|
Page 1
|
Monday April 13 2020
|
Welcome To The 38th Issue of the Valley Beat!
Our Sixth Free Issue!
Court Clerk offers update on closure during the month of April
Beginning April 8 Custer Combined Court will be closed on Wednesdays in the month of April
only.
This closure is subject to change depending on the pandemic, but at least for now, the court
office is closed on Wednesdays in April.
The Court will remain open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. #Should
you have questions or concerns please contact the court.
Kaye Rocheleau, Custer County Clerk of Combined Court
only.
This closure is subject to change depending on the pandemic, but at least for now, the court
office is closed on Wednesdays in April.
The Court will remain open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. #Should
you have questions or concerns please contact the court.
Kaye Rocheleau, Custer County Clerk of Combined Court
Wet Mountain Fire Protection District discusses upcoming election on May 5
The Wet Mountain Fire Protection District is diligently planning the most
efficient and safest way at this time to conduct our 2020 Board of Directors
election. We are asking our voters to please request an absentee ballot to decrease
in person traffic on Election Day (May 5). Absentee Ballots must be requested via
email (adminwmfpd@centurytel.net) or by phone (719-783-9245) prior to
Tuesday, April 28, 2020 and must be received by 7 p.m. on May 5, 2020.
In the event you must vote in person, we ask that you bring your own pen
(black ink), respect social distancing, and follow the procedures you will be given
at the polling place. We appreciate your cooperation in these difficult times.
If you have any questions, please contact Teri Munson (DEO) at 719-783-9245 or
the email above.
efficient and safest way at this time to conduct our 2020 Board of Directors
election. We are asking our voters to please request an absentee ballot to decrease
in person traffic on Election Day (May 5). Absentee Ballots must be requested via
email (adminwmfpd@centurytel.net) or by phone (719-783-9245) prior to
Tuesday, April 28, 2020 and must be received by 7 p.m. on May 5, 2020.
In the event you must vote in person, we ask that you bring your own pen
(black ink), respect social distancing, and follow the procedures you will be given
at the polling place. We appreciate your cooperation in these difficult times.
If you have any questions, please contact Teri Munson (DEO) at 719-783-9245 or
the email above.
Ballot Issue A passes in Silver Cliff, while the result in Westcliffe hangs in the balance; results to be known later this week
Last Tuesday, April 7, the towns of Silver Cliff and Westcliffe held their elections where a
new mayor, trustees, and a proposed one percent sales tax increase were considered. While the
citizens of Silver Cliff overwhelmingly approved the measure, the fate of the proposal hangs in
the balance.
Of the 199 ballots cast in the town of Silver Cliff, H.A. “Buck” Wenzel received 160 and will
take office on May 4. Returning for another term will be Stacey Schoch with 144 votes, and
Fred Hernandez with 142. Jordan Benson, newbie to the board, garnered 136. They will also get
to work during the next board meeting to be held on Monday evening, May 4. With regards to
Ballot Issue A, 131 in favor, and 63 against.
The town of Westcliffe reported the following results. Brian Clince received 116 votes,
Cathy Snow had 99, Bess Cole garnered 92, and John Johnston received 73. The results of
Ballot Issue A are not clear at this time. Currently, there is only one vote separating the yea and
nay votes, with 86 for and 87 against. According to Westcliffe Town Clerk, Kathy Reis, there is
still a ballot out to a military member. According to the rules, five ballots have randomly been
kept out, sealed. If the military ballot comes in, it and the five will be counted on April 16. The
five withheld ballots are to maintain anonymity for the ballot still waiting arrival. So, what does
this mean? There is still a chance that the outcome could be solidified as a non-passage of the
measure, or it could move in the other direction, and be approved this time around, after failing
last November.
Please stay tuned to The Valley Beat for all the latest on Election 2020.
- by Tracy Ballard
new mayor, trustees, and a proposed one percent sales tax increase were considered. While the
citizens of Silver Cliff overwhelmingly approved the measure, the fate of the proposal hangs in
the balance.
Of the 199 ballots cast in the town of Silver Cliff, H.A. “Buck” Wenzel received 160 and will
take office on May 4. Returning for another term will be Stacey Schoch with 144 votes, and
Fred Hernandez with 142. Jordan Benson, newbie to the board, garnered 136. They will also get
to work during the next board meeting to be held on Monday evening, May 4. With regards to
Ballot Issue A, 131 in favor, and 63 against.
