BOCC: Printz Running Again, REACH Air Could Be a Deal, Sheriff Talks about
the Jail Break

Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC)
—February 4, 2020
WESTCLIFFE, Colo.

by Jackie (Muddy) Bubis

The meeting started with the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call. Introductions of the public followed.
The agenda was updated by moving the second reading of the Fire Ban Ordinance to the mid-month meeting.
Commissioner Items
Commissioner Canda reported his conversation with Norup Gas regarding the bill send for cut propane line repairs during the fencing at the Sheriff’s Office. It was reported earlier that the contractor had called twice about having a locate done and was told to just “go ahead and dig.” Mr. Canda reported that Norup had not spoken with anyone about this and that the bill was legitimate. Chairman Flower will get in touch with the fencing contractor.
Commissioner Printz reported talking to several people about roads and getting kuddos for the wonderful work that John Carroll is doing in the VSO. When prodded by Mr. Flower, he reported that he has filed to run again for his seat on the BOCC for District 2.
He ran originally as a Republican and, after the recall attempt, switched to unaffiliated. So he will need to get a few signatures to be put on the ballot.
Commissioner Flower reported clarification on the MASA Air Ambulance flier received by some residents of the county. The luncheon was never scheduled with Belle’s and so the flier can be disregarded. This company offers a subscription service that would send a REACH air ambulance out – but the service is capped, unlike the service from REACH.
Mr. Flower also spoke with the auditor regarding setting up special accounts to accumulate funds for the justice center and for the landfill. These funds would have to be set up via resolution and, if money is taken out for any other reason, that would have to be done via resolution as well.
Attorney Items
Attorney Smith has been working with the Planning and Zoning office on non-compliance issues.
Public Comment
Ron Beckner, from the Chamber of Commerce, reported that the website is now up and running and connected with the state website. He also reported that membership the last hear has risen over 70%.
Staff Reports
There was no report from Road & Bridge, OEM, and Public Health
Rusty Christensen from the Landfill reported his numbers from 2019. His department “raised” a total of $17,716.35 to be designated for future landfill expansion. This money came from recycling and from the additional $1/cubic yard for commercial dumping. He agreed to sit in on interviews for his replacement.
Dennis Sprecher gave the 2019 Recycling report. The prices for recycled materials were down industry-wide, but he sees it slowly coming back. He did keep approximately six semi loads of cardboard out of the landfill. He also sent about 18,000 pounds of recycled paper to Salida.
Laura Lockhart gave the Human Service report. Mr. Flower reported that Mrs. Lockhart has turned down the van that her department was supposed to get from the Sheriff’s fleet. Apparently the van has too many mechanical issues to warrant the money it would take to make it safe. The State will reimburse the purchase of a new vehicle over five years and she thought her budget would allow the purchase of a vehicle so the commissioners agreed that she should start shopping.
VSO John Carroll reported that January was a relatively quiet month for him. But his recent food drive did provide meals for 730 people. My Neighbor’s Cupboard is now on board to run the food bank in the basement of his building. He is working with the VFW and American Legion on a big Veteran’s Day Parade.
Representatives from REACH Air Ambulance were in the meeting to present their contract for the proposed municipal site plan for the county. The first year, it would cost the county $20,274.49 to cover all residents. (Previously, the commissioners had thought it would cover tourists as well, but this is not the case.) The representative from REACH stated that this was a very good rate and expressed that these contracts were getting rarer. He also stated that the price for this contract would be re-evaluated every year. This money was not budged for. But during the discussion, Mr. Printz, who has been the major proponent of this contract, stated that the county has plenty of money for it. The commissioners got clarification on several issues and put the consideration of this contract on the February 19th agenda.
The Board lifted the moratorium on burn permits and postponed the discussion of the number of candidates they would interview for the landfill supervisor job.
Sheriff Byerly spoke to the Board about the recent jail break, saying that it happened, in part, because of the locks on the existing jail doors. He stressed that it was not, in any way, the jailor’s fault and it could have happened to anyone. Because of the way the jail doors work, the jailer that needs to so their rounds must carry the key with them. This key was taken from her and she was locked in a cell before they fled. Apparently there were two patrol officers in the building at the time but because of the separation of the jail from the offices, they could not hear her call for help. The faulty locks on the cell doors cannot be fixed because of their age so Sheriff Byerly is getting some bids and suggestions for new locks and an upgraded security system that would preclude the key situation. He believes that the cost will be in the $2,000 range per door and there are twelve doors. This $24K was not budged so the Board will have to figure out where that money will come from. But, there was no denying the need.
Regarding the justice center project, Sheriff Byerly will reach out to the committee members and set up a meeting. The next step in the process is to hire a person to help put together a funding plan for the project – the money to pay this person was awarded via grant. The commissioners agreed that they needed to take over control of this project and thanked the Sheriff for all the work he’s done getting the project to this point. The Sheriff agreed that they were the ones who needed to head the project up from this point.
Mr. Printz presented an agreement draft naming the point of contact for the broadband project between the county and the two towns. The draft will be send to both mayors for their input.
The recent transfer of funds to pay the taxes on the parcels purchased by the county for Attainable Housing was not in the correct amount. The Board rescinded the previous transfer of $1,854.48 and approved a transfer for $1,165.
Mr. Flower received an email from AT&T stating that the new tower, though dedicated to first response, would have provide “additional cell phone capabilities” for customers. He also stated that the new Verizon tower at Hermit and 5th Street has not gone live yet as CenturyLink has not gotten fiber to that tower.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:50 p.m.