Battlement Mesa voters resoundingly rejected a ballot question that would have given the Battlement Mesa Consolidated Metropolitan District board a blank check to raise the district’s annual recreation fee in the future.

Unofficial results from the Tuesday election indicate that Ballot Issue A was defeated by a 10-1 margin, receiving 558 “no” votes and 56 “yes” votes.

The ballot issue asked voters to approve three aspects of the district’s annual recreation fee:

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– Increase the yearly fee charged to each residence for recreation from $205 to $215 for 2005.

– Give the Metro District board the discretion to raise or lower annual fees from then on.

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– Exempt fee and revenue increases from the limits of the TABOR amendment.

Battlement Mesa voters also chose two board members to sit on the Consolidated Metro District Board from among five candidates.

Fred Inman received 387 votes for the highest total, and Glenn W. Walker, with 297 votes, edged out Terry Lynott, who got 295.

Dan Locker received 120 votes and Michelle L. Foster got 98.

Walker said he expects the board’s attention to remain largely on Battlement Mesa’s activity center. The board also presides over the water and sewer service for the community, but those utilities generally run smoothly, because their infrastructure is fairly new, Walker said.

The activity center needs more funding, Walker said, despite the trouncing of the funding measure in Tuesday’s election. The building needs work, he said, and staffing should be increased.

But he said voters had a problem with the second part of the issue, which would have allowed the board free rein to raise assessments in the future.

“From what I heard, most people would have voted for it,” Walker said, “if only the first part had been on the ballot.” His thought is that users should pay more than non-users toward the activity center.

“The people who use the building should pay a reasonable user fee,” Walker said. “They’d still have a bargain.”

Walker said he appreciates the campaign help he received.

“Some of them worked really hard for me,” he said.

Unlike Walker, Fred Inman, who got the most vote by far, was a reluctant candidate.

“I was willing, but not eager,” he said. “I’ve got a lot to learn.”

“I was asked to run for the board at a time when nobody had volunteered,” he said. “I didn’t mount a campaign. It was strictly word of mouth. I’d like to find out who was responsible for it.”

Inman said he thinks that with proper management, the activity center will be fine without the help of the additional funding the ballot issue would have provided.

Contact Jeremy Heiman: 945-8515, ext 534

jheiman@postindependent.com