Healthcare, water projects, immigration reform top Commissioners’ list

Lynn Volkens

02/15/2007 - Gilpin county Commissioners Al Price, Jeanne Nicholson and Forrest Whitman held their weekly meeting on Tuesday morning.

Public Comment

   A Central City resident asked why the Recreation Center pool is so cold. County Manager Roger Baker did some checking and found the lap pool is maintained at 82-83 degrees, as lap swimmers want it that way. The recreation/kids’ pool is kept at a consistent 86 degrees. “There have been no significant deviations,” he said.

Commercial ISDS - Approved

   Commissioners approved three applications for Individual Sewage Disposal Systems. The first was a vault system for Rollinsville property at 52 County Road 16, owned by Mark and Lynn Slinger. The system will replace an outhouse, said Environmental Specialist Kara Cooper, and provide a flush toilet for the multi-use building (daily occupants, no more than five). It sits on 0.14 acres so there is no room for any other type of system, she said. The 1250 gallon concrete tank must be pumped when the tank is 65-80% full with pumping receipts submitted to the County’s Public Health Department each time.

   Two other commercial applications, both located in the same mid-County vicinity, were approved, though only after first being postponed. Commissioner Nicholson had questions about drainage, should the fire prevention sprinkler systems be activated. Once Building Inspector Jim Simpson had clarified that water from the sprinklers would not be plumbed through the septic systems but drained to a leach field, probably via a filtering system, Commissioners voted unanimously to approve.

    An enhanced system for Ameristar Casino will be located at their new warehouse located on the west side of Highway 119 near mile marker 15. There is no well on the lot at this time, said Cooper. Ameristar plans to store approximately 147,000 gallons of water, as required for firefighting purposes. County Water Attorney Rick Fendel clarified that well use is limited to inside use. The stored water will have to be hauled in, he said.

   Across the highway, a standard system will be installed for the new Road and Bridge building. The ISDS includes a 1,500-gallon tank, large enough to serve 24 employees, said Cooper, noting there are 18 field employees and six office personnel.

Clerk and Recorder Report/Election

   Gilpin Clerk and Recorder Jessica Lovingier presented her monthly report for January 2007. It showed total revenues for the month at $165,314. Of that total, $120,730 was disbursed to the County Treasurer, $28,426 was sent to the State, Central City received $4,222 and the Clerk retained $11,936. The majority of the revenue ($116,952) was generated by ownership taxes, followed by licensing fees of $24,740. Compared to last year, the revenues are approximately $30,000 less than those collected in January 2006. January is one of the County’s biggest revenue months, Lovingier noted, however this year the month’s total is down because one of the County’s major company’s didn’t have as big a month in their own revenues.

   The Clerk also provided a breakdown of the estimated costs for the 2007 election regarding school and state issues yet to be determined. Lovingier, who received Commissioners’ kudos for her proactive leadership role in the State County Clerks’ Association had volunteered Gilpin County to participate as a pilot county to test the vote center election system. There are currently only twelve Colorado counties piloting voter registration software programs, she said and only two counties that have vote center procedures to do so. Gilpin is one of them. To pilot the program, the County must commit up to180 employee hours for training, testing procedures and election operations. “We’d like to test it this year, an off-year election, versus a presidential or general election,” Lovingier explained. She compared estimated costs for a vote center election with participation in the pilot program ($54,755), without participation ($46,955) and a mail-in ballot election ($28,900). The money had not been budgeted for 2007, but Lovingier said she’d offset the cost by giving up an already budgeted recording project of $17,500 to put those funds toward the vote center trial. She said she doubted there was any funding available from the Clerk’s Association or the State but was willing to look into grant money. Lovingier said her deadline, if Gilpin is to be a pilot county, is March 27^th. Commissioners said they’d consider the matter and make a decision at their February 27^th meeting.

Bonding the County Officials

   While doing research into a County Clerks’ Association project, Lovingier discovered that Gilpin was out of compliance with some of the bond requirements for County officials. The officials are bonded for various amounts to protect the County in the event one of them is involved in any wrongdoing (such as in neighboring Jefferson County). Many of the bonds, varying from $5,000 to $25,000, are “so low as to be almost meaningless,” commented Baker. Larger counties have set their bonds at $500,000 for some officials. Lovingier recommended that Gilpin’s bonds be set at $250,000 per Commissioner, Assessor, Clerk and Recorder and Public Trustee. She recommended the Coroner’s bond be increased to $75,000 and the Treasurer’s to $500,000. The Sheriff’s bond is restricted to a minimum of $5,000 and maximum of $20,000. The Clerk recommended the latter. It will cost Gilpin County approximately $8,000 to increase the bond limits to the Clerk’s recommended amounts. As the funding had not been included in the 2007 budget, and as the increases are not required by state statute, Commissioners made no decision except to look into the matter further.

   The County is out of compliance with some regulations, Lovingier found. The District Judge must approve the current Commissioners’ bonds of $5,000 each, she said, and that has never been done. The bond for the County Treasurer must be set by resolution of the County Commissioners, Lovingier said. “I can’t see that that’s been done,” she told them. Commissioners agreed to take care of the compliance matters and make sure the budget includes the increases for next year. “It’s always nice to comply with the law,” the County Manager asserted with humor.

Sheriff/Immigration Report

   Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office submitted a report summarizing the number of contacts the County has made to the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office in 2006. The report is required to comply with state and federal laws regarding immigration. There were 161 reportable entries for the year. October was the top month with 34 entries.