The town of Westcliffe reported the following results. Brian Clince received 116 votes,
Cathy Snow had 99, Bess Cole garnered 92, and John Johnston received 73. The results of
Ballot Issue A are not clear at this time. Currently, there is only one vote separating the yea and
nay votes, with 86 for and 87 against. According to Westcliffe Town Clerk, Kathy Reis, there is
still a ballot out to a military member. According to the rules, five ballots have randomly been
kept out, sealed. If the military ballot comes in, it and the five will be counted on April 16. The
five withheld ballots are to maintain anonymity for the ballot still waiting arrival. So, what does
this mean? There is still a chance that the outcome could be solidified as a non-passage of the
measure, or it could move in the other direction, and be approved this time around, after failing
last November.
Please stay tuned to The Valley Beat for all the latest on Election 2020.
- by Tracy Ballard
COVID-19 update from CCPH and OEM
The current COVID-19 case count for Custer County is: two confirmed positives, eight negatives, and two tests pending. The first positive case is recovering at home and the second case is currently hospitalized.
The most effective way to prevent COVID-19 is to follow the social distancing orders to avoid contact with others as much as possible. If you have to go outside your house or are an essential worker and have to be around others, wear a mask (either cloth or as directed by your employer). In addition to the public health orders from the state, there may be more restrictive orders in place within your county. Make sure that you understand the current public health orders for the county you live in and the county you work in.
During this time, it is as important as ever to follow the direction of your primary care provider and this includes taking medication as prescribed. We have heard from some in the community that they are not taking medication as prescribed in an attempt to save it should the pharmacy close. The pharmacies will remain open, not impacting your ability to refill your medication. You can also utilize a mail service to refill medications to reduce the need to go out and these services can be set up so medications are delivered on a regular basis according to your prescription. It is important that you continue to take your medications as prescribed by your healthcare provider.
As mentioned in the Live Town Hall on Friday, April 10, it is National Public Health Week. Public health as a profession is one of those fields that is easily overlooked. Like utilities or sanitation, the services provided by public health are invisible to most of us when everything is working as it should. This pandemic has thrown our public health professionals into a very public role and forced them to make some difficult and sometimes unpopular decisions in order to carry out their duty to protect the public. They work closely with other medical professionals, emergency management, and elected officials. If you know someone who works in public health, take a moment to send them a note of thanks. In an ideal scenario, we will get to the end of this crisis and some people will think we overreacted. In reality, we will have saved many lives. That would be the ultimate sign of success.
Now, more than ever, our community, our strength, and our resilience is being tested in new ways that force us to rethink how we support one another. People want to help, and many are helping in amazing ways, whether it be by sewing masks, helping those at risk get groceries, or other ways that prioritize staying at home. This is the best contribution that most of us can make right now.
Thank you for all of your support, thank you to our health care providers, and thank you to our community; we truly are stronger together.
-CCPH
The most effective way to prevent COVID-19 is to follow the social distancing orders to avoid contact with others as much as possible. If you have to go outside your house or are an essential worker and have to be around others, wear a mask (either cloth or as directed by your employer). In addition to the public health orders from the state, there may be more restrictive orders in place within your county. Make sure that you understand the current public health orders for the county you live in and the county you work in.
During this time, it is as important as ever to follow the direction of your primary care provider and this includes taking medication as prescribed. We have heard from some in the community that they are not taking medication as prescribed in an attempt to save it should the pharmacy close. The pharmacies will remain open, not impacting your ability to refill your medication. You can also utilize a mail service to refill medications to reduce the need to go out and these services can be set up so medications are delivered on a regular basis according to your prescription. It is important that you continue to take your medications as prescribed by your healthcare provider.
As mentioned in the Live Town Hall on Friday, April 10, it is National Public Health Week. Public health as a profession is one of those fields that is easily overlooked. Like utilities or sanitation, the services provided by public health are invisible to most of us when everything is working as it should. This pandemic has thrown our public health professionals into a very public role and forced them to make some difficult and sometimes unpopular decisions in order to carry out their duty to protect the public. They work closely with other medical professionals, emergency management, and elected officials. If you know someone who works in public health, take a moment to send them a note of thanks. In an ideal scenario, we will get to the end of this crisis and some people will think we overreacted. In reality, we will have saved many lives. That would be the ultimate sign of success.
Now, more than ever, our community, our strength, and our resilience is being tested in new ways that force us to rethink how we support one another. People want to help, and many are helping in amazing ways, whether it be by sewing masks, helping those at risk get groceries, or other ways that prioritize staying at home. This is the best contribution that most of us can make right now.
Thank you for all of your support, thank you to our health care providers, and thank you to our community; we truly are stronger together.
-CCPH
A message from Westcliffe Farmers Market organizers
Message from the Westcliffe Farmers Market organizers:
I know we haven’t posted in awhile. I also believe that people are coming to this page to find
out if we’re getting ready for the market this year.
