Delta County Independent, Feb. 8, 2012

Page 1

NORTH FORK TIMES

SURFACE CREEK NEWS

SPORTS

CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION

SHARING MEMORIES

PERFECT AT 15-0

Old timers, newcomers gather in Crawford for dinner, awards, B3

Historian tells tales of Black Canyon, Gunnison Tunnel, C5

Undefeated Paonia wrestlers are headed to regionals, B5

DELTA COUNTY

FEBRUARY 8, 2012 VOL. 129, NO. 6

75¢

INDEPENDENT

www.deltacountyindependent.com

Foreclosures lead uptick in home sales BY PAT SUNDERLAND Managing Editor

The real estate trends tracked quarterly by Heritage Title Company reveal the first “uptick” in home sales since 2005. In 2011, the title company reports, real estate transactions increased nearly 13 percent in Delta County. The 562 sales for the year compare to 498 in 2010. That’s great news for everyone in the community, not just realtors, said Kim Guthrie-Burch, broker owner of RE/MAX Today. Home sales are one sign that the economy may be recovering — although the fact that there are so many bank-owned properties on the market may indicate otherwise. In the Delta area, over half of the MLS sales over the past two to three months have been bank-owned properties, reports Marsha Bryan, a broker owner in Cedaredge.

“People are more motivated to buy these homes because interest rates are at such historic low rates, and they’re seeing these really good prices,” Bryan said. Doris Danielsen, a Paonia real estate agent, agrees. “People have finally decided they feel comfortable enough with the price to jump in.” She has worked with a lot of first-time homebuyers, many of whom are employed in the mines. “This is the perfect opportunity for young people to buy. A lot of these bankowned properties are smaller, more affordable homes, very suitable for starter homes.” Despite the increase in sales, the inventory of bankowned homes remains high and will stay that way for some time to come, Bryan predicts. “Banks still have a lot of properties they haven’t put on the market yet,” she said, “and there are many more

homes still in the process of foreclosure.” According to Heritage Title Company, the number of completed foreclosures increased to 193 in 2011, from the 163 completed in 2010. Foreclosure filings, however, decreased from 2010 to 2011. The bank-owned properties are coming on the market at attractive prices — good news for buyers who are “snapping” them up, according to Kim Guthrie-Burch, but bad news for sellers who are forced to price their homes competitively. “We’re starting to see not just foreclosures sell, but people still need to get real on their selling price because their competition is those foreclosures,” said GuthrieBurch. The price doesn’t have to be as low as a bank-owned property, Bryan added, because HOME SALES TO A3

Delta County Annual Real Estate Sales

Units Sold 1,484 1,500 1,312 1,200

1,079

900

733 573

562 498

600

300

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Information provided by Heritage Title Company, Delta County Clerk & Recorder

County comments on North Fork gas BY HANK LOHMEYER Staff Writer

The Board of County Commissioners has submitted its comments to BLM on the proposed August gas lease auction in the North Fork. The county’s comments comprise nearly six full, single-spaced pages of parcelspecific factual information, commentary, and recommendation. The county’s comment letter, approved and signed by the commissioners on Monday, asks BLM to consider the individual parcel comments if deferral of the August 2012 lease sale is not feasible.

The county’s letter, drafted by Bruce Bertram, local government designee, in consultation with Susan Hansen, county administrator, states in an opening paragraph, “The board recommends that the BLM consider deferring the August 2012 oil and gas lease sale of all parcels” until after completion of the Uncompahgre Field Office revised Resource Management Plan (RMP). The first draft of the RMP is due in 2013. Failing a blanket deferral, the county’s specific comments for individual parcels focus heavily on concerns over

Paonia man shot; suspect in custody BY PAT SUNDERLAND Managing Editor

Gregory Thompson, 34, was shot in the abdomen Monday, Feb. 6, near Paonia, and a suspect is in custody. Galen Forrester Wood, 31, was taken into custody and is being held on a $60,000 bond at the Delta County Jail. He faces charges of first degree assault, felony menacing and illegal discharge of a weapon. Delta County Undersheriff Mark Taylor issued a press release Tuesday morning, stating the shooting took place at about 7:30 p.m. Thompson and Wood are reported to be friends. An altercation broke out between the two men when Wood allegedly shot Thompson with a 20-gauge Galen

shotgun for not leaving the residence. Alcohol is a possible factor. A single shot was fired at Thompson’s abdomen. The blast exited out his back. The North Fork Ambulance responded and transported Thompson to Delta County Memorial Hospital. He was later airlifted to St. Mary’s Hospital where he received further treatment and is now recovering from his wounds. The shooting occurred in the unincorporated area of Delta County. Sheriff ’s Deputy Kris Stewart was the first officer to respond. Sgt. David Strait, Deputies Chris Ledoux and Corey Eshelman were also on scene, as were Paonia Police Chief Scott Leon and Sgt. Shawn Wood Sanchez.

