Commissioners Say Goodbye

Clara Aucoin
GCN Senior Reporter

  There was a brief bit of business conducted at Tuesday’s meeting of the Gilpin County Commissioners, but the main business of the meeting and a reception following was to say farewell to outgoing Commissioners Ken Eye and Web Sill.

  Eye, a Democrat, and Sill, a Republican, were elected to two consecutive terms beginning in 1996. For the first six years they served with Craig Nicholson; when he was unable to run again because of term limits, his wife, Jeanne, was elected in 2002.

  Jeanne Nicholson, now Chair of the Board, had kind words for both her colleagues, thanking them for serving as “mentors” when she first took office. She cited some of their “special legacies:” Eye for his work on the Gilpin County Primer for Living in the High Country, as well as his work on the County Master Plan, animal control issues and especially as Road & Bridge Commissioner; Sill for his contributions to the Denver Regional Council of Governments and Colorado Counties, as well as his groundbreaking efforts on the James Peak Wilderness Area legislation and the Intergovernmental Agreement on Growth among the two cities and the County.

  Representatives from both Black Hawk and Central City, as well as numerous Gilpin County employees, were on hand for a reception afterward honoring the outgoing Commissioners. After mixing and snacking, the fifty or so assembled guests saw County Manager Roger Baker present both Eye and Sill with engraved clocks, recognizing their years of fruitful service to the County.

  The items on the actual business agenda appropriately reflected the special interests on the departing pair. A Boundary Line Elimination was approved for Ronald Rees and Linda Worth Coolidge on some lots in Watchdog Subdivision. The BLE program has been a particular favorite of Sill, providing an effective mechanism for reducing the number of buildable lots in the County and helping preserve the “rural-like” character he has fought so hard to protect.

  The major item of discussion, however, was an Intergovernmental Agreement with Clear Creek County, through which Gilpin County will participate in the construction and operational funding of a new animal shelter near Dumont. The shelter will house impounded and abandoned Gilpin animals, most of which will no doubt have been collected by the newly hired animal control officer the two counties share. The agreements represent a major accomplishment for Eye, and served as a fitting capstone to his years in Gilpin County government.

  In other business, annual appointments were made for County Attorney, County Manager, Depository Banks and the County’s Newspaper of Record. Additional appointments will be made next week when the two newly elected Commissioners are sworn into office and Eye and Sill are officially relieved of their duties.