Will Walsenburg Bet the Ranch on Marijuana?

It has come to my attention that a party has approached the City of Walsenburg about leasing property owned by the city for marijuana grow operations. This property known as the "ranch" also has water rights and gravel reserves.

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The common consensus is that marijuana is lucrative and legal; therefore, why not go for a piece of the pie as soon as possible.  Unfortunately there are ambiguities in the federal laws concerning this issue.  Coupled with that are many governmental regulations on the state and local level.  The question of a property owner's liability for adherence to these laws comes into play.  There are laws which allow governmental agencies to seize property when non-compliance of drug laws is a factor.

The business of growing marijuana legally is relatively new to the states which are involved.  This is not a venture to enter into without researching state and federal laws.

Any municipal entity should also consider the will of its citizens to be a part of such an operation.  The opportunity to make some fast money is not a good reason to jump into this kind of deal.  There should be community input and realization that without proper planning, there is a lot to lose.

Walsenburg Street Improvements

Lately there have been a lot of streets closed in town.  This is a positive thing.  Several streets are getting repaved. Also, a sewer repair is being done on Stout Street.  The only down side to this is that it indicates there are no plans in the near future for replacing water or sewer infrastructure

A problem which has been discussed recently is a dam structural problem at City Lake.  Officials are thinking of spending most of the infrastructure capital improvement fund to do a study of the dam.  This strikes me as being an inappropriate use of the money set aside for water and sewer replacement use.  If you agree, maybe you could voice this to the appropriate officials.

There has been some positive inquiries about business interest in the city.  Any of these which come to fruition will be welcomed.

I am doing a video series introducing the Walsenburg City Council on "walsenburgconews" facebook page.  Please check these out.  So far we have uploaded a video for Mayor Eccher and for Nick Vigil. Hopefully, I will have some more of these soon.

Thanks to those who have "liked" the "walsenburgconews" facebook page.  It is about the community.  If you need to make an announcement or want to contribute a photo or story, please do.