Lake City - The Silver World Newspaper

Town Staff Hard at Work Finalizing Sewer Rate Schedule, 2025 Town Budget

During the December 4 Town of Lake City Board of Trustees meeting, Trustees and Mayor Dave Roberts reviewed and discussed the nearly finalized recommendations of Lake City’s sewer rate structure from the Rural Community Advocacy Corporation (RCAC), a non-profit organization that partners with underserved rural communities of less than 50,000 to assist with environmental infrastructure projects. For some time now, town staff has been considering increasing sewer rates and adopting a new sewer rate structure for a variety of reasons, due mainly, according to Town Manager Lex Mulhall, to the increased debt service incurred from the $3- million loan needed to renovate the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), which will require a payment of $187,402 per year for 20 years. In addition, operating costs have been steadily on the rise, with infrastructure that desperately needs to be updated, requiring capital reserves are adequately funded. The new rate structure proposed by RCAC is intended to justifiably and equitably distribute the cost of the new WWTP based on the strength of waste produced by users and its impact on the operation of the WWTP. The rate schedule trustees were presented with at the December 4 meeting had preliminary numbers, explained Mulhall, with updated information to be presented at the special budget meeting December 11, and finalized numbers to be reviewed and hopefully ready to be approved at the next regular meeting December 18. The schedule, which will be published once finalized and can be viewed at Town office, breaks down sewer categories beginning with single family residential (SFR), through different categories of commercial and industrial accounts, delineating the 2024 rates, the RCAC recommended rates, projected 2025 sewer revenues and excess usage fees per 1000 gallons. The rate schedule also indicates different strengths of waste, which is a measure of the concentration of contaminants in wastewater. The most common way to measure wastewater strength is through biological oxygen demand (BOD), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN – the sum of ammonia and organic nitrogen), and the presence and quantity of Ammonia (NH3). Wastewater with higher BOD, TSS, NH3, and TKN levels requires more treatment. TKN is the limiting factor for the WWTP and according to RCAC, it costs the Town $32 to treat 1lb of TKN in the summer months when RV parks are operating…… There’s more to the story….. Want the rest of the story? Subscribe to the Lake City Silver World today!

December 12, 2024 No Comments

Monday, November 18, marked a somber anniversary in Lake City as local residents quietly observed the 30th anniversary of the death of Hinsdale County Sheriff Roger Coursey.

Sheriff Coursey, 44, and his Undersheriff, Ray Blaum, were on Highway 149 near the Packer Massacre Site at the base of Slumgullion Pass early Friday morning, November 18, 1994, when they halted a pickup with a man and woman suspected in a series of burglaries which had occurred hours before in Creede. After stopping the pickup, Sheriff Coursey was standing beside the vehicle when he was fatally shot with a .44-caliber Regur pistol. The vehicle’s occupants, driver Mark Allen Vredenburg, and his companion, Ruth N. Slater, then fled the scene, Undersheriff Blaum firing several bullets through the tailgate of the pickup. An intense search for the suspects followed the Sheriff’s murder, although it wasn’t until several weeks later, December 17, 1994, that the bodies of Slater and Vredenburg — an apparent murder/suicide — were found beneath a tree overlooking Lake City Heights Subdivision. Among those with heartfelt memories of Sheriff Coursey’s death is Ray Blaum, now a resident of Norfolk, Virginia, who was in Lake City with his son, Tim Blaum, for Monday’s anniversary. Jerry Gray shares the above photo of father and son Blaum who are posed beside a memorial near where Sheriff Coursey died. In addition to flowers, attached to the white cross memorial is an enclosed sign-in sheet for those visiting the site, signers including law enforcement officers from throughout the U.S. who leave their names with badge numbers.

November 21, 2024 No Comments

Town Awarded Energy Impact Fund Grant for Affordable Housing Project

Town of Lake City has been awarded a Tier Two Energy Impact Fund Grant in the amount of $315,000.00 that will be used to forward progress of the Town’s affordable housing project. Town Manager Lex Mulhall traveled in October to Wray, Colorado where he gave a presentation to the State Energy and Mineral Impact Assistance Fund Advisory Committee, detailing Lake City’s desperate need for affordable housing. Earlier this week, Mulhall reports to WORLD, he received word from the Committee that the grant was approved with a $35,000 match from Town of Lake City. This money will be used for design, engineering and architecture of a 28-unit structure to be erected on the lots adjacent to the Medical Center. A Request for Proposals for completion of this work will go public in January 2025.

