RBC | At the Dec. 10 regular meeting of the Rio Blanco County Board of Commissioners, Commissioner Doug Overton first addressed a letter to the editor published in November from Rangely resident Wendi Gillard regarding a veterans services program. Overton declared the county administration’s firm support and dedication to all veterans through the county’s veterans service office.
“I just wanted the public to know that we do support veterans in every way and we appreciate what they’ve done for us,” Overton said.
Commissioner Ty Gates was presented with a plaque in appreciation for his service to the county in various departments and as a commissioner. Before he was elected District 3 commissioner, Gates served as the county’s emergency manager and was a jail deputy before that. Gates’s term ends in January and his family is moving to Alabama. His seat will be filled in January by Callie Scritchfield, who won the county Republican primary in June and was unopposed on the general election ballot in November.
In other business, Tami Dorris with RBC BOCES thanked the county for participating in a career day program that had more than 350 students from the county’s schools, middle school through college-age, attend throughout the day.
“I could not have done it without your support and the support of your employees,” Dorris said. County employees, hospital employees, and other groups participated in the event, which was held in Rangely at Colorado Northwestern Community College. Governor Polis spoke to students virtually. He had planned to be there in person but due to post-election day security concerns was unable to attend.
In regular business, commissioners approved:
• Cooperative Wildfire Protection Agreement between Rio Blanco County, Sheriff Anthony Mazzola, and the State of Colorado Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DPFS).
• Training contract agreements for Carmen McKay and Natalie Harvey with the Department of Human Services and Karen Dinwiddie and Makala Sheridan-Smith for Public Health. The agreements provide discretion for the board to approve training program tuition for staff. The board and staff discussed details to the agreements, including lifetime limitations, duration of employment, and how reimbursement is managed, among other items.
• Ratified a letter requesting Representative Boebert and Representative-elect Hurd (CD3) support S.2581 Secure Rural Schools (SRS) Reauthorization Act of 2023 to continue getting that federal funding for our schools and road and bridge. The funds come from use of public lands, from which the county does not receive tax revenue but has responsibilities and expenses for care.
• Ratified a letter of support for Colorado Ag Water Alliance’s, CO River District’s Grant Application, for repairs on Oak Ridge Ditch stream crossing. The crossing will keep water and fish from the Oak Ridge Ditch separate from Coal Creek.
• Approved an extension to Rangely School District’s CCITF Grant awarded on May 28, 2024. The extension was requested because it has been impossible for the District to find a contractor to complete work on the sewer line.
• Consideration of accepting the Grant Award for the Rio Blanco County Virtual Co-Responder Program from Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program Grant. The program allows the sheriff’s department to access mental health crisis care in cases when needed.
• Approved a NPEDS Annual Report for discharges from the application of pesticides.
• Heard a presentation by Justin Ewing with APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services) requesting the continued financial support — at the same level of funding — of the APHIS Program in Rio Blanco County. The program has expanded from just sheepgrowers to include all livestock producers in the county. Ewing said the expansion quadrupled the number of cattle producers and expects further expansion in response to the wolf introduction program with site assessments, range riding, non-lethal management, and carcass management. The program is also involved with the cricket abatement program. Ewing said a collared female wolf has been located near Aldrich Lakes northwest of Meeker.
• Re-allocating leftover funds from 2024 Gravel Crushing Funds to 2025 to finalize the gravel crushing contract, due to weather and machine constraints.
• Approved a permission letter for the Meeker Lions Club to provide alcoholic drinks at the Meeker Skijoring New Year’s Eve Dance on Dec. 31, 2024, from 7 p.m. – 12 a.m. at the RBC Fairgrounds 4-H Building.
• Approved a SAMHSA Grant for $201,350 per year for five years, and hiring one full-time position in public health. The grant was awarded to four counties in the Northwest Region, and is geared toward substance use prevention in youth.
• Ratified a letter of opposition to British Columbia regarding the export of wolves to Colorado. O’Hearon shared a question asked of the governor at a Colorado Counties Inc. conference about the expense of the wolf program in the face of budget cuts and program cuts. The governor said the wolf program was “the will of the people” and left the stage.
• Approved the 2024 RBC Broadband Oakridge Tower Repair, where equipment was destroyed by a bear. The tower serves approximately 40 residences.
• Approved a MOU with Prowers County, for Prowers County to manage and administer calls to the Hotline County Connection Center, regarding child welfare-related and adult protective services-related hotline calls on behalf of Rio Blanco County for 2025. County Attorney Don Steerman said, ”This benefits the county pretty significantly in that all referrals are documented and the county has access those and there’s a paper trail that allows the state to look at it and to make sure we’re (DHS) doing what we’re supposed to do for those referrals.” Steerman said they have a pretty strong team internally now, who screen the referrals and determine where assessments or intervention are needed. Multiple counties use the Prowers County call system for DHS.
