Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC)

–October 3, 2017
WESTCLIFFE, Colorado

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.
Minutes were approved from September 19th and 20th.
Commissioner Items:
Commissioner Hood did a verbal “happy dance” when she announced that a new grounds and maintenance person has been hired. He will start next week and work up to 15 hours a week. She’s glad there will be someone to shovel the snow. Mrs. Hood also reported that Chuck Ippolito and Cindy Howard are working on updating the E-911 system to include a citizen in Wetmore that was not receiving call-outs.
Commissioner Printz had no items to add.
Commissioner Kattnig had a briefing with Cindy Howard from OEM. She’s been part of a 20-man team sent down to Florida to help with hurricane relief. She evaluated county buildings in addition to other jobs. He said it was a great learning experience. Also, through Cindy’s efforts we received a $350K grant for cleanup from 2012 fire.

Attorney Items: None.
Administrative Assistant Items:
Beth Archuletta sent an email with her recommendations for the RETAC board.
Virginia Trujillo asked to be moved to today instead of tomorrow.
Lease agreement from Xerox for three printers – 5-year lease. Total for the three copiers will be about $20/month more than we’ve been paying. Lease passed unanimously.
Chuck Levy called. He’s disgusted with the condition of CR 271. Mr. Kattnig stated that, with the traffic we have the Road and Bridge department is doing the best it can. Mr. Kattnig will call him.
Staff Reports:
Virginia Trujillo gave the Treasurer Report. Mrs. Hood asked if her office was seeing any increase in business with the new courthouse hours. Her response was no. Mrs. Hood also asked about “Community Development Fund” with $1,700 in the fund. It predates Virginia being the with the Treasurer’s office. These things are usually specific money for a specific reason. It will have to be investigated.
The Road and Bridge department report was presented by Gary Hyde. Gary has been doing some traffic counts and will continue to do so before the snow flies. Counts for a week: Hermit (6970
vehicles) Rosita (6093 vehicles), Oak Creek Grade (5791 vehicles). There is a lot of culvert work to be done as well before freezing temperatures arrive.
The Landfill report was presented by Rusty Christenson. He received a letter from CDPHE on three wells that they want out at the landfill. They will pay for them. Rusty would prefer they do only two. He will talk to them. These will help in the future if we need to expand. But, he’s concerned about the cost of the ongoing sampling. The landfill is $17K up from last year this time. Mr. Kattnig commented that “it looks like this year we may break even.”
Dawna Hobby gave the HR/Finance report. She recommends choosing Norup Gas again. They met all the criteria though they were $12 more per 12,000 gallons.
VSO Tim Swartz had 93 appointments. He has 401 vets in the database. The Veterans Trust Fund applications run through November. He recently attended a health conference and continues to learn about new resources for vets. Remember his Town Hall meeting on October 19th from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Lange Hall. The Board accepted his report.
OEM Cindy Howard reported that there is an established list for flood alerts and Cindy and Chuck are working on getting citizen in on notifications. The Emergency Operations Plan is complete. She reported on a number of grants and grant money she has procured over the last year. She also gave a report on her activities helping in Florida and the Florida Keys.
Regarding RETAC (Regional emergency medical and trauma services advisory council), EMS Director Beth Archuletta was called away for an EMS call. Chuck Ippolito spoke about RETAC funding and the importance of agencies other than EMS being represented on the RETAC board for access to grant money. Mrs. Hood asked for his input on who should be on the board.
Kelly Kohl came before the board to request that a small parcel that was given to the county by Jane McCarty a few months ago be deeded to him and his neighbor Pat King. The parcel is used by people as a parking lot thereby blocking King and Kohl from getting into their properties. Also snow is plowed in the winter and piled in that parcel, again blocking their access. Mr. Kattnig stated that deeding this small piece to them might be problematic. Mrs. Hood suggested signage. The issue was tabled until a future meeting.
Mike Carter from the Town of Westcliffe came before the Board to let them know of upcoming work that would be done on the sidewalks around the courthouse. The west section falls within the CDOT right of way and must be done according to their standards. The whole project could cost $50K and the Town of Westcliffe is hoping to get some financial assistance from the county. Mr. Printz recused himself from the issue due to being the attorney for the town. He said it might be a conflict of interest. Mrs. Hood, as the commissioner in charge of buildings, will work with the town on the issue.
There were no public comments.