Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC)

-August 2, 2017
WESTCLIFFE, CO
by Jackie Bubis, Reporter

The meeting started at 9 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and Roll Call. Introductions of the public in attendance followed.
Yvette Big Eagle Stanley complained about the condition of county roads 271, 264 and 265. She also has issues with the naming of her road. JD Henrich gave her some options to take back to her neighbors. Commissioner Kattnig assured her that he would pass her complaints on to Road and Bridge but stated that the county does not have enough people or equipment to keep up with all the roads.
Mr. Louis “Perry Mason” Devanney again brought questions for the Board, in this case, particularly Attorney Smith. He asked if there was current legal action by the Colorado Secretary of State against the commissioners regarding executive sessions. The Board and Mr. Smith assured him that there was nothing at this time. He again asked if the executive sessions regarding the Hamilton cattle guards were illegal. Mr. Smith answered no. The Board thanked him for coming and told him he didn’t need to worry about the time he was taking, that he should “do what you need to do.” (Note: the Board regularly limits time of public comments. Apparently Mr. Devanney has special dispensation. )
Elizabeth Harman, holding up the 2006 IBC book, asked if the Board had read it and how extensive their knowledge of it was. Mr. Kattnig told her to come to the meeting on August 10th. When pressed by Ms. Harman, as to whether “this” was the code they were proposing for the unincorporated county, the commissioners weaved and dodged. At last Mr. Printz admitted that it was – along with the 2006 National Fire Code.
Mr. Devanney interjected that a handful of people should not be making this decision and that building codes should go to the vote of the people. When reminded by the Clerk that only voters who live in the unincorporated county – and not people in the towns – would be allowed to vote on the issue, Mr. Devanney seemed quite distressed.
Moving on, Ms. Harman then asked Mrs. Hood if she had an event on Friday night, July 21st. She then referred to the photo on the front page of the Sentinel. Mrs. Hood immediately jumped to the defensive, saying that she couldn’t say if that was a picture of her ranch, that pictures can be altered, and that the light on her barn was hooded. When Ms. Harman stated that, if there was an event, it was perfectly acceptable to have those lights, Mrs. Hood continued to be defensive and told Ms. Harman that she should come out to the ranch to see Mrs. Hood’s lights.
Commissioner Items
Mr. Printz has begun working on the employee review process.
Mrs. Hood commented on the CTSI workshop on liability insurance and stated that she expects the county’s insurance to stay the same or go down.
Mr. Kattnig said he’d been busy taking a local restaurant owner’s wife to Cañon City and then to Colorado Springs when that owner had a cardiac event. He also reported that the Road and Bridge crews had taken 54 dump truck loads of debris out of Hardscrabble Creek.
Attorney Items
Mr. Smith brought resolution 17-13 before the Board, regarding changes in the Colorado Open Records Law. The board accepted the resolution.
The BOCC then went into session as the Board of Equalization to hear Assessor JD Henrich’s report that there had been no property valuation appeals in the last year. He explained the process to Mrs. Hood.
Staff Reports
Bob Jolley brought the Airport Advisory Board report. The fuel pump is being completely replaced by the company that put it in. He’s hoping that will take care of the ongoing issues. The Board discussed possible capital improvement for additional hangars.
Elisa Magnuson, the County Health Nurse reported that Dr. Suzanne Beck is their new medical advisor. Her contract of $1000/year covers the doctor’s increase in insurance to do that job. Magnuson is working on the process to get Medicare certification so that she can bill for vaccinations. She will also help man the Emergency Operations Center during emergencies.
Sara Shields gave the Extension Office report. Her report on the fair was glowing, stating that there were no issues out of the ordinary for that event. Several of kids are going on to the State Fair. Mrs. Hood requested that Shields provide an agenda to the papers so that people can go to support our kids. 4-H enrollment will begin again in October. There will be Fall discussions with CSU regarding the Extension Agent opening and Shields speculated that there would be interviews for that position in November.
The topic of weed management came under discussion. Shields had gathered some information for the Board regarding funding a weed director and stated that CSU prefers if the Extension Agent not fill that position. Ben Lenz, from San Isabel Land Protection Trust is investigating the possibility that his organization can fill the Weed Director position.
Diana Cox Singer has been hired as the office manager for the Extension Office.
Tim Swartz gave the Veteran’s Service Office report. He now has 387 vets in the database. He will be attending the Farmer’s Market in Westcliffe twice each in August and September. Swartz discussed the possibility of getting another building for his VSO. He will continue to look for funding options.
Laura Lockhart gave the Human Services report. The Core Services Program document was reviewed by the Board and approved.
Treasurer Virginia Trujillo gave the June and July reports. Both her office and the Clerk’s offices had big revenue days last week. Mrs. Hood was pleased to hear it. Trujillo also discussed the tax lien notices that she will put in the Sentinel in the next month or so. She reported that there are difficulties at budget time regarding these notices because the Tribune charges her about $3,500 but the Sentinel only charges her about $900 and she doesn’t know at budget time which paper she will have to work with.
The meeting was put in
recess until 7 p.m.

The evening meeting was attended by only a handful of people. The commissioners gave an overview of each of the departments they oversee. For Sentinel readers, there was no new information given.