Brief by Marcia Darnell
San Luis Valley – June 2004 – Colorado Central Magazine
The Drought Battle
Farmers in the Monte Vista area are forming a water conservation subdistrict. The participants will budget water use, and plan for the future. If all growers in the designated area agree, the subdistrict will comprise over 7,000 acres of land. The plan must be approved by the Rio Grande Water Conservation District.
The city of Alamosa took the necessary steps to raise water rates. The increase is small, and the city’s rates will still be in the bottom 10% of Colorado cities. Residents are also being asked to cut usage 20% this year.
Bang-Bang,
You’re Busted
Seven students were expelled from Ortega Middle School in Alamosa after one boy brought a handgun to school. The boy pleaded guilty to possession of a handgun by a minor, a misdemeanor, and possession of a dangerous weapon on public school property, a felony. The other students were punished for knowing about the weapon and doing nothing.
RR $$
The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad will need $35 million by the end of the decade to keep chugging, management says. The money will go to improving rails, trains and facilities the company says have been neglected.
Pike’s Peaked
The Colorado Historical Society is gearing up to develop the site of Pike’s Stockade on the Conejos River. The place is named for explorer Zebulon Pike, who was nabbed there in 1807 by Spanish soldiers for trespassing into their territory.
Plans for the site include restoring the stockade and two nearby ranches, improving access to wildlife viewing areas, and preserving a bluff that boasts Native American art and artifacts. Funding for the $2 million plan will be sought from the legislature.
Crying Wolf Creek
The owners of Wolf Creek Ski Area oppose a planned development, saying it would ruin the area. The proposed 2,172-unit village would occupy 288 acres owned by Red McCombs within the Rio Grande National Forest. The area is more or less undeveloped, except for the ski resort, which saw a record 210,000 skiers in the 2003-04 season. The Pitcher family has owned and run Wolf Creek for 28 years.
Hospital Health
Conejos County voters passed a mill levy to benefit the county hospital. The five-year levy should generate $217,000 to improve infrastructure, buy equipment, and keep the facility in business.
Brief Briefs
* Alamosa’s old power plant, between Sixth and Eighth streets, may be decontaminated and restored into something valuable, like an arts or shopping center. Right now the plant anchors a blighted area near the railroad tracks.
* Tony Lovato is suing Saguache County for age discrimination. The 76-year-old was fired after 46 years of service as a truck driver.
* Alamosa will soon have a Certified Local Government, able to designate local sites as historic. The certification, from the Colorado Historic Fund, could mean more historic funds for the city.
* Construction of a water treatment plant at Summitville will be delayed for at least a year for financial reasons. However, restoration of the Alamosa River watershed will begin soon. Those funds were part of the settlement with Robert Friedland, Summitville’s operator.
* DOW is considering opening a hunting season for sandhill cranes in the Valley. The big birds flock to the Valley twice a year during migration.
* Adams State College plans to convert Conour Hall, a dorm, into housing for visitors.
* Cynthia Bostic resigned as head of the state veterans home at Homelake. She was the first woman administrator in the facility’s history.
* Ian Walter is the newest director of the SLV chapter of the American Red Cross. The position has seen very frequent turnover in the last decade.
