City of Fort Collins
Larimer County
Submitted on Sun, 03/02/2025 - 12:58 from https://www.larimer.gov/bocc
Submitted by: Anonymous
Submitted values are:
MessageI am seeking desperate help toward several factors of my rural 35 acers located in northern Larimer County Colorado at address 6808 East County Road 92 Carr, Colorado 80612. My wife and I have owned the land since July 1995 and then once I retired from a 22 year, plus career in the the U.S. Marine Corps in 2010, we built our dream home in the country for peace and quiet; only to find out our neighbors had turned a once quiet and peaceful area into a commercial biosolids facility and wasteland.
I live approximately one mile northwest of the Interstate 25, Carr exit 293; this is the last exit before entering Wyoming. My situation is unique in that my property is completely surrounded by property owned by our neighbor that is oddly the City of Fort Collins (to include near Soapstone Prairie Natural Area and Meadow Springs Ranch Utility that contains the biosolids waste facility utility https://www.fcgov.com/utilities/what-we-do/wastewater/treating-wastewater/biosolids; used to spread human waste from sewer treatment plants in Fort Collins).
Other than the horribly mismanaged state of dilapidated fences, human waste smell, excessive potholed/wash boarded dusty roads from excessive use by large 18-wheeler human waste loaded truck/trailers and human waste spreading equipment and continuing high level of trash/hazardous waste piled on the side of the road and adjacent property owned by City of Fort Collins, now I have an infestation of prairie dogs from all four sides of my property, again owned by City of Fort Collins property. I managed to work with Weld County and CDOT to assist in many aspects mentioned above due to lack of response from City of Fort Collins and Larimer County after calling and leaving voice messages and emails that went nowhere seemingly; however, one area that was the largest struggle was the rodent infestation and the road conditions that results in human waste spillage along my easement, excessive dust from large commercial vehicles that is also mixed with human waste that possess a potential health hazard and a once paved road that was turned into a gravel/magnesium chloride based road bed that is never managed or inadequately managed. The City of Fort Collins also has an illegally placed cattle guard on my property that they will not even acknowledge several requests to remove that prevents me from access a portion of my property as it is locked.
I made several calls starting in spring of 2023 to many departments within the City of Fort Collins to aid in managing their property, specifically as it applies to the devastating effects left by the many hundreds and now thousands of prairie dogs emerging from their property to my property with zero help or apparent concern. When researching pest control, all companies state that countering and controlling rodent infestation requires a collective management from neighbors; however, in my case I couldn’t seem to attain one return call or contact from anyone at the City of Fort Collins after many attempts. I finally made some progress from a Ms. Jessica Callen from the Larimer County office who contacted the Biologist’s office, but still the main issue is City of Fort Collins and their non-responsiveness and clear lack of concern. As a bit a background, the workers at the bio-solids facility have been pretty good “neighbors”, but their limited in budget and ability. I had lost contact information with the manager at the biosolids facility due to turn over, so I had no contact info either.
Approximately 7-8 years ago we had a much smaller prairie dog infestation and incursion to my property from the eastern boundary of City of Fort Collins property that was adjudicated from CSU through fumigation control. Starting in 2023 and into 2024 and now 2025 we have again had a much larger and more severe infestation. I did call the same CSU contact number (from summer of 2015-2016) and they stated they were no longer working in the office and indicated they didn’t believe they would perform and counter measures partially due to the release of the protected black-footed ferret near Soapstone. So, I had to start from scratch to request assistance and have been fighting for over a year now to gain aid in dealing with this devastating overrun of rodents on my property. Again, months of calling and leaving messages with the property owner has yielded zero response. I then called Larimer County and received some guidance and help that eventually gained some limited movement.
I finally started receiving calls from areas within the City of Fort Collins and Colorado Fish Parks and Wildlife. We initially were visited by Ms. Rebecca Boyce (Wildlife Biologist, Northeast Region) for her assessment and she took that information back to hear leadership, which seemingly was provided to members of the City of Fort Collins contacted us soon after in approximately July 2024. In late July/August of 2024, after sever damage to our property had already occurred from now hundreds, possibly thousands of prairie dogs on our property, the City of Fort Collins Bio Solids facility manger Ms. Jennifer Ward, and the Director, Plant Operations Water Reclamation & Biosolids Ms. Christina Schroeder met us at our property. We went over several factors to include road conditions (roughness, lack of maintenance, excessive dust, widening of the easement road that now extends into our usable property grass for grazing, transporting human biosolids waste along my easement (uncovered, that is illegal) and thus I end up with human waste on the road and also in my tires), cattle guard located on our property and the locked gate preventing access to portions of my property, the fact that our easement road used to be a paved highway 87 and now is a horribly maintained dirt road, fences falling down everywhere, trash along their property (unsightly), the smell of the human waste, the spillage of human waste on the easement road and having to wash it out of our tires repeatedly and often, and lastly the devastation of the prairie dog infestation due to the lack of management of their surrounding property. Not only is it destroying our grass pasture and causes a potential health hazard as prairie dogs can and do carry the plague, one of our horses also stepped into a prairie dog hole and severally injured her foot/ankle, leading to her not being sound anymore.
