Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC)
—November 13, 2019
WESTCLIFFE, Colo.
by Jackie (Muddy) Bubis
The meeting started with the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call. Introductions of the public followed.
The minutes from October 31st, November 6th and 7th were approved.
Commissioner Items:
Commissioner Canda held his comments until a later agenda item.
Both Chairman Flower and Commissioner Printz reported on meetings they attended. Commissioner Flower got a consensus from the other commissioners that the county should not buy the salvaged deputy’s vehicle from the recent crash. The vehicle was heavily damaged and Mr. Flower expressed that he didn’t think the county wanted to be in the salvage business. He also reported that the letter that the Board sent to DOLA requesting funds had a mistake in it. Christy Doon from DOLA will attend the end of month meeting to discuss this request in light of new management at DOLA.
Attorney Items:
Attorney Smith wrote a septic violation letter for Jackie Hobby. He continues to research special district taxation rules with regard to the hospital district. He received a reply to the letter sent to
Colorado College accepting their offer to purchase lots in Silver Cliff for “attainable housing.” CC’s Board will do the final acceptance and the deal should be done quickly.
Public Comment:
Bob Fulton, from Frontier Pathways invited the commissioners to an important planning meeting for the Scenic Byways on the 20th. He believes that the county,
CDOT and the Scenic Byways Board, working together can effect some good results.
Charles Bogle expressed to the Board that “time is not our friend” regarding getting the money for the final tasks that need to be completed prior to the EDA accepting the grant request for the matching $1M for the tower project. (This is what Christy Doon will be addressing in the November 27th meeting.)
Josh Hopkins, general manager from KTLF radio in Colorado Springs (a listener-funded Christian radio station) came before the Board to get approval to move forward with a project to put their equipment on the Lookout Mountain tower. After discussion with IT Director Vernon Roth and Paul Leech from KLZR Radio, the Board encouraged Mr. Hopkins to present a formal proposal to them in writing for a vote. If they approve the proposal, KTLF will work with the commissioners on payment to the county.
Mr. Smith presented the draft motion for the Board regarding an interim solution to the EMS/Ambulance situation. (In a previous meeting Mr. Smith was instructed to write this draft motion for the commissioners to consider.) The draft motion included four quarterly payments of $3,500 from the county to the hospital district in 2020 to provide ambulance
service to the portion of the county outside the district. This did not include the $4,000 that was proposed to be paid to them for the remainder of 2019. Also included in this draft were two conditions: 1) that the hospital board would acknowledge in writing that the BOCC has the authority to take back the ambulance service from the hospital district (which the hospital district apparently disputes) and 2) that if the hospital district is relieved of the ambulance service, it is their responsibility to dissolve the mill levy (at recent hospital board meetings it was suggested that this responsibility fell to the commissioners.)
Mr. Printz was strenuously opposed to this approach, stating that “this is a slap in the face” to the committee that worked “congenially” to come up with an interim solution. Mr. Flower denied that this proposal was in any way adversarial. When asked for a comment, Lisa Drew, clinic administrator, refused to comment.
After discussion, the commissioners voted 2-1 (Mr. Printz was the “no” vote) to take the two conditions off the proposal and send a letter to the hospital district board for their approval. This $14K was not budgeted and will come out of the General Fund. Note: At the previous BOCC meeting, hospital board member Ann Evans expressed that she would not support a measure that did not include the $4K for the remainder of 2019.
Despite Mr. Flower’s wondering if the county has any business funding the Chamber of Commerce, the Board voted unanimously to do so with $100/month for the year 2020. They specified that, if it was easier for the county to pay this in one lump sum, that was acceptable, even though it was uncertain if the Chamber would survive financially through 2020. This money will be paid out of the commissioner’s Community Outreach fund.
Next on the agenda was consideration of moving forward with the IGA proposed by Silver Cliff for a fiber broadband project. The County, Westcliffe and Silver Cliff will each spend $21K for this project. This money will go to Carmel Associates to provide a grant-ready plan for fiber broadband to run from Walsenburg to Canon City. Charles Bogle, when asked by the commissioners what the CCEDC thought about this proposal, stated that he had reservations. After discussion, the Board unanimously approved the IGA. This money was not budgeted and will come out of the General Fund. Note: Westcliffe has yet to approve their $21K. If they fail to do so, the entire project will likely not move forward.
Note: When an item is funded from the “General Fund” it is funded by the Fund Balance, which is the county savings account of sorts.