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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20130362.tiffJanuary 25, 2013 OFFICE OF BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS PHONE: 970-336-7204 FAX: 970-352-0242 1150 O STREET P.O. BOX 758 GREELEY, COLORADO 80632 DPG Farms, LLC 3300 South Parker Road, Suite 300 Aurora, CO 80014-3521 RE: WCR 49 EXTENSION PROJECT Dear Mr. Holm: The Weld County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) has reviewed your letter dated December 26, 2012. Your letter was very informative and your expressed concerns have been taken into consideration. We apologize that it has taken so long to respond back to you mainly due to the Holiday Season and our desire to get some feedback from staff on their past communications with you. As you are aware, the Department of Public Works is dealing with many landowners during the course of this project. Public Works will be following our established and State approved right-of-way acquisition process during all contacts and negotiations with landowners. The BOCC appreciates your offer of a site tour, but feel that it may be inappropriate at this stage of the right-of-way acquisition process. After the details of the proposed acquisition have been finalized and both parties have obtained independent appraisals, we may reconsider your site tour invitation. Weld County appreciates your cooperation and willingness to allow the design of this project to progress. It is important that we continue to coordinate with one another and maintain open communications. Your letter helps us better understand your position related to our ongoing right-of-way acquisition process. Very truly yours, Vi William , Chair BOARD UNTY COMMISSIONERS O pGarcia cc: David Bauer Monica Mika (7,(3714 G vt IC (Ch Onci - 13 2013-0362 Memo to Files — DPG Farms Timeline Record WCR 49 Extension Project (updated 1-17-2013) Following is an approximate timeline and record of communications and events related to the WCR 49 Extension Project: • 6/22/2004 Ken Holm attends public open house for the "Weld County Road 49 Arterial Corridor Study". • 10/4/2004 Ken Holm submits objection letter to BOCC. • 10/4/2011 PW sends out landowner project informational letter to DPG Farms. • 10/2011- 2/2012 PW engineering consultant (FHU) completes environmental assessment, wetlands mapping, aerial survey, and USACOE coordination. • 3/2012 PW meets with Ken Holm and Don Jones. Permission granted for initial Poudre River Bridge soils drilling and access for engineering design work. • 7/2012 PW shares results of initial Poudre River Bridge geotechnical report. • 11/5/2012 PW sends out landowner project informational letter to DPG Farms. • 11/9/2012 PW and Atkins (design consultant) meet with Ken Holm and Don Jones. Access, wildlife, land use, and irrigation issues are discussed. • 12/2012 Atkins submits preliminary road -bridge design plans and conducts final geotechnical drilling/sampling. Some of the DPG Farms issues discussed on 11/9/2012 are addressed into the design plans. • 12/26/2012 Ken Holm submits letter of concern to the BOCC. Following is an approximate timeline of upcoming events related to the WCR 49 Extension Project: • 1/2013 results of the final geotechnical drilling/sampling; will be shared with DPG Farms. • 2/2013 PW will send DPG Farms a letter stating our interest in acquiring Right -Of -Way for the project, along with a legal description of the proposed acquisition. • 3/2013 Atkins will submit 90% plans for the road/bridge design. • 3/2013 appraisal work for the DPG Farms Right -Of -Way Acquisition will be ongoing. CORRESPONDENCE RESPONSE DEPARTMENT OF ,6)16iL: L * PLEASE RESPOND WITHIN THREE DAYS * * * IF RESPONSE WILL BE DELAYED, PLEASE NOTIFY "CTB GROUP" BY E-MAIL OF EXPECTED DATE FOR RESPONSE. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Narrative: / t?GSL Stc l t Ufl(we ` /7 /;t Cf t(%&I,,4 tLk _si,)( � / (- 7 s E � ��I/sly/ �.i (AI( (L 0:1(�IC ±(Tin/cc-77S,, ll� ��' �✓llv;I a�!"�/JG` /41'474 n 4 /12C', / .>9J vL� METHOD OF RESPONSE: b tic 7,, ,,,, ,,,-s-47/„ t,ti ,,,, , / Th Board Action Ld(C/ WL,r, 8c,(.,( -y/ 64167G,,S t./,-,_(:-, 47ce ,C,i 1 d Work Session Letter (Attached) lie s I'1,/,‘ l / a c� {��C% �L� JAt/ea-fit/WI yt ,� % Telephone Call f� No Response (explain) tAvt L,L 1/7C l(✓Csr244 / S'ii�r'*/ BOARD ACTION: (INITIAL BY APPROVAL) Department Head Signature SC WC BK DL DR AGREE WITH RECOMMENDATION - UlC t �C WORK SESSION - DPG FARMS, LLC 3300 SOUTH PARKER ROAD, SUITE 300 AURORA, CO 80014-3521 December 26, 2012 Weld County Board of Commissioners Mr. Dave Long Mr. Douglas Rademacher Ms. Barbara Kirkmeyer Mr. Sean Conway Mr. Bill Garcia P.O. Box 758 Greeley, CO 80632 Re: DPG Greeley Property/Impacts of WCR 49 Extension Alignment Project Dear Commissioners: I am the managing member of the group that owns the DPG Farm, which is located east of Greeley near the confluence of the Cache La Poudre River and the South