RANGELY | Last Thursday County Commissioner Jeff Rector told the Rangely Development Authority the county will gift a car to CNCC for courtesy use at the airport. The town offered to help with any maintenance.
Chairman Brad Casto and Town Manager Peter Brixius discussed cooperative style grocery stores. Both talked about the importance of conducting another community wide survey specifically about a food co-op. “I think if we have a co-op push it has to come from the community, not any sort of government entity,” Casto said. Brixius talked about “hiccups” they ran into the last time, saying, “We’re competing with an existing business.” True Value owner Rodger Polley commented, “The co-op thing ought to work great if everyone understands what’s got to happen. Building some monstrous thing (a new building) isn’t going to work.”
Brixius updated the board on the call center project spearheaded by Better City, which has centered their focus on TeleTech, a company that prefers rural locations. Brixius said they are looking at vacant buildings.
Colorado Northwestern Community College President Ron Granger discussed starting a drone program at CNCC. His goal is to get the program going at the Rangely campus and expand into Craig. Some of the classes may be available online, however they are still seeking program approval. “Education moves slower than government,” he said. Granger also said they were seeking grants to help fund the equipment.
They revisited moving up into the next tier of the Main Street program which will require a plan of action and a resolution of support from the town council. A new board of directors will be created to support the program.
The town is seeking a grant to create a co-working space in a vacant building.
Brixius gave updates on trap club improvements which include fencing, painting, trap house construction, electrical and plumbing work. The project has been headed by Rick Brady. The town is seeking volunteers to help out on June 1.
Polley expressed a desire to purchase the old liquor store next to True Value Garden Center, which is currently under a tax lien, to use the back of the lot for storage. Konnie Billgren expressed interest in seeing the building turned into a food bank. However, according to Polley the building will need extensive electrical work and he cannot afford to update the building and rent it out as a food bank for free. He said he would like to purchase the property and rent for little to no expense but could not repair the building.
