The complex opens Jan. 23 with an invitation-only, mid-morning ribbon-cutting ceremony (or should it be a 21-gun salute?). Congressmen are invited along with the governor and local officials, including Maj. Gen. Joseph Anderson, Fort Carson’s commander. It’ll be open for public shooting about 1:30 that day, at no charge.

“People are welcome to come that afternoon and look the place over,” said Imad Karaki, El Paso County’s director of support services. “The complex will have a lot of conveniences.”

The county partnered with Fort Carson on the long-awaited project, which will feature seven shooting ranges, three for rifles and four for pistols. Targets and earplugs will be provided at check-in. Seated firing positions will be available at the rifle ranges.

Rates for civilians will be $10 a day, $90 for a 10-visit pass, and $210 for a 25-visit pass. It’s slightly less for retired military, Department of Defense civilians and active military. Children ages 6-12 will cost $4 a day.

Women will shoot free one Saturday a month, all will be free one day per quarter-year, and other discount days will be observed.

Read more about the shooting complex, located off Interstate 25′s exit 132 just outside Fort Carson Gate 20, at http://www.gazette.com/articles/county-149230-shooting-complex.html.

The Emancipation Proclamation didn’t free a single slave, but was a turning point in the war. Lincoln had been careful to portray the war as a battle to preserve the Union but it then became a battle for human freedom.

Jubilee Day ’13, presented by the Colorado Springs branch of the NAACP, will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the historic signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

All are welcome at noon Tuesday at Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church, 3615 Vickers Drive. Rev. Cleveland A. Thompson, senior pastor of the church, is keynote speaker, with a reception to follow. Music will be provided by the EMBC Mass choir.

How about your neighbor?

Or do you get eggs at the grocery, like most folks?

Colorado Springs residents are allowed to keep 10 chickens on their property. That’s true in Fountain, too, but people with less than five acres in unincorporated parts of El Paso County can only have two chickens.

County officials haven’t addressed the chicken counting case in decades. County commissioners performed a juggling act with the topic at their Thursday meeting but won’t take action until next month.

“I’m pro chicken,” commissioner chairwoman Amy Lathen said, fighting to keep a straight face.

The county has gotten some complaints: a rooster was crowing in the Park Vista area, a neighbor’s chickens were staining the sidewalk with what chickens tend to leave behind, and some other fowl tales.

The county has chosen not to enforce the two-chicken limit for years, said Mark Gebhart, deputy director of the county’s development services department. They’ve looked the other way as long as the number of cluckers was 10 or less.

Commissioners didn’t discuss how many chickens to allow but will in January. They did agree that roosters shouldn’t be allowed on properties less than five acres.

“Commissioners want to make it formal,” Gebhart said. “They’ll get into what is common sense for this.”

Land use decisions are rarely simple, but commissioner Peggy Littleton said this one could only turn out one way.

Peggy Littleton

“Based on the evidence presented to us, we made the only decision we could,” said Littleton, who represents Glasgow’s district. “The Planning Commission had approved the variance and I knew we didn’t have any reason legally not to approve this.”

Commission chairwoman Amy Lathen said the decision was still difficult, though she cited precedent for granting the variance.

The decision concluded a 15-year battle between the Glasgows and many of their neighbors.

“I feel like the weight of the world has been taken off my shoulders,” Sheryl Glasgow said.

The variance allows the Glasgows to have a contractor’s equipment yard for their landscape business, Turf Master Industries, Inc., on the site of their five-acre residence in Saddleback Estates, an unincorporated area of the county surrounded by Colorado Springs neighborhoods near the northwest intersection of Powers Boulevard and Barnes Road.

“How we make decisions on land use involves three criteria,” Lathen said. “One is protection of private property rights. Two is state statutes as they relate to land use and three is local land use development policy.”

Former commissioner Duncan Bremer, special counsel to El Paso County on this case, told commissioners near the end of Thursday’s four-hour hearing that evidence seemed to show the Glasgows’ property would be “compatible with the neighborhood.”

County attorney Amy Folsom had recused herself from the proceedings. The county sued the Glasgows in 2001 for running their landscaping and snow removal business from their residential property. District Court Judge David Gilbert ruled the business was not permitted in that zone. The state Court of Appeals agreed in 2005, and the Glasgows were allowed to keep only a wholesale nursery at the home.

Glasgow property

When the Glasgows didn’t comply, the county sued for contempt and won. Sheryl Glasgow was fined $10,500 and received a judicial scolding from District Judge David Prince, who said her “conduct was offensive to the authority and dignity of the court.”

Sheryl Glasgow said little at Thursday’s proceedings. Ten individuals spoke against granting the variance, while others argued for the Glasgows.

“There have been a lot of changes in that area the last several years,” said Sallie Clark. a commissioner for eight years. “We’ve been through some rocky road on this. It does meet our land use criteria.”

Glasgow said she expected to win the decision, but was surprised it was unanimous. She figured Clark and Dennis Hisey, a commissioner for eight years, would vote against her.

This wasn’t a precedent-setting decision, Lathen said, noting the county has other residences and businesses located together.

The Glasgows will consolidate their business. The nursery, which has 500 trees and 1,000 plants, Sheryl Glasgow said, has been at the residence while trucks, trailers, mowers, chemical sprayers, snowplows and other items for the landscaping and snow removal business have been at an office on Ford Street.

The El Paso County Planning Commission approved the variance with eight conditions and two notations attached. Commissioners insisted on the same compliance and Sheryl Glasgow gave “100 percent” assurance that she will.

Neighborhood opponents told commissioners she has a history of non-compliance and expect that to continue. Glasgow said Friday the requirements won’t be difficult to meet and vowed to comply.