Platte River. The members of DPG Farms purchased this property in 1985 as a hunting property, which is what we have used it for over the last 27 years. Up to now, we really have little interest in selling the property and intended to use it for the recreation for our families, including grandchildren and great grandchildren. The property includes a flood irrigated farming operation which included some cattle grazing activities in the past. We quit pasturing livestock on the property 6 to 7 years ago in hopes the wildlife habitats would improve for wild turkeys and deer, which happened. We have a large turkey flock residency plus over 50 head of whitetail deer now using the property year round. Further, even though we have been seriously approached by two separate gravel mining entities in the past, we have chosen to decline the gravel mining opportunity, to date, in order to continue our hunting and shooting activities for the owners. We have two rifle ranges plus a shooting clays area on the property near the sole improvement site on the property. Telephone (303) 337-4123 Facsimile (303) 337-2028 Page -2- 12/28/2012 The road project Weld County is planning to tie the Kersey cutoff highway at Hwy. 34 (WCR 49) to WCR 47, east of the Greeley Airport. will divide our property in half. This road corridor will be heavily used and will clearly destroy our primary use of the DPG property. The hunting activity, particularly the waterfowl hunting, will essentially be totally eliminated for many reasons. We will no longer be able to use our rifle ranges, and the shooting clays location will have to be relocated. Wildlife will be forced to leave the area as well. For all practical purposes, the primary use of our property will be totally destroyed by the project. The hunting will be totally destroyed. The potential for future gravel mining will be severely diminished since mined materials will have to be transported in some fashion from one side of the new road to the other, or the batch plants will have to be physically moved during the mining process, both of which are expensive. Our access from one side of our property to the other will be severely changed, particularly our farming operations. Discussions with the Weld County Public Works Department, to date, have lead us to believe they are minimizing the damages to our property caused by this project. Further, we understand the process of condemnation and the county's right of eminent domain. We realize we are due "just compensation"; however, the process of determining the appropriate amount of compensation is clearly going to be difficult, to say the least. This project is not simply the widening of an existing road. It involves taking virgin area that has no road easements in place in the before condition, so it is a very unique situation. We have retained Donald L. Jones of McFeeders Realty, Appraisal & Management, LLC as a consultant to assist with our property, including this road project. Please feel free to discuss these issues with Don or me. Don's office number is 970-867-7816 and mine is 303-337-4123. Our request is for the board members to tour the property with us in order to familiarize you with the property before the process proceeds further. We feel you should at least see the property from our perspective before we get to a point of determining the appropriate just compensation due the owners of the property, which is not far off. Please advise of your decision and thank you for your time. Sincerely, DPG Farms, LLC Kendall H. Holm, Managing Member cc: Donald L. Jones By: Esther Gesick From: Sent: To: Subject: Jennifer Fuller Tuesday, January 29, 2013 2:52 PM CTB FW: Emergency contraception Please add as item of Communications. From: Beth Danielson [mailto:beth@connectionsil.com] Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2013 2:51 PM To: Jennifer Fuller Subject: Emergency contraception To the Weld County Commissioners, I am writing to urge you to revisit your uninformed decision to cease providing emergency contraception in county health department clinics. This decision was based on emotion, not fact. Access to the full range of contraception options keeps women and families healthy. Emergency contraception is an important option for women's reproductive health and birth control. Your absurd notions that emergency contraception is a form of abortion could have been corrected had you bothered to solicit any expert medical testimony on the subject. Instead, you held your meeting where this decision was made in a vacuum - with no public comment, including from medical professionals. Additionally, your lack of transparency in this decision does a disservice to the people of Weld County. Please schedule a time to revisit this matter. This time, include public comment and expert medical testimony and open your minds to a reversal of an ill-advised decision.. Thank you. Beth Danielson rural Ault ea -mow -O [e.a7t1.-ylp 02-4 6 1 Hello