The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has approved the city’s request to give citizens more time to comment on Ultra Resources’ applications to drill on Banning Lewis Ranch.
The deadline to submit comments is now Jan. 17.
City Attorney Chris Melcher requested the time extension, city spokesman John Leavitt said Friday.
“It was just a matter of trying to give folks a sufficient amount of time to look at everything, consider whether they had any concerns or not, and if they did, they could go ahead and register those comments,” Leavitt said.
“Hopefully that gives them a sufficient amount of time to do it,” he said.
Citizens can leave comments and review Ultra’s applications on the commission’s website www.cogcc.state.co.us by clicking on “permits” and then by searching “pending applications” in El Paso County, the city said.
The City Council, which enacted a six-month moratorium on oil and gas exploration on Nov. 29, has asked the commission to wait to make a decision on Ultra’s two applications until local regulations are in place.
The city recently formed an Oil and Gas Committee to look at regulations for oil and gas exploration in Colorado Springs. The committee is expected to issue a report before the end of the six-month moratorium.
Thursday was the deadline to submit applications to serve on the committee.
Council members Val Snider, who will chair the committee, and Angela Dougan and Brandy Williams will be the only voting members of the committee.
Committee meetings, scheduled every Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., are slated to begin Jan. 26.
It seems to me if the City Council would spend as much time paying attention to the things it is suppose to do as it does the things it is not like murals, tennis courts, the USOC and trying to limit the citizens free speech they would not need the extension.
Looks like Val won the internal battle not to let our representative Tim Leigh be on the task force committee. It also looks like nothing has changed in that Angelia Dougan was left out of the decision making process and Lisa C’s criticisms also appear to be all true.
It is really sad to see Val intentionally block his fellow council members off of the committee. It will be really bad yet again to see another council member acting in his/her own personal interests to determine the makeup of yet another task force, like what was done to the military in the hospital task force.
All this is is yet another compromised politically fired city council committee delivering yet another self serving task force.
At some point these yahoos have to remember the Royal City Council was elected, not coronated by us to represent our interests and not theirs.
I hope they get their act together soon, grow up, put their personal vendettas aside and start thinking of what they can do to make the city a better place to live, rather than a political power Payton Place.
Lisa C is the only one who tells it like it is even though sometimes she sounds a little pissy. I guess I would too if I was stuck doing a job with impossible expectations, where people dislike and mistrust me, fellow councilmembers with agenda, and now because of the new charter no access to city staff. That girl should take all her graduate degrees and be an executive somewhere. City council is a joke.
We are going to end up getting stuck with Council members who don’t give a crap, who don’t respond to citizens, who are full of it and push there own agendas, and then these big mouthed ladies wont look so bad.
roy pocock…
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