Meetings elsewhere with Westside impacts

       Public meetings on three topics with direct impacts on Westsiders are scheduled this month, though not at Westside locations.
       They are:
  • A Wildfire Awareness and Emergency Prepared-ness neighborhood meeting Tuesday, Jan. 15 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Cheyenne Mountain High School, 1200 Cresta Road.
  • A “community discussion” of a proposed conservation easement on Bear Creek Regional Park, Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. in the Centennial Hall auditorium, 200 S. Cascade Ave.
  • Two meetings on proposed service changes - including ones affecting Westside riders - by the Mountain Metropolitan Transit system, Wednesday, Jan. 23, from 5 to 7 p.m. and Friday, Jan. 25 from noon to 2 p.m. Both meetings will be in Colorado Springs City Hall's third-floor council chambers, 107 N. Nevada Avenue.
           Wildfire: City Fire Chief Rich Brown, Fire Marshal Bret Lacey, and Office of Emergency Management Manager Bret Waters will discuss emergency preparedness, evacuation planning and wildfire mitigation, a press release states.
           “I think there is a sense in our community that we have now been through the worst,” Brown said in the release. “As devastating as the Waldo Canyon Fire was, and still is to those who were impacted, we still have a huge part of this city that is at extremely high risk. We are stepping up our education efforts to provide residents with the information and resources they need to be safe and act swiftly in the event of another fire.”
           Bear Creek: El Paso County Commissioner Sallie Clark and County Community Services Department Director Tim Wolken led a public meeting at the Bear Creek Nature Center last May, which showed strong support for such an easement - which would provide greater legal assurance that the park will never be sold to a developer. A county-appointed committee has been working on the details over the past six months, Wolken said.
           “Bear Creek is one of our most important regional park facilities and we welcome the participation of our community in shaping its future uses,” Clark said.
           Transit: The proposed Mountain Metro changes affecting the Westside include the addition of limited evening routes on Route 3 (which runs up Colorado/ Manitou Avenue and “minor schedule/timepoint adjustments” on Route 14, which includes Chestnut Street and Garden of the Gods Road.
           Also being considered is a summer shuttle between downtown Manitou and the Cog Railway/Incline areas up Ruxton Avenue. That will be discussed at a third transit meeting at Manitou Springs City Hall, 606 Manitou Ave., from 5 to 7 p.m.
           Comments will also be accepted from people who don't attend the meetings. For more information, call 385-5419.

    Westside Pioneer article