With no regular business, county commissioners met Tuesday for work sessions to discuss three topics: switching back to local jurisdiction for plumbing inspections, ownership of a portion of Airport Road in Rangely, and the possibility of moving the sheriff’s office in Rangely from Town Hall to the county-owned data building on Main Street. Commissioners Jennifer O’Hearon and Love participated virtually.
PLUMBING INSPECTIONS
The prior board of commissioners opted to turn plumbing inspections over to the state in February 2020, according to John Magee, supervisor for the Colorado state plumbing inspector with the Department of Regulatory Affairs (DORA). Of Colorado’s 64 counties, 39 are under the state’s jurisdiction.
Requirements for inspectors are set by state statute, regardless of jurisdiction. The goal is to have all plumbing and gas/gas piping inspections be uniform statewide according to code. If a county or municipality chooses to hire its own inspectors, any amendments to the code are to be equal to or more stringent than the state requirements.
A new statute goes into effect in January 2023 that will require state electrical and plumbing boards to hire people to verify compliance surrounding licensing for contractors.
County Building Inspector Matt Franks, who will go full-time in October, said there has been a push for local control of inspections. “If this is the direction the county wants to go, it’s not impossible but it’s not going to happen overnight,” Franks said. Additional training would be needed before Franks would be comfortable handling plumbing inspections. “My job is for the safety and wellbeing of the people of this county,” he said.
Local contractor Luke Renninger said using the state inspector has caused scheduling problems that delay projects. “It happened really fast,” Renninger said of the decision to change from local to state inspections in 2020. “It doesn’t seem to be moving as fast going the other way.”
AIRPORT ROAD
Whether maintenance responsibility for a section of Airport Road falls to the Town of Rangely or to the County is under review. According to Rangely Town Manager Lisa Piering and Public Works Director Jeff LeBleu, it’s unclear if the section ever changed ownership after the county built it. The road serves approximately 15 residences. Road and Bridge Director Scott Marsh said the cost to bring the road up to code is estimated at $130K. Further research will be conducted by both parties to determine ownership.
SHERIFF’S OFFICE IN RANGELY
The Town of Rangely said they were caught off guard by news the sheriff’s office was considering relocating it’s Rangely office from Town Hall to the county-owned data building on Main Street. The building currently houses the county’s west end broadband infrastructure, the Rangely Area Chamber of Commerce and an office for Commissioner Ginny Love, who started maintaining office hours in Rangely one or two days per week. The subject came up in a work session discussion last week.
The county has been discussing ways to consolidate services and buildings in Rangely for six or seven years. Currently the county rents space for the sheriff’s office and county clerk and recorder in Town Hall for about $15K per year, with about $3K for the sheriff’s space specifically.
Rangely Mayor Andy Shaffer asked about the reasoning behind the sheriff’s department wanting to move out of Town Hall, where the Rangely Police Department and the Rangely dispatch center are located. He suggested the reasoning has to do with relationships between the agencies. Sheriff Anthony Mazzola said he wants to provide a space for the four Rangely-based deputies that is functional and comfortable. The current space in Town Hall has HVAC issues and has not been updated in decades, he said, adding that moving into county-owned space makes sense and would save the county money.
Love said she believes it’s important to keep the law enforcement agencies close together for the sake of communication. Sheriff Mazzola said Meeker PD and the Meeker Sheriff’s Office aren’t in the same building and there’s no problem with communication.
Chamber Director McKenzie Webber said she believes the Chamber would be negatively impacted by the change in location.
Commissioner O’Hearon suggested the possibility of relocating the sheriff’s office to the front part of the DHS building instead, adding another option to the discussion.
The need for security at the data building, regardless of who is in the space, was also discussed briefly.
After about an hour of discussion, those in attendance from the Town and the county agreed better communication is needed, including having someone from the Town attend county meetings and work sessions. The Town offered to participate in an inventory of needs for the sheriff’s office, needs they say they had not been made aware of.
“No matter what we do it’s going to cost the county money to upgrade everything,” Love said. “We need to look at what is the least cost to the taxpayers.”
◆ ◆ ◆
What is the County Beat?
The Rio Blanco Herald Times makes a concerted effort to cover local government as part of our mission to inform citizens and hold power to account. The County Beat details discussion and action by the Rio Blanco County board of commissioners, who generally meet the second, third and fourth Tuesday of each month.
By NIKI TURNER – editor@editorht1885.com