November 21, 2024 No Comments

Editor,

I would like to say thanks to the many people who helped Hinsdale County in our Request to the FCC in Washington DC.From the 2013 Mandate that required the entire nation to go to “narrow banding”or more clearly “lower power transmissions”on our VHF radio system, this mandate affected Hinsdale in a very negative way. Many areas in our very remote county that had some radio receive and transmit areas were totally lost from VHF communication. After two years of working on getting a variance from this mandate, Hinsdale County is happy to report we have been given a variance from this harmful mandate by the FCC.I would like to say thanks to the following individuals for the help and support they did on our behalf: Dale Meyers, DigiCom Electronics, Congress Woman Lauren Boebert and her staff in Washington DC, Mike Murphy of Lake City who somehow found a plane to take the congresswoman to Hill 71 and fly over our main VHF radio system, in the process showing her how important this system is to our small remote county.And of course Sandy Hines, our always capable County Administrator for all the emails and other correspondence to our surrounding government agencies to ask for their support of our receiving the variance.And lastly, but so important, the support of my fellow Hinsdale County Commissioners to see our request through even with many setbacks.Take care all,Robert HurdHinsdale County Commissioner, District 3

November 15, 2024 No Comments

Valor, Sacrifices of Veterans Cited at Armory Ceremony…

Patriotic emotions ran high during the 90-minute-long Veterans’ Day service hosted by Hinsdale County which was held in the Armory on Monday morning, November 11. Unlike previous Veterans’ Day ceremonies which are held before a standing crowd in Veterans’ Park adjacent to Hinsdale County Courthouse, last week’s 8” heavy snow accumulation prompted a welcome move to the seated and warm comfort of the Armory with Presentation of the Colors led by Russ Brown and sharply suited Flag Bearers Ben Redler, Dennis Cavit, and Doug Franz, and both opening and closing remarks by the county’s new Veterans’ Service Officer, Mike Harrington. Before an attentive and applauding seated audience, Harrington recited the fact that approximately two percent of the U.S. population served in the U.S. Armed Services. Harrington asking those attending “to look to your left and right” and express thanks to fellow residents in the audience who are Veterans. Harrington repeated the request at the ceremony’s conclusion, asking everyone to express thanks to Veterans “for the freedoms they provided us.” Harrington, himself retired Army/SFC, drew applause in presenting a commemorative plaque, congratulatory card from Hinsdale County, and bouquet of fresh roses from the county’s Veterans to retired Hinsdale County Veterans Service Office Erin Cavit who served as the county’s Veterans’ Service Officer from 2015 to 2024. Emotional high points during Monday morning’s ceremony were a keynote address by retired Hinsdale County Judge Al Lutz, a U.S. Army Veteran of the Vietnam War, U.S. Air Force Veteran Don Farmer leading the audience in singing the National Anthem, and Russ Brown reciting his poem, “Veterans’ Day Remembrance”. Brown, Vietnam Combat Veteran, recalled multi-generational patriotism by his family starting with his father, Lt. Col. Russ Brown, Sr., who was a P-51 Mustang fighter pilot who survived after being shot down in Germany during World War II; Brown family patriotism is also evident with eldest son, Lake City resident Russ Brown who completed two tours in Vietnam with the U.S. Army as helicopter pilot, and Russ’ two brothers, Charles Brown, C-5 Galaxy Pilot, and Jeff Brown, an Air Force F-15 pilot. In his address — and with Lake City Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts standing at attention before the audience — Army Veteran Al Lutz began his remarks by quoting From George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and the author Claudia Pemberton. Lutz also quoted from the songwriters Lee Greenwood and Bob Dylan in expressing his sincere appreciation and requesting ongoing compassion and recognition for fellow Veterans and their families. The importance of support, he said, “is immeasurable, including “families, medical folks, caregivers, and organizations that support Vets.” Audience members in the Armory sat straight in their chair, some obviously misty-eyed, as Lutz recounted challenges faced by the nation’s Veterans including unemployment. PTSD, homelessness, drug addiction and other debilitating mental and physical health issues. Lutz ended his remarks to applause, quoting from an unknown author, “Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it… it flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.” Equally moving was a concluding prayer by Rev. Jason Santos of Community Presbyterian Church for Veterans “still living with lingering memories of their service” and their families, ending with a plea to “uplift their spirits.” Also concluding at Monday’s ceremony was a salute to the late songwriter Toby Keith for patriotism which included 18 USO tours and songs including the memorable “Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue, “ together with syncopated audience foot tapping to a taped recording of Keith singing “Angry American”. As a final recognition to Veterans attending the ceremony, Lake City Girl Scouts under the direction of Eliza Loper and Holly Shepherd mingled among the departing audience distributing personalized thank-you letters.

