My partner Cynda Green and I met up yesterday with local activist Christa Laos, at one of the entrances to the Aspen Springs subdivision. Ms. Laos has been meeting with government leaders and Aspen Springs residents, in hopes of finding a better solution to the problems at 187 Bill’s Place.
Ms. Green and I were also hoping for a better solution. The direction being taken by our Archuleta County government, at the moment, seemed somewhat draconian — in the sense that it seemed destined to make some longtime Aspen Springs residents into homeless refugees.
As we pulled up at the subdivision entrance, Ms. Laos pointed out one of the new government signs that appeared, somewhat unexpectedly, on various subdivision roads this past spring. She felt that the signs were causing anxiety among some of the community’s residents.
The new signs note that, if you want to live here, Archuleta County requires:
- Septic permits
- Building permits
- Manufactured Home permits
- Zoning compliance
Failure to abide by these rules may incur penalties.
More about those issues in a moment.
The drive to 187 Bill’s Place was pleasant enough, on the well-maintained gravel roads. Aspen Springs has always been one of the most rural parts of a rather rural county, and the myriad housing types and styles reflect the independent attitudes of the residents.
What you might not realize, as you drive past the various and varied homes, is that this community of perhaps 1,000 residents has no central drinking water system, and no central sewer system.
Ms. Laos had arranged for our visit by calling the property owner, Warren Goodman, and asking permission to view his property. Mr. Goodman had given his permission, but had noted that he would not be there to meet us — he had business, apparently, in the Chimney Rock area, a few miles to the west.
Except that Mr. Goodman was no longer the owner of 187 Bill’s Place. Or so it might appear.
While writing Part Two, yesterday morning, I’d come across County Assessor records that suggested a property sale or transfer dated July 13, 2018. It appeared that ownership the one-acre parcel at 187 Bill’s Place had been granted to a certain Verna Davis by Warren Goodman through a Quit Claim Deed. The records did not indicate a sale price, as they often do.
The records additionally suggested that the property had been owned by the Goodman family since 1995.
Cynda and I had stopped at the Archuleta County Administration office earlier, to verify, with County Commissioner Ronnie Maez and County Attorney Todd Starr, that the County government was aware the parcel at 187 Bill’s Place no longer belonged to Warren Goodman. We were told, yes, the County is still moving ahead — at the moment — with plans to remove the dwellings and trash at that property, at considerable cost to the County taxpayers… but that the County was now dealing with a new property owner named Andy Davis.
I was given to understand that Mr. Davis owned other properties in the Aspen Springs area.
I expressed my concern that the County was preparing to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a property ‘clean-up’ when it was possible the new owner would be willing to take on that work himself, at no cost to the taxpayers. Commissioner Maez and Attorney Starr appeared to recognize my concern.
A few hours later, we were parking beside the entrance to the Goodman homestead, which — to judge by the discussions I’d heard among the County commissioners — was supposedly an unsanitary disaster zone. Ms. Laos had, however, brought along her five-year-old son, and was obviously unconcerned about health dangers.
And obviously unconcerned, as well, about other kinds of danger, such as drug-crazed meth addicts.
The first thing I noticed, as we headed up the dirt driveway, was a sign that mentions one of our American Indian tribes:
I’ve had a few brief conversations with Warren Goodman over the years, and I’ve come to understand he has evidence that the Aspen Springs area was once home to Hopi Indians, centuries ago, prior to the invasion by Spanish conquerors. (I’ve also heard about conflicts between the Hopi and the Navajo, but can’t say whether those conflicts relate, historically, to Aspen Springs.)
Mr. Goodman is himself of Cherokee descent, I’ve been told.
From what I could see, the property was home to five old travel trailers in various states of disrepair, settled among the pine trees. Ms. Laos pointed to one of the trailers, which was surrounded by a chainlink fence. That’s where the dogs had been living, she said.
The County government recently removed 13 dogs from the property. I’ve been told the dogs are in the care of the Pagosa Springs Humane Society.
Here and there were a few piles of trash and old tires. Some of the piles had been covered with dirt, imitating the way Archuleta County covers its trash with dirt, down at the County Landfill.
In the middle of the yard was the Medicine Wheel.
I first came across the concept of the Medicine Wheel in the fascinating and thought-provoking book, Seven Arrows, by Hyemeyohsts Storm — an author who stirred a widespread controversy regarding the accuracy in Native American fiction and the rights of Native American authors to represent and intrepret tribal religion without tribal authorization.
This sacred shape appears in the artwork and ceremonies of many North American Indian tribes, representing the Four Directions: North, East, West, South. About 150 Medicine Circles have been found in North America… such is this monumental one in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming:
The Bighorn Medicine Wheel — now federally protected as the Medicine Wheel/Medicine Mountain National Historic Landmark — measures about 75 feet in diameter and has been estimated to be perhaps 5,000 years old. You may be able to see, in the above photo, that people have attached prayer flags to the fencing around the sacred circle.
The Medicine Wheel constructed at 187 Bill’s Place is not exactly ‘monumental’ — although it measures perhaps 40 feet in diameter and includes several stone pillars that would obviously take more than one person to lift. The stones defining the circle and the Four Directions are pieces of petrified wood, we were told.
As I snapped a few photos of the Medicine Wheel, a woman came walking down the path from the eastern-most trailer, and introduced herself to us as Joanne Zapata-Goodman.
Warren Goodman’s wife.
Ms. Zapata-Goodman spent some time with us, sharing information about the family and their many years living in Aspen Springs, and about the stress that’s been caused by the County’s threats to remove their dwellings from the property. She also spoke about the ‘work’ that Warren felt he had been called to do in Aspen Springs, which, she said, involved bringing ‘peace’ to the community.
I assume the Medicine Wheel was a part of that work, which presumably has been going on since the family moved into this property in the 1990s.
She expressed doubts that the property transfer — from Warren Goodman to Verna Davis — had been done legally, considering that she, as Warren’s legal wife, had never signed the Quit Claim Deed.
She spoke about the need to have a septic system installed, if the family were to continue living at 187 Bill’s Place. She estimated the cost at $5,000.
Which brings us back to those new signs.
Archuleta County has done a poor job of enforcing certain land use regulations, in certain parts of the county. And I am guessing that the posting of these new signs is meant to demonstrate to the Aspen Springs community a renewed intention to force those regulations down the throats of families like the Goodman family — who may have been living very simply, and perhaps in impoverished conditions — for several decades now.
A few years ago, the Archuleta County government created new regulations prohibiting residents from living year round in travel trailers. Many other new regulations have been put in place as well, regulating how people can or cannot live on their own property.
But the Goodman family was already living in travel trailers, on their property in Aspen Springs, long before these new regulations were put into effect.
One of the people who helped put these new regulations in place was former County Commissioner, Ronnie Zaday — who lives in a house just down the road from the Goodman property, surrounded by a neatly-kept yard.
Are these new regulations going to cause numerous Aspen Springs families to become homeless?
Surely, that was not the intention?