by Carol Dunn
LA VETA- The La Veta Town Board was not in a negotiating mood at its Tuesday night meeting. Three requests for forgiveness of water bill charges were not granted. As Trustee Dawn Blanken put it, “We don’t find that the Town has any responsibility” for the high water bills. She added that when water bills are forgiven, the remainder of the water users have to absorb the cost.
A request by Alan Blakely for a duplex lot size variance at Moore and Poplar was turned down. The duplex issue was raised again by Deborah Lathrop, who would like to divide her family’s home in half. Lathrop, who recently applied for a replat to divide the property the house sets on, would need to rejoin the divided property to achieve the minimum lot size for the resulting duplex.
Nance Biery presented a request for two more handicap parking spaces along Highway 12 in Town. One could be located near the Candy Bean and the other adjacent to the Library. Biery told the Board, “CDOT will do them as a courtesy.” Trustee Dale Davis suggested Biery and a CDOT representative meet with the Streets & Alleys committee to work out details.
The Town voted unanimously to accept a five year, $750 per month cellular panel lease with Commnet, as negotiated by the Town’s attorney, contingent on getting a better property description and a map showing the exact locations the panels will be mounted on the smaller water tower. The decision received applause from the audience.
Gary Riggins, representing the La Veta Fishing Club, talked with the Board about the renewal of the Club’s lease at the Town lakes. According to Mayor Mickey Schmidt, the Town’s water crew advised that the smaller lake (reservoir #2) not be used for fishing. Apparently, waders stir up the silty bottom, putting the silt into suspension and complicating the water treatment process. Riggins offered an alternative which would limit members to fishing from the embankments only. Mayor Schmidt admitted that bottom feeders, particularly suckers, also cause turbidity in the lake, and fishing may help remove them. In the end, the Board voted to renew the Club’s lease for three more years, with annual reviews and fishing from the banks on the smaller lake. Trustee Tracy Webb suggested the Club consider a “Town fishing day” as a goodwill gesture to the townspeople. Riggins pointed out that the Club has discussed such an event, but that the Club members invest $14,000 in fish each year to stock the larger lake, and some of the members may hesitate to open the lake to the public.
Nancy Britton was appointed to serve on the La Veta Regional Library District Board. The Board accepted a bid from B&D Seamless Gutters in the amount of $1,175 for labor and materials to install gutters on the museum’s saloon building.
The Town’s preliminary 2009 budget is $843,024. A budget workshop was set for Oct. 14. A public hearing was set for Nov. 18 at 6:45 regarding an application by Craig Walker for a liquor license transfer for La Veta Country Store. The Board approved Linda Frederick’s request for renewal of a special use permit to cover the business operations of Green Mountain Healing Arts, located in the boxcar at 107 W. Ryus.
