Resident raises transparency and retaliation concerns over Flying Hills arena during public comment

During the public-comment period Jan. 21, Tish Linky Crimpin addressed the board on behalf of herself and others with concerns about transparency and what she described as retaliatory actions surrounding the Flying Hills Arena project.

"The letter I received from the county last week is clearly adversarial, full of retaliation, unreasonable, and unprecedented," Crimpin told commissioners, and asked to be placed on the agenda for a longer, non-recorded workshop to present documentation she said had not been shared publicly. She said community members and organizations including BLM and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other local stakeholders had raised concerns that the county was not being transparent on the project.

Crimpin urged the board to allow more time for public presentation and evidence, saying she anticipated "further retaliation for me and my family, probably other Flying Hills board members." She asked for an agenda slot in a future meeting so she could present documents.

Later in the public comment period, Daniela Gosola of Granby said she supported relocating the rodeo arena closer to populated areas and raised a separate concern about health-insurance policy and prior participation by a county commissioner in a state enterprise board; Gosola said she remained without affordable health insurance and urged the commissioners to pursue affordability for county residents.

The commissioners did not take action on the requests during the public comment period; staff told Crimpin the clerk's office could try to accommodate a future agenda slot and noted that the public-comment rules limit speaker time to three minutes.