COLUMBUS — There was a full house on Monday, July 24 at Colorado County Commissioner's Court in Columbus with most of the crowd attending to participate in the 'public hearing to consider the creation of Colorado County Emergency Services District No. 1.'
A petition for an Emergency Services District (ESD) was created, signed by a portion of the community, and presented to the court. The proposed ESD would include Bernardo, Freslurg and Columbus, and would require a 10 cent per square foot raise in property tax to cover the cost of the ESD.
The discussion regarding item 5 on the agenda consisted of approximately two and a half hours of public comments, including that of Bernardo volunteer fire - fighter Steve Foster, Columbus Mayor Lori An Gobert, former Colorado County commissioner Tommy Hahn, Brent Gorman, Jr, the co-creator of the petition, questions from those in attendance as well as the court to Howard Katz, an attorney familiar with ESDs, and many members of the community sharing their opinions about the proposed district.
While the discussion was taking place, all regarding the needs and demands of firefighters, the sound of a call rang out in the courthouse.
Most of the volunteer firefight ers who were in the courtroom bolted and left the very important discussion to go do their duty. Though there were hours of comments and opinions regarding the establishment of the ESD, at the end of the discussion, Judge Ty Prause said, “We are a nation of laws and as the law is written, it is appealing to me to let the people decide.”
The court then voted that the establishment of an ESD would simply be plausible and should be presented to the people of the county to decide for themselves.
Since this proposed ESD will now be presented to the people of Colorado County to vote on, there will be opportunities for the members of the community to not only educate themselves regarding the topic, but also use their voices to decide whether the ESD will be created or not.
