SIDE STREETS: Neighborhood gossip spins out of control
Who doesn't like neighborhood gossip? Well, the people hurt by it, certainly.
To see the impact of half-truths and innuendo, look no farther than Woodlake, a 30-year-old subdivision near Black Forest where 400 or so 5-acre ranchettes sit along the Kiowa Creek drainage -- a 92-acre hiking and equestrian green belt owned by El Paso County.
The county's failure to adequately inform neighbors about construction of an acre wetland on the seasonal creek led a few Woodlake residents to spread misinformation, spin wild conspiracy theories and allege government misdeeds about the projects.
In a flurry of e-mails, they made personal attacks and stirred passions with sky-is-falling predictions of a West Nile virus epidemic, drowning children and dry wells.
Of course, they were wrong. But enquiring minds wanted to know. In the absence of facts, they speculated.
The harshest claim was that the county was building a pond to enhance the views of neighbor Tim Stickel, who works for county parks and was president of the Woodlake Property Owners Association.
In reality, the Colorado Department of Transportation installed the wetland, to be fed by seepage within the creek bed, to replace a one that CDOT ruined doing work on Baptist Road.
The wetland will feature native grasses, willow trees and other vegetation attractive to wildlife.
"Usually, establishing wetlands and parks works out well for everyone," said Tim Wolken, who oversees county parks and was surprised by the response. "We're not using any well water to create it. It was never going to be a pond. And Tim Stickel had nothing to do with this project. There was no conflict."
Reta League, an eight-year Woodlake resident, saw construction and sounded the alarm in e-mails to neighbors. She and two others demanded answers from Wolken and appealed to El Paso County Commissioners, state water officials and "Side Streets" for help.
Darryle Pfauntsch suggested the greenbelt was unscrupulously given to the county in 2004 by Stickel, as association president, to enhance his county career. Pfauntsch ignores the fact his neighbors voted to transfer ownership to the county or that the association lacked enough dues-paying members to pay the $1,000 liability insurance or the $3,000 needed to spray for weeds, officials said.
Pfauntsch admits he remains angry his neighbors voted to give the land away. And he blames Stickel.
"I think it's a huge conflict," Pfauntsch said. "I have no regrets."
Stickel is starting to regret he volunteered to help.
"It all makes you want to just quit and let somebody else worry about things," said Stickel, who moved to Woodlake in 2000 after retiring from the Marines. "You try to help and improve your neighborhood and this is what you get. Sometimes it's not worth it."
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