WALSENBURG— The Huerfano County Commissioners, in their Tuesday meeting, heard from Alberto Guisanni, a senior advisor for Oxy Petroleum, who are looking to put in another drilling pad in the county, for two more wells. The wells are on private property, close to Sheep Mountain. They have already submitted permits requests to the Bureau of Land Management to drill the well. The Huerfano Planning and Zoning Commission recommends approval for the new pad, as long as the previous conditions on the prior pads apply. Oxy would like to keep all their wells on just drill pads. Office of Emergency Management director Diego Bobian is requesting that Oxy provide his office with a streamlined contact list of just three names and numbers in case of an emergency, and provide maps for emergency responders. One wrinkle to Oxy’s request was landowner Carol Coscove’s complaint to the board that Oxy has been a terrible neighbor. She states they have allowed weeds to grow on her property unchecked, and have cut down over six acres worth of trees as they cut a road in and established pads. “They’re been a disaster,” she stated. The commissioners were sympathetic to Coscove’s complaints, and suggested
a county employee might come up and see how bad the weed situation really was. Commissioner Max Vezzani said he takes weeds very seriously, and asked Guissani to remedy her problems. Guissanio said he had been taking notes, and that the land around the pads would be reclaimed. “Oxy is an important part of our county’s economy,” Vezzani said, “but they need to have good relations with their neighbors as well.” The motion to approve Oxy’s request passed unanimously. In other business, Danielle Seawell, representing the Ray Aguirre Community Center in Gardner, came to talk to the commissioners about maintenence of the building, and the strategic plan developed by Jesse Scott. The commissioners noted they had budgeted $10,000 toward the upkeep of the building for 2015, so prioritization of the building punchlist had to be done. One of the top things hoped for was an information kiosk outside the building, by the picnic tables, and it was noted the roof was leaking around the chimney again. “We’ll work with you to spiff the place up, Vezzani said.
