Kristen Senn * Colorado Springs Military Relocation *

Cross Creek: Fountain,CO Neighborhood Report

Cross Creek is a newer neighborhood that is just south of Mesa Ridge Parkway a couple miles east of one of the main gates to Ft Carson. Because of its close proximity to Ft Carson, Cross Creek (and its adjacent neighborhoods: Creek Terrace, Cheyenne Ridge, and Country Crossing) are popular neighborhoods for military families.

Home in these neigborhoods vary from $140,000 to $350,000.

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is hosting a Colorado Springs Military Appreciation Weekend this weekend September 20 and 21. Tickets to the zoo are will be at a reduced price ($4.25) for all family members with a military i.d.

In 1926, Spencer Penrose started the Cheyenne Mountain Zoological Society to house his ever growing exotic animail collection. Over ten years later, Mr. Penrose started a non-profit public trust for the city and the zoo has been growing ever since. The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo also includes the Will Roger's Shrine and a 1932 World's Fair Carousel.

The zoo has always been a popular spot here in Colorado Springs because of its unique spot with breathtaking views. Its deemed as country's only mountain zoo and one of the highest at a elevation of 6800 feet. It also has a elevation gain of over 120 ft (thats about a 10 story building) so make sure you wear the appropriate shoes. Expect to get a good workout. Dont worry, its all worth it in the end.

Even though spring is coming to Fort Carson, the Colorado Springs weather is once again is throwing us a curveball from the spring-like weather we had on Saturday. My family and I spent most of the day outside enjoying the warm weather and even broke a sweat doing some outdoor spring clean up.

Sunday’s temperature has DROPPED OVER 40 DEGREES and we have snow with strong wind gusts today with anywhere from 1 to 10 inches possible depending on where you live in the Colorado Springs area. Anyone who has lived in Colorado Springs even for a short time knows this is typical, but none the less…it is still hard to take when it happens. So if you are relocating to Fort Carson, you have been warned!

So just in case this snow stays around until Monday, I thought Id post the Fort Carson Hazard Winter Weather Alerts.

GREEN: Road movement has no restrictions and vehicles may operate in accordance with normal safety precautions.

AMBER: One or more of the following conditions exists:

*Roads are mostly snow packed and/or icy in spots.
*Snow is falling at a rate that is causing accumulation on the road but is being cleared adequately by snow removal assets.
*Road conditions would cause moderate and possibly hazardous delays to drivers.
*Conditions are such that for maximum safety and to prevent accidents it is best to eliminate as much unnecessary traffic as possible.

RED: One or more of the following conditions exists:

*Roads are snow packed or covered or are extremely icy in spots.
*Snow is falling at a rate that exceeds Fort Carson's ability to adequately and quickly clear the roads.
*High winds and snowfall are causing zero or near zero visibility conditions.
*Average snow accumulation on roadways has exceeded four inches.
*Conditions would cause lengthy and dangerous delays to drivers.
*Operating non-essential activities would cause unnecessary hazardous driving conditions to the community.

In delay and closure announcements, it is often the case that Mission Essential Personnel must report. Below is the definition to clarify who is considered Mission Essential. The Installation Operations Center will not know the status of individual personnel.

MISSION ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL: During severe weather, some agencies and routine events must remain open. The personnel required to execute these functions are considered mission essential. Basically, personnel would be mission essential personnel if any oft the following applies life, safety and health).

These are the proposed mission essential functions assumed needed during severe weather to meet the GC guidance (life, health and safety) are listed below.

a. Limited medical functions; all external clinics closed.
b. Normal firefighter services.
c. Utilities services staffing and snow removal.
d. Provost Marshal desk operations, patrols, traffic investigator, MPI.
e. Reduced Food service; limited mid day commissary.
f. Unit level security (SDO and CQs).
g. Gate guards (close low usage gates 5 & 20).
h. Installation Operation Center Watch Personnel.
i. Personnel deemed essential IAW Unit Commanders.

MISSION SUPPORT or NON-ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL: This comprises all Soldiers and civilians who are not designated Mission Essential.

DELAYED REPORTING: This is implemented when it has been determined that road conditions are AMBER or RED. Soldiers and Civilian Employees must understand that Fort Carson roads may be cleared but those within their living area isn’t. Data is gathered from all possible sources before this decision is made (CSPD, Colorado State Patrol, Department of Transportation etc…). When the decision is made one of the following courses of action is issued.

*Off-post personnel do not report for duty.
*Only mission essential off-post personnel report for duty.
*Off-post personnel delayed reporting. (Recommend a report time.)
*Off-post personnel report at the regular time. (No announcement is made).

PHASED RELEASE: To safely manage the flow of personnel and vehicles off post, personnel will be released in a staggered manner as follows:

*First released are personnel who live more than 15 miles from Fort Carson.
*30 Minutes Later: Second released are those who live between 5 - 15 miles from Fort Carson.
*30 Minutes Later (One Hour After 1st Group): Third release are those who live within 5 miles of Fort Carson

Supervisors will determine which category each employee / Soldier is in and assist with early release.

One thing to note is that note closures or delays at Fort Carson, are ONLY for Fort Carson and do not apply to any of the other military installations. Since weather varies so much from one side of town to the other, always check YOUR military installation for their closures and delays.

To get current delay and closure information at Fort Carson, you can call 526-0096

For the current weather conditions and forecast, you can go to Stormtracker 13.

Crown Hill Mesa is located just west of 8^th street and south of Highway 24. It is about halfway between Fort Carson and the Air Force Academy. This newer area has homes built in 2000 to brand new homes (John Laing Homes). The neighborhood also has a great park and playground with a skate ramp for the older kids. The views of the city and mountains are terrific! It is conveniently located near downtown Colorado Springs and Bear Creek Regional Park.

Neighborhood Statistics:

10 ACTIVE listings : $295,000 to $439,000 - AVERAGE DAYS ON THE MARKET (DOM) - 103 days

1 home UNDER CONTRACT with a list price of $339,900 - 220 DOM<!--[endif]-->

5 SOLD homes (since Aug 2007) : $280,000 to $331,500 -117 average DOM

Fort Carson will be getting almost 5000 new troops by 2013. Last month, Fort Carson announced they would be getting even more troops from Ft. Hood making them one of the largest Army installations. Here is a breakdown of the troop movements.

2003: 14,500 soldiers, two brigade combat teams.

2007: 17,500 soldiers, three brigade combat teams.

2010: 24,500 soldiers, four brigade combat teams.

2013: 30,000 soldiers, five brigade combat teams.

The increase in Fort Carson troops is expected to create more than 3000 more civilian jobs, increase local and state taxes by $20.5 million, and bring in as much as $250 million per year to local businesses. It is expected that Fort Carson will spend over 1 billion dollars in new housing to accommodate the new soldiers.

Several subdivision projects are already underway in the area and will help to ease the housing pain. Banning Lewis Ranch is a new master planned community on the very east side of Colorado Springs that runs from Woodmen Road all the way down past Peterson AFB (almost 14 miles in length) and approximately 75,000 homes and businesses. Fountain, CO also has many new neighborhoods. Classic Homes, Richmond American, Pulte, Engle, Aspen View Homes, and Oakwood Homes all have projects underway.