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Summit Daily letters: Tiger Dredge lot not the right location for Breckenridge garage

Tiger Dredge lot not the right location for garage

I am writing in response to the town meeting regarding a parking structure at the Tiger Dredge lot. I cannot imagine a more ill-conceived location. This will dump skiers at the bottom of the Quicksilver lift which is already a nightmare on weekends. Even if there is an elevator and a walking sidewalk over Park, if the town council or planning department think the folks who park on the main level won’t cross Park on foot, they are smoking the stuff on Airport Road. There are three locations that wouldn’t impact traffic at all. The obvious choice is the north gondola lot. Park, get on the gondola. A second choice would be the Gold Rush parking lot. You could put a five-story garage there and not impact views or traffic. No views. Put a covered escalator on both sides of a tunnel under Park. A third option would be to put it at the free parking lot at Airport Road. Either continue to run buses to the gondola station, the Quicksilver and Beaver Run or put in another stretch of gondola that would connect seamlessly with the existing gondola and load every third or fourth car.

Patricia Walker



Breckenridge

Keep Verizon antennas out of downtown Breckenridge



Locating the proposed Verizon Wireless Communications Facility in the historic district of Breckenridge would be a devastating blow to the cultural and historic preservation of our town. Having worked with the stringent building codes of this area, we are appalled that the town would even consider allowing Verizon to position two towers on the post office/grocery building at the corner of Ridge and Adams. The towers would be visible to all who live and visit downtown Breckenridge and this would no doubt open the door to other companies wishing to place structures in this area.

Town policy clearly states that such towers shall be located outside of the conservation district. Preferred locations include collocation to existing towers in nonresidential land use districts, and locations on town- and publicly owned property. A cell tower location may be granted in the town’s conservation district if the applicant demonstrates that all of the following factors exists:

a. A significant gap in the provider’s service exists;

b. The proposed tower is the least visually intrusive means to close the significant gap;

c. No feasible alternative exists to close the significant gap;

d. The provider’s existing towers lack the capacity to service the wireless users except by the installation of one or more tower sites in the otherwise restricted locations.

Residents and property owners of Breckenridge are encouraged to contact the town council members to voice opposition to this absurd proposal. Please consider attending the next town meeting on April 12 to show your support in protecting our Historic Conservation District.

Kurt and Christi Barry

Breckenridge

Should you caucus on March 6? Yes!

Optimism instead of cynicism. Engagement instead of apathy. Working together instead of pulling apart. These are values that so many of us in Summit County share. Our willingness to roll up our sleeves and work hard to help our neighbors and visitors is one of the reasons I love this community.

If you’re like me, you probably think our national politics could use some more of these values, and if you’re affiliated with a political party, you’ll have an opportunity to influence that on Tuesday at the political party caucuses.

What exactly is a caucus? In short, it’s a gathering meeting for the party to engage volunteers, help shape your party’s platform, and elect delegates to your party’s county assembly. It’s a chance to engage with your neighbors and make sure your voice is being heard, both at the local level and state level.

In 2016, the vice chair of the Summit County Republicans said, “We think it’s important for people to be involved in the process and elect delegates who reflect their values and have them move forward to the county and state assemblies to try and vote for the candidates that meet their goals.”

Although we come from different parties, he and I agree. Your values and your goals matter; the way to make sure they get heard is to caucus on March 6.

Maggie Murray

Democratic candidate for Summit County Treasurer

Keystone

Reactions to Morgan Liddick’s column on immigrants and driver’s licenses

Not surprisingly, I can start toppling Morgan Liddick’s column with its sensational title which begs questions like “Is methadone treatment an approval for heroine use?” or “Is the availability of condoms at clinics and colleges an endorsement for promiscuity?”

Yet, such a piecemeal demolition to his piece might not reveal the bigger flaw that is Liddick’s, his ineptness as a statistician notwithstanding. Once again, he exposes deeper structural flaws like an inability to comprehend reality — especially the reality of those less fortunate than himself. It’s all an accident of birth, after all — isn’t it?

