From: "Ludlow, Ryan" <rludlow@bouldercounty.org>
To: BCFORESTHEALTH@LISTSERV.BOULDERCOUNTY.ORG
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:36:10 -0700
Subject: Boulder County Forest Health Public Hearing Announcement
Dear Boulder County Forest Health List Serv:

I am writing today to inform Boulder County residents about two upcoming forest health related public hearings being held by the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC).  Each of these public hearings is related to forest health and community biomass sort yards, but each has a very different final object and may or may not be of direct interest to you.  I apologize in advanced for the long email; I want to make sure everyone is clear about the purpose of each public hearing.

Each of the public hearings are being held in the Commissioners Hearing Room on the Third Floor of the Boulder County Courthouse, 1325 Pearl Street (Downtown Boulder).

I believe most of you will have the greatest interest in the public hearing being held on Mach 2nd from 5-8pm.  Boulder County hopes to locate a community biomass sort yard at one of two potential locations near Nederland.  One of the proposed sites is located on county-owned property adjacent to the Boulder Valley School District's bus barn on Ridge Road. The other site is located on Reynolds Ranch Open Space, a County Parks and Open Space property on Magnolia Road. At the public hearing on March 2nd the BOCC will provide staff with direction on which site location they prefer to continue putting through the Land Use public process.  The BOCC will listen to staff's feedback on each site as well as summaries of the outcomes of previous community meetings in Nederland.  The BOCC will also listen to comments from the public about each of the proposed sites.  Please plan to attend if you wish to provide comments about either of the potential sites to the BOCC.

A separate public hearing is being held a week earlier on February 24, from 11-noon, to discuss a text amendment to the Boulder County Land Use Code.  This text amendment will update the Land Use Code to allow a new use called Forestry Processing and Sort Yards (aka Community Biomass Sort Yards) to occur in Boulder County.  Boulder County Planning Commission has already approved this text amendment and is recommending that the BOCC approve this text amendment as well.  If you have comments specific to this code amendment please bring them to this public hearing on Feb. 24th.  Please note- this public hearing is not the time to provide comments about a specific location for a Forestry Processing and Sort Yard. The following docket describes this code amendment:

Docket DC-08-003: LAND USE CODE AMENDMENTS, FORESTRY PROCESSING AND SORT YARDS
Proposed Text Amendment for a new use classification in the Land Use Code.  Forestry processing and sort yards would accept wood, slash, woody biomass, or other organic materials in order to mitigate wildfire risk, dispose of dead trees, and to promote a healthy forest; by the Boulder County Land Use Dept. /Abigail Janusz.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns or need clarification about the purpose of each of the upcoming public hearings.

Sincerely,
Ryan Ludlow
______________________________________
Forestry Education and Outreach Coordinator
Boulder County Land Use
www.bouldercounty.org/foresthealth
rludlow@BoulderCounty.org
Office: 720-564-2641

*Reminder: Due to the increased level of interest from residents on issues related to forestry management and the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic in Boulder County, we have established a Forest Health Listserv to help keep interested members of the public up-to-date with Boulder County community meetings and proposed community projects and resources.
We are requesting that everyone who wishes to be kept informed of issues related to forest health and pine/bark beetles to please sign up to receive future emails from Boulder County by filling out a quick sign-up form online at:
 <http://www.bouldercounty.org/foresthealth/
pages/listserv.htm>.
Signing up is easy, but it does require that you confirm your intent to add your name to the listserv by replying to the automatic bounce back email you will receive immediately after you enter your email address and send your request. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose and you may unsubscribe from the listserv at any time.
By the end of this month (February), we will no longer be maintaining separate lists of email addresses to communicate with county residents about the Nederland community sort yard or other forest health issues. Please sign up for the Forest Health listserv to stay connected to the County's communications on these issues.
If you have any questions about signing up for the listserve, please contact Barb Halpin at 303-441-1622