Back to square one for Village at Wolf Creek

By James Robinson
Staff Writer

Two area conservation groups declared victory Tuesday in their battle against the proposed Village at Wolf Creek, when the United States Forest Service and Village developers agreed to go back to the drawing board and complete a new environmental impact statement (EIS) for the controversial development.

“This settlement is a tremendous victory for the environment and the citizens of Colorado and the nation,” said Ryan Demmy Bidwell, executive director of Colorado Wild in a press release. “After nine years of false starts, behind-closed-door dealings and tainted analysis, the public will finally get a fair review of the Village’s thus far unregulated impacts.”

Attorneys for Colorado Wild and the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council sued the Forest Service in October 2006, challenging the Forest Services’ April 2006 decision to authorize construction of two access roads across public land for the purpose of building the proposed 10,000 person village.

In the suit, the groups say the agency’s first EIS, issued in March 2006, was fundamentally flawed because it focused almost exclusively on the impact of the access roads and not the village as a whole.

Tuesday’s settlement is an outgrowth of that lawsuit and a preliminary injunction issued Oct. 4, 2007, by U.S. District Court Judge John Kane, which stopped the project from moving forward until Kane could issue a final ruling. However, rather than wait for the courts, the Forest Service and developers agreed on undertaking a new EIS, and the plaintiffs’ attorneys appear satisfied.

“This agreement gives us everything we asked for in our lawsuit,” said Geoff Hickcox of the Western Environmental Law Center. “Beginning in 1999, we argued the Forest Service was required to conduct a complete and unbiased analysis of the development’s environmental impacts. This lawsuit, and the resulting settlement agreement, put a stop to the attempted end run around such analysis, and makes clear to the Forest Service and the developers that whatever is proposed for this site in the future will have to be done with full public disclosure and adherence to the highest environmental protection standards.”

The settlement was filed in federal district court Tuesday and will become effective after ratification.

In a press release, Dan Dallas, forest supervisor for the Rio Grande National Forest, said the settlement was designed to end the litigation and “move forward with a fresh start.”

Dallas said the “fresh start” will begin with the Forest Service’s receipt and acceptance of a new application from the developer — Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture — for access to their land.

Dallas said, the application will trigger a new environmental analysis, and a new draft, and final EIS.

According to the agreement, a Forest Service team will undertake the EIS project. The previous EIS was conducted by a third party contractor, and representatives of Colorado Wild and the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council have argued that the third party contractor had improper contact with the developer, thus skewing the results.

In the news release, Dallas also clarified that federal law requires the Forest Service to grant access to owners of private land surrounded by National Forest.

“The Forest Service has a legal obligation to grant access to any owner of private land that is surrounded by National Forest System lands. Such access must be sufficient to allow reasonable use and enjoyment of their land. So this process is not about if we will provide access, but rather what that access will look like and where on National Forest System lands it will be built.”

The proposed Village at Wolf Creek is slated for a 287.5-acre private inholding adjacent to the Wolf Creek Ski Area and surrounded by the Rio Grande National Forest.

With the settlement, Village developers face another EIS process, in addition to myriad other agency approvals, including an approval from Mineral County, the Colorado Department of Transportation, the state’s water quality control division, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, among others.

The EIS and various agency approvals process could add years to the Village’s construction timetable.

james@pagosasun.com


Wolf makes bid for House

By James Robinson
Staff Writer

Delta County Commissioner Wayne Wolf, R-Cedaredge, is on the campaign trail again, passing last week through Pagosa Springs — this time, Wolf seeks incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. John Salazar’s 3rd Congressional District seat.

Wolf’s most recent push marks the commissioner’s second attempt at national office. In fall 2007, Wolf announced he would seek the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Wayne Allard, although Wolf did not get the GOP nod, and party backing went instead to Bob Schaffer.

This time around, although Wolf’s sights at higher office have shifted from the U.S. Senate to the House of Representatives, his current campaign rhetoric is essentially an echo of statements made during his Senate bid — the feds should avoid top down policy, legislation and funding mandates that may have unforeseen, and unanticipated consequences on local governments.

In an interview, Wolf said Congress must avoid being dictatorial and should have respect for local governments. Wolf said his seven years as a county commissioner had made him keenly aware of the financial, and other challenges local governments face, and said that not all federal policy is a good fit at the local level.

Wolf pointed to mandates on electronic voting machines as just one example of federal and state officials imposing their will on local governments without consulting those who are required to implement the policy — i.e. counties and county clerks — first.

