RBC | Employees and elected officials of Rio Blanco County are busy working on year-end projects, conducting tax lien sales, planning for broadband expansion and economic development initiatives, and compiling the 2015 budget.
As we near year’s end, it is impressive to look back at accomplishments of 2014 and recognize the momentum will not stop, but instead carry through to goals and priority projects of 2015.
The process of the 2015 budget creation is under way.
Chris Singleton, the county’s budget/finance director, presented a proposed 2015 budget to county commissioners on Oct. 13. The commissioners are in the process of conducting budget workshops, reviewing budget requests of all elected officials and department heads.
The final version of the 2015 budget will be adopted Dec. 15 during a special commission meeting. The proposed budget is available to review in the clerk’s offices in Meeker and Rangely, and online at rbc.us/departments/budget/.
Rio Blanco County is committed to expanding broadband capabilities to residents and business owners, providing a necessary service and making it easier for business startups and expansion.
In the 2015 budget, the commissioners have allocated $7 million to this important project—$2 million of these funds are coming from the 2014 Federal Mineral Lease allocation recently acquired by Rio Blanco County. The additional $5 million allocation will come from the General Fund and will be used on this project as needed, if needed.
The commissioners recognize this project requires a significant monetary commitment and have thoroughly analyzed various financial situations to ensure fiscal responsibility. The commissioners considered purchasing a bond, with calculations proving this is not the best use of taxpayer dollars.
The County Capital Improvement Trust Fund (CCITF) is a fund set up for capital projects, with local agencies submitting grant applications to the commissioners on a yearly basis to help fund their projects. This fund has money that could be utilized for a project such as this, and the commissioners would budget $1 million for the next five years to rebuild the fund, but they did not want to jeopardize future funding of important capital improvement projects to local agencies.
After discussion, the commissioners decided to commit $5 million from the General Fund. Rio Blanco County will be seeking a $2 million grant from the Energy Impact Assistance Fund administered by the Department of Local Affairs, further leveraging taxpayers dollars. While this is a large scale project, the IT Department aspires to reach 70 percent project completion by the end of 2015.
Progress continues on the Justice Center construction project.
FCI Constructors has begun to mobilize its onsite headquarters, located at 455 Main St. Selective demolition of the north wing and gymnasium is under way, and Fifth Street was closed Nov. 5 order to begin drilling operations for the geo-exchanger well field.
The existing handicap access to the courthouse, located on Fifth Street, has been shifted to Sixth Street, across from the Post Office. As long as weather permits, foundation and exterior work will be under way, with construction commencing on the building interior this winter. FCI will be facilitating two subcontractor pre-bid informational meetings. The first was Nov. 12 at the FCI headquarters located onsite. The second meeting, which will also include a job fair to pair local workers with subcontractors, will be Monday Nov. 24, at 1:30 p.m. at the FCI headquarters located onsite. For more information on these meetings, please contact Brad Keller with FCI, by phone at 970-434-9093.
Additional capital projects include the courthouse renovation, improvements to White River Museum and upgrades to Rio Blanco County Fairgrounds. Design of the courthouse renovation project is under way, and construction will begin following the Justice Center completion, presumably in the spring of 2016.
Staining and chinking of White River Museum should be completed mid-November.
Ducey Electric was recently awarded the bid to complete electrical system upgrades at the Rio Blanco County Fairgrounds, and the 4H Building site improvement projects are concluded, which included installing a new water main and manhole. Paving of the fairgrounds and the Fairfield Center parking areas will begin this coming spring.
