August 8th BOCC; Printz on Violating State Law! Possible Raise for the County
Employees, Haga Land Deal Approved
Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC)
—August 8, 2018
WESTCLIFFE, Colo.
by Jackie Bubis
The meeting started at 9 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call. Introductions of the public followed.
There were no new commissioner items or attorney items.
Administrative Assistant to the BOCC Brenda Gaide, reported that the DA’s budget meeting is August 29th.
Public Comment
State Senator Larry Crowder was present and spoke with the Board and audience. He reported that the legislature is working on getting more funding for the DA’s offices in the rural counties to alleviate the imbalance in funding between the public defenders and the district attorneys. He also said they are working on reforms for rural Colorado on septic system administration and that there is a real need for reform of the septic regulations. Of the sixteen counties he represents, fifteen are below the federal poverty level; Custer County is the only one that is not.
Angie Arterburn, from the Tourism Board asked the board some questions about getting more Board members. She was deferred to the next Tourism Board meeting.
Staff Reports
Lynn LeGree gave the Airport Board report. That board is down two members and they are working on putting together recommendations for the BOCC.
Virginia Trujillo’s Treasurer’s report was accepted.
Cindy Howard brought her assistant, Meredith Nichols with her for the OEM Report. Ms. Nichols will be giving next month’s report.
The IT Department report was given by Vernon Roth. He recently received an excellent performance review. His current challenge is getting the courthouse/Sheriff’s Office internet fast enough for the new E911 system. There is fiber in the basement of the courthouse, brought in by the courts, that may be available to tap into for this. The new E911 equipment won’t ship until he has the higher speeds in place. The Board approved him to move forward providing the court is okay with it.
Dawna Hobby gave the HR/Finance report. The Board approved her to put a one percent raise for county employees in the preliminary budget as a starting point. They also approved the $8K+ supplemental reimbursement to the Clerk’s ffice from the state for elections.
JD Henrich and the BOCC held the Board of Equalization report stating that there had been no appeals to property taxes this year.
Elisa Livingood gave the Public Health report. Her office has been busy with sports physicals for the students. She reported on the conference she attended in Alabama. The EMT class is a go with eight students, six of which are on the Fire Department. She will have her Public Health Corner in the Wet Mountain Tribune. It is unclear if this will also be in the Sangre de Cristo Sentinel.
Unfinished Business
The Board approved the Lease/Purchase agreement for 6.68 acres from the Haga Family Trust. The payments will be made over the next 11 years and the purchase price is $581.962. The Haga family offered the land at $2 sq/ft rather than the market $3. This land acquisition will allow the county to move forward with grants for a new justice center. Grants are not available until land is acquired. During the discussion, Mr. Printz stated that, though he was all for this agreement and would sign it, he felt that Mr. Canda had left him out of the loop in meetings. Mr. Canda stated there had been no additional meetings. The justice center committee had brought the item to the BOCC, the BOCC had turned it over to the attorney to negotiate, and now they had a contract to sign. The Board agreed to sign the contract effective August 1st. Mrs. Haga and son Mike Haga attended the signing in the courtroom.
The Board agreed to take ownership of the Sangre de Cristo Electric tower on Lookout Mountain. The county paid $10 for the tower and the electric company will have a 25-year free lease of the top ten feet of the tower. Neighbor Claudia Morris objected to the transfer because of what it will lead to in the future.
The Board approved a resolution allowing Sheriff Byerly to adjust fire restrictions without their permission ahead of time. You may recall that Attorney Clint Smith thought that this might not be legal but reported that other counties have been doing it since 2000. Mr. Printz queried Mr. Smith on the legalities stating that “we should never violate state law.” (Edtor/GG: You can’t make this stuff up.)Mr. Smith said that, since other counties are doing it, it was okay. This streamlines the process for Sheriff Byerly. The approval was unanimous.
Sheriff Byerly, present for the vote on the resolution, then discussed taking off all restrictions effective immediately. He stated that he wanted to only have restrictions when they were necessary so that people would take them seriously. He also mentioned that the open burn policy needs to be reworked, clarifying wording, etc. and that he thought he’d have those policies redone by spring 2019.
The Board tabled the resolution dealing with the commissioners not being voting members of any county boards. They have agreed on that issue and are no longer in those positions. However, the issue of residency in the resolution has become a sticking point. The item will be heard at a future meeting.
Public Comments
One citizen stated that she hated to see the Public Health Nurse politicize her office’s advertising. She also urged that social media be used as much as possible for getting the word out because not everyone reads the papers.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:36 p.m.