My northern portion of my property/pasture (about 15-17 acers) looks like the surface of the moon, there is virtually no grass left and more than 100 holes from prairie dogs. I am unable to release my horses (total two (2)) as one suffered a leg injury from stepping in a prairie dog hole and also due to a concern with colic due to very little to no grass left as the prairie dogs have “scorched earthed” the pasture. This also leads to a much larger cost to feed my livestock based on the devastation of my available grazing pasture coupled with a real health risk to my animals and potentially myself and my wife. The remaining acreage used as pasture, that has never had prairie dog incursion, is now littered with more than a dozen holes and new holes emerge every day. I now am also concerned as I have prairie dogs mere feet from my house and the concern for disease (specifically plague) is a real risk at this point. At the conclusion of the visit, it was understood that the City of Fort Collins would take steps to correct their gross mismanagement and ultimately correct the damage to our property. We were told they were taking steps already to repair and replace fencing issues and have done so to some degree. We were informed by Ms. Ward in October of 2024 that burrowing owl survey was complete and the ferret survey would commence now and will continue for a few weeks. We heard nothing going into February of 2025 and only because we observed a neighbor south of us and across county road 92 receiving what appeared to be some form of prairie dog mitigation. We contacted our neighbor and found out that indeed that he had contracted the company the City of Fort Collins had perform the studies and contacted potential mitigation of the prairie dogs. Our neighbor told us it was $155 an hour for a minimum of 40 ours to start mitigation! We then contacted Ms. Ward and Ms. Schreder as to when Smith Environmental and Engineering would start on our property to correct the damage and infestation caused by the City of Fort Collins and their gross negligence. Ms. Schreder then informed me via email after several attempts to contact her that the City of Fort Collins would not be performing any mitigation using Smith Environmental and Engineering and that we were on our own. I then contacted Smith Environmental and Engineering and was provided an initial bid form of $6,200 and he stated “We only bill for time on site. 40 hours is not enough to clear 35 acres but it is enough to really knock back the population. We can add hours if you want, or we can reduce hours depending on your budget.” As a 100% disabled veteran, my resources are limited. I, as well as my neighbors who are also affected by this disaster are now incurring costs that we cannot take on and all because of the absolute and utter gross management and negligence from my neighbor who has vast resources as a government agency but seemingly has little to no concern and ability to properly mange large tracks of land.
Any assistance and or guidance toward adjudication of this issue would be appreciated.
Imagine serving your country and retired to your dream home for solitude and peace and quiet, only to be faced with constant issues ranging from the horrific smell of human waste and I have to wash it from my tires weekly, and having your family face two potential severe health hazards. The City also bought the southern 35 acres out from under me as I had asked the previous neighbors for first right of refusal; however, I was deployed out of state (Active-duty Marine Corps at the time) and the City bought it and then rented the property out to other neighbors and refused to let me use or have access. Lastly when the previous mentioned property was being rented out, the cattle destroyed my fence and no compensation was given or has ever been given to date. There are other smaller issues of mismanagement, but the health hazards and destruction are of the highest concern.
