Teller County commissioners imposed a six-month moratorium on the construction of major utility projects in zoned districts within Teller County.

“This is to prevent large corporations with deep pockets coming in, saying they want to build right now,” said Commissioner Dan Williams, speaking at the commissioners’ meeting June 9. “It’s happening all over the state, most of the counties in Colorado have adopted this moratorium.”

The six-month moratorium protects the county until the buildingplanning department can develop regulations regarding utility projects.

“It’s not just for the development of sites for energy creation, it’s also that the energy somehow has to be connected to the grid,” said Commissioner Erik Stone. “With that right, they would have the power of eminent domain.”

According to the moratorium resolution, the commissioners received word from the planning department that the office has received inquiries regarding commercial battery energy storage, solar energy collection and anticipates possible inquiries regarding nuclear power plants and data centers. The county’s current land use regulations are not sufficient to address these types of projects.

The moratorium is in line with the commissioners’ dedication to maintaining local control over issues dealing with land use.

From the audience, Greg Liverman thanked the commissioners for the moratorium.

“I have worked for data centers that built data centers in the past and they were nothing compared to the data centers constructed today,” Liverman said. “They are going to be part of our environment but how can we have these things in our county without having a process for regulations deciding where they should go. I applaud you all for imposing this moratorium.”

In other business:

● Williams announced that the Pine Beetle Task Force will hold a day-long conference June 15 in the sheriff’s building in Divide.

“We are one of nine counties hit by pine beetles,” he said

● Stone noted that a petition is circulating around the county to ensure that hunting and fishing are never outlawed in Colorado.

“Hunting is a vital part of our culture; hunting and fishing a right but it is not in the Colorado Constitution,” Stone said.

● Clerk & Recorder Stephanie Kees announced that her office mailed 19,000 ballots to registered voters June 8. With the addition of a ballot box at the Florissant library, voters have four drop places, the Woodland Park Motor Vehicle office, grocery store in Divide and courthouse in Cripple Creek. The box in Florissant was funded by a grant from Homeland Security last year. Commissioner Stone noted that 92% of Teller County voters use ballot drop boxes.

Registered voters do not need to show a birth certificate, Kees said.

“Don’t let people tell you these vicious rumors; As long as your name matches that on your driver’s license or ID (identification), you’re fine.”

As he has stated before, Commissioner Williams noted that elections in Teller County are safe due to Kees’ professionalism and the training she provides her staff.

“We spent a lot of money on cybersecurity; we have a great IT department,” he said. “We stand by our elections.”

After the meeting, Kees sent more information that includes: All four county-controlled boxes are under 24-hour surveillance and have been since April 30 as required by law. A team of bipartisan judges will begin retrieving ballots daily from the four drop boxes beginning June 10. You can track your ballot by text or email by enrolling with TellerCounty.BallotTrax.net? This will allow you to see when your ballot was mailed, when we’ve received and accepted (or rejected) the ballot. For more information, call the clerk’s office at 719-689-2951.