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Letter to the editor: Who pays for Fiester Preserve lawsuit?

Mary Ellen Gilliland
Silverthorne

The very same voters who elected our present county commissioners will get stuck with the bill for their legacy-motivated obsession to break the county’s covenant on Fiester Preserve.

Colorado Open Lands has declared its intent to legally protect the conservation agreement on that land. Summit County’s in-house attorney, Jeff Huntley, has a track record of hiring the best specialist lawyers to argue his cases. Who pays for this high-powered, high-priced expertise?

You guessed it. We do! Summit County taxpayers will be forced to foot the bill for an unjust cause many of us can’t support. We don’t break our contractual agreements, and we don’t expect our leaders to do so, either.



Nor should we force Colorado Open Lands to spend its resources, intended to preserve valuable open space, on defending this potentially costly lawsuit.

County commissioners: If, as stated, you want to leave a legacy, choose one that will not dishonor your record of service. Please take the suggestion offered by Lynn Amstutz in her Feb. 5 letter to the Summit Daily:
Put it on the ballot. Let the voters decide!


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