Your Name
Scott A Fortenberry
Phone
9705686434
Your Email
sc410...@gmail.com
sc410...@gmail.com
John,
Thank you for your response and ay assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Scott and Christine Fortenberry
6808 East County Road 92, Carr Co 80612
From: John Kefalas <kefa...@co.larimer.co.us>
Sent: Monday, March 3, 2025 18:14
To: sc410...@gmail.com
Subject: Re: City of Fort Collins
Hello Scott,
Thank you for bringing this unfortunate matter to my attention, and I am sorry for all that you and your wife have been enduring regarding the biosolids operation, the prairie dog situation and your interactions with the City of Fort Collins. I am glad that Ms. Jess Callen was able to provide some assistance when you folks interacted, and he works with the LC Extension Office as our Agriculture and Natural Resources Specialist. I will follow up tomorrow with our county manager when we meet to discuss your concerns and possible courses of action to see if we can help with the communication between you folks and the City of Fort Collins to address these issues. In the meantime, feel free to call me on my cell phone (listed below) to discuss further as there is a lot to unpack in your email. Be well.
| John Kefalas (he/him) County Commissioner, District 1 |
Commissioners' Office 200 W Oak St | 2nd Floor PO Box 1190, Fort Collins, CO 80522-1190 Cell: (720) 254-7598 |
Scott Fortenberry
Wow, that is immensely disappointing. One family against an entire City Givernment, who can stand a chance, but seems to be the way of things. Good people always finish last in this world.
Hello Scott,I reached out to our county manager and the City of FC, and I've concluded that ultimately this matter is between you and the city; the county does not have any jurisdiction, and based on their information, they've addressed and clarified at least some of the issues such as the fence repair.
sc410...@gmail.com
Mr. Kefalas,
Just following up after receiving no support in the below matter as your constituent within District 1. I understand you ultimately took the unsubstantiated word of the City of Fort Collins over our request for assistance; however, it has ultimately been discovered that this is not “just” a private matter between my wife and I as tax paying private citizens of Larimer County and that of a tax-exempt overburdening entity, that being the City of Fort Collins. It appears that the City of Fort Collins enjoys an elevated status over private citizens in all matters. I just hope the next Commissioner for District 1 will take a complete review of requests for help in the future and not the unsubstantiated word of a City of Fort Collins personnel and their ongoing bullying tactics. To be completely correct, yes, the City of Fort Collis did adjudicate some aspects of the original request / complaint by using deceptive and pseudo legal tactics in stalling long enough to allow statute of limitations to run out and key excuses of “it was before my time” (even though the City of Fort Collin has been around since the 1870s). And yes, the City continues to show they are not liable for damage from their tenants, even though they can’t produce a lease agreement or the name of the individual they allowed to use their land and ultimately destroyed thousands of dollars of our property. And they don’t stand behind verbal statements/contracts and only abide by written proof, I guess Colorado and Larimer County are no longer a verbal contract sate/County. So yes, they sure did “take care of it”.
The City of Fort Collin’s assertion that they took care of the matters and their utterly and completely false assertion that the land in question that is overly burden and used by the City of Fort Collins is public and thus the City can do whatever they want and however they want is categorically false. The City continues, almost weekly, spill human waste along the westerly property line easement that is both our private land and also a public right of way as well as public County Road 92, so Larimer Couty does have jurisdiction, even though they choose not to involve themselves and protect their constituents and allow City of Fort Collins to go unchecked. Larimer County Health and Safety was supposed to produce a report and work on mitigation; however, no word has been provided since April of this year. The City continues to drive their uncovered human waste spreading trucks along our private road and the County’s public right of way and on County Road 92, again unchecked. The City of Fort Collins destroyed/altered a once paved road bed without permit or permission of a public right of way within Larimer County’s jurisdiction and now that road is no longer a properly built all weather road required by Larimer County standards. The City of Fort Collins also damaged/destroyed a public corner land survey monument marker that used to be a class 2 misdemeanor and yet again Larimer County stands by and does nothing. I wasn’t aware that the City of Fort Collins was above the law. It also appears that the City can place obstacles at will within the public right of way without fear of reprisal. Can you please direct me to any state, county or local laws and or statutes that allows the City of Fort Collins, outside their own jurisdiction, to be essentially lawless and block public and private access?
It is very troubling to see that lack of concern in this matter, I am genuinely shocked and taken aback by how a rogue département within the City of Fort Collins outside its jurisdiction can seemingly destroy public and private land/property coupled with blocking access to property and those who are elected to protect private constituents stand by and do nothing.
I am glad I served my country for 22 plus years only to come home to Colorado be treated like hot garbage, but I guess it is to be expected now.
Scott and Christine Fortenberry
6808 East County Road 92
From: Scott Fortenberry <sc410...@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2025 17:32
To: John Kefalas <kefa...@co.larimer.co.us>
Subject: Re: City of Fort Collins
Wow, that is immensely disappointing. One family against an entire City Givernment, who can stand a chance, but seems to be the way of things. Good people always finish last in this world.
