The Town of Nucla’s regular meeting on July 8 included new trustee Brad Miller. A tense meeting, early on was discussion of workforce housing at CampV outside of Naturita. CampV has applied for a special use permit to house workers from the Four Seasons development in Mountain Village.
Trustees discussed water, infrastructure and more. Trustee Darla Joseph expressed a desire that workforce buy local and support the economy, rather than having everything trucked in. Trustee Aimee Tooker said she was hesitant to oppose the application, because it was a property right. She’s said before other workforce will become coming for mining in the future, something she would support.
Trustee Tim Pierce said EMS and sheriff’s deputies are already stretched too thin.
Town trustees agreed to write a letter of concern, but one that was brief and not in complete opposition to CampV’s application. Town Manager Jessica Davis said she’d gather two to three concerns from each trustee and begin a letter, using the Town of Naturita’s letter as a reference.
Town officials also discussed paying a water decree invoice. The towns of Nucla and Naturita periodically have done due diligence in filing for water rights or seeking reservoir expansion and refill capabilities. For some period of time, the towns failed to keep up with the paperwork, but in 2024 they resumed it.
Currently, the Town of Nucla owes more than $9,800 in fees for engineering and legal work. Pierce suggested using the $5,000 grant from the state, an award for establishing the Source Water Protection Plan. Trustees agreed to ask the Colorado Rural Water Association if that were permissible.
The town did finally approve the drought water resolution. They also discussed the contract with Mustang Water, now at the attorney’s office for review.
The cell tower discussion is not over
Most heated was the discussion on the cell tower. Town trustees already had one public work session with West End Public Schools about the new tower, not yet live but built at the top of town in close proximity to the school. A type of radiation testing, or electromagnetic frequency testing, will happen as a result, and two quotes from companies have been gathered.
Trustees Joseph and Tooker, toward the end of the meeting, brought up they’d called for a special meeting as a result of the tower controversy, but felt the greater board wasn’t committing to attend. Joseph said she was made to feel incompetent in front of school officials over communication issues.
“You’re making me look like I don’t pay attention or don’t know what I’m talking about,” she told trustees.
Joseph is new to the board and didn’t have full understanding of the previous talks, or lack of talks, town officials had with the school. Joseph said she feels strongly her role as an elected official is to work for the community. She feels awkward that she defended the town board in reaching out to the school board, if it did not clearly or transparently do so regrading the new cell tower.
Mayor Paula Brown said she’d met with Superintendent Clint Wytulka twice, but no school board representatives came to town meetings. And, she said the town would’ve sent someone to school board meetings, if they’d asked. She said she’d extended a branch through email.
Town trustees had some debate on whether the new tower would have various antennas or not, but the plans don’t show that. Joseph, president of Nucla-Naturita Telephone Company (NNTC), said up to three carriers could be on Nucla’s new tower with various attachments visible.
“We have got to make sure we are sharing information and backing each other up,” Joseph told fellow trustees.
The mayor said she was worried that Tooker and Joseph were going to pit the town board against the school board. Tooker told the mayor she’d already done that by placing the tower where she did.
“You had a chance to move the tower,” Tooker said. “You’ve done nothing to move it. The next step is to pay for testing.”
Tooker said the town should’ve made Vertical Bridge, the tower company, apply for a conditional use permit, not a building permit. Then, public hearings, public notices and more would’ve been required.
Trustees discussed it could’ve cost as much as $150,000 of town money to move the tower; Tooker said the school may lose that or more, if kids withdraw from the district over the tower. Pierce said kids withdraw for various reasons and the school lost out on funding from his kids, because he didn’t send them to public school.
Tooker said it’s important to remember the school community was left to believe the location was the brush dump, but that spot was moved for whatever reason, and quickly and quietly.
Pierce said if the tower is truly a health hazard, location is irrelevant.
Tooker said the tower also affects small businesses like NNTC. She and Joseph want the board to support local business. Tooker added the board needs to look at strategic plans and goals.
She still wants the town to negotiate getting out of the cell tower contract.
Meeting dates are to be announced.