“They had good intentions, but they didn’t think it through,” Wolf said. And the result, Wolf said, has been an unnecessary burden on local taxpayers.

Wolf said, if elected, one of the hallmarks of his tenure would be a sensitivity to how federal policies may affect local people and local issues.

For example, Wolf said he would fight for full federal funding for the counties he would represent. For counties, such as Archuleta, with large holdings of federally-owned acreage, Wolf said he would work to ensure full PILT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) funding continued.

He said federal representatives should push harder for the people and counties they serve.

“It’s not just enough to support an issue, it requires action,” Wolf said.

Wolf said if elected he would work on agriculture policies, oppose unionization of the public sector, and support responsible energy development.

“We have an energy dependence problem,” Wolf said. “And we’re moving toward a food dependence problem.”

Wolf challenged Salazar’s position on drilling on the Roan Plateau and said the congressman was “willing to go along with those who wanted to shut down the industry.”

In Archuleta and La Plata counties’ HD Mountains, where coal bed methane extraction is gearing up, Wolf said he would consult with local landowners and elected officials in order to best represent their interests and concerns.

“You have to get local input, because situations may be different,” Wolf said.

To date, Wolf is the first Republican challenger to Salazar’s seat.

Salazar has announced he will seek reelection. The congressman is in his second term.

james@pagosasun.com


Document could shed light on depleted funds

By James Robinson
Staff Writer

An interdepartmental memo between the former heads of the Archuleta County Finance Department and Treasurer’s Office, may soon shed light on how a number of county fund balances were steadily depleted, and may be the most telling example of what county finance officers considered “business as usual” for many years.

The memo, dated Aug. 18, 2006, (released Wednesday following a SUN document request) from former finance director Bob Burchett to former Treasurer Traves Garrett, details $767,776 worth of fund transfers and cashed certificates of deposit from a variety of county “designated funds,” with the dollars to be transferred into the county general fund.

The memo was discovered in a box of loose documents by members of the county finance staff as they searched the finance department office for information necessary to complete the 2006 government audit. The discovery was made approximately two weeks ago.

According to the memo, Burchett writes, “Per our conversation earlier this week, please cash the following CD’s and deposit into the County checking account.”

Burchett then lists the CDs: $100,000 from “Capital Improvement;” $177,016 from the “Road and Bridge Fund;” $148,651, also from the “Road and Bridge Fund;” and $42,108 from “Nutrition.”

Burchett then writes, “In addition to the above, please transfer from the Road & Bridge LGIP (Colotrust) into the general county checking account $300,000.”

Current Finance Director Don Warn said the funds listed in the Burchett memo are not considered “restricted” funds in the statutory sense, but are considered “designated.”

Warn said designated funds are not restricted by statute or bond covenants, although the government agency, in this case Archuleta County, imposed spending limitations on the funds.

Archuleta County Administrator Greg Schulte said he learned of the memo Tuesday, and has begun a series of inquiries.

First, Schulte said county staff would verify that the liquidation of the CDs and the transfer of the road and bridge funds did, in fact, occur. Second, Schulte said he would research the record to ascertain whether Burchett had board authority to effect the transfers. And third, he indicated he would determine if outside auditors, namely Clifton Gunderson and Wall, Smith, Bateman & Associates are, or were, aware of the memo.

“The biggest issue is whether or not there was board authority to make the transfers,” Schulte said.

Warn added that, although the funds were not restricted in the statutory sense, “best practices would dictate that you don’t move money from one fund to another without authorization.”

The memo bears an uncanny resemblance to the recently-released Clifton Gunderson forensic audit in that it asks more questions than it answers. For example, apart from Schulte’s line of inquiry, another question remains: Who was at the helm of the treasurer’s office when the request was made?

Former Treasurer Traves Garrett was involved in a serious automobile accident in February 2006, and Deputy Treasurer Lois Baker took the helm during Garrett’s convalescence, serving as acting treasurer until she secured the post in January 2007 following a successful election bid.

Kelly Evans, the current deputy treasurer, disputes the assertion that Baker was in charge, and says payroll records prove Garrett, not Baker, was in the office and serving as the county’s treasurer until the changing of the guard following the election.

Despite the fact that members of the current administration find the information in the memo to be new, there are indications previous administrators were aware of the situation.

During a May 31, 2007, meeting with the Pagosa Springs Rotary Club on the county’s financial crisis, former administrator Bob Campbell referenced an agreement between Burchett and Garrett that enabled the pair to move money between funds without Board of County Commissioner approval. The memo released Wednesday may provide hard evidence that such a relationship did in fact exist.