At this point in time, we are planning to have the market, but it will look very different than
markets in years past. With the social distancing and other precautions in place, we will
probably only be allowing our food vendors to sell, this includes our produce vendors, prepared
and packaged foods, baked goods and things like jams and jellies.
With our mission being to support local growers and provide healthy food to our customers,
we feel that as long as we are allowed to, we will follow the state guidelines and have our market
starting the first Wednesday in June.
As we receive more information about this, we will post here and on our website (
www.Westcliffefarmersmarket.com) just exactly what we have to do to make it happen.
- Via post on FaceBook
I know we haven’t posted in awhile. I also believe that people are coming to this page to find
out if we’re getting ready for the market this year.
At this point in time, we are planning to have the market, but it will look very different than
markets in years past. With the social distancing and other precautions in place, we will
probably only be allowing our food vendors to sell, this includes our produce vendors, prepared
and packaged foods, baked goods and things like jams and jellies.
With our mission being to support local growers and provide healthy food to our customers,
we feel that as long as we are allowed to, we will follow the state guidelines and have our market
starting the first Wednesday in June.
As we receive more information about this, we will post here and on our website (
www.Westcliffefarmersmarket.com) just exactly what we have to do to make it happen.
- Via post on FaceBook
Covid-19 Updates
Many in the community have had angst over the closures and stay-at-home orders instituted
by the State Governor as well as local public health agency. The Valley Beat reached out to Elisa
Livengood, Custer County Public Health Director, for a statement in her own words. The
following is what she would like the community to know.
“We are doing the very best we can to keep this community safe and healthy. It is difficult
when opposition comes from within, but we truly believe we all have the best interest of
everyone here at heart. The Emergency Manager and the Public Health Director along with the
EOC have gone over and over these issues ad nauseum, and would NEVER intentionally or
willingly place anyone in harm’s way, physically, emotionally, or financially. We understand
that some orders are making it exceedingly difficult for people, primarily financially. That breaks
our hearts, and if we could fix it all believe us we would. The changes we made to the order were
not to intentionally cause more hardship, but to remind people of the significance of this
pandemic and the importance of maintaining social distancing. We are concerned for the coming
months in this Valley when we see a large increase in population due to tourism and returning
snow birds. While we realize the economy of this county relies on these amazing people, that is
our biggest threat of introduction of higher numbers of positive cases. We are appreciative of the
people who are taking this seriously, staying home, and practicing social distancing. We are
beyond proud of the people who are coming together to help each other in this time. Those are
the programs and people the media should be focusing on in this community, not the negative
and hurtful pieces of this time. Our heartfelt prayer is that we become stronger together, see each
other’s strengths, and lean on each other through this, rather than tear each other apart.
I have been working with churches on a case- by- case basis. Most churches are closed and
following the rules graciously. Others that remain open, are following social distancing and
sanitation practices as recommended. The closer we all follow these inconvenient rules, the
sooner we can be released from these orders.”
- God Bless
Elisa Livengood RN Director Custer County Public Health
Meredith Nichols Director of Emergency Management
by the State Governor as well as local public health agency. The Valley Beat reached out to Elisa
Livengood, Custer County Public Health Director, for a statement in her own words. The
following is what she would like the community to know.
“We are doing the very best we can to keep this community safe and healthy. It is difficult
when opposition comes from within, but we truly believe we all have the best interest of
everyone here at heart. The Emergency Manager and the Public Health Director along with the
EOC have gone over and over these issues ad nauseum, and would NEVER intentionally or
willingly place anyone in harm’s way, physically, emotionally, or financially. We understand
that some orders are making it exceedingly difficult for people, primarily financially. That breaks
our hearts, and if we could fix it all believe us we would. The changes we made to the order were
not to intentionally cause more hardship, but to remind people of the significance of this
pandemic and the importance of maintaining social distancing. We are concerned for the coming
months in this Valley when we see a large increase in population due to tourism and returning
snow birds. While we realize the economy of this county relies on these amazing people, that is
our biggest threat of introduction of higher numbers of positive cases. We are appreciative of the
people who are taking this seriously, staying home, and practicing social distancing. We are
beyond proud of the people who are coming together to help each other in this time. Those are
the programs and people the media should be focusing on in this community, not the negative
and hurtful pieces of this time. Our heartfelt prayer is that we become stronger together, see each
other’s strengths, and lean on each other through this, rather than tear each other apart.
I have been working with churches on a case- by- case basis. Most churches are closed and
following the rules graciously. Others that remain open, are following social distancing and
sanitation practices as recommended. The closer we all follow these inconvenient rules, the
sooner we can be released from these orders.”
- God Bless
Elisa Livengood RN Director Custer County Public Health
Meredith Nichols Director of Emergency Management