November 14, 2024 No Comments

Veterans Day -Observance Nov. 11

Hinsdale County’s annual Veterans’ Day observance takes place in the Town of Lake City Armory starting 11 a.m. next Monday, November 11. Presentation of Colors by flagbearers Ben Redler, Dennis Cavit and Doug Franz begins the ceremony, after which Veterans Service Officer Mike Harrington will make opening remarks and Air Force Veteran Don Farmer will sing the National Anthem. Guest speaker of the day will be U.S. Army Veteran and former Hinsdale County Judge Al Lutz, whose speech is titled “Reflections of a Vietnam Veteran.” U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer, Retired, Russ Brown will recite his poem, “Veterans’ Day Remembrance”. Concluding elements of Monday morning’s service are a prayer for Veterans and their families by Rev. Jason Santos of Community Presbyterian Church. New this year will be a salute to singer Toby Keith, and his song ‘Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue’ will be played, after which the Color Guard will retire. Harrington tells WORLD that a free meal will be provided to every veteran at either Sportsman’s BBQ, Beny’s Mexican Cafe or Packer Saloon and Grill, for either lunch or dinner, and anyone accompanying dining veterans will enjoy half-off pricing for their meal.

November 7, 2024 No Comments

Undersheriff Starnes, Commissioner Levine Elected Amid Heavy 88% Voter Turnout…

Hinsdale County voters in record droves maintained the status quo on Tuesday as they handily returned two incumbent County Commissioners to successive four-year terms, and affirmed Undersheriff Denim Starnes who was elected to a four-year term as Hinsdale County Sheriff, the 38th sheriff in the county’s 150-year history. Again, indicating voter satisfaction with the current slate of the county’s elected officers, Hinsdale County Coroner Lori Lawrence, running unopposed, received 479 votes, the highest vote tally of any candidate in this year’s General Election. Hinsdale County Clerk & Recorder Joan Roberts credited “smooth and efficient” work on the part of her staff, Deputy County Clerk Allison Athey and election judges, for a speedy turn around which allowed election results to be checked and double checked, with formal announcement of election results prior to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday. At poll closing at 7 p.m. on a cold and snowing election evening Tuesday, the clerk’s office reported a tremendous 88 percent return of the 692 ballots which were mailed to registered voters last month. Of the 692 ballots sent to the county’s voters, 608 ballots were returned either by mail, hand delivery to the clerk’s office, or drop off in the county courthouse outside ballot box prior to Tuesday evening’s deadline. Election judges Alice Attaway, Karen McClatchie, Peggy Bales, Lorie Stewart, and Kathleen Whinnery Murphy smoothly processed this year’s ballots, reporting no provisional ballots which were left uncounted. In the county’s two tightest, contested election races, Unaffiliated incumbent District 1 Commissioner Greg Levine garnered a total of 343 votes county-wide compared to his Republican rival, Steve Ryals, who received 245 votes. Incumbent District 3 County Commissioner Robert Hurd, a Republican, was unopposed in his quest for re-election and received 443 votes, second highest vote tally among local candidates in Tuesday’s election. A second contested local election was for Hinsdale County Sheriff with an unprecedented three candidates who were vying to fill the vacancy resulting from last summer’s resignation of Chris Kambish. Since Kambish’s June, 2024, departure, the role of Hinsdale County Sheriff has been filled by former Sheriff Ron Bruce who was drafted to fill the position with the stated intent of once again retiring from office after the new sheriff is sworn into office on January 8 next year. Top vote recipient in the sheriff’s election was Unaffiliated candidate Denim Starnes, with 343 votes, who is currently Hinsdale County Undersheriff. Starnes was challenged by two candidates, Republican Jordan Kaminski, a former Hinsdale County Undersheriff, who received 186 votes, and a total of 42 votes were tallied for write-In candidate John Thomas Stratton. In other regional election results, traditionally GOP-leaning Hinsdale County awarded a near-identical number of votes to Gunnison County Democrat Kathleen Curry who was vying for the District 58 State Representative seat against Republican Larry Don Suckla. Within the county, Suckla was slightly ahead in Tuesday evening’s tally with 288 votes compared to Curry’s 262; district-wide and according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s cumulative tally Wednesday morning, Suckla was declared the winner with a 52.90 percent vote tally, 26,730, compared to 47.10 percent, 23,795, for Curry. Montrose Republican Marc Catlin was similarly triumphant in the district-wide vote tally for District 5 State Senator, Catlin receiving a total of 41,977 votes, 52.02 percent, compared to 38,718, 47.98 percent, for his Democratic challenger, Cole Buerger. In Hinsdale County in the District 5 State Senate race, Catlin received 336 votes, 216 votes going to Buerger. Predictably Republican leanings were also evident among Hinsdale County voters in the U.S. Presidential race, the Lake City tally after close of polls on Tuesday awarding 329 votes to Donald J. Trump and 252 votes Democratic challenger Kamala Harris. State-wide, as was heavily reported, Colorado voters on whole favored Democrat Harris, 51 percent with 1,374,175, compared to 1,084,812 votes — 43.1 percent — which were awarded to Trump. Other elections of interest include 7th Judicial District Attorney Seth Ryan, an incumbent, who was the sole candidate, receiving 342 Hinsdale County votes. The rub, however, is that Ryan resigned on September 24; state-wide, the 37,727 votes cast for Ryan now go to his replacement, Anna Cooling, who was named by the vacancy committee. The results for state ballot questions are as follows: Amendment G – “shall there be an amendment to the Colorado Constitution concerning the expansion of eligibility for the property tax exemption for veteran’s with a disability to include a veteran who does not have a service- connected disability rated as a one hundred percent permanent disability but does have individual employment status?” State-wide, this measure passed, with 72.45% of voters voting “yes” and 27.55% of voters voting “no.” In Hinsdale County the Amendment G vote was 396 yes, 163 no. Amendment H – shall there be an Amendment to the Colorado Constitution concerning judicial discipline, and in connection therewith, establishing an Independent judicial discipline adjudicative board, setting standards for judicial review of a discipline case, and clarifying when discipline proceedings become public? This measure passed, with 72.74% of Colorado voters voting “yes” and 27.26% of voters voting “no.” Hinsdale County voters: 378 yes, 162 no. Amendment I – shall there be an amendment to the Colorado Constitution concerning creating an exception to the right to bail for cases of murder in the first degree when proof is evident or presumption is great? This measure passed, with 69.39% of voters voting “yes” and 30.61% of voters voting “no”. Hinsdale County: 384 yes, 173 no. Amendment J – shall there be an amendment to the Colorado Constitution removing the ban on same-sex marriage? This measure passed, with 63.78% of voters voting “yes” and 36.22% of voters voting “no.” Hinsdale County: 300 yes, 269 no. Amendment K – shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution concerning the modification of certain deadlines in connection with specified elections? This measure did not pass, with 55.31% of voters voting

