- Voters in Dolores County say yes to two ballot questions, but no to some others.
- Montezuma County decides to take part in a master leasing plan process organized by the BLM, at least for now.
Voters in Dolores County said yes to two ballot questions Tuesday, but no to some others. Citizens in School District Re-2J approved, by a 57 to 43 percent margin, a mill-levy increase to help counteract budget cuts by the state legislature. But Dolores County citizens gave a mixed message to the organization of an ambulance district for the western part of the county. A question creating the district passed 62 to 38 percent, but two related questions – one to give the district a mill levy, the other to let it keep revenues over the TABOR limit – failed. An attorney for the organizers, Floyd Smith, says the ambulance district will have to seek funding elsewhere.
Montezuma County has decided to take part in a master leasing plan process organized by the BLM, at least for now. On Monday, during a meeting with four BLM officials, the commissioners repeatedly questioned the need for such a plan, which is designed to scrutinize energy development on some public lands in Montezuma and La Plata counties. BLM Tres Rios Field Office Manager Connie Clementson said launching the process doesn’t mean the plan will be developed because it could conclude that the plan isn’t needed. The commissioners repeatedly asked to know how much the plan would cost. They were repeatedly told that the costs won’t be known until the scope of the plan is decided. Commissioner James Lambert voiced frustration that a letter from the BLM’s state director did not specifically address eight points the county had raised in a letter to her. Clementson said the letter was a general response and showed the BLM’s commitment to work with the county. The first meeting of the citizens’ group chosen to discuss the master leasing plan is scheduled for November 19th at 10 a.m. at the Dolores Public Lands Center on Highway 184.
