ALAMOSA —Alamosa County Commissioners' regular meeting on Aug. 14 had a full agenda. Highlights included an update on bicycle use in the county, concealed gun carry in county facilities, and a moratorium on skilled gaming.
Bicycles
Annie Altwarg with the Alamosa Bicycle Working Group gave the commissioners an overview of biking in the county.
Atlwarg's comments included that the group advocates for projects to make it safer, easier, and more accessible to bike, roll, and walk in the Alamosa region. The working group raises public awareness that there are ways to make local roads safer for all road users and support a culture of destigmatizing people who walk, bike or roll as their transportation mode.
The group works with local governments to build infrastructure that considers all road users and supports projects that allow people to choose how they get around legitimately. According to Altwarg, numerous factors contributed to the formation of the Alamosa Bicycle Working Group.
SLV GO! has long advocated for bicycling by building and maintaining mountain bike trails, offering weekly bike rides through health and wellness programming, supporting The Rattlers Mountain Bike Team, and encouraging youth cycling via the Generation Wild Programming.
Altwarg described active transportation and bicycling as a form of recreation and transportation that started around the Heart of the Valley Trail. Initially envisioned in the 1970s, the Heart of the Valley Trail proposes a cross-valley multi-modal path connecting the San Luis Valley community for safe and enjoyable biking, walking, and rolling. Since then, SLV GO! has hired an Active Transportation Coordinator to advance the Heart of the Valley Concept and begin working on bicycles and all active transportation infrastructure within our communities.
Altwarg said the City of Alamosa received a $4.7 million grant from the United States Department of Transportation's Rebuilding America's Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (US DOT RAISE) program to advance safer and more accessible passage over the Rio Grande River, demonstrating the commitment to durable, active transportation infrastructure.
The Alamosa Bicycle Coalition has promoted safe biking in Alamosa since 2018. The non-profit ensures community members can access reliable biking gear and considers infrastructure a significant contributor to a safe biking culture.
Commissioner Arlan Van Ry commented, "This is a great project. It would be great to see bike racks at schools full...I think it is great that you are doing this." Commissioner Lori Laske added, "I still have my purple Schwinn with the banana seat."
Guns in county buildings
The commissioners discussed recent state legislation (SB 24-131) banning firearms in government buildings and the provision allowing local governments to opt out of the law.
Sheriff Robert Jackson recommended the commissioners postpone the item and discuss it at a work session, "This is a very controversial issue, and there are questions about law enforcement. Are you going to allow law enforcement? There is no verbiage [in the proposed resolution] about allowing on-duty law enforcement. Those kind of issues, I don't see that, and maybe you want to rethink it."
Jackson reminded the commissioners that the county complex is within the City of Alamosa and future discussions on the issue should include city officials.
Van Ry said that while in the military and on the school board, he has taken an oath to support the Constitution and fully supports the document, including the Second Amendment. It is this Amendment that allows citizens to keep and bear arms.
"The way the law stands right now is I'm not even allowed to protect myself. We don't have the opportunity to have a sheriff's deputy or the sheriff here all the time; we don't have metal detectors for people to go through like some county commissioners, so we are unprotected up here," said Van Ry.
"I can't say I have really strong feelings on this either way. What I have strong feelings about is legislators making rules and assuming it equals more safety and I don't think that's the truth," said Commissioner Vern Heersink, adding he was in favor of opting out.
Commissioner Laske said, "I believe this is bad policy when you look at this bill. 24-131 does allow local government to opt out. When I looked at the bill, it was not bipartisan and was only brought forward on one side of the House. Neither our Representative [Martinez] nor our Senator [Simpson] voted for it.
"The bill is vague, it is not specific, it does not talk about implementation, it was done at the very last moments [of session] so I'm concerned about those things and us implementing poor policy and poor bills that were brought about at the last [minute]," said Laske.
Skilled gaming
Alamosa County land use administrator Richard Hubler said that recently the County has received interest from a skilled gaming entrepreneur who is interested in operating here. Hubler said that the City of Alamosa recently passed a moratorium on skilled gaming. After a lengthy discussion regarding skilled gaming, the commissioners approved a moratorium on the activity.