November 7, 2024 No Comments

WORLD Receives Five Awards in State Press Competition

Lake City SILVER WORLD has received a total of five awards — four first place and one second place — in Colorado Press Association’s 2023 Better News Contest.Competing among weekly newspaper in Category 4, small weeklies under 2,000 circulation, in writing and design categories which were published in calendar year 2023, the Lake City newspaper was awarded both first and second place honors for Best Series/Sustained Coverage, with a first place award for multiple articles which were written about fiberoptic broadband installation in and around Lake City extending from January through November, 2023, and a second place award for a series of interviews with Continental Divide hikers highlighting motivational insights, personal discovery, and favorite foods which were written for the newspaper by Mia Dougherty.Dougherty, age 13 at the time and granddaughter of Lake City seasonal residents Gary and Kathy Koehn, interviewed and photographed a series of Divide hikers at the Presbyterian Church Hikers’ Center in August 2023.Visiting Colorado Springs journalist Mary Vader received a first-place award in the Best Business News/Feature category for an article which she wrote in January 2023, highlighting positive economic impacts of the town’s ice climbing wall.First place for Late Breaking/Deadline news went to a series of articles in a single issue of the paper written by Grant Houston detailing a February 2023, electric outage which “plunged the town into icy darkness.”In the newspaper layout and design category, Lake City SILVER WORLD garnered a first place Best Page Design Award for a two-page photo collage in February 2023, highlighting “Ice Thrills” at the annual Henson Creek Ice Climbing Festival.

