Red Feather Lakes Planning Advisory Committee

Meeting Minutes

June 14, 2007

The meeting was called to order at 3:07PM by Vice-Chairperson Lucille Schmidt.

Members in Attendance: Gene Allen, Gene Barker, Susan Bradley, Ted Carter, Dennis Frydendall, Bill Gilbert, Ross Reid, Lucille Schmidt, Michael Sledge, Gordon (BUD) Thomas.

Others Present: Jill Bennett – Board Liaison (LarCo Planning Dept.) and four guests: Marion Monroe, Kevin Mankey, Bill Mason and Pat Bradley..

Adoption of Agenda: The Agenda as distributed was adopted.

Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the May 10, 2007 meeting were approved as submitted.

Communication Items:

1. Committee Member Communications: There will be a meeting June 14, 2007 at 6:30PM in the Library Meeting room to discuss the Rural Addressing Program. This will be an information only meeting.

2. County Communication:

            Bylaws: The County Attorney suggested that Article V, Section 2, be changed to read “Robert’s Rules of Order may be relied on and used for guidance to the extent necessary to maintain decorum during meetings.” After some discussion a motion was made and seconded to adopt the change as recommended. The motion carried 7 yeas, 1 nay.

            RFL Business Zone: The Planning Commission will discuss adoption of the proposal on June 20, 2007 at 6:30PM at the County Office Building on Oak Street. The Board of County Commissioners (BCC) will hold a hearing on July 9, 2007 at 6:30PM at the County Office building.

Personal Appearances: None of the four guests made a statement. Jill introduced Chad Behr who has joined the Planning Department as a full time planner.

Agenda Items:

Monroe Excavation mining appeal:

1. The appeal concerns allowing Mr. Marion Monroe to continue operation at the mining site. Letters from Mr. Monroe, Jodean Sandquist and Ted Carter were introduced.
2. The appeal hearing will be held by the BCC on Monday, June 18.
3. PAC member Ross Reid read a petition from adjacent property owners opposing the appeal and also opposing the possible approval of the proposal.
4. Mr. Monroe made comments in support of the appeal. These comments included what he had done around the site to appease neighbor’s complaints.
5. Mr. Kevin Mankey pointed out that the county had failed to ‘grandfather’ the mine site into the Larimer County Land Use Code. Mr. Mankey also pointed out that the operation is proposed to operate over a 20 year period and could potentially be dug right up to his property boundary. Mr. Mankey also pointed out that the operation is presently in violation of the Land Use Code and therefore should not be allowed to continue operation. PAC member Gene Barker pointed out that the pit had been in operation for a long time and that the Red Feather Lakes area needs the materials from the pit.
6. PAC member Michael Sledge pointed out that the PAC had only anecdotal information on which to make any recommendations, therefore he felt that the PAC had insufficient information on which to make any recommendation.
7. PAC member Susan Bradley noted that she had a conflict of interest due to a lawsuit between he family and PAC member Gene Barker, the previous owner of the mining operation. The lawsuit involves the use of a road adjacent to the pit operation.
8. Michael Sledge asked for a sense of the committee. There was no response to the question.
9. A motion was made and seconded to abstain from making a recommendation on the appeal. The motion failed 4 yeas, 5 nays.
10. A motion was made and seconded to forward a recommendation to the BCC to “allow continued operation of the Monroe pit until the County makes a final decision on whether the operation of the mining proposal can continue in perpetuity. The motion carried, 5 yeas, 2 Nays, 2 Abstentions.

Meeting time for the PAC meetings: A motion was made and seconded that the meeting times be 4:00PM to 6:00PM unless other wise decided by the PAC. The motion carried unanimously.

Agenda Items for Next Meeting: Jill asked that a discussion of a pilot program the county is proposing concerning “Transfer Development Rights” be added to the agenda. The proposal would affect the area in the both the LaPorte and Red Feather Lakes plan areas.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:04PM.

Respectfully submitted,

William W. Gilbert, Secretary