RBC | The Rio Blanco County Board of County Commissioners spent much of its June 30 work session discussing the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code (CWRC), signaling they are not prepared to adopt the state code because of concerns about housing affordability, uncertainty surrounding future state requirements and opposition to what several commissioners described as another unfunded state mandate.
Commissioner Chair Callie Scritchfield and Commissioner Doug Overton attended the meeting at the Rio Blanco Historic Courthouse, while Commissioner Jennifer O’Hearon participated remotely via Google Meet.
Commissioners spent nearly an hour reviewing the state’s wildfire code requirements with county staff and County Attorney Rose Pugliese before concluding that they did not have enough certainty to move forward with adoption.
Scritchfield said her primary concern was whether adopting the CWRC would require Rio Blanco County to update its 2006 building and energy codes.
“I need confirmation that by adopting this would not trigger us to have to go to newer codes than the 2006 codes,” Schritchfield said.
Building Inspector Matt Franks pointed commissioners to House Bill 25-1269, which states counties are not required to adopt updated energy codes solely because they adopt the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code.
“I called the state on this,” Franks said. “I specifically asked the question is the WUI the same, which we know that it is not since it specifically states the wildfire resiliency code, and that is the code that you must adopt. The Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code is a code within itself. I can only read to you what the House bill says.”
Franks explained the CWRC differs from the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code because it was written specifically for Colorado.
“The CWRC is tailored from the WUI code,” Franks said. “It’s very specific in the guidelines, and it’s very straightforward in the direction, so there is a distinct difference.”
Pugliese cautioned commissioners that although current law appears to exempt counties from updating broader building codes, future legislatures or administrations could change those requirements.
“We are giving you our perspective as we know it today,” Pugliese said. “That could change under a future administration. I don’t want to have this meeting in three months and have you all say, ‘But you told us in that June 30 meeting this was going to happen.’ There are just a lot of uncertainties.”
Scritchfield also questioned what adopting newer codes could mean for local residents trying to build homes.
“Our average citizen in Rio Blanco County that’s saved their whole lifetime to try to build something — I don’t want to add some more to it,” she said.
Franks said many homes currently being built in the county already meet much of the newer construction standards.
“I will say that most of your homes that are being built today, that’s including Elk Creek, are to your 2021 IRC and IBC standards … and they’re probably 75% already at the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code template,” Franks said.
Overton questioned whether additional regulations would significantly reduce wildfire losses while increasing housing costs.
“I don’t want to be a part of that,” Overton said. “I want to bring it back down somehow.”
O’Hearon also voiced opposition to the code.
“Not only is it an unfunded mandate that I am not in favor of, it’s being passed along to taxpayers,” O’Hearon said. “We keep talking about affordable housing. If we do this, we are making housing less affordable because we’re increasing the cost.”
Commissioners also discussed whether to adopt a resolution formally opposing the CWRC as an unfunded mandate. Pugliese said such a resolution would largely be symbolic.
“If you don’t adopt anything and you don’t move forward with implementing code changes, clearly nothing changes in Rio Blanco County,” she said. “A resolution is more about taking a political stand.”
The discussion also turned to insurance companies and wildfire mitigation. Franks said insurers are already requiring some homeowners to replace roofing materials with fire-resistant products before renewing policies.
“I’ve had many roofing permits this year alone,” Franks said. “Some of those houses are getting reroofs that had a roof put on 10 years ago, and the insurance company is making them take that roof off and put a fire-retardant roof on in order to get insurance.”
Emergency Manager Rich Garner said insurers may increasingly drive wildfire mitigation decisions.
“My concern is how’s not adopting this going to affect the citizens out in the county, because I’m worried that insurance will use this as another lever to not insure them or raise rates or cancel,” Garner said.
Although commissioners indicated they are not prepared to adopt the CWRC, they agreed the county should continue encouraging residents to create defensible space around their homes.
“I would ask that we continue to push out there the need for people to do their defensible space,” Scritchfield said. “If they can afford it, and they want to do these mitigation efforts, please do it. It does not cost very much to do defensible space.”
No formal action was taken during the work session, and commissioners indicated the issue will remain off the board’s agenda unless future legislation or new information prompts another review.
Following the work session, commissioners convened a special meeting and unanimously approved the agenda. With no public comments received, the board moved into its action items, beginning with a request to amend the county’s agreement with Whites Construction and Excavation LLC for Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) work.
Recovery Manager Liz Chandler said the original contract was capped at $500,000 because Road and Bridge had not previously worked with the contractor.
“The main purpose was that Road and Bridge hadn’t worked with them specifically before, so we wanted to make sure that if we progressed down the road and things weren’t working well that there was an easy out option without it becoming difficult if the contract became maxed,” Chandler said.
Chandler said only $21,661.75 remained under the current agreement and warned that additional debris flows following summer storms would likely push costs beyond the existing cap.
“But if we were to have debris flows and then not only the cost of cleaning the debris flows, but then probably recleaning some of the culverts, they will very, very likely exceed the $500,000 cap on the contract,” she said.
She added that contractors document work daily with photographs and location records, making it “very difficult to take advantage” of the agreement. Chandler also noted the Natural Resources Conservation Service has allocated $7 million for the EWP program in Rio Blanco County and less than $1 million has been spent.
Following discussion, commissioners approved increasing the Whites Construction and Excavation contract from $500,000 to $1.5 million for County Road 5 culvert cleaning and debris management.
The board then reviewed bids for the County Road 33 Emergency Watershed Protection project. Chandler reported that five contractors submitted bids ranging from $72,160 to $246,000.
She recommended awarding the contract to CRC of Craig, the low bidder at $72,160.
“Toby said they came in almost to the dollar what they had bid,” Chandler said. “They’re almost identical to the engineer’s estimate of cost.”
Commissioners unanimously approved awarding the County Road 33 contract to CRC.
The board also approved a $180,312.52 contract with Bolton Construction for the State Highway 13 Old Meeker Landfill Emergency Watershed Protection project and approved Task Order 007 under the county’s master services agreement with SGM for design of the County Road 4 emergency repair project in the amount of $106,200.
Near the end of the meeting, commissioners entered executive session pursuant to C.R.S. 24-6-402(4)(b) to receive legal advice on specific legal questions. Overton left the meeting at 4:40 p.m. Commissioners adjourned the special meeting at 4:44 p.m.
The board’s next regular meeting is scheduled for July 7 at 1 p.m. at the Rio Blanco Historic Courthouse in Meeker.