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Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado

Residents of Glenwood Springs:Over the past 16 months, the city of Glenwood Springs has been diligently seeking the community’s input on various issues that will affect the future of our city. This feedback has been instrumental in developing a comprehensive plan that will be used to direct the city’s growth and redevelopment over the next 10 years. We are pleased to report that a draft of the Glenwood Springs Comprehensive Plan is now available for your review. I am writing to encourage all residents and business owners of Glenwood Springs to review this draft plan and provide us with your comments. We value your feedback.You can pick up your copy of the draft comprehensive plan at City Hall or online at http://www.cogs.us. Your opinion may be voiced at the upcoming Planning & Zoning Commission meetings being held on Nov. 23, and Dec. 21. In addition, we will be accepting written comment through mid-December.Thank you for your continued participation,Tim Bottger, chairman city of Glenwood Springs Planning & Zoning Commission

It was nice of the BOCC to allow its constituents to air their concerns about the request of Antero Resources to change their drilling request for greater density on Silt Mesa and Peach Valley. Commissioner John Martin did his now famous hosting/MC routine, and gave us his “father knows best” routine at the end. “Children, we can’t help you. It’s just too hard, and you don’t know how involved this is. I must vote no because, you know, you just don’t know the things I do. And remember children, your quality of life is not quite as important as that of holders of mineral rights. Sorry about your air and water and peace of mind.” That’s how it seemed to this observer. What would the harm be to vote yes and support the constituents, even if you assume the outcome of a letter from the BOCC to the COGCC would have no effect on the commission? You’ve got to hand it to Commissioner Martin for telling it how it is. Tough love. Constituents be damned!There are real concerns associated with drilling. Dust, air quality, potential water contamination, VOCs in both, and declining property values, to name a few. Here is something else no one talks about: Each well uses 1-8 million gallons of water in frac’ing. This water is injected 8,000-10,000 feet underground. Most is lost to us forever. There is no way for this water to get back to the surface and continue the cycle of natural reclamation. Let’s split the difference and say 4 million gallons are used per well. Recovery of “produced water” is 30-50 percent. Produced water is unusable unless treated with very specialized equipment. Scott Balcomb stated there are more than 13,000 wells in Garfield County. That leaves 26 billion gallons of water 8,000 feet down, just in Garfield County. Gone! That’s almost 80,000 households’ usage for one year. Colorado ranks eighth in the nation with 23,000-plus wells. There are more than 450,000 wells in the U.S. and counting. Do the math. Clean energy? It’s time for a new paradigm. Craig S. ChisesiRifle

I strongly urge the council to maintain the Ride Glenwood Springs south route. This area of Glenwood Springs south of 27th Street and west of the Roaring Fork River represents 20 percent of the city, does not have the sidewalk connection that the rest of the city has, and yet is being proposed for further isolation by the City Council. Without the south route, any individual in South Glenwood without a car is left totally without options. The Cardiff Glen and Park East subdivisions were the test case for widespread implementation of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU’s) within residential areas, in an effort to expand housing opportunities. However, without alternative transportation, this is either an empty alternative, or one which results in extreme parking problems. In comparing the ridership numbers between routes, you need to take into consideration the double counting of riders from West Glenwood to Aspen. Previous RFTA routing went along Highway 6 and Highway 24, so that individuals living in West Glenwood could board a bus headed up the Roaring Fork Valley to Aspen. Now they must take a Ride Glenwood bus (at no cost) to connect with a RFTA bus headed to Aspen (at the same cost no matter where in Glenwood Springs they board). Thus the same rider counts as two in computing ridership. We also have a significant number of high school students using Ride Glenwood because it is more convenient than riding the Re-1 school bus (for which we are also paying as school district taxpayers). While this is their right, I disagree that these numbers should be used to justify one route over another. The people who ride in South Glenwood Springs have no other alternative.I urge the council to consider the re-imposition of fares. If riders are unwilling to pay a reasonable ($1) fare, then it speaks volumes on the value of the service. It is hard to argue that a free service should be extended to one group while denying that service completely to another group. As an alternative, at least consider imposition of a fare on the south route. David MerrittGlenwood Springs


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