July 31 BOCC: Printz Meltdown,
Airport Improvements, Fire Ban Now Stage 1,
New CC Proposed Logo Panned

Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC)

—July 31, 2018
WESTCLIFFE, Colo.
by Jackie Bubis
The meeting started at 9 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call. Introductions of the public followed. Before the meeting began, three items were taken off the agenda including the proposal for establishment of a county housing authority and advisory board – which was moved to the August 7th agenda.
Commissioner Items:
Commissioner Canda updated the Board on improvements at the airport – funded by the Watts family of Aught Six Ranch. They expect all the work to be done by the end of September.
Chairman Flower reported on the meetings he attended and mentioned that the A/C will be serviced in the Wetmore Community Center.
Commissioner Printz used his time to berate this reporter and “her paper” for a picture of his car with Texas license plates run in a recent issue and commented on by the editor. He went on to explain his reasons for not having Colorado plates on his car and stated that he’s not going to take it anymore. When a member of the audience spoke up to ask the chairman to put a stop to the tirade, Mr. Printz told him to “Shut up. I have the floor.” He later apologized to the citizen. The full transcript of the six minute speech was in last week’s paper and can be found at
https://sangredecristosentinel.com/2018/08/the-printz-transcript/.
Chairman Flower asked Attorney Smith about the procedure for the county to sell real estate. There was also an Executive Session regarding a personnel matter scheduled for the end of the meeting.
Attorney Smith reported on several resolutions he’s prepared and ongoing work on the Lease/Purchase of the land from the Haga Trust for future county building. He explained that this will be a twelve year agreement because the county can’t enter into long-term payments for purchases. He also stated that the county is lucky to be getting this land and that the terms are very favorable to the county.
Public Comment
Claudia Morris spoke on the need for the citizens of the county to come together and respect each other. She will be hosting a BBQ in August for anyone who wants to come.
The Board reviewed vouchers and signed checks.
Dwight Gardiner from Senator Bennet’s office held “office hours” in the commissioners room from 10 a.m. until noon.
Zoning Resolution were approved unanimously.
Next on the agenda was discussion of the fire well parcel in Blumenau. This small piece of land was dedicated to the county but never accepted. Despite the county having no legal interest in the land and having signed a resolution to quit any claim on the land, parties interested in the land took the opportunity to publicly state their positions, argue a bit back and forth, and ask questions and make claims better saved for a judge. Eventually, the Board passed an amended resolution again quitting any claim to the property..
George Koons, from the Saddle Club, came before the Board to make arrangements to pay a water bill caused by a leak. While the county paid the bill, the Saddle Club will have to repay the $7,400. The agreement proposed was that the Saddle Club pay half on August 6th and make payments for six months to a year for the rest. The commissioners agreed and Mr. Koons will take the proposal back to his board for approval. The Board agreed that something would need to be done in the future to separate the meters for the Saddle Club, the Fire Department and Road & Bridge.
The Board agreed to remove the waterless urinal in the Wetmore Community Center.
A revised interim contract was approved for the Veteran’s Service Office. Tim Swartz is retiring and Roger Watkins will be the interim VSO working no more than twenty hours per week.
The Board reviewed the fire restrictions with Sheriff Byerly and Fire Chief Shy in attendance. Commissioner Canda proposed that the Board lift the restrictions entirely. After an in-depth discussion, the decision was made to move from Stage II to I restrictions effective immediately. During the discussion, County Attorney Smith, reiterated that many counties in the state are leaving the decision up to the sheriff. He again stated that he didn’t believe this to be legal. But, since others are doing it, he would prepare a resolution for the Board to consider.
Representatives from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), from the Tourism Board, and from the CCEDC presented the results from the Blueprint 2.0 grant, awarded to Custer County to develop a brand. The survey results – from the 67 people that participated – were used to come up with a logo and brand statement. When asked if 67 people were enough to truly represent the county – the representatives from OEDIT said yes. Some in the audience expressed that they had never heard about this survey – to which the reply was that it was on the “website” and in the paper. [Note: per editor George Gramlich, the Sentinel printed OEDIT’s one press release back on March 23rd but the consultants did not contact any business people that we know of, nor did they contact the two local newspapers for their input (at least not the Sentinel). How can you do a community survey without the business community and the local newspapers? And further, how can OEDIT be satisfied with such a low response. With 4-5 months to get responses, you would think they would have adjusted their strategy to improve response numbers.]
The tag line the project brought to the Board was: “Dark Skies – Bright Opportunity”. The representatives from the OEDIT mentioned that it was important for the brand to reflect what the customers (tourists from outside the county) believe about the county. However, that piece was not surveyed in any way before moving forward with the report they presented.
Many in the audience were dismayed at the reference to Dark Skies. Proponents pointed out that the towns being official Dark Skies certified was a selling point for Custer County that no other mountain town has. Beautiful vistas are found all over the state, they said. Chairman Flower balked at the Dark Skies reference and suggested that the group putting together the plan was sold a bill of goods. He also felt it was unreasonable for 67 people to drive the entire branding of our county. Mr. Printz gave kudos to the OEDIT and stated that “I love it, love it, love it.” The audience was clearly divided on the topic. (Reference was made in the presentation to the divisiveness in the county and it was unclear if that was reflected in the survey or from the CCEDC and Tourism Board) There were no decisions made regarding the logo and tag line. Mr. Bogle from the CCEDC reminded the Board that this was a presentation only and that the results from the grant belonged to the Tourism Board. Mr. Flower reminded the audience that the Tourism Board is a county board under the purview of the BOCC. There will likely be a workshop scheduled to further discuss this topic.
The Board went into Executive Session regarding a personnel issue. When they returned to the public meeting, they agreed unanimously to pay OEM Cindy Howard the overtime she requested for her work at the Spring Fire. She will put in for
reimbursement from the Feds for these funds.