News highlights: 2002

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

Wellington started the new year with a $4.8 million town budget. Among the new expenses for the growing community was a third deputy sheriff. The town contracts with the county sheriff's department for its law enforcement.

A proliferation of radio towers and cell towers filling the skies of northern Larimer County turned into a contentious issue as the county approved requests for new locations, including a 500-foot radio tower near Livermore.

North Poudre Irrigation Co. marked 100 years of operation in February.

Construction started in February on a new county office building in downtown Fort Collins - right next to the old courthouse, which will be torn down. Prior to construction, county commissioners opted for a bigger, five-story building with a $27 million price tag. Two years earlier, the cost estimate was $17.2 million.

LaPorte residents, with the guidance of the county planning department, began work to update the area's land use plan. LaPorte is the only unincorporated community in the county to have its own plan, which was last revised 10 years ago.

Wellington voters elected former town trustee Larry Noel as their new mayor.

Numerous federal agencies and local governments imposed fire bans by late April because of extremely dry conditions.

Larimer County broke ground for its new fairgrounds complex in April. The $65 million complex will open by October 2003, with the first game for the Colorado Eagles hockey team scheduled for Oct. 17.

Larimer County CattleWomen celebrated 50 years of service to the cattle industry.

A nonpartisan group circulated petitions for a ballot measure that would increase the number of county commissioners from three to five. Petitions were not turned in, however, when the three commissioners indicated they would put the issue on the ballot anyway.

Colorado Gov. Bill Owens vetoed parts of the state budget bill, cutting $5 million in per capita state funding for public health. Those cuts then resulted in shortfalls for the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment. The health board had to dip into emergency reserves to keep some programs running.

Gateway Mountain Park in the lower Poudre Canyon finally opened to the public in June. The area, once the site of Fort Collins' water filtration plant, had been closed to the general public since 1979.

In July, Wellington started construction of a new wastewater treatment plant that will be large enough to serve 6,000 people - twice the town's current population. Cost of the new facility is $6.5 million.

Holcim (US) Inc., formerly Holnam Inc., shut down its cement manufacturing plant in LaPorte on Aug. 31. The last day of work for dozens of employees came nearly a year after the plant's closure was first announced.

Area water districts started looking into old ideas for more water storage, including Glade Reservoir that would cover the current U.S. Highway 287 north of Ted's Place. A one-year study is under way.

The North Forty News added Timnath to its circulation area with its October edition. A few months earlier, Timnath hired its first paid town administrator, Joe Racine, to help guide the town through explosive growth. Racine has 30 years of experience in community planning.

Public meetings about LaPorte area gravel pits drew large crowds as local residents aired concerns about traffic, dust and noise.

Election results: Almost 56 percent of county voters rejected a 0.3-mill levy to fund public health services. Voters elected Republican Kathay Rennels to a second four-year term as county commissioner. She defeated Green Party candidate Nancy York. Other Republican candidates for county office were elected without opposition: Scott Doyle, clerk and recorder; Larry Johnson, assessor; Myrna Rodenberger, treasurer; Jim Alderden, sheriff; Ron Perkins, county surveyor; and Pat Allen, coroner.

A three-state banking group announced plans to open a new bank in Wellington. Called First National Bank, Wellington, it has no connection with the First National Bank in Fort Collins.

The eyebrows of county residents who live east of I-25 went up a few notches when they saw moose roaming their range. Moose were reintroduced to the state in 1978 with transplants made in the North Park area near Walden.