PALMER LAKE — Some Palmer Lake citizens are petitioning to recall three board of trustees due to what they say was a lack of transparency when the Bucee's annexation was being discussed.
WATCH: Palmer Lake Board clears hurdle for Buc-ee’s annexation amid community opposition
“The Palmer Lake Board of Trustees aren’t listening to the people of Palmer Lake," said Elizabeth Harris, one Palmer Lake citizen in charge of the petition committee.
Harris moved to Palmer Lake in 2021 and says she voted for some of the trustees she's now working to recall.
“I’m a wildlife photographer and a nature photographer, so, for example, some days I'll see a massive herd of elk near the corner of I-25 and County Line (Road)," she said. “We need the people who we entrust our decisions to, as townspeople, to hear us and abide by the law and do what it is that they have been elected to do.”
Harris says she and other citizens are opposed to Bucee’s for several reasons, including the following:
- wildlife
- public safety
- water
I brought these concerns to the town’s Board of Trustees. I spoke to Shana Ball, one Trustee whose name was on the recall petition.
“I was born and raised here in Palmer Lake. I'm second generation," said Ball.
Ball said the town actually shares the same concerns about potentially opening a Bucee's.
"Those are concerns for us too as a board, they really are," said Ball. "That's why we required a traffic study. We asked for a financial impact study, and we also asked for a water study."
One item on the petition points to a December meeting had over Bucee’s annexation, which claims the Board violated Colorado’s open meeting laws.
“Everybody should have been inside, but... as a Palmer Lake resident, I couldn't even get inside to the hearing," said Harris.
Ball said only Palmer Lake citizens were allowed in because a cap was put on attendees for safety reasons. She added anyone who wanted to speak had the chance to.
“We wanted to make sure that our meeting would be controlled," she said. "We only have a limited number of chairs. If you wanted to speak and you were outside, you were allowed to come in and speak.”
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