RBC Commissioners met at the courthouse in Meeker Tuesday and heard from Bill Mills, one of the White River Field Office field managers for the Bureau of Land Management. Mills congratulated BLM staff members Kyle Arnold, Tyrell Turner, Matt Dupire and James Roberts for “very successfully completing the largest horse gather in Colorado history.”
“I can’t say enough about the work that they did,” Mills added, noting that 761 feral horses were removed from the East Douglas/Piceance Basin wildlife management area. He also thanked the county and the sheriff’s office for their support.
Public Health Director Karen Dinwiddie told commissioners they’ve received more than 350 responses to the community health assessment survey, which “gives us a good start.” Survey responses will be used in developing a public health improvement plan at the county level.
Dinwiddie said COVID-19 cases seem to be on the decline, with 16 positive cases in the last week. Another communicable disease, monkeypox, has not been identified in Rio Blanco County, but there have been confirmed cases in neighboring counties. Monkeypox is related to smallpox, but not as deadly, and is spread through “very close contact” with infected individuals.
Sales and Use Tax Director Debbie Morlan said the most recent sales tax numbers are good, with the Town of Meeker up 7% from the same period last year, the Town of Rangely up about 12%, and Rio Blanco County up about 25%.
“Things are going really good in the sales tax side,” Morlan said. “There’s a lot of industry activity.”
Motor vehicle tax revenue is up 35% in Rangely, 18% in the county, and 5% in Meeker.
Morlan didn’t prepare a percentage for materials use tax numbers, but said there are indications of increasing development and activity.
Morlan said she spends a good amount of her time working on transfers – bringing tax revenue inadvertently applied to other jurisdictions back to the county. In 2021, $575K was transferred back into the county. Through June of 2022, that number is up to $807K.
Emergency and Natural Resources Manager Eddie Smercina updated the board on the status of the greater sage grouse protections as part of a planned five-year update in 2022 by BLM. Smercina said there is only one active lek (area where sage grouse congregate in the spring) in the county. 2022 marked the first year on record — since 1998 — that no male sage grouse visited the lek.
“I’m not entirely sure what we’re going to be looking at with this [BLM] plan. They aren’t sure why population numbers are so far below what they were expecting.” The county will work with BLM and neighboring counties as the plan is updated.
Smercina said BLM will be doing an environmental assessment to protect wildlife corridors, with the potential for new rules related to oil and gas development as it may impact wildlife.
During the regular meeting, the board:
- Approved final contractor settlement with RoadSafe Traffic Systems for the 2022 pavement marking paint project for $3,172.
- Approved a support letter for the Colorado River District as it relates to Rio Blanco County.
- Approved a comment letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding the revamping their rules to allow for the experimental introduction of endangered species to areas they haven’t historically populated. “We’re opposed to their rules,” said County Attorney Don Steerman.
- Approved a $39K bid for a slide-in fiber optic splicing truck capsule for broadband.
- Approved a contract proposal and agreement with Mountain Cross Engineering for the Meeker Airport Waterline Expansion project in an amount not to exceed $26,775.
- Approved an agreement for $7K with Ariel Clinical Services to provide structured parenting time (part of DHS).
- Approved a memorandum of understanding with RBC BOCES that will funnel some grant funds through public health to the school districts, according to grant guidelines.
- Road and Bridge Director Scott Marsh said his department is working on developing a matrix to “determine what a county road is.”
In public comment, Rangely residents presented concerns regarding election security and a request for a county resolution to manually count ballots in addition to any electronic tabulation required by the state. “The first step of reform starts at the county level,” said a Rangely resident. The group stated they have identified “a lot of problems” in the local election process and changes that need to be made, and asked for a work session to “non-contentiously sit down and go through it.”
Following commissioner updates, the board went into executive session to receive legal advice regarding a Rio Blanco County Housing and Personnel Restructuring Plan, then returned in the afternoon for another work session with department heads regarding proposed organizational restructuring to consolidate some departments, provide cross-training and ensure succession planning, while increasing efficiency.
By NIKI TURNER – editor@editorht1885.com
