BY NIKI TURNER
RBC | Changes in the county’s budget and finance department with the departure earlier this summer of Janae Stanworth and the departure this week of Talia Rosas prompted the Rio Blanco County Commissioners to discuss who has signing authority for vouchers and to what degree. Colleen Kenney has been hired as Finance Director. After a discussion with Kenney and County Attorney Don Steerman, the commissioners determined Kenney will be allowed to sign off on vouchers of up to $25,000. Anything more than that amount will require the addition of a commissioner’s signature.
Commissioners also conducted work sessions with Road and Bridge, Operations, and Human Services on Tuesday, Sept. 26 in Rangely.
Operations Administrator Eric Jaquez presented the final plan for broadband expansion that will be submitted for grant funding. The plan is broken into two blocks, with Project 1 to include extending broadband service to Meeker west and south, all of Rangely, and Meeker east and Buford. The grant application is expected to be submitted later this week with notification of the award to come in November, at which time the county would begin seeking contractors through the RFP process.
Jaquez also reviewed future capital improvement projects at the airports, noting that RBC is one of only three counties that has two airports to maintain.
During the regular meeting, the board approved several letters of support for grants, renewed the CU Health BC4U public health program, approved an insurance agreement to cover the airport fuel storage system, appointed Commissioner O’Hearon to the Colorado Counties Inc. legislative committee for 2024, and approved a resolution joining Moon Lake Electric Association and White River Electric Association “proposing measures to address the impending U.S. energy crisis while supporting RBC citizens.” The full text of the resolution, which refers to the increasing demand for electricity, was not available in time for the print deadline.
After commissioner updates, the board went into another executive session for annual performance reviews of county departments and additional negotiations for the hiring of a county administrator.
