This Week in MesaCounty- January 28, 2008
Blue Ribbon Restaurants
This week the Blue Ribbon Awards were announced. For the 17th year the Mesa County Board of Health Recognized the retail food service establishments with a Blue Ribbon Award for Continued Excellence in Food Service Sanitation for the Calendar year 2007. Twenty-seven restaurants received the honor. To find out if your favorite restaurant made the cut click here
Persigo Sewer Expansion
Mesa County and the City of Grand Junction hosted the fourth and final community meeting regarding options for expansion of the Persigo boundary. Over the course of the last four meetings citizens heard a presentation about the history of growth in Mesa County and options for sewer expansion in both the Orchard Mesa area and North of town. Citizens were then provided time to review maps and ask questions. Those that owned property in the area were allowed to place stickers on their property indicating whether they supported the expansion (green), opposed it (red) or weren’t sure (yellow).
The Grand Junction City Council and the Mesa County Commissioners form the Persigo board and they will hold a board meeting on Feb 13, 2008 at 7pm to make a decision on possible expansion to Persigo.
Municipalities Dinner – (1/30/08)
Mesa County hosted the Grand Junction City County, Fruita City Council, Palisade Town Council and DeBeque Town Council for our quarterly dinner with the municipalities. (Unfortunately Collbran was snowed in and couldn’t join us). These quarterly dinners give all of us a chance to update each other on what's going on in our respecitve jurisdictions. Grand Junction highlighted several of their capital projects that are in the works. Fruita discussed the proposed Urban Residential Reserve zoning for areas that are transitioning from rural to urban. And DeBeque talked about the great progress in their new bridge. There was also discussion about the portion of the Fruita Buffer Zone in the Redlands and whether or not it was appropriate to remain in the buffer zone. A work group will be formed to discuss this further.
Mesa County gave an update on the Energy Master Plan and news that Mesa County's electronic Voting Machines have abeen temporarily approved for use in the the municipal elections in Palisade and Fruita this Spring. Mesa County also reported that Commissioners will hear an item in late February or early March to refer a question to the November 2008 ballot asking voters if they want to expand the board of county commissioners from three to five. If the voters choose to expand to five commissioers, the estimated cost of the expansion will be approximately $210,00 per year, with an additional $48,000 the first year for computers, office furniture and some remodeling to make room for two more commissioners.
Mesa County GOLD- Seniors Initiative- (1/31/08)
The Executive Committee of the Seniors Initiative met this week and there's a lot going on.
- The Employment Committee has just about completed the Tool Kits for employers to help them with recruiting and employing senior citizens. This committee is also working on a survey to determine the employment needs as well as volunteer interests of senior citizen.
- The Health Care Committee is piloting a fall prevention program in partnership with St. Mary’s, MSC Nursing Program and the Riverside Community.
- The Recreation Committee is working with GJ Parks and Rec, the Seniors Center, the Library and the Gray Gourmet to look at options for expanding the existing senior center- which is very overcrowded.
- The Public Safety Committee is working on a Fraud Prevention Seminar that they can take on the road to where the seniors are as well as broadcast on cable channel 12. They are also working on a survey to find out from seniors how they best like to get their information.
- The Housing Committee, at the request of our local HBA, is working on a survey to determine the type, size, price of housing that seniors are looking for.
- The Employment, Public Safety and Housing Committees will work together on creating one survey to meet all their needs.
We are also forming a Seniors Leadership Commission, to involve citizens and community leaders as we move forward in our efforts. The first meeting for this group is Monday, Feb 4th at 4pm at the Old Courthouse in the Multi Purpose Room on the main floor. Anyone who is interested is invited, and encouraged, to attend.
How are the Children-
The Child Abuse Initiative was the focus of this week’s “How are the Children?” segment. Deb Eisemann with the Department of Human Services who serves as co-chair of the Child Abuse Prevention Initiative, answered the How Are The Children question and reported on the status of the four committees. For more information click here
