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BOULDER CAMERA. '~ 4CiA' COLORADO PRESS Clipping Service Iknver, Colorado 80204 SZ ~ t:LBbblri~u -_ Mine foes, Condos back land swap By KEVIN O'BRIEN Camera SteH Wrlter DENVER - A Boulder County mining family and local environmentalists Tuesday endorsed a legislative effort to seek a compromise to the Eldorado Mountain controversy. Se¢a[e Bi11113, which could result in [he eventual depar- ture of the 9.9-acre gravel mine from the mountain, won the cautious support of Wesley Condo Inc. officials and the People for Eldorado Mountain during its first test before a Senate committee. The Senate committee on agriculture, ¢atural resources and the environment took ¢o action o¢ the hill, sponsored by Sen. Les Fowler, A-Boulder. A decisive vole on the biH, which Fowler introduced last week, is expe<~led within the ¢ext month. But Fowler's eHOrts received a major boost when Rich- ard Fanyo, a Denver lawyer representing Hte Condo fam- ily, and JoAnn Duffy, an Eldorado Springs resident who heads [he environmental group, both voiced no abjection to the bill. "The bill itself is not something that we have a real ob- jection to," Fanyo told the committee. "Our co¢cern is that any solution provide fair compensation to the Condos for their leasehold rights." Senate BiII 113 would authorize two state agencies -the Board of Parks and Outdoor Recreation and the Board of Land Commissioners - to begin negotiations to relocate the mining operation to other state-owned land outside Boulder County. The Eldorado Mountain mine site and 470 adjacent acres woidd then be incorporated into Lhe nearby Eldorado Can- yon State Park, to be administered by the state parks board. The Hoard of Land Commissioners currently administers the Eldorado Aountain site. In 1969, the land board granted the Condo family a per- petual lease to mice on 9.8 acres. In return, the Condos pay the board 25 cents for eve~r~~oq~of ravel they mine, which amount'sZR'Foug'hly X17, lm a yea$r°"ii5rmarked for public schools. To replace this money, Fowler is proposi¢q an additional 50 cents be added to the park's 51 admission charge. Be- tween ;35,000 and 540,000 would be raised annually through this surcharge, said Max Vezzaai, assistant director of the Colorado Parks Division. Committee chairman Tilman Bishop, R-Grand Junction, postponed action on Fowler's bill because node of the three land commissioners could attend Tuesday's hearing. The la¢d board, however, suDPOrls exploring this solu- tion and approved a resolution to this effect al its January meeting, Vezzani said. ~ The land board also has begun an appraisal of the 480- acre site to establish a dollar value in the event a¢ equiva~ lent land swap agreement is reached with the parks board. The mining controversy accelerated in late 1985 when the Condo family applied to expand its operation to 203 ad- jacent acres o[ Eldorado Mountai¢ over a 70-year period. The proposal enraged local environmentalists and resi- dents of Eldorado Springs, who feared increased mining would irreparably scar the mountain face