Forrest Whitman to chair 2006 Board of County Commissioners

Lynn Volkens

1/5/2006 - With a smart tap of the gavel, Gilpin County Commissioner Jeanne Nicholson brought the first Commissioner meeting of 2006 to order Tuesday morning at 9:00 a.m. It was also the last time in 2006 that she would do so.

Whitman Named Chair

  Commissioner Al Price nominated Commissioner Forrest Whitman to take over the gavel as chairman of the Board for the next year. He accepted the nomination and both Nicholson and Price voted in favor. Nicholson and Whitman promptly changed seats and Whitman continued the meeting.

Committee Appointments

  Every year the Commissioners must reappoint the personnel filling several County positions. They started by conveying themselves as Commissioners to the 2006 appointment of that position. Commissioner Price found the action redundant, pointing out that all Commissioners had already been elected. However, the action of conveying the position from year to year is required by State statute. In addition to Commissioner Whitman’s designation as Chair, Commissioners also voted to appoint Roger Baker as County Manager, Jim Petrock as County Attorney, Clorinda Smith as Budget Officer, Sharon Cate as Administrative Assistant to the Board of County Commissioners, Tony Petersen as Chief Building Inspector and themselves as the Board of Adjustment. (As a matter of housekeeping, Commissioners adopted Resolution 06-01, acknowledging the creation of the offices of County Manager, Administrative Assistant to the Board of County Commissioners, and the County Budget Officer. The resolution also names the aforementioned Baker, Cate and Smith to the respective offices.) Wells Fargo, Colorado Trust Plus, Colorado Trust, C-Safe, and Colorado Diversified Trust were all appointed as the County’s Depository Banks. The Weekly Register-Call was appointed Newspaper of Record. All of the appointments, with the exception of the last, were made without discussion amongst the Commissioners; however, Commissioner Price asked if the County could publish legal notices in more than one paper. By designating the Central City newspaper as the only one “of record,” he said the people at the north end of the County were being “shortchanged.” Many of those residents read a different paper, he said. County Attorney Petrock and County Manager Baker explained that the County does advertise in all local newspapers for job postings, meeting announcements, etc. However, the County must designate one newspaper for official publishing of legal notices such as salary disbursements. “Can we publish legal notices in more than one newspaper?” asked Price. Petrock answered there was nothing to prevent Commissioners from deciding to do that.

  Gilpin County maintains a membership in Colorado Counties, Incorporated, a lobbying group that looks out for Counties' individual and coalition interests at the State level. There are several CCI steering committees requiring representation by a specified County Commissioner. Gilpin Commissioners did not change their appointments from their committees of 2005; however, they did pass a motion allowing the County Manager to act as proxy for them on all committees except the Health and Human Services Committee. The County’s Human Services Director, Betty Donovan, was appointed as proxy for that committee. Commissioner Whitman represents Gilpin County on the CCI steering committees for Public Lands, Agriculture Wildlife and Rural Affairs, Land Use and Natural Resources, and the Legislative Committee. Commissioner Price serves on the steering committees of Tourism and Resorts, General Government, Taxation and Finance, and Transportation and Telecommunications. Commissioner Nicholson serves on the Health and Human Services Steering Committee. Additionally, there are 16 other boards, committees, commissions, associations, etc. that Commissioners serve on, looking after Gilpin’s interests. Commissioner Nicholson represents the County on the Parks and Recreation Board, Community Health Assessment under Public Health Director, Youth Action Committee, Human Services Advisory Board, Jefferson Center for Mental Health, Denver Regional Council of Governments (and subcommittees thereof), Metropolitan Mayors and County Commissioners Youth Awards, Gaming Area Sub-regional Planning Commission and the Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission. Commissioner Price is Gilpin’s representative to Eagles’ Nest Advisory Board, 911 Authority Board, Public Forfeiture Funds Committee and Gilpin Water District. The Upper Clear Creek Watershed Association, Gilpin Ambulance Board, Rollins Pass Restoration Association and Denver Regional Council of Governments (with subcommittees) are Commissioner Whitman’s appointments.

  County Manager Baker distributed copies of the monthly report from the County’s Public and Environmental Health Services. One of the responsibilities of this department is regulating residential and commercial septic systems. Commissioners selected two items from the report for comment. Environmental Health Specialist Kara Cooper is monitoring the potential recreational vehicle (RV) dump station in south Gilpin County. Bullwhackers Casino recently acquired the gas station and adjacent property on Highway 119 and plans to put in an RV park there. (As that location is situated near the Black Hawk Sanitation District facility, it’s possible that the dump station will connect with that.) Commissioner Nicholson noted that Jennifer Lavely, director of this department, had made a presentation about health issues at the American Public Health Association Annual Conference. She asked Baker to discern the topic of the presentation and, if appropriate, see if Lavely would tell Commissioners about it at a future meeting.

  Commissioners worked through their agenda, finishing the above County business by 9:30 a.m. As they had a public hearing scheduled for 10:00 a.m., they chose to adjourn for half an hour. They reconvened as the Board of Adjustment to conduct the public hearing regarding a variance request. The applicants, Laura and William Fenhagen, were seeking a variance to build an addition to their Gilpin Gardens home that would be only 21 feet from the northern property line. County regulations require a 30-foot setback. Because the area to the north of the proposed addition is a large pond, County staff had recommended approval of the variance. In looking at a site map, Commissioners questioned whether a better way to go wouldn’t be a Boundary Line Adjustment. Laura Fenhagen, appearing in person, told Commissioners that the County’s fee for a BLA is $800 whereas the variance fee would cost only $375. She chose to go the variance route and use the $425 difference in fees to help cover the required land survey. Working with Fenhagen and County Planner Ray Rears, Commissioners hammered out a solution that would eliminate all of the County fees for the BLA plus earn the applicants $1,500 in Boundary Line Elimination bounty. The County benefits by eliminating more lots from future building. Rears was directed to work out the details and return to the Commissioners’ table next week to complete the BLE. The BLA must await completion of the survey. Officially, the Commissioners voted unanimously to deny the variance request as the BLE/BLA resolution worked better for all parties.

  This week’s meeting was adjourned by 10:30 a.m. Next week (January 10^th), the weekly meeting of Gilpin’s Commissioners will start at 10:00 a.m. due to the quarterly breakfast held with elected representatives of the City Councils and the Gilpin School Board. Although no official business is conducted at this meeting, it is likely that two or all of the Commissioners will be present and, on such occasions, the public must be notified. The same situation will occur on January 11^th when Gilpin Commissioners are scheduled to tour the Clear Creek County Recycling Center at 1:30 p.m.