RBC | Virginia “Ginny” Love was officially sworn in as the District 1 Rio Blanco County Commissioner between work sessions on Tuesday.
Commissioners Ty Gates and Jennifer O’Hearon interviewed Jessica Franks as a candidate for one of two open seats on the county’s planning commission, and officially appointed her during the regular meeting. Franks, who is married to building inspector Matt Franks, said she and her husband “really love the county” and “thought this would be a good way to give back.”
Leif Joy, county surveyor, said he believes Franks “brings a very unique perspective to the county, being new [here]. That’s something we should probably start including more, for a well-rounded perspective on the county, especially on the planning commission.”
IT/COMMUNICATIONS
IT and Communications Director Trevor Nielsen explained that the IT department operates from the county’s general fund, while the broadband department is an enterprise fund — not tax supported. The broadband network has about 2,500 customers, who receive service through a public/private partnership with Cimarron and Visionary, while the county owns and operates the broadband infrastructure.
Nielsen also shared a presentation from COS Software systems, a Swedish company whose software system automates tasks, provides a better platform for service providers, and improves visibility and access for customers. Nielsen said he would bring the topic back up during budget season.
For the communications department, Nielsen said the county firewall project is underway, solar upgrades for the secondary towers are almost complete, and equipment for the five-year core system upgrade of the fiber network is gradually coming in. Union Telephone and T-Mobile are in discussion with the county to for cell tower leases or construction, and a planned Commnet tower at Little Beaver is still waiting on approval or denial of application after almost a year. Nielsen said “it might be worth looking into installing our own tower.” Also in communications department updates are the CAD replacement project at the sheriff’s office, printer replacement, analog line replacement, and a site visit with the Moffat County Sheriff’s Office.
ROUNDUP
Laura Smith presented a proposal to change the days of meals at White River Roundup to Monday through Thursday instead of Monday through Wednesday and Friday, in an effort to free up the kitchen at the Fairfield Center on Friday. Chairman Gates said he was not opposed, but wanted to make sure the plan fits within the grant guidance and current budget before moving forward.
EXTENSION
Linda Masters, RBC Extension Agent, and Tonya Merz, 4-H Program Director, updated the board on extension office activities. The 4 -H program will host the Northwest Colorado Expo in June this year, a multi-county opportunity that comes around once every eight years that’s “basically a mini-fair.”
“We’re very excited to be hosting this event this year,” Merz said.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
With Emergency Manager Eddie Smercina at a separate meeting, Janae Stanworth, budget and finance director, shared Smercina’s request for a Mobile Data Terminal to improve efficiency in locating fires. Currently he gets a GPS coordinate. Commissioner Gates said installing a tracker on his vehicle would be more cost-effective and accomplish the same goal.
AIRPORT
Following up on a request to research fire suppression requirements for airplane hangars, Building Inspector Matt Franks, Fire Chief Luke Pelloni, and Facilities Project Coordinator Eric Jaquez shared with the board.
The county has received at least two requests from private citizens to build hangars at the Meeker Airport, prompting discussion about the lack of water for fire suppression at the airport.
Commissioner Gates said of the three options reviewed, a gravity flow system coming off the Shaman Trail tank is considered the best solution by engineers.
“The end goal would be to have adequate water supply up there,” Gates said. “We already lost one hangar construct because of the process and the delay.”
“It would be an asset not just for the airport but for our county as well,” Commissioner Love added.
Pelloni said there’s a good chance additional water supply will be a requirement before any other projects can move forward. “The water supply we have is not sufficient for the operation now.”
Gates emphasized the need to strategically organize the three major projects at the airport — water supply, fuel farm and runway apron — to avoid duplicating work.
REGULAR MEETING
In the regular meeting, the board approved payment for the Rangely paving project, approved a liquor license renewal for Corner Market, and appointed Jessica Franks to the planning commission. RoadSafe Traffic Systems was awarded the bid for the pavement marking project, not to exceed $79,000. A contract modification with United Companies for the County Road 8 chipseal project was approved as a change of starting date due to weather. The project is expected to begin after Memorial Day.
COMMISSIONER UPDATES
In commissioner updates, O’Hearon said she will be attending a Colorado Counties, Inc. meeting next week, and said she is aware the newspaper filed a Colorado Open Records Request for the investigation of wage and hour violations and harassment conducted when she was the director of DHS and Public Health for Rio Blanco County in 2016. The HT received a copy of that report on Tuesday, May 24. O’Hearon stated anyone with questions about the investigation can ask her directly.
Love said she would be attending the Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado meeting in Rangely on Wednesday.
Gates said he is attempting to get questions answered about the Office of Just Transition grant funding that was reduced to $220K with “a bunch of stipulations,” but the meeting keeps getting rescheduled. “We have some questions for them,” he said.
The next commissioners’ meeting will be in Meeker on June 9
By NIKI TURNER – editor@editorht1885.com
