City Council approves plastic bag fee
The ban is in the bag, but the battle might not be over.

In a 4-1 vote during Tuesday night’s meeting, City councilors voted to approve a 10-cent fee on disposable bags at big box grocery stores in the city.

Also, any store or business in the city that does not fall under the guidelines of the ordinance has the right to voluntarily opt-in.
Businesses who take in the bag fees do retain 50 percent of those monies, but they are limited on how they are spent. Education, training and signage relating to the bag fee program are some of those approved uses.

The other portion of the collected fees will be used by the city “for expenditures that are intended to mitigate the effects of Disposable Checkout Bags,” like policy implementation and public outreach.

The one exemption to the bag fee is for customers that provide “written or electronic evidence” that they are participating in federal or state food assistance programs.

The bag fee goes into effect on March 1, 2014, and will hit year-round retail grocers like Wal-Mart, North and South City Market, and Albertsons.

However, City Attorney David Smith said the city is already seeing pushback, with several calls expressing a desire to repeal the ordinance.

“In the first instance that I can recall in my tenure with the city,” Smith said, “we’ve had multiple people call indicating that they’re going to form separate petitioner committees.”

Under the city charter, residents have the right to petition the council to repeal an ordinance or put it on the ballot for an election.

In an effort to avoid multiple petitions that say the same thing, to place the issue on a ballot, or to repeal it or not, Smith said the city clerk’s office would only issue and recognize one petition regarding the ordinance.

Petitioners have a 30-day window from the time the ordinance is passed to gather the needed signatures, which comes to 10 percent of the number of voters who participated in the last city election. For this petition that number would be 344.

Since the ordinance isn’t scheduled for implementation until next year, the battle might not be over before it begins.


Chama-Durango byway gains steam
The San Juan Skyway cold be getting some competition.

Last week, the Colorado State Scenic and Historic Byway Commission voted in support of designating a Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Scenic Byway between Chama and Durango. The 110-mile proposed route, which would be on existing roads, would follow the historic route of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, essentially connecting the Cumbres Toltec Railroad with the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge. Both railroads are National Historic Landmarks and the last surviving segments of the original narrow gauge that served mining, logging and ranching in the San Juan Mountains in the late 1800s. Potential stops include ghost towns, old railroad structures and scenic vistas.

The proposed route will go from Chama to Dulce on U.S. Hwy 64 and from Dulce to the state line on Jicarilla 9.  In Colorado, the byway will continue from the state line to Navajo Reservoir on Archuleta CR 500; from the reservoir to Ignacio on Colorado HWY 151; from Ignacio to Oxford on Hwy 172; and then on to Durango.

“Establishing a Denver and Rio Grande Narrow Gauge-themed byway ... will help people understand the vital role the railroad played in the development of Northern New Mexico and Southwest Colorado,” Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Commissioner Dan Love said. “The Chama-Durango route gives the traveler a chance to step back 130 years to a time with no automobiles, when the railroad provided the connections between Chama, Durango and the outside world.”

Support from the Byway Commission culminates a longstanding effort to name the byway. From here, a task force will be formed to complete the rigorous nomination process and conduct an inventory of the cultural and scenic resources located along the route. Jill Seyfarth, of Cultural Resource Planning, in Durango, was appointed last May to head up the designation process.

“We will be conducting an inventory of the historic and scenic qualities of the route, identifying travel needs and requirements and will summarize the findings in a written nomination,” Cumbres & Toltec Scenic President John Bush said.

He also thanked the Durango & Silverton Railroad for providing financial support for the project.  “We look forward to working with all interested parties to help us get the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Narrow Gauge Scenic Byway designation established,” Bush said.
The projected designation date is August 2014.

The National Scenic Byways Program is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. New Mexico and Colorado each have 25 state-designated byways. In New Mexico, eight of these are Nationally Designated Byways, or “America’s Byways,” whereas Colorado has 11.

Since 1992, the National Scenic Byways Program has awarded 3,174 state and national byway routes. The byways are designated based on archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational and scenic qualities.

Telluride hosts No Barriers Summit
The No Barriers Summit, a four-day outdoor adventure and arts festival rooted in overcoming barriers for people with disabilities, will take place Aug. 8-11 in Telluride. The biennial event, which reaches out to people of all ages and disabilities as well as their families, will include clinics, outdoor activities, lectures as well as the latest technologies in enabling people with disabilities to lead full and active lives.

No Barriers USA was co-founded in 2005 by blind adventurer Erik Weihenmayer, who saw it as a way "to create a community of like-minded people who believed in harnessing their challenges for personal growth rather than being limited by them."  Weihenmayer, 44, is the first blind climber in history to reach the summit of Mount Everest and one of less than 100 individuals to climb all of the Seven Summits – the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. His latest challenge: to kayak the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon solo.

Weihenmayer helped form the No Barriers organization based on the assumption that each person, regardless of age, state of mind or physical condition, has a thirst for adventure and a hope for the future that is worthy of igniting. No Barriers USA is a nonprofit established with the mindset that authentic immersion experiences push individuals outside of their comfort zones, challenging them intellectually, emotionally or physically.
“The No Barriers Summit inspires a sense of adventure, innovation, community – and a belief in the power of the human spirit,” says Weihenmayer.

The inaugural program was held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, in 2005. Past Summits also have been held in Squaw Valley, Miami and Winter Park.
Speakers for the 2013 Summit include award-winning journalist Bob Woodruff, who has become a spokesman for victims of war injuries; and Kyle Maynard, the first congenital quad amputee to reach the summit of 19,340-foot Mount Kilimanjaro. The event will also feature many outdoor activities, including a block party, an outdoor movie screening, and No Barriers University, where leading scientists and inventors share the latest innovations in adaptive technology.

Telluride Adaptive Sports Program is the local partner for the event.

Registration includes entrance to all events, participation in five clinics, dinner on Thursday and Friday evening, plus sack lunches with Friday, Saturday and Sunday clinics. For details or a complete schedule of events go to: nobarriersusa.org/summit/.

– Tracy Chamberlin and Missy Votel