• Approved an annual contract between DHS and the State of Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, for $9,586.50.
• Consideration of Child Care-Vendor Customer Information Sheet (VCIS) for 2025 CDEC-MOU assigning the board chair as the contact person.
• Approved USGS Joint Funding Agreements for water monitoring of the White River, Yellow Creek and Piceance Creek.
• Approved purchase of a lowboy trailer for Road and Bridge for $89,000. The trade in value of the old trailer is $47,500.
• Outgoing District Attorney Jefferson Cheney addressed changes in county compensation to the DA’s office setting the minimum salary for all DA’s offices prior to the first day of their term. Pursuant to statute, DA’s are required to be paid the same as a district court judge – $198,780 per year. Each county in the judicial district provides a portion of the expenses of the DA’s office. The 9th Judicial District includes Garfield, Pitkin and Rio Blanco counties. Commissioners will need to make a decision prior to the new DA’s first day.
• Mike Seitzinger, Colorado Regional Operations Manager for Enterprise Products, presented a check to Sheriff Anthony Mazzola for $12,000 to assist with the purchase of some communications equipment.
The board approved the following resolutions:
• Resolution 2024-39 appropriating additional sums of money to defray expenses in excess of amounts budgeted, in the various funds and spending agencies, in the amounts and for the purposes as set forth for the 2024 budget year. County Administrator Vicky Edwards said this is standard procedure.
• Resolution 2024-40, returned jurisdiction over Plumbing Permits and Inspections to the Colorado State Plumbing Board. Building Inspector Matt Franks said for almost a year he has been doing plumbing inspections, but with what’s on his plate “it’s in our best interest to give it back to the state.” Overton added that not turning it back over to the state would require the county to accept new building codes and energy codes that would significantly impact builders. “We understand there’s some controversy with the state plumber but we feel that overall taking care of our citizens this is the best way to take care of everyone involved.”
• Resolution 2024-41 designating the 2025 County Holiday Schedule after discussion about how to handle floating holidays.
• Resolution 2024-42 authorizing the treasurer to assign county-held lien on certain mineral accounts. Treasurer Rhonna Waldref said these minerals have previously gone to a tax lien sale and an Oklahoma company has requested them, which puts those minerals back on the tax roll.
• Resolution 2024-22, closing the County Clerk and Recorders offices, and other county offices on Dec. 19, 2024, 12 p.m. for the county holiday party.
Commissioners heard from County Planner Leif Joy about a proposed change to the Land Use Regulations (Article 19) as recommended by the planning commission. Resolution 2024-43 approves Article 19: Solar Collector and Wind Energy Facility Regulations, as an addition to the Rio Blanco County Land Use Regulations (LUR). Among other changes, Article 19 establishes size limits, fire regulations, opens applications to comment by the conservation districts, and sets limits for setbacks. Joy said the process of updating the Article has encompassed more than a year of work with multiple entities and organizations, and thanked those involved.
In a budget work session, the board reviewed ongoing and planned capital improvement projects. Commissioner Overton suggested using the County Capital Improvement Tax Fund internally for some of the proposed expenditures, a suggestion echoed by the other commissioners and administrator Edwards.
On Thursday, Jan. 12, commissioners met for a special meeting to adopt the 2025 budget. Of note is a reduction to the valuation for the county that impacts mill levies.
Wendi Gillard of Rangely questioned some budget funding items for DHS, including a caseworker grant title, allocations to programs, descriptions of the county attorney’s roles and how those are budgeted, and payments for Audrey Johnson as an outside resource for DHS. Commissioner Overton reminded Gillard that public comment is not a time for questions to be answered. Administrator Edwards suggested responding to questions via email. Gillard thanked the board and staff for their work on the budget.
The board approved adoption of the budget 2025 by resolution.
I would like to address part of this article. Doug Overton attempted to tell me this was for comment and not questions, when the agenda he read before the presentation (and was sent out) CLEARLY said ‘questions’…multiple times. He did not “remind me” . Again, like the Resolution for Veterans the commissioners so thoughtfully (insert sarcasm) passed….he didn’t know what he just read. When he asked me to make my comment prior to the presentation, I asked if I needed to wait until after the presentation, as the agenda also stated. See quote below.
“ II. Hearing Procedure: (Chairman):
•
Please hold your questions or comments until the conclusion of the
presentations.
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Questions must pertain to the budget.
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Please come to the front podium and state your name for the record.
•
Please limit your questions or comments to three minutes per member or five
minutes per group.”
•
Also, note that some of my questions that I raised prior to the meeting helped address some things that had to be changed prior to adopting the budget. There were incorrect amounts for one of Steerman’s contracts, inconsistent job titles between the organizational chart and the position descriptions in the packet, and a number of places with the wrong year.
I would love to see this correction made about this article.