Assessor’s Report

   County Assessor Anne Schafer’s January 2007 report notes that personal property declarations were sent to business owners the first week of the month and work is progressing on the 2007 revaluation. Senior Property Tax Exemption information was sent out with the tax bills during the month. End-of-year processing has been completed and final certification of mill levies had been sent to all of the taxing authorities back in December 2006.

Monthly Departmental Reports

   The Sheriff’s Office Detentions Division reported 66 total bookings (58 males) for January 2006. There were ten DUI arrests, four held for detoxification. Ten of the arrests were gaming-related and three were domestic-related. Six of those arrested in January were Gilpin residents. Average population of the County jail for the month was 46 inmates. County Manager Baker noted that it was an unusual month in that the number of detentions was lower than the norm. The Sheriff’s Office reported 52 arrests and the City of Black Hawk had six arrests. Colorado State Patrol reported three arrests and Central City reported zero arrests for January. Baker noted the Division of Gaming had only five arrests and theorized that back-to-back weekend storms may have prevented people from getting to the casinos.

   At Gilpin County Public Library, Director Larry Grieco remarked that cleaning services have been stepped up to weekly, from every other week, with noticeable improvements in the facility’s appearance. Jefferson County Work Force had reimbursed the library $2,565 for a collaborative program. Grieco had attended the American Library Association’s meeting in Seattle and plans to participate in a June ALA panel presentation “Rural and Small Libraries vs. Small Salaries,” held in Washington DC. The Saturday Film Series (Classic Foreign Films) began on February 3^rd. “Breathless” will be playing on February 17^th, followed by “Blow Up (February 24^th) and Aquirre: the Wrath of God (March 3^rd). The showings include commentary by Walter Chaw. The Colorado History Book Club is reading “Over the Mountains of the Moon” by Mary Ramstetter. 2,034 items (including movies) were circulated by the Library last month.

 County Manager Baker distributed copies of the performance/payment bond of $4,659,060 for Neenan Construction regarding the Road and Bridge building.

Fixing Amendment 41

   Commissioners passed Resolution 07-02, officially urging the Colorado legislature, courts and executive branch, plus the private organizations and supporters of Amendment 41 (including those responsible for drafting it) to “work together with all prudent speed to take whatever actions are necessary to facilitate and ensure the amelioration or elimination of the unintended consequences of Amendment 41.” Some of the unintended consequences of 41(intended to limit lobbyist gift(s) to elected and some state employees), has been to eliminate scholarship opportunities for Colorado students. “Fixing” 41, per the final sentence of the Commissioners’ resolution, will “restore public confidence in all branches of government in the State of Colorado.” County Manager Baker said the resolution was worded in a general manner because other events concerning the amendment are happening quickly. Attorney Rick Fendel commented that the Boettcher Foundation had filed a lawsuit and won their case so that scholarships based on merit could be awarded. He and Commissioners speculated that similar suits would result in the same ruling and that merit scholarships such as those given by the  Elks, Masons, etc. would likely be awardable based on the same logic. As for fixing the amendment, Fendel commented, “I think they (legislators) want the authors of the bill to deal with the mess they created.”

Priority Lobby Issues

   Commissioners were given a list of a dozen issues to prioritize for Colorado Counties Incorporated (a lobbying group of which Gilpin is a member) and instructed to pick their top three. They chose Healthcare, Water Projects on Public Lands and Immigration Reform. The remaining nine (in alphabetical order): Children’s Programs, Child Support Enforcement, Endangered Species, Forest Health, Highways, Protect Public Lands, Renewable Energy, Transit and Tourism.

Forest Health/Biomass?

   Commissioner Nicholson recapped an amendment to recently introduced House Bill 07-1130 regarding a program for community-based forest restoration. The bill may provide grant funded opportunities to Gilpin once the County has adopted a Community Wildfire Protection plan. Such funding could be applied to use of small diameter trees, possibly as biomass. Commissioners directed the County Manager to write a letter in support of the bill. Commissioner Whitman will address the issue at the Colorado Counties Incorporated meeting where he said it would probably also receive support.

Measuring Wells Near Justice Center

  Whitman asked Attorney Fendel about water level measuring equipment that had been proffered at a 2006 meeting with residents. That meeting had been regarding Justice Center wells and their effect, if any, on surrounding well levels. At that time, Commissioners expressed their intention to provide the apparatus to measure homeowners’ well levels. Fendel said the Water Court is not accepting measurements that are not scientific and had rejected measurements in a case involving farmers who had measured their own wells. Commissioners need to decide whether to train homeowners to the degree needed for court, whether to have County staff do the measuring or contract with Bishop Brogden, the County’s water consulting firm, to provide it. There are potential problems with water contamination if the procedure is not done correctly, Baker said. “It’s not as simple as it sounded,” he concluded, and County staff is still investigating how to accomplish the task.

Dory Lakes Water Augmentation Issue

   Fendel updated the Commissioners on the Dory Lakes water augmentation plan. He said Gilpin County and the City of Arvada are continuing negotiations, mostly about how much water is owed to Arvada. The measuring devices have been installed for the inlets, he said, and the outlet equipment is scheduled for construction later in the spring. Fendel said he would be discussing the matter further with the Arvada attorney in the next few weeks. Meeting the water requirements to Arvada may mean lowering the level of Dory Lake but not moving all of it out, he explained.

   Commissioners adjourned their meeting at 10:17 a.m. They meet again on February 27^th. There is no Commissioner meeting next Tuesday, February 20^th.