February 11, 2008
125th Anniversary Celebration
On Monday morning County Commissioners kicked off a year long celebration honoring the creation of Mesa County 125 years ago. Festivities included a Proclamation by the Commissioners who were in historic costumes from the late 1800’s. Members of the Hallelujah band, who were also dressed in post-Civil War attire, set the mood for the event with their fiddle, guitar and banjo. A U.S. Army Color Guard, also dressed in period costume, posted the colors. Other elected officials, DA Pete Hautzinger, Sheriff Stan Hilkey and Assessor Barb Brewer, were joined by several young chataqua from the Museum of the West. Check out the photo gallery of Monday’s event.
Persigo Sewer Board Meeting
Wednesday evening the joint Persigo Board (consisting of the Grand Junction City Council and the Board of County Commissioners) met to discuss possible expansion of the Persigo Sewer system, specifically in the area North of Town (approximately between 21 Rd and 26 Rd, from H Road to the Bookcliffs), and in an area of Orchard Mesa (approximately from 30 Rd to 32 Rd, from A to C Rd). A crowd of over 100 people gave public comment for over two hours after which the joint board deliberated and determined that expanding the sewer to be very critical to addressing our housing shortage, but asked to first develop a land use plan for the areas first. The City and the County will work on this through a joint planning process that will involve a lot of public input. It is anticipated that several areas that are “ripe” for development (areas where the land owners are clearly ready to develop) will be back before the board in the next three to four months, while the entire area will be approved by the end of the year in conjunction with the completion of the City’s Comprehensive Plan.
Meth Task Force- Annual Report to the Community
On Friday the Mesa County Meth Task Force gave its second annual report to the community at a press conference in the County Courthouse. Of special interest was the debut of a new public service announcement that highlights the importance of community members identifying and reporting suspected child abuse, especially child abuse as a result of meth.