Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC)
—January 8, 2019
WESTCLIFFE, Colo.
by Jackie (Muddy) Bubis
The meeting started at 9 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call. Introductions of the public followed.
Minutes from December 18th and 31st were approved.
Commissioner Items
Commissioner Printz and Tom Flower both met with Cheryl Trent when she was in town. She is heading up the Economic Development Strategic Plan survey and interviews of local business owners and entrepreneurs. (If you haven’t filled out the survey, the deadline is approaching. Electronic version can be found on the Custer County website: www.custercountygov.com.) Commissioner Canda reported that 461 online surveys have been filled out and a number of paper surveys were being input. (Paper surveys are available at the Sentinel office and other local businesses.)
Attorney Items
Attorney Smith reported that the sale of the Grape Creek property to Big E Ranch is complete.
Commissioner Canda, whose term replacing Bob Kattnig is ending and his first full term will begin after the swearing in today, expressed that this has been one of his favorite jobs. He stated that, while the Board members do not always agree, they work well as a team. He also said that this Board has chosen to dress up out of respect for their bosses, the citizens.
The Board decided unanimously to keep the existing leadership in place. Mr. Flower will remain Chairman and Mr. Canda Vice-Chairman.
Several citizens in the audience expressed how pleased they were with the way this Board worked together.
During public comment time, Mr. Max Smith, began a discussion of the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District’s water augmentation plan that has been submitted without any input from local citizens. Mr. Smith obviously has vast experience with water conservation prior to moving here. He expressed his concern with what this plan will do. The Board noted that the county pays $47K in dues to be part of the Upper Arkansas district and Mr. Printz expressed a question as to whether the county could move from that district to the Lower Arkansas district. That is a discussion for another time.
The meeting recessed and everyone moved to the courtroom for the swearing in of the newly elected officials: Commissioner Canda, Sheriff Byerly,  Assessor J. D. Henrich, Clerk Kelley Camper and Coroner Art Nordyke. Treasurer Virginia Trujillo was sworn in December of 2018. (Photos by Lisa Frank and Brenda Gaide)

New Business
Approved: Resolution 19-01 (The 2019 Holiday Calendar), the 2019 BOCC Meeting Calendar with the addition of an April 17th meeting at the Silver West Airport, the 2019 County appointments, the points of contact for the Board, and regional appointments. These lists can all be found at the Sentinel website  here.
The Wet Mountain Tribune got the nod for the legal publications/newspaper of record and P Bar O Disposal was awarded the county trash contract. Both were based on low bids.
The Board rescheduled action on the Tourism Board bylaws until the meeting on the 31st.
The Board directed the Planning Commission to submit a position letter about the water augmentation plan for consideration on the 23rd of January. They also agreed to send a letter to the water court to reject the water augmentation plan at this time because the county citizens had not been allowed input and the short and long term ramifications were  not disclosed.
Meredith Nichols, from the Office of Emergency Management, submitted her letter of resignation, which the Board accepted.
There was a discussion with members of the Airport Board regarding having a courtesy car at the airport. The Airport Board will work up a proposal and submit it to the commissioners.
During public comment time, the BOCC was commended on taking action regarding the water augmentation plan. A citizen also asked that the IT department work on a revamp/update of the county website.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:34 p.m.