Foreclosures remain status quo, buck national trend

RBC — County Treasurer Karen Arnold gave the quarterly trustee report at the April 28 meeting of the Rio Blanco County commissioners. In spite of national trends in the housing market, Arnold said Rio Blanco County has been, “staying about status quo.”
“We’ve started two foreclosures this year. We had eight last year,” Arnold said. “In reviewing records from the ‘80s, we had a lot more foreclosures then.”
“I was doing a comparison with other areas. I’d say we’re in pretty good shape,” said Commissioner Joe Collins. Arnold concurred.
Commissioner Ken Parsons said he spent “another week in Denver” sitting in on General Assembly meetings at the State capitol. Parsons has been representing RBC interests pertaining to Senate Bill 218, which concerns the allocation of federal mineral lease funds. There has been a push in the legislature to channel more of those dollars, which are essential to RBC for infrastructure and capital projects related to energy development, to the Front Range and higher education.
“Right now the bill is very favorable for Rio Blanco County. It would be a very good deal for us if we can get this through,” Parsons said. “It’s a lot of money at risk for our county.”
Parsons also participated in a meeting with the Department of Local Affairs regarding the recently released socioeconomic study. “We’re working on getting more press coverage on that,” he said.
Commissioners Forrest Nelson and Joe Collins participated in two days of interviews with consultants for road and bridge studies planned on County Road 5. They also attended another meeting about the adoption of the International Fire Code between between Rangley, Meeker and the county fire districts. The discussion was continued until May.
“That has been an interesting process,” said Collins, adding he hopes to see the issue resolved in the near future.