Commissioners return from Washington D.C.

By bobby [email protected] I Rio Blanco County Commissioners Kai Turner and Ken Parsons spent six days last week in the nation’s capital. Turner said the trip was very productive.“The political atmosphere in D.C., has changed since last year,” Turner said. He is a member of the National Environment, Energy and Land Use steering committee. “It’s a little more centered.”Parsons, serving on the Tax and Finance steering committee and Turner were in Washington, D.C., as members of the National Association of Counties (NACo).Turner said he and Parsons attended daily meetings and discussed proposed resolutions to present to federal lawmakers or appropriate appointed officials.“We discussed bio-mass exceptions, clean coal technology, flexibility in health and human services funding, storm water management, pesticide use and of course Secretarial Order 3310 (the Wild Lands order), among other things,” Turner said.Turner said a resolution sponsored by Nevada, Utah and Wyoming Association of Counties to rescind the Wild Lands secretarial order was unanimously passed by the Public Lands committee and the Environment, Energy and Land Use committee.“Two steering committees at the national level passed the resolution,” Turner said. “It should send a strong message to Secretary (Ken) Salazar. County government is as close to the people as you can get. It’s the voice of the people.”The resolution can be read on page 11 of this week’s issue of the Herald Times.Turner said commissioners from the Third Congressional district were invited to dinner with Congressman Scott Tipton.“We had some very candid conversations with the Congressman and his staff about different issues concerning our area,” Turner said. “He (Tipton) was very sincere and is working hard to help keep the line of communication open.”Commissioner Shawn Bolton, who will go to Washington D.C., in April for the Western Energy Alliance conference, attended Gov. John Hickenlooper’s Bottom-Up Economic Development Plan Initiative in Craig last week.“They are starting to understand one size fits all doesn’t work,” Bolton reported at the commissioners’ meeting last Monday.In other business, the commissioners opened bids for a dump truck and several fleet vehicles and in the afternoon approved the final plat for Liberty Industrial Park.