On Sat, Mar 15, 2025, 16:43 John Kefalas <kefa...@co.larimer.co.us> wrote:
Hello Scott,
I reached out to our county manager and the City of FC, and I've concluded that ultimately this matter is between you and the city; the county does not have any jurisdiction, and based on their information, they've addressed and clarified at least some of the issues such as the fence repair.
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sc410...@gmail.com
Mr. Kefalas,
First, thank you for responding and quickly, it is appreciated.
The following are our desired outcomes:
- Removal of the obstacle within the public right-of-way (ROW) easement of Larimer County (also known as old/former U.S. Highway 87/185), which also includes our private land.
- We just had a Legal Lot review of our property 6808 East County Road 92 Carr, CO 80612-9506 / also identified by the Larimer County Assessor’s office as Parcel Number 8113000003 conducted by Larimer County Community Development, Planning on 24 June 2025. After the continued assertion by City of Fort Collins stating their review of selected records made it clear to them that our westerly property that is made up of the former U.S. Highway 87/185 was owned out right as a fee simple ownership by Larimer County, we were concerned we no longer owning a legal lot property, that being over 35 acers. As well, we purchased the property in 1995 with the understanding it was 35 acers and also have paid taxes against a 35 acre parcel for 30 years. Ultimately it has been determined by Larimer County that the City of Fort Collin’s assertions were categorically false due to the actual full facts that our property was created in 1992 as a full legal lot parcel of 35 or more acers. Larimer County Planning’s statement is as follows “Larimer County holds right-of-way interest in easement, not fee simple ownership, therefore the land within the right-of-way easement is not owned by Larimer County…” Therefore, the City of Fort Collins has placed an obstacle made up of a locked gate, cattle guard, and cattle guard concrete in-ground foundation illegally on our property as well as within the public ROW. This set of obstacles blocks us from access to our own property and also blocks the public ROW access.
- Beyond the simple fact that the City of Fort Collins places and continues to not remove the obstacles after several requests over a 30 year period, the obstacle places a potential legal liability issue for both us and Larimer County due to its location and any damage to personnel and or property on the illegally placed obstacle is troubling when coupled with the fact that the City of Fort Collins places no control from county road 92 to stop trespassers and have stated they would not and will not even as a private easement (if the ROW were to be vacated) and have asked us to carry special liability insurance for them to use it.
- Halt all human feces / human waste transport across the public ROW/private land as well as along Larimer County East County Road 92.
- After several requests to the City of Fort Collins as well as a set of formal request via certified letter to the Mayor’s office and the City of Fort Collins City Council, the City of Fort Collins continues to spill human waste along the ROW and our private land. We continue to attain human feces in our tires and have to deal with the smell.
b. The spillage continues at the intersection of Larimer County East County Road 92 and the ROW (formally U.S. highway 87/185). This poses additional issues and potential health risk from exposure to biosolids/human waste to the school children waiting to catch the bus at this location and also anyone collecting mail at the same intersection location. Regardless of the assertion by the City of Fort Collin’s to us personally stating that biosolids are perfectly safe and providing literature to this assertion, I am not willing to endure continued exposure to a known human health risk.
i. Class B biosolids have undergone treatment that has reduced but not eliminated pathogens. By definition, Class B biosolids may contain pathogens. As a result, Federal regulations for use of Class B biosolids require additional measures to restrict public access and to limit livestock grazing for specified time periods after land application [40 CFR Part 503].
ii. Whereas EPA rules [40 CFR Part 503] restrict public access to lands treated with Class B biosolids in order to protect public health, these rules do not apply to workers involved with Class B biosolids handling and land application.
- Several requests were sent to Larimer County Health & Environment and it had seemed we were making progress in mitigation and advocation to assist in this ongoing human health risk to the public at large; however, I have been unable to attain a response from anyone at the Larimer County Public Health department since April 10th when a final report was supposed to be completed in the following weeks, but alas, nothing. I called a couple times and no one answered. So, I sent an email 5 June notifying the department of another spill along the ROW/private land and also asked about the status of the report and possible mitigation that the City of Fort Collins would have to take. Again nothing. I called yet again on June 30th and left a message with the supervisor within Public Health and have heard nothing back.
- We observed another spillage on approximately 30 June as well. This continues to show a pattern of misconduct by the City of Fort Collins. They have done nothing to stop/prevent any spills. I was informed by Larimer County Health that one potential mitigation would be covering their vehicles, that has not been done as we observe almost daily the trucks passage along the ROW with uncovered spreading vehicles.