INDEX

Pit bull shot to death

Accent ........................... A4 Activities ....................... A6 Agriculture .....................C6 Back Page ................... D8 Business .......................A12 Church ..........................A11 Classifieds .................. D1-2 Editorial ................... A2, A7 Legals ......................... D3-6 North Fork Times ........B1-4 Obituaries ...............A10-11 School Zone ............... A8-9 Service Directory ........ D7 Sports ..........................B5-8 Surface Creek News ...C1-5 TV Listings ..................C3-4

A homeowner shot and killed a pit bull type dog that entered a fenced yard in the 1200 block of E. 13th Street and attacked his dog shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1. The homeowner killed the dog with one shot; the Delta Police Dept. reports that no surrounding homes or persons were endangered by use of the firearm. The homeowner’s dog was severely injured and taken to a veterinarian for treatment. Anyone with information about the pit bull, a young adult male, reddish brown in color with a red nylon harness, is asked to call the DPD at 874-7676.

water issues, both irrigation and domestic, and on local geology. In presenting the draft to the BoCC for discussion on Monday, Bertram advocated for including the blanket deferral option based on the 23-year age of the UFO’s current RMP. “The reasons for deferral on these leases is unique to this sale because of the 23year-old RMP,” Bertram told the commissioners. He called the current RMP “outdated,” adding, “I don’t think that any (exploration) company out there would be hurt by the delay.” In addition to the age of the document, Hansen added that technological advances in minerals exploration and production, including hydrau-

lic fracturing and horizontal eral procedures in the current drilling, are not adequately review process that would detailed in the current RMP. address issues being raised County commission chair by deferral advocates. Those Olen Lund said he was not include the following: totally convinced by the let• A nine-month-long lead ter’s arguments for deferral. time between announcement At recent meetings attend- of the lease sale and the ed by the BoCC, top BLM August event; officials have not been encour• Two 30-day comment aging to advocates of the periods, plus a 90-day protest blanket deferral. At a BoCC period on the sale’s environwork session on Jan. 30, Lori mental assessment (EA); Armstrong, BLM’s southwest • And, the agency’s abildistrict manager, said that ity to add “lease notices” and the UFO’s current RMP is “conditions of approval” to any “still well within the param- exploration and development eters” for the number of gas work on specific parcels. wells and minerals develop“We made our decisions in ment forecast 23 years ago. 1989 in the management plan On Jan. 25 at a meeting (RMP),” Sharrow said, addof government, agency, and ing, “It’s strange to be doing industry representatives an EA on a prior decision.” in Montrose, UFO manager Delta County’s call for Barb Sharrow explained sev- COUNTY COMMENTS TO A3

Hartland milestone reached BY HANK LOHMEYER Staff Writer

An important milestone in the Hartland Dam reconstruction project was achieved last Friday. As two track hoes operated by Kissner Construction opened a breach in the project’s coffer dam, waters of the Gunnison River for the first time flowed into the newly built fish passage and recreational boat bypass. But, say construction officials, let river rafters beware: The section of river is still closed to recreational boating traffic. There are another good six weeks of work on the project before rafters are allowed to use the section. Work has now shifted to the river’s north bank where stabilization and additional safety enhancements will be completed.

Delta County’s Kissner Construction, primary contractor on the project, has built two fish passage structures on the main stem of the Colorado River near Grand Junction. The company’s work at Delta is designed to allow species of native fish to pass upstream, and downstream, past the Hartland Dam irrigation diversion. The dam had been identified as a barrier to native fish movement in the river. The work was funded largely by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior. The reconstructed dam design is also intended to connect navigable river segments for rafters. Parties of rafters attempting to pass the dam structure without portaging around it on private property have overturned. Despite

warnings posted upstream, deaths have occurred. Department engineers say the new design will be safer for rafters and make trespassing on private property unnecessary. The main fish passage structure consists of 272 concrete domes bolted to foundations set in bedrock. As water flows through the domed structures, the strong current created by the Hartland diversion is broken into smaller, easily navigable segments that allow native fish to pass upstream. A navigable channel designed also for use by recreational boaters moving down stream runs between two rows of grouted boulders next to the main fish passage. There is also a second, smaller, fish passage structure that allows bypass HARTLAND TO A3

Citizens plan rally at BLM headquarters Citizens for a Healthy Community (CHC) will host a rally at the BLM Montrose Field Office to highlight the BLM’s proposal to lease 30,000 acres of BLM land in the North Fork Valley. Speakers will include a speaker for CHC and representatives of the North Fork’s affected farmers, realtors, agro-tourism businesses, and municipalities. CHC will submit its scoping comments to the BLM along with a petition with over 3,000 signatures calling for a moratorium on gas leasing in the North Fork. The rally will take place Thursday, Feb. 9, at 11 a.m., at the BLM Uncompahgre Field Office headquarters, 2465 S. Townsend Ave,

Montrose. Organizers suggest you carpool and park on the south end of the Russell Stover parking lot on Oak Grove Road. Do not park in the BLM lot. “Natural gas drilling and development is a very serious threat to the health and livelihoods of many North Fork Valley residents,” said CHC’s Brad Burritt. “Organic and conventional farming, ranching, tourism, real estate and property values, hunting, recreation, wildlife, air and water quality will all be harmed if oil and gas development occurs.” He can be contacted for more information at 234-5412 or bsburritt@yahoo.com


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