Schulte said he has provided a copy of the memorandum to George Daniels, the investigator with the District Attorney’s office.

james@pagosasun.com


NEWS

COUNTY

County continues on path to solvency

By James Robinson
Staff Writer

Key county staff made good on promises to keep the county solvent and the commissioners well informed of the organization’s financial position, during Tuesday’s regular Board of County Commissioners meeting.

Finance Director Don Warn, in his inaugural 2008 “budget to actual variance report,” detailed key elements of the county’s financial status going into the new year, and aside from “minor line item adjustments,” Warn said expenditures remained balanced against revenues, and that the adjustments do not affect the “bottom line.”

“This is stuff that can be easily fixed. It’s a matter of training all departments to enter amounts in the appropriate line item within their budgets,” Warn said.

Warn explained the “budget to actual variance report” details the total budget, current month and year-to-date figures, providing Warn and the commissioners with a relatively easy-to-read method of tracking expenditures and ensuring that county departments are operating within budgets. The report, Warn said, also provides a comprehensive breakdown and allocation of Ballot Issue 1A dollars — department by department — such that he can track that dollars are spent according to the commissioners’ letter of commitment.

The report shows $1.53 million in the Ballot Issue 1A fund, with sheriff’s administration having dipped into $422.65 of its $6,000 allotment, and sheriff’s patrol dipping into $495 of 1A money, although patrol has no 1A money allocated. Warn said that amount will be deducted from the administration allotment.

Warn’s report will be delivered monthly, and thus directly addresses one of the Citizen’s Financial Advisory Task Force’s primary concerns — detailed, accurate and timely reporting to the board in order to avoid financial calamity in the future.

In addition to the report, Warn said his office is working on a number of internal policies to ensure a system of financial checks and balances are in place and functioning. For example, Warn said finance department staff are working on a cash handling policy, an internal controls policy and a purchasing and procurement policy.

Warn said the purchasing and procurement policy is critical because it will help ensure departments are adhering to contracts and are not overspending.

“In the next couple of months, we will be bringing these policies to the board and adhering to them,” Warn said.

In addition Warn reported that auditors with Wall, Smith, Bateman & Associates Inc. are ready with a draft of the county’s 2006 government audit for presentation to the board. Once the presentation is made Warn said, the audit will be submitted to the state and the property tax freeze lifted. Warn anticipated submission of the audit by month’s end.

In another effort to tie up loose ends, Warn said he and interim county administrator Greg Schulte have been working with Wall, Smith, Bateman & Associates to complete forensic audit work they say was left undone by Clifton Gunderson.

Although prior conversations with Wall, Smith, Bateman & Associates indicated the firm may not have the time and staff to undertake the clean-up work, Warn says current discussions, and a division of labor between his staff and the auditors, should allow for completion of the project.

Warn said his office will follow up on analyzing donations, possibilities of fraudulent invoicing, duplicate payments and vendor addressing issues, while Wall, Smith, Bateman & Associates will look at wire activity, bank activity and vendor payments.

Discussion during the Feb. 5, BoCC meeting indicated the Clifton Gunderson clean-up work may cost another $20,000 (likely paid for with Department of Local Affairs grant funding), but Warn was confident it will cost much less.

“No way. I don’t anticipate it (the work) costing the full $20,000,” Warn said.

Warn said he and Schulte are working closely with the task force to iron out timetables and milestones for completing the groups’ various recommendations.

According to Warn, the county has tapped into $200,000 from its TABOR reserves, but has not yet dipped into its $500,000 line of credit.

“I was a little overwhelmed back in November when I first started, but now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Warn said.

james@pagosasun.com


TOWN

INSIDE

Second reading of height ordinance at council meeting today

The Pagosa Springs Town Council will meet at noon, today, Feb. 21, in council chambers at Town Hall.

The agenda is as follows:

Call to order.
New business:
• San Juan Historical Society museum lease.
• Discussion on Lewis Street redesign and engineering.
Old business:
• Ordinance No. 704 (second reading) — Residential Zone District Heights.
• Discussion on Economic Development staff position.
Adjournment.


Planning commission meeting to feature guest speaker

The Archuleta County Planning Commission will hold its regular meeting Feb. 27, 2008. at 6 p.m. in the Board of County Commissioners’ Meeting Room, in the Archuleta County Courthouse.

A work session will immediately follow the planning commission meeting. Public comment is welcome and encouraged.

The