- At this point, I don’t see how the City of Fort Collins can be trusted not to spill and continue causing a health risk to the public and private land. Colorado’s own regulations on biosolids require altering routes along public and private land to lower risk and not to place un undue burden; but not the City of Fort Collins, same routes all day every day.
- Require the City of Fort Collins to return the public right of way, that was U.S Highway 87/185, to its former asphalt base before being destroyed/altered by the City of Fort Collins.
- When we purchased the property in 1995, one of the key factors of the property besides being secluded and quiet was knowing it had a durable asphalt-based road for access to our own property from Larimer County East County Road 92. Also, during the purchase, it was not known that there was a commercial biosolids facility being developed, nor a commercial level grazing business that would overly burden our private land and the access ROW road. Up until 2015/2016, Larimer County used professional equipment and personnel to maintain and patch the road and yes apply some gravel to areas that had deteriorate over time since abandonment of the U.S Highway in 1964. Unfortunately, the City of Fort Collins, did knowingly destroy the once asphalt-based road in 2016 without permit and/or permission from all the private land owners nor did they attain a proper permit and permission from Larimer County as having jurisdiction and holding interest in the public right of way easement.
i. The road, unknowing to us, was modified to an attempted dirt/gravel road that was an epic failure as it was turned into a sticky dirt mess for nearly three weeks that took hours and entire weekends to clean essentially sticky dirt/gravel from underneath vehicles by hand as car washing undercarriage didn’t work. I spent 30 plus hours cleaning by hand all my vehicles over this masterpiece of failure by the City of Fort Colins. Then after addressing with the manager of the biosolids facility, the City of Fort Collins attempted to correct their catastrophe and made it a simple dirt road, but exceedingly hardened that makes in nearly impossible to grade without professional grading equipment.
- The road is after nearly ten years severely pot-holed; wash boarded in areas and now due to not being modified to correct standards (center peak with a 3-to-4-degree cross slope with proper drainage), the road is flat in many areas and collects water and floods every time it rains or snows.
- Due to the removal of the asphalt road base and not building the road correctly or with a permit to ensure proper modification, the erosion has become a safety issue and a burden. Rain and snow melt no longer disperses evenly along the road, it now runs down the hill portion of the road and washing significant material and dirt into our property and killing our much-needed pasture grass as well as sluffing road material into our driveway entrance that requires maintenance every time it rains or snows; this never happened before the public ROW road was modified by the City of Fort Collins. We can observe the constant erosion on the slope of the road as we see road material now sometimes 20 to 30 plus feet down into our pasture.
- In the dry months and especially summer, the dust has become horrible and also has contributed to observed grass death along our entire westerly property that is combined with the non-treated/maintained public right of way easement road. When the dust is coupled with ongoing and unchecked human waste spillage along the same road, the health risk is potentially significant.
- Replace the destroyed southwest corner property marker
- When the City of Fort Collins modified/destroyed the ROW easement road in 2016, they also destroyed our corner property marker. Our property marker was visible and flush with the asphalt from the most recent survey conducted in August of 2016 (part of Larimer County public records provided by us), and then when the public ROW easement road was illegally modified, without permission and/or permit by the City of Fort Collins, our property marker was no longer visible and could not be located, at least not by us. According to the City’s own survey conducted just this year (see attached), the marker is reported as found but bent and no cap. Even though representatives from the City of Fort Collins keep stating over and over “that was before my time” we would like to see the City of Fort Collins held accountable for their destruction of the road and property marker at the very least.
- I also find it odd that they would not repair the known damaged marker that they knowingly destroyed and yet place new survey markers on other parts of our private property without permission.
- Require the City of Fort Collins to remove survey markers from our property line
- The City of Fort Collins was observed placing two survey markers both labeled with a yellow plastic cap of “LS 31169” and placed on our southern and northern property lines approximately 75 feet within our westerly property line corners from the June 6th observed City of Fort Collins personnel survey placement. I don’t know why or who gave them permission to due this. I could be wrong, but I didn’t think the City of Fort Collins had jurisdiction in Larimer County to place property markers, correct me if I am wrong. Either way, there is not a valid reason to place these markers except from the continued and utterly false assertion by the City of Fort Collins that we somehow don’t own our own private land. I have asked the City of Fort Collins to remove them, but have not heard anything back.
- Request that our portion of the current interest of Larimer County’s public right of way easement along our private land that is approximately 1,857 feet be vacated.