October 18, 2024 No Comments

Inspiring Borealis Light Display Above Lake City… While Dry & Warm Conditions Dominate Early Autumn Here

by Phillip Virden Many Lake City folks were able to marvel at a dynamic light show last week. The “show” was the result of a highly active Aurora Borealis. The Aurora Borealis, known as also as the Northern and Southern lights, are a result of a strong surge of energy and particles from our Sun. This phenomenon, commonly known as the “solar wind” begins on the Sun’s outer atmosphere. At times, huge explosions of energy take place which are known as “coronal mass ejections or CME.” CMEs eject energy out into our solar system and, as a result, some solar winds take a direct path towards Earth. When they arrive here, Earth’s magnetic field shields us from much of this storm. However, some are so powerful that some particles journey down the magnetic field lines and into Earth’s atmosphere. When this occurs, a glow of colorful (red, green, violet, blue) light can be seen on Earth; the Aurora Borealis can only be seen in upper latitudes of such places as Alaska, Iceland, Scandinavia, Canada, etc. However, a powerful CME was strong enough to cause sightings throughout the United States and as far south as Texas! In Lake City, the CME was especially powerful on the evenings of October 9 and 10th. Several Lake Citians posted their Aurora experience on Facebook. Kathleen Whinnery, Michelle Cogger, Amanda Hartman, Katie Elkins, Michael Underwood, and others took beautiful pictures of the Aurora with most showing the dominating color of red. The Aurora was so strong that it could be seen not only in the north but also in the west, east, and southern skies. Our Sun goes through cycles of calm and stormy activity. This year, the stormy activity has been quite vigorous. As early as April, the Aurora was seen by the Elkins family at Windy Point. Forecasts for more energetic CMEs are for the phenomenon to continue through this year and all of 2025. The downside of Auroras on Earth is that they can play havoc with satellites, radio communications, and electronics. Blackouts can shut down cities for hours. There are many sources to get more information and forecasts for the Aurora Borealis such as www.spaceweather.com, www.swpc.noaa.gov, www.spaceweather.gov. www.spaceweatherlive.com. If you go out to see the Aurora, you may notice a bright white glow but no colors. This is because our human eyes are limited in detecting colors at these times. Fortunately, a cell phones camera can pick up these colors. The best photos are placing your phone on a stable surface, turning off the flash, and setting exposure of about 3 seconds. Is This The “New Normal” No measurable precipitation for three weeks…no low temperatures below 32 in September…average median temperature for September, 2024 was two degrees above the historical average…flowers still blooming and grass still green this month…aspens were brilliant this year but were latent in taking place but lasted well into October…and, for this October so far, our average high is 72 compared to 59.5 historical average and 36 low compared to 25.6 historical average! As a National Weather Service observer for four decades, this trend is not surprising to me as I have witnessed this gradual warming up of September for the last several years. Additionally, we have seen these long stretches of three to four weeks of little or no precipitation. Will this trend continue? If so, should the Lake City business and the Chamber address this by actively promoting early fall tourism through mid-October? Unfortunately, I do not have the crystal ball for such a long-term outlook for our weather. Nevertheless, based upon my observations (especially over the last fifteen years), there is a change in our September and early October climate.

October 18, 2024 No Comments

Lake City Chamber’s annual Oktoberfest was a weather-perfect event — the best yet!

Lake City Chamber’s annual Oktoberfest was a weather-perfect event — the best yet — with 300 attendees in sun-dappled Lake City Park and, with 400 tickets sold, Judge Jim McDonald the winner of Beth Kendall’s raindrop-themed quilt. A packed afternoon of events included a Teutonic-themed costume contest. Willie Merfeld was the ultimate beer-stein holding winner, time a remarkable 17 minutes, 31 seconds. Denver-based Prime Time Band comprised of Camillo DiSalle provided the music. The best dressed winners were Greg and Libby Olson. Mace Elkins was tops among juveniles in the log throw with an amazing 18’10” toss. Forrest Swift was superlative with 21’5” among men in the log throwing contestants, a repeat winner. Alyssa Meier from Gunnison was top in women’s log toss with 16’. Town Trustee Landon Whinnery came in second to first place nail pounding champ Chad Henrie from Montrose. Hammerschlag competitors included equally well-dressed Mariah McClung, Lake City, and Marietta Jordan. Elsa Berkner, and fellow teammates Landon Whinnery, Jackie Noelke and Willie Merfeld were top among teams in the fastest beer drinking competition. Volunteers at Saturday’s Oktoberfest served up delightful beer brews from Lake City Brewery ranging from hoppy dark to light wheat-based and Corn Hole, Jenga, and Connect 4 were popular park games on Saturday, log toss winner Forrest Swift shown warming up for a precision ball toss.

October 11, 2024 No Comments

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