RBC | During work sessions Tuesday, the Rio Blanco County Board of Commissioners heard a request from Colorado Parks and Wildlife Area Wildlife Manager Bill deVergie and Rex Tuttle, owner of the Crystal Creek Ranch. Crystal Creek Ranch came before the commissioners previously, in 2019, when it was owned by the Seely family. The Seelys were attempting to sell the 3,400 agricultural and hunting property to CPW. The board at the time opposed the sale of the property to CPW, then adopted a neutral position. The property, which adjoins and includes part of Moffat County, was sold to Tuttle two years ago.
deVergie told commissioners Tuttle is seeking a conservation easement for the property, “designed to protect it from future development.” The easement will not change the operations of the ranch — a sheep operation and outfitting business — or the property tax structure.
Tuttle said the easement would make it easier for them to hold on to the property as a family and to eventually pass it down to his sons. “We’re not wanting to sell,” he said.
The easement does not affect CPW’s authority to continue its work to protect migration paths and winter range for big game. “We’re trying to maintain those big blocks of land,” deVergie said. “They can do basically anything they want with the ranch except develop on it.”
Commissioners unanimously approved a letter of support during the regular meeting. With that letter, the proposal will now go to a state-level committee.
deVergie also requested a letter of support for a right-of-way easement at the Belaire State Wildlife Area to connect the housing facility for CPW staff with broadband. The existing agreement, which runs through Westlands, does not include the word “fiber.” deVergie said Westlands and White River Electric Association (WREA) support of the proposal. Commissioners also approved that letter during the regular meeting.
Interim Public Health Director Beth Willey requested a wage adjustment for public health administrative assistant Kylee Gardner to better match her job duties, which have expanded beyond admin to “public health specialist.”
“Currently, there’s a lot of non-county dollars to pay for this and there’s a lot of Rio Blanco County good that will come into this position,” Willey said. It’s anticipated the increase will be covered by federal and state grant dollars. Approximately 80% of the public health department budget comes from federal and state money.
County Attorney Don Steerman updated the commissioners on changes to funding agreements with the State of Colorado, saying he had some concerns about a memorandum of understanding for funding to replace the deck of the County Rd. 4 bridge. Steerman said the state is becoming more aggressive about what it is requiring. “It’s nothing major, but it’s going to be for everything we try to do from here on out,” Steerman said.
The board agreed to have a special call-in meeting Friday to approve the agreement, which County Engineer Van Pilaud said needs to happen sooner rather than later in order to get through all the state requirements and approvals in time for construction, which is planned for July/August.
Following the swearing-in ceremony for newly elected and re-elected officials, the board met for the first regular meeting of the year, making appointments to boards and positions and approving regular business items such as the calendar of meetings, office hours, newspaper of record, and county bank.
Commissioners approved resolutions changing the structure of the Board of Health and the Community Services Block Grant Committee. The Board of Health will be reduced from six members to just the voting members (commissioners) and the CSBG committee will be reduced from seven members to three.
County Surveyor and Planner Leif Joy presented two limited impact reviews for approval, on staff recommendation. Both reviews were required for property owners to add an additional residence to their properties. Both were approved, and Joy commended citizens for “doing things the right way” by going through the required processes.
BY NIKI TURNER | [email protected]