Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC)
—April 4, 2018
WESTCLIFFE, CO

by Jackie Bubis
The meeting started at 9 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call. Introductions of the public in attendance followed.
Commissioner Items
Commissioner Printz had no new items.
Commissioner Canda met with the Postmistress to make sure that the heritage road signs would be no issue in mail delivery. A group of citizens is working on a proposal to put up the heritage road signs (Kettle Rd, Macy Lane, etc.) along with the numbered road signs. Mr. Canda also asked Attorney Smith to look at the right-of-way up to the Hibbs tower.
Chairman Flower stated that, because of the cost, it was not his intention to go to the Mountain Connect conference. Mr. Printz agreed. Mr. Canda said he was going but that he had family to stay with.
Mr. Printz announced that the county did get approval for the DOLA grant for $1M for the tower project. There is no word when the federal grant will come through.
Attorney Items
After research on the right-of-way up to Hibbs tower, Attorney Smith assured the Board that there is no issue from the county. He is waiting to hear from Claudia Morris’s attorney. Smith also reported that he is assisting Sheriff Byerly with a contract with an ER doctor in Colorado Springs (who also has a private business) to provide medical control for Search and Rescue and possibly to provide information to the Sheriff’s Office. The charge will be $400 per month. Mr. Smith advised putting the Tourism Board membership criteria on the April 30th agenda.
Staff Reports
Road and Bridge director Gary Hyde gave his report to the Board. A recent traffic count showed 642 vehicles per day on Hermit Road. He asked for permission from the Board to move forward with the lease/purchase of three new water trucks. (Note: The existing water trucks at R&B have axels not rated to carry full loads of water – a fact that was revealed when CDOT had their random weigh station) set up at the school. Mr. Printz asked that Gary give our local bank an opportunity to match the financing that he got from the bank that works with Bruckner Equipment. He will do so. The money for these trucks will be taken from the Debt Service fund in the budget and R&B will substitute these three trucks for the truck and trailer and motor grader they had budgeted to buy. The Board passed a motion for him to move forward with the lease. Mr. Flower added his aye reluctantly.
Landfill and Recycling’s Rusty Christensen gave his report. He formalized a date and time for the Board to meet with Golder Engineering out of Denver who will help the Board get a starting point for expanding the landfill. Christensen reported that Tom Grethel from AG Engineering has begun the financial process for the next portion of the process. The compactor that is getting a new engine should be done this week. Recycling shipped out 54 bales of cardboard (about 900 pounds each) and gained $100 per ton.
CSU Extension Agent Shannon Auth reported that the skunks have woken early and there are issues with rabies in the skunk population. Please be attentive for yourself and your animals. She reported a new Facebook page for Extension and she is also putting up information on the bulletin board in the courthouse. She is working on getting training from FEMA for people who want to help animals in an emergency. They will need to be certified to do so. The 4-H Carnival went well but had lower attendance than usual. Auth announced an instance of Yellow Fever on the Custer/Huerfano boarder. She assured the Board that the State Veterinary Office said there was no cause for concern, that the situation has been resolved. The seed potato program is a go again this year – interested parties should stop by her office to fill out the paperwork. She continues working on the Fair and getting the Weed Board and Extension Advisory Board going again. The 4-H Speech event will be held on April 27th at 6 p.m. at the Saddle Club.
Dawna Hobby gave the HR/Finance report.
Jackie Hobby attended for the Planning & Zoning Office. She recommended to the Board that the Kohl/King road vacation in Sierra City (in the Lake DeWeese area) go forward. The Board voted unanimously to do so.
Elisa Magnuson, the County Health Nurse, gave her report. The Children’s Health fund grant was approved for $7K for financial help for dental health. She has upcoming CPR classes and her inspection from Vaccines for Children went flawlessly. The Custer County Kids Council had gotten back the surveys they sent out and will be compiling the results. Preliminarily, she reported the big hole being health care. She has finished the SafeZone training for the LGBTQ community program and will offer awareness classes in the future.
Mr. Printz reported minimal progress with the Wetmore Community Center bathroom issues. He also stated his displeasure with the Town of Westcliffe for canceling the building of the retaining wall (in conjunction with the sidewalk work being done at the courthouse) without even speaking with the BOCC about it. He will speak with Westcliffe officials right away about it. The Board members agree that there needs to be a retaining wall with the new sidewalk and they are disappointed in how things have gone with the town.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:20 a.m.