Read the following press release from the county:

The El Paso County Disaster Center (DRC) will host the El Paso County Bar Association for a special edition of the Association’s free Ask A Lawyer program Wednesday, July 11, from 5-7 p.m. This special session is for individuals who were impacted by the Waldo Canyon Fire.  Residents impacted by the Waldo Canyon Fire, who have not previously registered at the Disaster Recovery Center, are asked to call 444-8300 to let them know of your interest is speaking with a lawyer.

Lawyers from the El Paso County Bar Association (EPCBA) will be available to answer questions and assist victims with topics ranging from:

• Assistance with Insurance Claims
• Counseling on housing problems, including landlord-tenant issues
• Assistance with home repair contracts
• Assisting in consumer protection matters
• Counseling on mortgage foreclosure problems
• Replacement of important legal documents (including wills)
• Drafting of powers of attorney
• Estate administration and planning
• Guardianship and conservatorships

No appointment is necessary to attend this special session of Ask A Lawyer but impacted residents who have not previously visited the DRC are asked to call 444-8300 to register in advance. No other DRC services will be available at this time. The DRC is located at 105 N. Spruce in Colorado Springs.

The EPCBA will also being offering Ask a Lawyer services Saturday, July 14 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Citadel Mall and Call-A-Lawyer Thursday, July 19, from 5-7 p.m. on KKTV’s Call for Action.

The El Paso County Bar Association is the principal professional association for attorneys in the Pikes Peak Region for over 110 years.  For more information email Claire Anderson: Claire@elpasocountybar.org

Due to the Waldo Canyon mandatory fire evacuations the El Paso County Clerk & Recorder’s Office at Citizens Services Center (1675 W. Garden of the Gods Rd) will be closed until further notice. All other branch offices will remain open to serve our citizens. Staff has been redeployed to our other offices.

The Election Department will be closed tomorrow but all other departments will be open and serving customers beginning at 8:00 a.m.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

The Clerk & Recorder branch offices are as follows:

• North Office-Union and Research
• Southeast-Powers and Airport
• Downtown at Centennial Hall-Cascade and Vermijo
• Clerk to the Board will be functioning out of the Centennial Hall Auditorium

The El Paso County Board of Commissioner approved a contract for a traffic engineering studey of West Colorado Avenue and Manitou Avenue on Thursday. That area is commonly referred to as No Man’s Land, because it’s a patch of county soil wedged between Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs. The Colorado Department of Transportation will pay for the $300,000 study.

The study will examine much-needed road improvements and identify solutions to traffic flow, pedestrian access, utilities placement, drainage and other infrastructure problems along West Colorado Avenue between 31st Street and Manitou Springs. Portions of Colorado Avenue in this area fall under four different jurisdictions: El Paso County, Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs and CDOT.

“This is an historic moment for this longtime forgotten and neglected portion of West Colorado Avenue,” said commissioner Sallie Clark, who represents the study area.

The proposed study is expected to end January 2013. A project website will be launched in the coming weeks. The study will also include a comprehensive public involvement process including open house meetings and email information updates. Those interested in receiving information and updates on the study can contact Lisa Bachman P.R. Group at 488-5908 or at lisa@lisabachmanpr.com.

“We all stand ready to help with due process and public outreach,” said Welling Clark, the commissioner’s husband and president of Organization of Westside Neighbors.

Bob Felsburg, president of Felsburg Holt and Ullevig, leader of the study team, said, “This is a very important project for the communities. It’s a very challenging project in a very interesting corridor.”

This is a work-session style meeting with the public encouraged to provide input on potential road projects. Elected officials from the City of Colorado Springs are expected to be joined by fellow PPRTA representatives from Green Mountain Falls, Manitou Springs, Calhan and Ramah.

The PPRTA board of directors has asked the county and other PPRTA members for a list of road projects that could be part of a ballot measure in November’s elections.
El Paso County’s currently recommended “A” list has about 20 road projects estimated to cost $80 million.
County engineer Andre’ Brackin said, “We’re hoping to get final direction on the county’s list from this meeting before submitting it to the PPRTA.”

The town hall is sponsored by the El Paso County Citizens Outreach Group.

“It’ll be an open format for people to ask questions and voice their concerns,” said commissioner chairwoman Amy Lathen. “We want to make sure we’re facilitating open discussion on issues that matter to people in the community. It’ll be a very casual setting.”

COG members come from the five districts and are appointed by the Board of County Commissioners. The COG coordinates outreach programs and activities throughout the year.

COG chairman Ken Valdez said, “We’ll ask each of the commissioners to make a few opening remarks focused on their priorities and concerns and then we’ll open it up for questions and discussion. When our group has hosted these town hall meetings in the past, they have been a good opportunity for residents to ask questions and get answers.”

El Paso County is hosting the public meeting on the extension of the Capital Program for the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority. El Paso County has targeted about 20 road projects, estimated to cost $80 million, for its recommended “A” list.

“We’re hoping to get final direction on the county’s list from this meeting before it is submitted to the PPRTA,” said county engineer Andre’ Brackin.

This will be a work-session style meeting with El Paso County elected officials and staff, with the public encouraged to provide input. Elected officials from the City of Colorado Springs have been invited to discuss the region’s potential road projects paid for by PPRTA.

The PPRTA’s board of directors has asked county and city administrations for a list of road projects that could be part of a ballot measure in November’s elections. Funding for the new lists will have to be approved by voters.

PPRTA was approved in 2004 by voters to collect a one percent sales tax to fund transportation and transit improvements, with 55 percent of the money used for a voter-approved list of capital projects.