- Sawyer sums up recalls and ballot initiative
- Kalesti launches new recall
- Parks focuses on undecided voters
- Beverly faults Palmer Lake board
- “Crazy”
- Center expected to consume a large volume of water
- Lawsuit dismissed
- Tim Caves recall underway
By James Howald
A crowd of 50 or more met at the Woodmoor Barn Oct. 14 to hear speeches and progress reports from a coalition of grassroots groups working to prevent the construction of a Buc-ee’s travel center at the southwestern intersection of I-25 and County Line Road. The audience heard from Sean Sawyer of Tri-Lakes Preservation Inc. (TPI), Palmer Lake residents Gene Kalesti and David Parks, Matt Beverly of TPI, Monument Town Council member Steve King, water expert Roy Martinez, attorney Kat Gayle representing Integrity Matters, and Eric Zeis.
Sawyer sums up recalls and ballot initiative
Sawyer pointed out that, as a nonprofit, TPI was not allowed to directly participate in the recent recalls of Palmer Lake Trustees Shana Ball and Kevin Dreher. He noted that the ballot initiative to put all annexation requests to the voters of Palmer Lake received more votes than the recalls did. Sawyer said he believed Palmer Lake Town Attorney Scott Krob “was pushing a pro-Buc-ee’s agenda” at the Oct. 9 meeting of the Palmer Lake Board of Trustees.
Sawyer gave the crowd a summary of the fundraising done by TPI to oppose the Buc-ee’s travel center. TPI received about $24,000 in donations and spent $18,000, leaving just over $6,000 in cash on hand. TPI owes Integrity Matters $5,000 for legal work, Sawyer said. TPI spent $7,700 on advertising and $3,000 on events, Sawyer said. He thanked Monument restaurant Jarrito Loco for hosting a fundraising event.
Kalesti launches new recall
Kalesti said forms to recall Palmer Lake Trustee Tim Caves had been filed, rejected by the Palmer Lake town clerk, corrected, and resubmitted. He said he was supporting the effort to recall Caves. He faulted Caves for his disparaging remarks to John Marble and Michael Beeson at the last Palmer Lake Board of Trustees meeting. Marble ran for a seat on the Palmer Lake board during the recall of Ball and Dreher. Beeson currently serves on the Palmer Lake Planning Commission and applied for a seat on the Palmer Lake board during the recent recalls.
Parks focuses on undecided voters
Parks said he believed many Palmer Lake voters have made up their minds regarding the travel center, but others “are just hiding.” He argued an “old boys club” was still in place on the Palmer Lake Board of Trustees (PLBOT) and asked opponents of Buc-ee’s to listen to the concerns of undecided voters “in a neighborly way” and try to persuade them of the negative impacts through respectful conversations. He suggested throwing a “funeral party for Palmer Lake” to get media attention.
Beverly faults Palmer Lake board
Beverly argued the PLBOT erred in their vote on Oct. 2 to follow the ordinance requiring annexations to be put before the voters because it was not in effect until the end of October. Palmer Lake Town Attorney Scott Krob gave the board advice that favored Buc-ee’s, Beverly said. By asking the PLBOT to hold the annexation election before its vote on the annexation, Buc-ee’s was delaying a final decision in hopes of gaining time to pressure board members, he said.
“Crazy”
King pointed out that Palmer Lake is a statutory town, which means its actions are bound by state law. He said state law requires a property to be annexed first and then zoned within 90 days. Applicants typically include zoning issues in an annexation agreement, King said, so that the applicant gets the zoning they prefer. Usually, annexation and zoning occur at the same meeting, according to King. But annexation and zoning are different processes, King said. Annexation begins in a quasi-judicial mode, in which decisions are based solely on evidence, and ends in a legislative mode, in which other, wider issues can be considered. Zoning is quasi-judicial, King said, and must be decided solely on the evidence presented. “Wrapping this up in one vote when it hasn’t gone through this process is crazy as far as I’m concerned,” King said.
Center expected to consume a large volume of water
Martinez said the Buc-ee’s travel center is projected to consume 13.6 million gallons of water per year, about 30% of Palmer Lake’s water supply. He noted that the aquifer the town relies on is declining by about 17 feet per year. One of the town’s wells produced 400 gallons per minute in 2001; it now produces 240 gallons per minute, a 40% decrease. Martinez pointed out three costs the Buc-ee’s proposal will require the town to pay as the aquifer the town relies on depletes:
- Drilling costs for future wells.
- Radium mitigation costs.
- Costs to acquire renewable surface water rights which will be needed to replace decreasing groundwater supplies.
Lawsuit dismissed
Gayle told the crowd that the lawsuit Integrity Matters had filed against the town, alleging constitutional violations and open meetings violations, had been dismissed on a technicality, but Integrity Matters was working on a motion to reconsider. She counted as victories on the open meetings the fact that the town has improved its sound system and provided a monitor so those outside the Town Hall can see the presentations.
Tim Caves recall underway
Zeis said he and his wife, Angie were working to recall a third Palmer Lake trustee, Tim Caves. 203 signatures are required on a petition to recall Caves, according to Zeis.
James Howald can be reached at jameshowald@ocn.me.
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