Paonia awards parks maintenance contract

After recent lengthy council meetings, everyone seemed to enjoy the brevity of the Feb. 12 Paonia Town Council meeting. It started at 7 p.m. and was over 40 minutes later.

Six bids for the parks maintenance contract were opened by trustees Amber Kleinman and Eric Goold and town clerk Barb Peterson. Goold moved to renew the agreement with the current contractor, Michael Altenhofen for $32,844 for one year. Goold noted that Altenhofen had experience, necessary equipment and the town's satisfaction with his job. "Several citizens came up to me and said they were pleased with his job performance," Goold said. The council voted unanimously to renew his contract.

Ralph D'Alassandro of the Delta Conservation District asked for and received permission from the town to include town property in their removal of invasive species. This is being done at no cost to landowners. The district has received funding for the project. Invasive species have been removed from approximately 200 acres on both sides of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. Russian olive and tamarisk and other species are being removed.

Mayor Neal Schwieterman announced that the town does not pursue complaints from anonymous individuals. If a signed complaint with a phone number is received at town hall, the matter will be investigated.

The council approved publishing the 26-page ordinance on flood plain regulations. The mayor noted it did not differ from the current ordinance very much at all.

The council ratified two letters which needed to be written in the span of time from the last council meeting and the Feb. 12 meeting. The letters were emailed to the trustees and the town clerk contacted each to make sure the letters had approval prior to being sent.

The first letter to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar was in reference to the gas parcels for lease. The letter stated, "The Town of Paonia endorses the components of the Secretary Order regarding the directive for Master Leasing Plans. It is our understanding that the Master Leasing Plans try to evaluate areas for resource development and mitigate issues surrounding those areas. This evaluation would determine if an area is suitable for a type of proposed development and take into account public comments. The Board feels that a Master Lease Plan could resolve the issues the North Fork Valley is currently facing prior to proposing lease sales." All the parcels were deferred by the BLM prior to the Feb. 14 sale.

A letter of support for the Blue Sage Center for the Arts was approved. The organization seeks funding from the El Pomar Foundation.

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