- Our westerly property line is a total of 1867.26 feet (2016 survey measurement). The current public right of way established by quit claim deed dated October 26 1936 is only approximately 1,857 feet. Even now, the City of Fort Collins and is vast number of commercial vehicles and tenant leasing personnel use approximately ten feet of our property that they both use without permission and also block us from using via a locked gate and fencing. As the City of Fort Collins is unwilling to acknowledge this well-established fact and provide any compensation to us as the overly burden estate, coupled with their mismanagement and destruction of both private and public property, we ask it to be vacated. Also, adding to the concerns and issues is the continued health risk their activities pose though human waste spillage, we ask that they no longer be entrusted with access across our private land without our permission and that of the current public right-of-way. We also will not be accepting a private easement establishment for the same concerns once it becomes a private land without a public access via vacating process. Also, the current public ROW easement road does not fit the definition of a public road as it doesn’t go to anything public. It only goes to three private property owners and is also a dead-end road as it is blocked by a private obstacle owned by the City of Fort Collins.
i. We would offer that the City of Fort Collins and their enormously vast tax-free land holdings well beyond 50,000 plus acers and counting throughout Larimer and Weld Counties alone and outside of their jurisdiction of the City of Fort Collins city limit, not to mention just the 26,600 acers of tax-free land that makes up the former Meadows Spring Ranch has several access points to and from both East County Road 92 in Larimer County, Weld County Road 126, which is actually closer to I-25 access back to the City of Fort Collins, and also the I-25 frontage road. They also could use the easement road from the northern private property to the vast land holdings and biosolids facility. They also have several roads into their land and biosolids facility all along East County Road 92; however, just as this ROW old Highway 87 road is unmaintained/mis maintained by them, they also can’t manage properly large land holding and the roads needed to access their own property. All the mismanagement and health issues they pose by using the road and not paying tazes for commercial level use across county road 126 and County Road 92 as well as the public ROW/Private properties should make them ineligible for ongoing use. Their tax fee commercial traffic and side hustle grazing association leasing business also adds an undue burden to everyone along East County Road 92 and also on the current public right of way. We would ask that they be forced to use another route as is required by their Colorado Regulation for biosolids transport and for the safety of the community. Ultimately it would be preferred that they use their billion-dollar budget to construct their own private road in and out of their facilities. We even offered to trade/sell the current ROW (once vacated) as part of our property so they would have unobstructed/unvetted private access to the 26,600 acer Biosolids Facility and it would alleviate many if not all the issues as they would have their own private road in exchange for a portion of what is the 6950 East County Road property to our south. We were willing to move the fence at our cost and build our own private driveway across the acquired portion and we would then each have our own private roads, but they were absolutely not interested. Instead, they provided a draft private road access agreement that essentially uses the same status quo (in their mind) and bullying tactics that they will do whatever and to whomever they want. This recommendation is insulting at best and we fear reprisal and continued bulling tactics by a municipality that has lost sight of the fact they don’t have unchecked jurisdiction out here and the land that the right of way exists on is on private land and is still a privilege to use and not a right. It would be preferred to retain the approximate 1084 feet of public ROW easement road contained on City of Fort Collins held land (assuming they own the land but not sure, if they actually had a legal lot review conducted by Larimer County vice cherry picking inaccurate data for their own gain based in utter falsehood)) so we would retain uninhibited access (as a land locked property) to the Larimer East County Road 92 with undue cost ( we are out tens of thousands already) to us from the City of Fort Collins or other demonstrated demonstrative actions by the same.
ii. We also have no interest in establishing a vague open-ended multi-use private easement if the public ROW is vacated. There is no reason for our new westerly neighbor (not the City) to use or have assess across our private land, but this seemingly is so the City can attempt to use deceptive tactics to try and establish keeping the road as is for access to multiple property owners (20 feet wide, etc.). It needs to be clear that the westerly property has connected land and already established driveway to East County Road 92, they don’t need a second easement across a portion of my property as a second driveway as they are NOT landlocked. As there is 75 feet of current ROW attached with the western private property owner and also 150 across the City’s property (they own both southern properties to the west and east of former U.S. Highway 87) to the south of us, if our land was vacated of the public ROW, it would still give yet another potential access point for the City as they could use the current land with the neighbor they want to drag into this matter for a private easement and we could be left out of this on-going nightmare other than to have continued access to East County Road 92 across their property either as a retain public ROW or a no-cost private easement. Again, we would rather there only be a vacating of our property so the City can’t use demonstrative tactics to bully us into something.
