Mayor quits; nuisance law offenders forgiven;

Marissa Hauser - DEER TRAIL Deer Trails mayor resigned, new trustees were sworn in, and a timber business came ever closer to putting down roots in Deer Trail at the town s board of trustees meeting April 8. Controversy has ravaged the town since a nuisance ordinance was passed last year. The ordinance was aimed at remedying unsightly properties that trustees said reflected poorly on the town. A city-wide cleanup ensued, aimed at abating junk, rubbish, weeds, inoperable vehicles, and more. Some residents resisted the efforts, resulting in a battle that pitted community members and trustees against one another. In an April 1 election, trustees Gary Lavoie and Bob Sanger, both ordinance supporters, were ousted. They were replaced by Robert Hardwick and David Boyd, both ordinance opposers. Incumbent Frank Fields, also an opponent of the ordinance, garnered the most votes in the election, at 106. Some newly elected trustees were strong supporters of an effort to recall Mayor James Pickle Johnson, who made the nuisance ordinance and further cleanup a chief priority during his time in office. Johnson was not present at the meeting, but town clerk Patti Owens delivered and read his letter of resignation to a larger-than-usual crowd. I will leave office with my head held high, because of what we accomplished and that I would not allow myself to lower my standards to that of my opposition, Johnson wrote. Johnson told The I-70 Scout April 10 that he didn't want to battle to try to retain his seat as mayor. I didn't want to have to fight people, he said. It just wasn't worth it to me. [The opposition] outworked us. They went out and got everybody registered and called them to the polls. He said the town will suffer if it continues to exist in its current state of overall disrepair.The town's the big loser in all of this, he said. I see two-and-a-half years of work go out the window. Johnson believes the knocking down of the nuisance ordinance will help deter future growth. You're not going to get families to move in here with all the junk and trash that's around, he said. Instead, people move in here and bring their trash with them. We were trying to keep this town viable. I think [Deer Trail] will regress. The absences of mayor pro tem Tami Stoumbaugh and trustee Melvin Wood, both board veterans, were also felt. The duo's failure to show reduced the board to four members, barely enough for a quorum; the only previously elected trustee present was Dutch Venter, an outspoken opponent of the ordinance, who chaired the meeting. Public record reveals that all four present members , Hardwick, Boyd, Venter, and Fields have each received nuisance ordinance violations in the past. As such, it was no surprise that the board unanimously passed a motion to pardon judicial action against nuisance ordinance violators Everett and Lucinda Boyd as well as Rob Byg. The Boyds appeal of a municipal court decision finding them in violation was denied by the district court, and the town was preparing to begin nuisance abatement on the property prior to the pardon. David Boyd made the motion to pardon; Everett and Lucinda are his parents. I don't think we need ordinances, Boyd said April 10. To a great extent, people should be able to pretty much do what they want, within limits that it doesn't affect other people. Unless it's to help, I don't think the town should get into it. One supporter of the ordinance, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said some unsightly properties send a negative image to those passing through the town. The Boyd property in particular is clearly visible from westbound I-70. I'm just so disappointed, the citizen said. We finally have a chance to make Deer Trail the nice little town it has the potential to be, and people want to junk it up and leave it that way.David Boyd said the majority of people don't feel that way. There's more of a live-and-let-live attitude in Deer Trail, he said. There's plenty of gated communities where you can live if you want to. I think most people do wish the town was a little neater, but I don't think most people want to strongarm them into it. Boyd would prefer a more informal way of dealing with nuisance-related problems. I think people should talk to each other, he said. Then I know you have a problem, and you know I'm working on it. I don't see legal action as being the remedy at all. Boyd and others are pursuing ditching the current nuisance and fencing ordinances, then passing a citizen's initiative that would require future nuisance ordinances, if proposed, to go to a vote. [If the citizens initiative passed], everyone would have a chance to say, Is this what I want? I think it definitely needs to be tailored for Deer Trail, he added. Meanwhile, the board has 60 days to appoint a new mayor. If it fails to do so, a mayoral election will be held. SPUR MOUNTAIN TIMBER The board unanimously passed two resolutions approving the annexation of properties known as the Spur Mountain Timber annexation and the Turecek West annexation, both now owned by Spur Mountain Timber. Two ordinances, numbered 243 and 244, respectively, approved the annexations of the two properties. Spur Mountain representatives Kevan Northrup and Price Blanchard were on hand after the meeting for an informal question-and-answer session. The question weighing heaviest on the minds of those present was whether or not the company would offer jobs to area residents. The entity recently ran employment ads in The I-70 Scout and Eastern Colorado News, and Northrup said the response was overwhelming. We received 193 applications in two weeks, he said. Right now, we've hired three people from Strasburg and two from Deer Trail. Our main foreman also plans to move to Deer Trail some time in July. Northrup estimated that 10-15 employees would be added by June, when he hopes the business will be officially up and running. He said the railroad provides a unique opportunity in the town. One reason we came to Deer Trail is because of the rail, he said.No competition that we know of has that access. It may allow us to expand our customer base dramatically. One resident asked about increased dust resulting from the business. Northrup said most of the operations occur under cover, and that the business will add only an average of five additional trucks to the road per day. Were really not going to have a large impact that way, Northrup said. Blanchard also stressed that the facility will further limit dust because sawdust is reclaimed for later sale. [The sawdust] is used for byproducts, including floor sweeps, he said. The goal is to utilize every part of the tree.

Northrup said the timber comes from Grand, Summit and Eagle counties. He attested that the business will be up-and-running as soon as possible.