A little less than three years after the previous board of county commissioners passed a resolution turning all plumbing inspections over to the state, the current board has spent several hours in work sessions weighing the pros and cons of taking back local control. Contractors have shared concerns about delays, lack of communication, trouble navigating the state’s website, and difficulty getting answers to questions in working with the state inspector.
Following another lengthy discussion Tuesday, Sept. 27, the board called for a special meeting Wednesday (after press time) to approve or deny a resolution returning the responsibility of plumbing inspections to the county.
If the board passes the resolution Wednesday, the change will likely mean additional discussions to be had with the Town of Meeker to share an inspector while RBC Building Inspector Matt Franks completes the required certifications for plumbing inspections.
MIND SPRINGS
Also in work sessions, commissioners heard from John Sheehan, the new CEO of Mind Springs Health and COO Elizabeth Tice. Sheehan acknowledged existing problems within the organization. “We have a lot of issues related to operations and quality of care,” he said. According to Sheehan, changes have already been made, including raising salaries for all staff members, engaging national recruiting firms and bringing on 16 traveling nurses and five Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs). He’s also focused on getting West Springs — the only psychiatric hospital between Denver and Salt Lake City — operating at capacity, something Sheehan said hasn’t happened in the 3.5 years since the hospital was built.
“It has not been full, and that’s not tenable in the environment that we’re in… to have a state-of-the-art facility that’s community funded that’s not full, that’s just not acceptable,” he said.
IT & COMMUNICATIONS
IT Director Trevor Nielsen updated the board regarding the acquisition of Visionary Broadband’s customers to the county, including a new software program for billing. The communications department is working on tower inspections and training, and cooperating with the sheriff’s office to make sure technicians have a way to access towers during winter months via snowmobile.
Nielsen also said last week’s brief internet outage was not part of the local network.
SENIOR NUTRITION
Speaking on behalf of Jan Reece for the senior nutrition program, RBC Budget and Finance Director Janae Stanworth said the program is developing quarterly menu plans that will have no repeated meals, and are accepting suggestions from seniors, updating policies and procedures, and reviewing grant funding and making changes to make sure the program is in compliance with grant requirements. The senior nutrition program served 783 meals at Chuckwagon in Meeker and 760 at the Radino Center in Rangely during the month of August.
AIRPORTS
Facilities Director Eric Jaquez discussed long term plans for the county’s two airports. Because the majority of airport funding comes from the Federal Aviation Administration, plans need to be laid out ahead of time.
Upcoming capital improvement projects include the water line improvement and fuel farm at Meeker’s airport, to be followed by an apron replacement project in front of the small aircraft hangars. The county would be fiscally responsible for the water line and fuel farm, and then in 2025 would have funding for the apron replacement. Within five years, all significant projects at the Meeker Airport would be complete, Jaquez said.
A taxiway replacement or relocation is needed at the Rangely Airport, as it was found to be noncompliant with safety standards in 2012. That project was pushed out to 2030, when there will also be need for a runway rehabilitation project. Jaquez said he believes it would be advantageous for the county to push the taxiway project forward to 2026 to help with obtaining funding for the runway project. The county partners with Coulter Aviation to manage the Meeker Airport and with Colorado Northwestern Community College to manage the Rangely Airport.
SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Sheriff Anthony Mazzola said the year to date cost, with September being an estimate, for housing inmates in the Moffat County Jail is $56,811. The department had budgeted $151,818. “So we’re coming in well under. If this was 2021 we would have spent $747,000 operating the jail, so the savings is absolutely significant.” This month RBC is averaging about two inmates in Moffat County Jail. Other counties have contacted RBCSO that are considering taking similar action, as state mandates for care are “onerous” for smaller communities who lack the funding and the human resources to meet the requirements. “We made the right move, even though some people disagree.”
Thanks to a $275,000 private donation earlier this year, the department has purchased two patrol vehicles and license plate camera readers that double as video cameras. Delayed by supply chain issues, those vehicles are currently being outfitted.
The department is short two patrol deputies, but has four applicants in process. Mazzola said he hopes to be fully staffed by the end of the year. A dispatcher position is also open.
He’s also working on finding grant funding to develop a co-responder program to address mental health crises. “We end up waiting one to three days for a psych bed sometimes, so they end up sitting in the hospital and someone has to be with the person. The hospital doesn’t have the security staff so it falls on law enforcement and we don’t have the staff to do that.”
REGULAR BUSINESS
The board approved moving the Fairfield Complex maintenance position to the facilities department, reviewed county health insurance rates and options, approved the annual Women-Infant-Children program funding through Public Health, approved setting up an online card and ACH payment system for broadband customers.
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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
