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<br />• Discussions with local school district officials indicate that schools within Rio <br />Blanco County have adequate capacity to hand]e additional students in the future. <br />Currently, there is capacity for an additional 40 to 60 students in each of the <br />elementary, middle school, and high school grade levels (Rio Blanco County RE-1 <br />School District 1998). <br />7.14.3.2 Garfield County <br />In Rifle, law enforcement services are provided by the Rifle Police Department. The <br />town of Parachute is served by the Parachute Police Department. Unincorporated <br />areas of Garfield County, including Battlement Mesa, are served by the Garfield <br />County Sheriff's Department. Fire protection services in Rifle are provided by the <br />Rifle Fire Protection District, which is mostly staffed by volunteers. Parachute and <br />Battlement Mesa are served by the Grand Valley Fire Protection District, which is <br />also staffed primarily by volunteers. <br />Should American Soda require emergency assistance at the Parachute Site, law <br />enforcement services would be provided by the Garfield County Sheriff's <br />Department, while fire protection and ambulance services would be provided by the <br />Grand Valley Fire Protection District. Parachute Creek Road, which provides access <br />to the Parachute Site, is maintained and snowplowed by the Garfield County Road <br />and Bridge Department. <br />• Medical services in Rifle are provided at Claggette Memorial Hospital and Grand <br />River Medical Clinic; ambulance service is available to the hospital. Medical <br />services in Parachute and Battlement Mesa are limited to a few medical offices and <br />clinics in those communities, Individuals requiring hospitalization or sophisticated <br />medical services must travel to Rifle, Glenwood Springs, or Grand Junction. <br />In response to recent and anticipated population growth, the City of Rifle has <br />recently completed expansions of both its potable water treatment plant and its <br />wastewater treatment facility. Al] of these local facilities and services have adequate <br />capacity to serve additional residents in the area. The City of Parachute and the <br />community of Battlement Mesa both developed considerable potable drinking water <br />and wastewater treatment capacities during the oil shale boom of the late 1970s. <br />Currently, excess capacity exists in those facilities to accommodate additional <br />population growth for the next 20 years (City of Parachute 1998, Battlement Mesa <br />Company 1998). <br />Conversely, recent population growth has increased school enrollment, and many <br />Rifle schools are currently near capacity. According to the Garfield County RE-2 <br />School District, the elementary and middle schools in Rifle are operating at <br />approximately 95 percent of capacity, and the high school is operating at about 90 <br />percent of capacity. Assuming that population growth follows the recent trend, <br />• public schools in Rifle will reach their capacity within a few years. Should that be <br />the case, the school district will have to increase class sizes, add mobile/modular <br />Amencan Soda. L.L.P. 7_53 <br />Commercial Mine Plan <br />August ]8, 1998 <br />