Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC)
—June 28, 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.
Commissioner items:
All three commissioners listed meetings they attended. Commissioner Printz reported that there are two private initiatives in Silver Cliff that have gotten approval to build attainable housing.
Commissioner Canda reported that Road & Bridge is prepping Hermit Road for chip seal. He also gave kuddos to the community Vacation Bible School that just finished up.
Chairman Flower listed the meetings he attended and also reported that Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District manager is putting articles in the local papers to educate on water.
Attorney items:
Attorney Smith reported on the definition of commercial enterprise that Mr. Flower asked him to get. He also is gathering other counties and municipalities regulations on short-term rentals. After talking with the new owner of parcels sold by the county, he reported that a quit-claim deed would be sufficient.
The Board reviewed vouchers and signed checks.
Jackie Hobby, director of Planning and Zoning, conferred with the Board regarding a request to build a double hangar on two leased lots at the airport. This would be an exception to the setback in the center of the two lots. The Board agreed that this was a workable plan.
Clinic Director Lisa Drew and Ambulance Supervisor Beth Archuleta were present for yet another discussion on the lack of ambulance service in Wetmore. Mr. Flower advised that the BOCC is ultimately responsible for the ambulance in the county by statute. Mr. Printz stated, “We need to cover our citizens. Maybe we need to move ambulance out from under the hospital district and put it under the county.” Mr. Flower expressed that, “We have a societal obligation to take care of those people whether they pay or not.” At one point, the discussion turned to a ballot issue for the people not currently in the hospital district to decide if they want service or not and approve a tax increase for it. Mr. Flower stated that, if the people of Wetmore vote down the proposal “We’re going to have to figure out some other way to provide coverage down there.” (58:00 on recording) (Reporter’s note: The resultant question is this: why would the people of Wetmore agree to pay additional taxes for ambulance service if the BOCC will provide them coverage anyway?) The Board scheduled a workshop for 1:30 p.m. on July 17th in Wetmore to further address the situation.
The Board approved the recommendations of the Planning Commission to: 1) Impose a 5 year moratorium on subdivisions, 2) Eliminate PUD’s west of Highway 69, and 3) Impose a 5 year moratorium on PUD’s east of Highway 69. When asked why the Planning Commission made this recommendation, the answer Keith Hood gave was that they don’t know the availability of water and this gives the county time to get that information.
The Board discussed the process to sort through the seven applicants for the OEM Director position. They
decided there was no need for an executive session.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:25 p.m.