This past year passed quickly. Just over a year ago I was sworn in as a county commissioner. New on the job, I had a lot to learn and experience. Over the following twelve months the nature of the office changed. It seemed at first that we were always in the public eye. We had several meetings with standing room only crowds. We had several people with concerns that touched them strongly emotionally speaking, especially when it came to issues of planning and zoning. Then things quieted down quite a bit.

Strangely, the items we then dealt with were just as serious, perhaps even more so, but the public presence diminished. When we approved our budget for the July 2009 through June 2010 county fiscal year, there was only one member of the public in attendance. Granted, there were many inputs from many individuals and groups in meetings and workshops leading up to that meeting, but when the budget was adopted, there was only one person there.

Part of the reason that we began writing these comments a year ago was to keep the public informed. We recognize that it is impractical for many people to attend commissioner meetings regularly, even though the door is always open. Minutes of meetings are published in the newspaper and posted online on the county website. I often receive comments from members of the public that indicate that even though not many people attend our meetings, we are still very much in the public eye.

Right now we have a number of rather significant issues before us. Perhaps the largest is the Novelution wind farm northeast of Chugwater. Novelution has applied for its industrial siting permit to the state Industrial Siting Council. The Council will meet in Wheatland on March 30-31, 2010 to consider the permit. Meanwhile Novelution is working with the county on its special use permit. Wind farm regulations are already in place in Platte County and this situation will be the first to use them.

Also in the works, although not as far along in the process, is the potential construction of a municipal waste burning power plant. A consortium of companies called AREA has explored the situation and will be making a go/no-go decision soon, probably by the time this article is published. If the plant is to be built, there will be much work for the county to do to consider their special use permit. In that, only the county would be involved because that proposed project does not meet the threshold to require an industrial siting permit.

Another major effort coming down the road is a proposal by the Bureau of Reclamation to increase the height of Glendo Dam for flood control purposes. We have already met with people from the Bureau of Reclamation, and after listening to details of their proposal, we have expressed some concerns about the impact on Glendo Park Road, a county road. They are willing to help meet some of our concerns, but as yet we have not worked out details as to what exactly will need to be done.





For the complete article see the 02-03-2010 issue.

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