County departments reporting in as requested

Lynn Volkens

2/10/2005 - At the request of Gilpin’s Board of County Commissioners, the County Department Heads are beginning to submit written monthly reports on progress and challenges within their departments. Commissioners Jeanne Nicholson, Al Price, and Forrest Whitman are finding the reports valuable hands-on tools in assessing the state of the County.

Clerk and Recorder’s Report

   Gilpin County finished the first month of 2005 with $122,616.75 in receipts. The funds were disbursed to the State ($25,105.23), County Treasurer ($76,542.88), Central City ($2,809.47), and the remainder ($18,159.17) retained by the County Clerk. According to County Clerk Jessica Lovingier’s report, most of the revenue was in the form of ownership tax and then licensing fees. Except for liquor license and recording fees, revenue is up from this time last year.

Vote Centers Planned for Next Election

   Lovingier also reported on a Vote Center Conference she had attended on Tuesday, February 1^st, in Larimer County. Progress is being made at Gilpin’s Courthouse to wire the building in preparation for technology updating. If successful, Gilpin is on the way to replacing precincts with “Vote Centers,” places where Gilpin residents can stop in and vote at the most convenient location for them – no more having to go to a specific precinct to vote. Voters will still vote with paper ballots but a ballot reader will electronically record who has voted where and relay that information back to the Vote Center headquarters, thus preventing voter fraud. Currently, Larimer County is the only place using the system and it has proven successful there. Because of the convenience of being able to vote at any location, it is thought that more people will turn out to vote. Vote Centers will probably be at three locations spread across the County. The initial set-up of the system is estimated to cost approximately $66,500.00, but will result in savings the following years via reduction of the number of elections judges and staff needed to operate an election. Commissioners had already budgeted $100,000.00 for the conversion.

Miles From No Where – Not Really

   The Annual County Road Inventory report, used to determine the allocation of funds Gilpin receives from the Highway User Tax Fund, shows the County to have 37.45 miles of arterial roads and 110.60 miles of local roads that are allowable for determining the amount of that funding. There are 42.30 miles of roads maintained by others plus 9.95 miles of roads that are not maintained. The County cannot count these non-County maintained miles for funding purposes. While no additional lane miles were added during 2004, the County did upgrade categorization of some roads in Colorado Sierra and Corona Heights. The report is used to obtain the HUT funding. In past years the amount of funding from the HUT has been about $500,000.00, although the amount may be increased or decreased by the Federal Government.

Mine Lease Funds A Bust

   Twenty-five percent of the County’s share of the federal Mineral Lease distribution is required by state statute to be paid to the local school districts. The current arrangement is to split the funding equally between Gilpin RE-1 School District and Boulder Valley RE-2 School District. Commissioners are annually required to sign a letter to the Colorado Department of the Treasury officially designating that stipulation, however don’t look for the funds to arrive. According to County Manager Roger Baker, the County has not received any money from this source since at least 2000 (that was as far back as research had progressed prior to this meeting) and he was unaware of any mineral leases the County has on federal lands that could provide the funding. Commissioners signed the letter as a formality, although a futile one and quipped that they were voting to give the schools “nothin’ from nothin’.” After County Attorney Jim Petrock commented that there might actually be a way to obtain some of these funds, Commissioners ordered the matter looked into.

New Zoning Resolution Amended Again

   Community Development Specialist Ray Rears returned to the table to present Commissioners with an updated version of the Gilpin County Zoning Regulations, Section I. At last week’s meeting, Commissioners had reviewed definitions and changes to the language of the document, as suggested by the Planning Commission. The Commissioners asked for further changes to the document and asked that he bring it back next meeting.

Parks and Recreation Report

   At the Recreation Center, the recent Fitness Expo was ruled a success. Demonstrations of equipment and fitness classes were well attended and are believed to have resulted in increased class enrollment. The Learn to Swim Program has brought in $3,051.00 in total revenue. In the works: a summer day camp program, possibly in conjunction with an Idaho Springs childcare center, updating the pay plan for fitness instructors, potential change in hours to open at 6:00 a.m. on two days per week, and addressing the humidity issues causing dripping and staining on the walls and columns in and near the pool areas.

Maintenance Department Report

   Steel piping was used to replace broken piping at the first manhole of the sewer line from the Justice Center lift station. This area had been subject to pressure breaks several times prior and it is hoped that the latest repair will last until a rebuild of the entire system is done.

    $15,000.00 has been budgeted for moving the modular building near the ice rink to a location behind the Community Center. However, there may be complications with tapping into the sewer line and more research is needed to see if the move is feasible.

