Local entities meet to discuss infrastructure needs

MEEKER — A recent survey of 12 entities that provide public services revealed that six of those entities need to invest in major capital improvements within the next five years.
The Rio Blanco County Commissioners and the Town of Meeker Board of Trustees are encouraging all the special districts in eastern Rio Blanco County to work together to address the community’s failing infrastructure and buildings.
“Our community is facing challenging times and issues, many of our public buildings are not sufficient to meet our current needs and demands,” said Forrest Nelson, RBC commissioner. “Many of our public buildings are no longer meeting code requirements. We all remember the asbestos challenge at the elementary school last fall. We need to come together as a community and address these challenges.”
“Now is the chance to start the planning process,” said Steve Loshbaugh, mayor of Meeker. “If we are not planning we are falling behind. Part of planning is asking, how do we address the funding required to meet community infrastructure needs?”
On Wednesday, Feb. 27 the Rio Blanco County Commissioners and Meeker Town Board of Trustees will host “A Presentation about Community Infrastructure Needs.” The purposes of the discussion are:
1. What are the public infrastructure and building needs?
2. How can we work together to better leverage funding options?
3. How to inform state legislators concerning the impacts facing our community in order to bring more of our energy dollars back to Rio Blanco County?
The presentation will be held at the Fairfield Center and is open to the public. “We encourage the public to attend,” says Nelson. “We want the entire community to be informed about these public safety issues and to know that as a community we are building a road map to address them.”