- Signage as a Private Road on corner of public ROW and East County Road 92
- This may seem counter intuitive as the road is currently a Public ROW; however, there is a need for a private road sign placed on intersection of Larimer County Road 92 and the pseudo private easement that would comply with Larimer County Road Standards at City of Fort Collins cost. We incur significant numbers of people driving on the ROW road and then turn around at the City of Fort Collins gate as there is not proper turn out established as is required for easement roads. This causes damage to our property and that of the public right of way’s shoulder and causes erosion and significant grass is killed as well as trash that is left, to include people using the dead-end road as personal rest top and toilet.
- Ask the City of Fort Collins to repair the utility easement access for the Nunn Telephone Company access panel
- Nunn Telephone Company established a utility easement across our private land that is also part of the public ROW. When the City of Fort Collins again went on their own program and destroyed the road and also widened the 18-foot road to 21-23 feet without permission or permit, they again showed their lack of concern and buried and potentially damaged the access panel for the Nunn Telephone Company.
- Add a 35-mph speed limit sign within the public right of way as City of Fort Collins and their tenants have been observed and video taped going well above 55 mph causing undue wear and tear to the road and causing significant dust upheaval that covers our property, causing damage and potential health issues/risks.
My wife and I do understand that the County Commissioners/Managers can’t intervene in private matters such as the nearly $15,000 of damage to our private property due to the City of Fort Collin’s gross mismanagement from an epidemic that went unchecked for two years even with significant work in forcing them to take action or provide compensation for over $10,000 worth of property damage from them and their tenants (but will not provide the names and lease agreements to seek compensation), or blocking us from our private property separate from the public right of way, but I am trying to just shed light how the insidious tactics and horrid treatment the City of Fort Collins wealds on its rural neighbors. We would ask your help in matters that affect public health and the current public ROW by stopping the City of Fort Collins from spilling human waste on our private land and also public access roads and attached county roads used by everyone. I would ask that the County Authority reassess the City’s private holdings outside of City limits in the form of essentially private business and tens of thousands of acers established for commercial use that was once zoned for open /ag/farm use and now are commercial business. I would also ask that the City’s vast land holdings be reassessed from tax exempt status as their activities and significant commercial use of all the roads and areas throughout the County places an undue tax burden on the private citizens of the County. We are lucky to have East County Road 92’s 2 plus miles maintained once a year, but it is degraded rapidly by the City and other tax exempt entities at a vastly higher level than that of the County 92 private citizens and yet our taxes increase and in part because of the continued tax exempt from such large land holdings, specifically the City of Fort Collins and not acting as a public municipality but rather as a private company.
Again, thank you for your time in the matter. Please don’t hesitate to call us if you want if you want to talk this out in person or over the phone.
Scott and Christine Fortenberry
6808 East County Road 92
Carr, CO 80612-9506
(970) 568-6434 / (760) 415-4860
From: John Kefalas <kefa...@co.larimer.co.us>
Sent: Sunday, July 6, 2025 14:41
To: sc410...@gmail.com
Cc: 8thdi...@co.larimer.co.us; david....@coloradoan.com; rebecc...@coloradoan.com; vol...@co.larimer.co.us; kadr...@co.larimer.co.us; healthcomm...@larimer.org; comment...@state.co.us; Sydney McLeod <mcle...@co.larimer.co.us>; tim.l...@state.co.us; Fox News <sup...@foxnews.zendesk.com>; Rep. Smith <lesley.sm...@coleg.gov>; R8EISC <R8E...@epa.gov>; janice.marc...@coleg.gov
Subject: Re: City of Fort Collins
Hello Scott & Christine,
I went back and re-read the original 3/2 email that we received from you folks and the various email exchanges, especially the most recent one. I wish to validate your frustration, and it appears that very little has changed with your situation and the City of FC wastewater treatment biosolids facility that is adjacent to your property. I acknowledge your complaints and the updated information since we last communicated in March, and I will follow up again with our county manager and the appropriate staff. I respectfully request that you provide me with your specific, desired outcomes to resolve this unfortunate situation and how you see the county's role in helping to resolve this matter. For the various complaints and concerns, what would you folks like to see happen. That would help a lot. Thank you.
|
sc410...@gmail.com
Mr. Kefalas,
I didn’t want this going to all Cc’d, but attached is the recent Legal Lot description we attained from Larimer County Planning.