   A new maintenance building will be located near the water storage tank on Dory Hill. It will be a 40 foot by 60 foot building, not visible from any roads. Tree clearing in that area has already started.

   Maintenance Director Tim Lewerke is working with Library Director Larry Grieco on a design change for the front of the building to cure problems with snowslide from the roof and drainage.

   Lewerke needs to know if money is available to address another problem, power outage at the Justice Center. The jail kitchen isn’t hooked up to the emergency generator there and if power remains off for any length of time, food begins to thaw in the freezer. The stoves are also inoperative. With the last outage, the sally port garage door stuck open and the phone room lost power leaving Dispatch and the Jail with the only working phones in the building. Lewerke has one bid of $3,000.00 to fix the problem by hooking up these areas to the generator. Commissioner Price asked for further cost estimates on several of the projects.

Community Development Department Report

   The Community Development Department had completed 58 building inspections, issued five building permits, closed nine cases of Code Enforcement, and is reviewing a Planned Unit Development of 15 acres, mixed use, among various other procedures. The open space/rural development plan, courthouse inter/intranet project plan, master plan update and Clear Creek/Gilpin joint planning commission development plan are all in progress. Lincoln Hills land trade negotiations, obtaining aerial photography, zoning code updates and database updates are all proceeding. This department has also spent a good deal of time purchasing, installing, and repairing County computers.

Extension Department’s Activities and Plans

   Extension Agent Irene Shonle’s report shows that 4-H Youth clubs are meeting regularly with more in the development phase. Two Master Gardeners are in training and several presentations on gardening and weed identification and control have been completed. A series of monthly workshops on various topics has begun and a day-long symposium about water issues is scheduled for April. Several programs were funded by grants and Shonle has applied for another grant titled Y.E.W.T.H. (Youths Eradicating Weeds Threatening Habitat) that she hopes to use to employ teens for TEENS, inc. in Nederland for mapping and pulling weeds along the upper Boulder Creek watershed, including the South Boulder Creek watershed in Gilpin.

Who’s In Jail

   The Detentions Division of the Sheriff’s Office reports 103 total bookings (84 male, 19 female) for the month of January. The average daily population of the jail was 44.76. There were four holds for detoxification. There were 13 DUI (Driving Under the Influence) and 13 DWAI (Driving While Ability Impaired) arrests. Thirteen of the bookings were gaming related and six were domestic related. Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office topped the number of agency arrests for the month with 54, followed by the Division of Gaming with 19, then Black Hawk Police Department with 15, Colorado State Patrol with 14 and Central City Police Department with one. The 24 transports completed for the month amounted to 1,764 total miles driven for the month. Monthly income generated by the Detentions Division totaled $3,368.37.

Assessor’s Report

      Assessor Anne Schafer announced that all personal property declarations and subdivision land questionnaires had been sent out, as was the Senior Property Tax Exemption information. The assessor’s department is responding to a number of questions regarding the recently mailed Tax Notices and is continuing with property valuations. (2005 is a valuation year.) Personnel are anticipating the arrival of a new pick-up truck to be shared with the Building/Zoning staff.

Wildfire Danger Down – Maybe

   A bulletin issued by the National Wildland Fire Outlook, Group announced the “preliminary outlook” for this year’s fire season to be below normal for fire potential in the Colorado Rockies. Even so, local firefighters, sheriff’s personnel and residents breathed a sigh of relief with the arrival of last week’s snow.

Work Session Firms Up Fair Plans

   In a continuing work session with Events Planner Vicki Nemec, Commissioners said beer sales would again be allowed at the County Fair, with limits on who and where it is sold. There will be no events on Friday night prior to the fair. In years past, a Teen Dance was held that night, however repeated poor attendance, and an observation that the teens seemed to be attending and enjoying the regular Saturday night dance more, determined the money would be better spent elsewhere. Further research was asked of Nemec in finding a way to cover the dirt floor of the exhibit barn. There are several options, from temporary plastic flooring, to pouring a permanent concrete floor. Commissioners asked Nemec to return with cost estimates on all options before they will make a decision. At minimal cost, approximately $1,000.00, is a system to hang the artwork in the community room of the Recreation Center. Commissioners approved that expenditure noting Nemec’s suggestion that artwork could be displayed safely year-round with the system.

Commissioners Visit Jail

   Following the regular meeting, Commissioners left for a field trip to Gilpin’s detention facility on Dory Hill Road. Commissioners visit the jail, at least once annually, to get an update from Sheriff Bruce Hartman on operating procedures and technology. It is also a chance to see first-hand, how inmates are treated, sample the meal of that day and discuss how things are going and any needs the Sheriff’s Department might have.