At the Feb. 12 town board meeting in Nucla, Darla Joseph appeared before trustees. She said since she’s been with NNTC — which is the local internet and phone service provider — for so long she thought she had a better working relationship with the town.
She said the tower was a shock for her, and her business is just 100 yards away. She wished she’d been notified. She said NNTC could’ve submitted a bid for fiber as an option.
“I really feel that it’s businesses helping businesses in our small community that will allow us to stay here,” she said.
She added she’s not worried about competition, but that since NNTC helped contribute to the tax base for the last 80 years, it should’ve been brought to the attention of NNTC officials. And, she wonders how many trustees actually read the contract for the new cell tower. She said she could’ve helped look at it.
“I really wish NNTC could’ve been a part of that,” she said.
Jane Thompson, who lives across from the tower site, also appeared before trustees. She said she’s been sorting through agenda minutes. She wished she would’ve attended more town meetings in person. Still, she attends many other community meetings already and regularly speaks with trustees when she sees them out.
“It feels like it was hidden,” she said referring to the cell tower agreement.
Transparency is the issue, Thompson told trustees. The only minutes for 2024 on the town’s website from last year are for Jan. 10. She also said the one notice hanging in town hall for the cell tower had print so small nobody would notice it.
“It doesn’t get any finer print than that,” Thompson told trustees.
She still can’t figure out why the cell tower discussion was tabled for so long with no discussion last year, and then suddenly Oct. 23 the location was moved and it was unanimously approved.
Aimee Tooker also appeared before the board and said issues like the cell tower need to be posted online, in town and in other places. She added the Zoom option needs to be added to town meetings for citizens to be able to listen in to local government meetings.
Mike Zunich, Duane Tooker and Mark Powell are also concerned about health issues related to 5G microwave and more. Powell questions the tower’s proximity to the school and students.
Jamie O’Hern, also in attendance, criticized the town board for the work on the cell tower lease. She said Nucla got low-balled and didn’t attempt to negotiate or understand the details of the contract. She said the 50-year lease should factor in a better inflation rate. Rather than an 8% estimate, she said 18% is more accurate, according to modern-day economics. She said Nucla missed an opportunity to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars that could’ve benefited citizens.
O’Hern said she was feeling “more than disappointed.”
“You’re business owners and leaders,” she said. “You didn’t even understand what you were signing. You cost town a lot of money. … A lot of us are not happy.”
O’Hern, though, was on the agenda for an item regarding code enforcement and ordinances. She thinks the town has its priorities mixed up. While O’Hern is trying to make housing available in the regional housing crisis, she said town officials are writing her tickets, while simultaneously not paying attention to what outside investors could do.
At this point, Nucla has no cap on short-term rentals, which means long-term rentals could disappear and only exacerbate the existing housing crisis. O’Hern also doesn’t understand why trustees allow run-down town properties to rot, while absentee owners aren’t dealt with.
O’Hern said town can keep writing her tickets and spending $10 for each piece of certified mail. She’s prepared to fight them all. She said she’ll continue to do as she pleases.
“I will fight back, and it will cost the town,” she said. “Laws should evolve when they no longer serve a purpose.”
She wants the codes to be changed to reflect the needs of the community and for Nucla to stop wasting tax-payer money.
“Put efforts into creating policies that benefit community,” she said.
Trustee Tim Pierce said it’s up to the public to try and create changes to the town ordinances. He said it shouldn’t be thrown at the town board. He said Nucla has had problems in the past with camper farms cropping up, and people burden the sewer and water systems that way.
“We can’t do selected enforcement,” he said.
He added he wouldn’t be able to “sit and propose a law that everybody can live with.”
“There’s limited capacity for infrastructure in this town,” he said.
