Update ~ Middle Boulder Creek Enhancement Project

From the Desk of Roger Svendsen

Just a note to let you all know where things stand. Our Boulder County Permit Application is in the hands of the Boulder Land Use Dept. After a review of the documentation, the planner, Hannah Hippley, wanted an application sheet from CDOT as well as Boulder County. After a few mis-fires with CDOT, we managed to connect and I obtained Bob Hays signature this morning. I delivered the document to Hannah this afternoon and she said it was what she wanted. She wants to do a site visit as part of her review, however schedules and the Holidays will probably make that necessary in January. Since the area will probably be snow covered, we will want to have pictures for her. The visit will probably be made by Dave Blauch, Hannah, and myself. Coordination will be through Claire DeLeo from Parks and Open Space. I will be the primary interface for BFC and ERC while Claire will be the interface for the Boulder County organizations.
I remain hopeful that this project will come before the commissioners in January. Hannah is the one that schedules that meeting. I tried to get a peak at the January calendar, but was unable to do so. I was told that Hannah typically schedules the meeting as soon as she has all the documentation she needs in hand.
The critical path for scheduling our "in-stream" work is now obtaining agreement from CDOW to work in the stream prior to June 1, which is the current stipulation in the Corp. of Engineers permit. The Corp. gets direction from CDOW on such things. Larry Q. has the monkey on this task and we are optimistic.
I will be in touch with Ed Self from Wildlife Restoration Volunteers relative to the work we hope they can do with/for us. There will need to be a lot of coordination with CDOT on these tasks, since it is all on CDOT land, however Bob Hays was very positive this morning about allowing us to do what we want.
Also, CDOT is continuing to sift the soil and move rocks around up at the turnout at the top of the project. Bob Hays remains hopeful that we will not have to incur expense to relocate our rock pile. Keep your fingers crossed.
Roger