Again, thank you for your attention in this matter.
Scott and Christine Fortenberry
6808 East County Road 92
Carr, CO 80612-9506
(970) 568-6434 / (760) 415-4860
From: John Kefalas <kefa...@co.larimer.co.us>
Sent: Sunday, July 6, 2025 14:41
To: sc410...@gmail.com
Cc: 8thdi...@co.larimer.co.us; david....@coloradoan.com; rebecc...@coloradoan.com; vol...@co.larimer.co.us; kadr...@co.larimer.co.us; healthcomm...@larimer.org; comment...@state.co.us; Sydney McLeod <mcle...@co.larimer.co.us>; tim.l...@state.co.us; Fox News <sup...@foxnews.zendesk.com>; Rep. Smith <lesley.sm...@coleg.gov>; R8EISC <R8E...@epa.gov>; janice.marc...@coleg.gov
Subject: Re: City of Fort Collins
Hello Scott & Christine,
I went back and re-read the original 3/2 email that we received from you folks and the various email exchanges, especially the most recent one. I wish to validate your frustration, and it appears that very little has changed with your situation and the City of FC wastewater treatment biosolids facility that is adjacent to your property. I acknowledge your complaints and the updated information since we last communicated in March, and I will follow up again with our county manager and the appropriate staff. I respectfully request that you provide me with your specific, desired outcomes to resolve this unfortunate situation and how you see the county's role in helping to resolve this matter. For the various complaints and concerns, what would you folks like to see happen. That would help a lot. Thank you.
|
John Kefalas (he/him) County Commissioner, District 1 |
Commissioners' Office 200 W Oak St | 2nd Floor PO Box 1190, Fort Collins, CO 80522-1190 Cell: (720) 254-7598 |
Scott Fortenberry
Thank you Scott, and I am in the process of reading your detailed email; will discus again with our county manager.
Scott Fortenberry
Hello Scott,The county manager (Lorenda Volker) and I have referred your detailed email to our county attorney, and he and his team are consulting with the road and bridge and public health folks. Some of the issues you raise have legal implications so they are carefully reviewing your nine issues and will provide us with a response to each of the issues. Once we have that review and analysis, we will provide a response regarding the county's role and jurisdiction in helping to address your concerns. Thank you.
sc410...@gmail.com
John,
We headed to town today and observed another human waste spillage along our private property and that of the County public ROW. We reported the spillage to Jennifer Ward as per the City’s request, but now they are now seemingly demanding evidence of spills of human waste on the road, which we provided on our return home and have now acknowledged. The two provided pics are just a couple of the spots; there was more than a dozen small marble, to golf ball sized samples. The three or four we ran over were about the size of a softball or fist.
I would like to make it clear in that we don’t actively monitor the road every day and every time we see the spreader trucks drive the route uncovered. This was due to driving to Cheyenne today and running it over (a set of very large chunks of waste and we were required to smell the waste all the way to town and back home. I had to wash the entire set of tires and wheels wells as it sprayed over all the wheel well and was incased in the tire’s treads on all for tires in several spots. This is what we have dealt with for over two years and almost three now.
Scott and Christine Fortenberry
6808 East County Road 92
Carr, CO 80612-9506
(970) 568-6434 / (760) 415-4860
From: John Kefalas <kefa...@co.larimer.co.us>
Sent: Tuesday, July 8, 2025 17:16
To: Scott Fortenberry <sc410...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: City of Fort Collins
Hello Scott,
The county manager (Lorenda Volker) and I have referred your detailed email to our county attorney, and he and his team are consulting with the road and bridge and public health folks. Some of the issues you raise have legal implications so they are carefully reviewing your nine issues and will provide us with a response to each of the issues. Once we have that review and analysis, we will provide a response regarding the county's role and jurisdiction in helping to address your concerns. Thank you.
| John Kefalas (he/him) County Commissioner, District 1 |
Commissioners' Office 200 W Oak St | 2nd Floor PO Box 1190, Fort Collins, CO 80522-1190 Cell: (720) 254-7598 |
Scott Fortenberry
Thank you for this additional information, Scott, that I am sharing with the appropriate county staff.
sc410...@gmail.com
John,
We had a very minor storm yesterday, but the attached pics do show the run off to the eastern side of the ROW road toward our property only after the City’s modification to the road. We never had this issue until 2016 and the modification to the road. This is a slight example of the rain that floods our driveway each and every time. Heavier moisture completely washes out and needs constant repair.