I recommend he take a class on statistics — even a 101 class should suffice. I found his mathematical lawlessness more disconcerting than that which he writes about. Legitimate mistakes? Or an attempt to create a veneer of legitimacy, a connivance to fear-monger and vilify — once again.

And once again, he cites dubious sources:

The Foundation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR): According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, “FAIR leaders have ties to white supremacist groups and eugenicists and have made many racist statements. Its advertisements have been rejected because of racist content. FAIR’s founder, John Tanton, has expressed his wish that America remain a majority-white population: a goal to be achieved, presumably, by limiting the number of nonwhites who enter the country.

The CATO Institute: A think tank, NOT an independent research group! Founded by Charles Koch, funded by the Koch brothers.

The Hoover Institute: Largely funded by right-wing foundations and has corporate donors such as ExxonMobil — so, not surprisingly, one of the Hoover fellows is Thomas Gale Moore, author of the book, “Climate of Fear: Why We Shouldn’t Worry About Global Warming.”

Finally, I will collect on his bet and answer/explain his somewhat rhetorical question: “Why they think a lawless state is preferable to the protections we currently enjoy . . .”?

Mr. Liddick, your erroneous stats prove no major dangers nor “lost protections.” Some of the most cruel and unjust laws are those that hold people back from what they are capable of achieving. Laws like these should not only be decried but defied! What you see as a lawless state might just be a nation growing to fulfill those inalienable rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Cesar Munoz

Dillon Valley

***

Morgan Liddick misses the underlying issue, the same issue most illegal immigration paranoids miss, or ignore: supply and demand, an issue conservatives should embrace. Illegal immigrants aren’t here by accident; they’re here, in Summit County especially, because there is work for them. During our recent “Great Recession” illegal immigration virtually stopped. Supply and demand. Economics 101.

At one point in our country’s history, a similar labor void was filled by slavery. That got to be too much for our country’s collective conscience, just as our country’s current treatment of illegal immigrants is beginning to weigh on many people’s collective conscience.

There is a difference, of course; slaves didn’t get paid. Illegal immigrants do, sort of. Illegal immigrants want to be here because there’s an opportunity to improve their life and maybe give their children a chance for a better life, a human characteristic we all share. In the process, they help keep Summit County’s economy rolling.

So Morgan, try a column on squaring supply/demand economics with a lack of labor. That might actually be a useful discussion instead of worrying about driver’s licenses. You could include a discussion about how helicoptering parents keep their kids from filling many of the jobs illegal immigrants currently fill, thus depriving their kids of opportunities to learn valuable life skills, something I suspect most illegal immigrant parents’ are smart enough to avoid.

Dave Newkirk

Breckenridge

***

Liddick’s most recent column regarding drivers licenses is, as expected, filled with bias and inaccuracies. I began working with individuals applying for a driver’s license under the Colorado SB251 program in June of 2017. Though the SB251 program is mostly identified as providing licenses for undocumented individuals, it in fact also provides license access to individuals who are temporarily legally present in the United States. Since June, I’ve worked with approximately 50 people seeking these licenses, and they have been, without exception, extremely grateful for the opportunity, though the process is, in my opinion, overly expensive, difficult, and onerous.

The SB251 program is, by law, self funded, so individuals applying for these licenses pay approximately three times the amount that you or I would pay. And one requirement for application is to acquire an Individual Tax Identification Number, which to obtain, requires filing U.S. and Colorado income taxes.

This program, which costs Colorado tax payers nothing, allows documented and undocumented individuals the ability to legally drive a vehicle, to be quickly and accurately identified in case of a driving violation or accident, and also to meet the legal requirement to obtain auto insurance. Any individual, regardless of documentation, cannot obtain auto insurance without a drivers license. Sheriff Joe Pelle, Boulder County, has this to say about the program: “This bill is good for all the motoring public, not just the recipient of the license.”

Greg O’Neill

Silverthorne


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