To the editor:
Hello, my name is Leigh Ann Scurupey. I am the Lady in Waiting
for the Elizabeth Stampede Rodeo that will be June 4-6.
June 4 will be a fun time at the Radical Bulls starting at 7:30
p.m. June 5 will be an entertaining evening with the Professional
Rodeo Cowboy Association rodeo starting at 2 p.m and again at 7:30
p.m. June 6 will be an exciting evening with another PRCA rodeo at
2 p.m. I would like to invite everyone to come and enjoy the
thrills of the Elizabeth Stampede Rodeo.
I have a brother and a cousin in Iraq, fighting for us. With all
the bad publicity in the news lately, I would like to send a
special invitation to all U.S. military personnel and their
families and to all veterans to come to the rodeo at 2 p.m. June 6.
I would be glad to see them all three days, but June 6 is special
because I will be crowned queen for 2004-05, and it would mean a
lot to me if I could take a picture of all the military personnel
who come. I would like to meet after the rodeo for the picture and
then send that picture to my brother’s and cousin’s units to show
all the military in Iraq that we have not forgotten them – we are
thinking of them and we support them here in America.
Please come and have a blast at the Elizabeth Stampede
Rodeo.
Leigh Ann Skurupey
Parker
To the editor:
To: Arty Smith
Subject: Dental plan
Dear Arty,
Let me start by saying that I am thrilled to have you writing
about situations in our county. I have always enjoyed your
articles, but the ones about community problems are always more
interesting to me. Yes, you should take the dental insurance, if
not for the condition of the roads then for the fact that we are
ageing and in more need of these services.
I don’t know if I should answer your article as head of Kiowa
Road and Bridge or as a Republican candidate for county
commissioner. As a political candidate I should tell you I will
make everything better, your life will be perfect – no dental plan
needed – and treat you like a mushroom, you know, keep you in dark
and feed you fertilizer. I can’t do that. If it costs me votes then
that’s OK, I haven’t lied to you, and if a lie is what you want
then other candidates may be a better choice.
Last year was our first time for a road stabilization/dust
control plan. It was not perfect. Some roads, due to the dirt
content, were not suitable for the mag chloride with the lignum
additive, and we won’t be doing them this year. Others need more
winter/storm maintenance, like County Road 17/21, than we expected,
and we are making changes in equipment and manpower to accommodate
this. Guess what, we made mistakes, not from carelessness but lack
of experience and knowledge that can only be gained by doing
it.
We at the county level use no liquid chemical treatment for ice
control in the winter, yet. In the Air Quality Control Region they
are limited to the amount of sand that can be used due to the
particulates that enter the air. Elbert County is right next door
to these requirements and might be included in the future, but for
now we will continue with just sand. It is not as effective but
possibly not as toxic.
The mag chloride that is used for ice control has several other
additives that are not present in the solution that we use for
stabilization. The lignum sulfinate that we have added is a
by-product of the pulp/paper industry. It is tree sap that binds
the mag and dirt together; it may also hold rusty parts on my car,
as it is a bear to wash off. We have found no data that even hints
of these products being harmful to the environment when used for
soil stabilization and dust control.
Now for some facts. Studies from the government and several
universities feel that safely maintaining a gravel road when the
daily traffic count exceeds 500 to 700 vehicles per day is not
possible. At this time Elbert County has approximately 200 miles of
dirt roads that exceed this count. The cost of owning a vehicle
operated on gravel roads is 40 percent higher. A Colorado State
information packet finds that for every percentage point the
population goes up the miles driven is twice that. So in the 1990’s
when we saw a 106% population increase, our roads received a 212%
increase in use. CR 17/21 (the one you use daily) had a traffic
count just fewer than 500 trips per day in 2000. In 2003 the count
was just over 1800/day. Some days we just don’t know what to do,
but we keep trying.
Every time there is a serious accident on one of our roads we
take a look at the conditions. Speed, alcohol or inexperience may
be involved, but that doesn’t help me sleep any better when I know
that a life has been lost or severely altered. When I think of our
young children with their new driver’s licenses and no experience
on gravel roads that can go from great to horrible in a matter of
seconds it scares me and every one of us at Road and Bridge. They
say there are no sailors who have been to sea and are atheists. I
would like to keep our roads out of our prayers and not be a
religious experience. I would hate to violate the United States
constitution separating religion and government.
Tom Penewell
A humble public servant