Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC)
—May 31, 2019
Westcliffe, CO
by Jackie (Muddy) Bubis
The meeting started at 9 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call. Introductions of the public followed.
Commissioner Reports:
Commissioner Canda signed the contract with the architect for the Judicial Center. He announced that the Landfill did not get the grant for the skid steer but mentioned the possibility that the Landfill budget would allow the purchase of this equipment toward the end of the year.
Commission Printz sat in on the interviews for the Planning & Zoning clerk position. He reported on sitting in (along with Chairman Flower) on Mr. Canda’s water group meeting at Cliff Lanes. He expressed frustration with the CCEDC and the ongoing stall with the broadband tower project – and mentioned having a conversation with Mr. Bogle to that effect. Apparently there have been issues with the roads that have mag chloride on them becoming slippery in the rain – the answer seems to be to slow down.
Commissioner Flower reported on the E911 meeting which considered options for giving needed pay raises to the dispatchers. At this point, the options are within the emergency services community that uses the dispatch center. He also sat in on the Planning & Zoning interviews. He informed the rest of the BOCC and those present that he had received word that there was a request within the GOP Central Committee that he be censured for his behavior in the Memorial Day Parade. Though he did admit that he’d gotten carried away with his interactions with the public (which included threatening folks with a handful of horse manure) and he did apologize, he stated that he didn’t realize that the parade was intended to be a bit more somber, honoring those who died in battle. He then made a somewhat snarky remark about the fact that “the embarrassment is cooking the food” for the GOP Lincoln Day dinner.
Mr. Flower also reported that Mr. Senderhauf was not reappointed to the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District Board but that Mike Shields now would fill that position. Mr. Flower will request a seat at that board table, noting that he is a non-voting ex-officio member of that board.
Mr. Printz commended Mr. Senderhauf for his many years on that Upper Ark Board and asked that Mr. Shields come before the Board to exchange ideas and views about water. Mr. Canda noted that his group’s meeting with the Blue Line Expansion Committee of Upper Ark went very well and that, for the first time, that committee suggested that modification might be made to the water augmentation plan. When questioned about Mr. Printz’s ongoing suggestion that the BOCC stated in a letter that they would not work with Upper Ark unless Custer County was pulled from the aug plan, Mr. Flower stated that the wording was in the last paragraph of the letter sent to Upper Ark – which he said had the words “will not sanction.” He did verify that there was only one letter sent to Upper Ark from the Board. (Reporter’s Note: See page 24 for the letter which does not have the words “will not sanction” in it.)
Lisa Drew, the clinic administrator and Beth Archuletta, director of the ambulance service, addressed the Board regarding the letter received from Florence EMS stating that they would no longer service the residents of Wetmore. Florence EMS is a volunteer service and no longer has enough staff to cover their service area in Florence and the people in Wetmore. Wetmore is not part of the West Custer County Hospital District so is not assessed for ambulance service. Ms. Drew stated that the Custer County ambulance service doesn’t have the money to have a paid second crew 24/7. The 3.5% of the mill for the district is dedicated to ambulance service. Discussions of options
are ongoing.
The Commissioners approved the vouchers and signed checks.
Sean Beharry gave the West Custer County Library District Report to the Commissioners. Two new trustees were approved to replace two trustees no longer on the board. The new trustees are Nicole Parsons and Richard Hacker. Mr. Beharry reported that visits were up and that Wi-Fi usage is down though people are using the library computers more. The full report can be found on their website.
Dorothy Urban gave a report from the Silver Cliff Museum. The museum is now open a third day – Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 1-4 p.m. Private tours are available as well. During their open house, they hosted 62 visitors in two hours.
After discussion, the Board agreed to pay up to $2K for prairie dog eradication in conjunction with the town of Westcliffe. This will cover the vacant land south of the Sheriff’s Office which will eventually house the justice center.
Linda Poole, from San Isabel Foundation, came to the Board asking for their support of grants for water studies and sustainability from GOCO and the Colorado Water Conservation Board. She was asking the Board to partner with San Isabel for these grants and their hours would count for in-kind matches. There was not enough information for the Board to make a decision and the item was moved to the meeting on the 6th of June.
Tourism Board member Charlie Ellison came before the Board to keep them informed of the CTO Grant they will apply for. It will be a regional grant and the theme is Dark Skies.
The Board agreed to extend the lease for the county health offices at the clinic through June since the new offices are not yet ready for the move. They also accepted Cindy Howard’s resignation as the OEM director. Mr. Flower made a motion to open the position strictly to current county employees but after input from the audience, withdrew that motion. The citizen stressed that the Board would be short-changing itself by limiting the applications in that way. Mr. Printz will work with Dawna Hobby on a salary range and job posting to be considered on June 6th.
The Board approved the Emergency Preparedness Response grant. They also agreed to have Gary Hyde look at the tree that is growing in the stream under the bridge on CR 389 and report back during staff reports his recommendations on removing that tree.
Representative from Cuerno Verde Homowners Association were present for a discussion of PILT funds being used for mitigation.
Through rescinding and reapproving, the Board corrected the numbering of Resolution 19-05 (which had mistakenly been numbered 19-04 at the meeting on May 22nd.)
During Public Comment, Angie Arterburn gave the Board further information about Colorado Tourism grants. Other suggestions by citizens: Mr. Donley should be removed from the Upper Ark Board as the county representative as he is also a board member of San Isabel Foundation and there is a conflict of interest. Also the comment was made that the taxpayers in the West Custer County Hospital District should not be required to pay for ambulance services outside their area of service.
The meeting adjourned at 12:20 p.m.