiss, Somerset and Crawford to draft an Environmental Assessment prior to the lease sale. “Please note comments and information submitted regarding this project, including email addresses and street addresses of respondents, will be available for public review and disclosure. Individual respondents may request confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name, e-mail address, or street address from public view or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your written comment. Such requests will be honored to the extent allowed by the law.”
40 units of affordable housing to farmworkers, agricultural workers and their families, and wheelchair accessible apartments are available to households with special needs. It also includes a community room, which can serve as a resource for the entire community. The apartments feature market rate amenities that include central air conditioning, a community building, as well as in-unit energy efficient appliances. The apartments were designed and built using materials and appliances certified by Energy Star. High quality construction materials, high grade insulation, energy efficient roofing, windows and doors have been incorporated throughout the community. The development will also utilize a solar system that will provide electrical power to the common areas, resulting in substantial energy and costs savings for the property. Alta Vista de la Montana is a $7.9 million development financed through a combination of public and private financing that included funding from USDA Rural Development, RCAC, NeighborWorks America, CHFA and equity from WNC from the sale of Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits. Local growers also provided funding for the market study in the early phases “Everyone should have access to safe, decent and affordable housing,” said CRHDC executive director Al HOUSING TO A3
INDEX
GOCO workshop set for Jan. 13
Delta man charged with cruelty
Accent ........................... A4 Activities ....................... A6 Agriculture .....................C6 Back Page ................... D8 Business .......................A10 Church ........................... D6 Classifieds .................. D1-2 Editorial ......................... A5 Legals ......................... D3-5 North Fork Times ........B1-4 Obituaries ..................... A8 School Zone .................. A7 Service Directory ........ D7 Sports ..........................B5-8 Surface Creek News ...C1-5 TV Listings .....................C6
Staff members from Lottery-funded Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) offer a grant-writing workshop in Delta Friday, Jan. 13, to assist local communities in preparing applications for GOCO’s local government park, outdoor recreation and environmental education grants. Applications are due March 2 with grant awards to be made in June 2012. The workshop will take place in the council chambers at Delta City Hall, 360 Main Street from 9 to 11 a.m. GOCO is the result of a citizens’ initiative passed by 58 percent of the voters in 1992. As the recipient of approximately half of Colorado Lottery proceeds — $56 million in Fiscal Year 2011 — GOCO awards grants to local governments and land trusts, and makes investments through the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife. Since 1994, more than 3,400 projects in all 64 counties have received GOCO funding. Please RSVP to Luke Bolinger at (303) 226-4525 or lbolinger@goco.org.
Gene Grant, 56, of Delta has been charged with the cruel and inhumane treatment of animals after neighbors and animal rights activists complained of starving pigs on his property on Last Chance Road. Sheriff Fred McKee said this is the second time Grant has been charged with animal cruelty. During the investigation, sheriff’s deputies visited Grant’s property and found evidence of deceased animals in various stages of decay. “How they died we don’t know,” McKee said. Four of the six live pigs were placed with a private party. McKee described those pigs as “significantly underfed.” The remaining two pigs were to be evaluated by the state veterinarian Tuesday morning to determine if they could be salvaged. McKee said Grant has been summoned to appear in county court on Wednesday, Jan. 18. McKee is hopeful the case will be resolved quickly, and that the judge will either restrict Grant’s ability to raise livestock or order him to be supervised by probation.