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Let there be light
By Norma Engelberg
Work to temporarily fill cracks and holes on Bennett Avenue in Cripple Creek is continuing, but another problem has come up — lighting. City Manager Bill McPherson told city council at its second October meeting that with 24-hour gambling and an increase in crime, the city has need of better street lighting.
“Lighting on Bennett has been a problem for 100 years,” he said. “But I think we have a solution.”
The problem on Bennett Avenue is that 14 of the lights belong to and are controlled by casinos. Others are older lights that are wired parallel.
“They’re like old Christmas tree lights,” he said. “When one bulb blows out they all go out.”
The rest of the lights are newer and are wired in series, but there is no standardization.
“First, we need to get control of the lights from the casinos,” he said. “Then next year, when we start to work on the sidewalks we can rewire the lights. The wiring is under the sidewalks so we can fix this while we’re fixing them.”
Mayor Dan Baader said that while they’re at it, crews could replace the lights with new LED lights.
“We could save 90 percent in utility costs and 80 percent on maintenance,” he said. “One thing for sure is that after recent events this city has to be lit.”
The recent events he was referring to were two attempted robberies and an arson-cause structure fire. McPherson commended the police for their hard work chasing down three robbery suspects and the fire department for recognizing the structure fire as an arson case and calling investigators.
“Our police and fire chiefs have put in more than 600 hours of their off-duty time filling in for personnel who are either on vacation or sick,” McPherson said. “Our emergency responders have been hard hit by the flu, and there is a lot of filling in going on there.”
He said the H1N1 flu vaccine is on its way for emergency responders, and that most outlets in the county have run out of seasonal flu vaccine. He directed city residents to city hall or the fire department to get a copy of “Home Care Guide ... Providing Care at Home During Pandemic Flu.” The booklet is provided by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and each location has two cases of the publication.
“You can also get smoke detector batteries at the fire department,” McPherson said. “If you are elderly or disabled, call the fire department and someone will come out and change the batteries for you.”
Council’s first order of business was to proclaim November Pancreatic Cancer Month in Cripple Creek. Baader invited Cripple Creek residents and members of council to a candlelight vigil for pancreatic cancer victims at 5 p.m. Nov. 14 at Bancroft Park in Colorado Springs.
Council approved a rezoning request from Pioneer Group and John Bowman for several lots southeast of Xenia Street and Warren Avenue. The lots, all of which are in the city’s gaming district overlay, were changed from C-1 to C-2.
Council also approved the vacation of a part of Pikes Peak Avenue at Placer Street at the request of Clinton and Vickie Schlepp. Three quarters of the avenue between Placer and Hayden Street already had been vacated. This vacates the rest of that block.
Council approved revokable use agreement with Womack’s Casino to build a temporary smoking area on 2nd Street.
There will be a work session before the Nov. 4 council meeting at the request of Thin Air Theatre Group, which provides entertainment at the Butte Opera House. The group has been asked by council to come up with a smaller budget and has some proposals to present at that time.
Public budget work sessions are planned for Nov. 11-12 at city hall.
Busy week for Cripple Creek police and fire
On Oct. 11, three suspects were arrested for attempted murder, robbery and other charges. The three were caught by Teller County Sheriff’s deputies after a Cripple Creek officer chased the suspects 18 miles down Colo. 67 into the deputies’ waiting arms.
Arrested were Cristy Lemon, 33; Michael Bittinger, 24, and Lukas Cattrell, 24. All three were from Colorado Springs and the men are in the military. Each was charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of criminal attempt and two counts aggravated robbery. The woman also was charged with reckless driving and vehicular eluding.
On Oct. 16, the Cripple Creek Fire Department was called to a structure fire, which firefighters quickly concluded was of suspicious origin. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Cripple Creek Police Department was called in to investigate. That investigation resulted in the arrest of Susie Sharpe, 36, of Woodland Park on charges of first degree arson.
“Lighting on Bennett has been a problem for 100 years,” he said. “But I think we have a solution.”
The problem on Bennett Avenue is that 14 of the lights belong to and are controlled by casinos. Others are older lights that are wired parallel.
“They’re like old Christmas tree lights,” he said. “When one bulb blows out they all go out.”
The rest of the lights are newer and are wired in series, but there is no standardization.
“First, we need to get control of the lights from the casinos,” he said. “Then next year, when we start to work on the sidewalks we can rewire the lights. The wiring is under the sidewalks so we can fix this while we’re fixing them.”
Mayor Dan Baader said that while they’re at it, crews could replace the lights with new LED lights.
“We could save 90 percent in utility costs and 80 percent on maintenance,” he said. “One thing for sure is that after recent events this city has to be lit.”
The recent events he was referring to were two attempted robberies and an arson-cause structure fire. McPherson commended the police for their hard work chasing down three robbery suspects and the fire department for recognizing the structure fire as an arson case and calling investigators.
“Our police and fire chiefs have put in more than 600 hours of their off-duty time filling in for personnel who are either on vacation or sick,” McPherson said. “Our emergency responders have been hard hit by the flu, and there is a lot of filling in going on there.”
He said the H1N1 flu vaccine is on its way for emergency responders, and that most outlets in the county have run out of seasonal flu vaccine. He directed city residents to city hall or the fire department to get a copy of “Home Care Guide ... Providing Care at Home During Pandemic Flu.” The booklet is provided by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and each location has two cases of the publication.
“You can also get smoke detector batteries at the fire department,” McPherson said. “If you are elderly or disabled, call the fire department and someone will come out and change the batteries for you.”
Council’s first order of business was to proclaim November Pancreatic Cancer Month in Cripple Creek. Baader invited Cripple Creek residents and members of council to a candlelight vigil for pancreatic cancer victims at 5 p.m. Nov. 14 at Bancroft Park in Colorado Springs.
Council approved a rezoning request from Pioneer Group and John Bowman for several lots southeast of Xenia Street and Warren Avenue. The lots, all of which are in the city’s gaming district overlay, were changed from C-1 to C-2.
Council also approved the vacation of a part of Pikes Peak Avenue at Placer Street at the request of Clinton and Vickie Schlepp. Three quarters of the avenue between Placer and Hayden Street already had been vacated. This vacates the rest of that block.
Council approved revokable use agreement with Womack’s Casino to build a temporary smoking area on 2nd Street.
There will be a work session before the Nov. 4 council meeting at the request of Thin Air Theatre Group, which provides entertainment at the Butte Opera House. The group has been asked by council to come up with a smaller budget and has some proposals to present at that time.
Public budget work sessions are planned for Nov. 11-12 at city hall.
Busy week for Cripple Creek police and fire
On Oct. 11, three suspects were arrested for attempted murder, robbery and other charges. The three were caught by Teller County Sheriff’s deputies after a Cripple Creek officer chased the suspects 18 miles down Colo. 67 into the deputies’ waiting arms.
Arrested were Cristy Lemon, 33; Michael Bittinger, 24, and Lukas Cattrell, 24. All three were from Colorado Springs and the men are in the military. Each was charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of criminal attempt and two counts aggravated robbery. The woman also was charged with reckless driving and vehicular eluding.
On Oct. 16, the Cripple Creek Fire Department was called to a structure fire, which firefighters quickly concluded was of suspicious origin. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Cripple Creek Police Department was called in to investigate. That investigation resulted in the arrest of Susie Sharpe, 36, of Woodland Park on charges of first degree arson.
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