Commissioners prepare for MMRR hearing

Lynn Volkens

04/10/2008 - Gilpin County Commissioners began their regular Tuesday morning meeting an hour later than usual in order to breakfast with other local elected officials at Fortune Valley Casino.

Students Show and Tell

  Gilpin School students, Kelsey Casias, Andy Schafer and Emma Berg, told Commissioners about their experiences at the 2008 Colorado Close Up program in March. The students spent several days at the Colorado Capitol learning about state senate, house and judiciary activities. They met with several legislators and participated in mock trial and legislative procedures with students from other Colorado high schools. Gilpin Commissioners had contributed $1,000 towards the event.

MMRR Quarry Hearing

  Brannan Sand and Gravel will come before Commissioners for a public hearing on April 15^th beginning at 10:00 a.m. There will be a considerable amount of paperwork to go through and public turnout is expected to be hearty. Community Planning Director Tony Petersen, suggested Commissioners set the meeting organization into phases including an introduction, the applicant’s presentation, a County staff report, input from the City of Black Hawk, input from other interested parties, public comment and the applicant’s final response. He expected the hearing could run four to six hours and a lunch break would be needed in the middle. Commissioners agreed with his suggestions and noted they would not necessarily make a decision that day.

  During public comment, a Gilpin man reminded Commissioners the County was faced with a quarry proposal about 20 years ago and turned it down even when the population and budget were only about 2.500 and $2 million, respectively. He’s opposed to the MMRR quarry, he told them, but won’t be at next week’s hearing. “If you do it (approve the quarry),” he said, “get a lot for it.” He recommended Commissioners ask for a 100 year, $10 million bond as MMRR proposes a 100 year quarry. He also told Commissioners the quarry owners, Brannan, should build a four-lane tunnel and work with Black Hawk to connect it to I-70. “No trucks on Highway 6,” he stressed. Gilpin County is being targeted by the quarry people because it’s a much easier target than Jefferson, Boulder or Douglas County where they would have to go through a much more expensive land use review, he told Commissioners. He noted Gilpin is there are four quarries around Gilpin, the rock product is not unique, and the County does not need the money nor the jobs. “We’re the smallest non-city County in the state,” he said, “with hundreds of thousands of people who make us their destination. There’s no legitimate reason to do it.”

County Clerk’s Report

  Jessica Lovingier’s February report showed revenues of $93,967 for the month, the bulk ($56,670) generated from ownership taxes. Of that, the Clerk retained $8,638 and disbursed $61,244 to the County Treasurer; $22,549 to the State; and $1,537 to Central City.

  The Clerk’s staff is getting ready for the primary and general elections later this year. As a pilot county with the election software (SCORE), Gilpin will participate in a statewide mock election from April 21^st to May 2^nd. They will test everything about the system from beginning to end, said Lovingier. They will also be helping Central City with their special election in May by programming the ballots.

  Lovingier said that county Clerks throughout the state favor removing voter names from the registration rolls after they’ve been inactive through two general elections. It’s expensive to maintain them, she said, and expensive for candidates who use the rolls to do mailings. The legislature has yet to decide.   

Justice Center Repairs

  Facilities Manager Bill Paulman, recommended Commissioners contract with Engineered Solutions, Incorporated, to study the HVAC (Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning) systems at the Justice Center to determine how best to correct ongoing problems with keeping the 23 roof-top units running. In winter months, the maintenance crews must clear the snow from inside and around each unit to prevent the interruption of airflow that could cause exhaust to be drawn into the building. Paulman said employees in the building had complained of smells and headaches that could be caused by the exhaust. Roof leaks are currently allowing water into the wall structure, he said. The building needs a new roof. That cannot wait until the HVAC units are replaced so patching will need to be done after that. He noted the cost of the study, not to exceed $35,602, had been approved by Commissioners in the 2008 budget. The report is to be completed within six weeks and no later than May 16^th. Commissioners approved the contract.

Justice Center Parking Structure

  The County will use the same “Design-Build” construction process for the new Justice Center Parking Structure as they used for the Road and Bridge building completed last year. Design-Build uses the same firm to engineer and construct the project. County Manager Baker has already advertised for firms and the responding Design-Build teams will meet with Commissioners on April 22^nd, with selection occurring on April 29^th. The design aspect will be funded partially with Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) money via a 2007 grant. DOLA funds often require a 50/50 match. Gilpin may delay construction until 2010 to meet budget needs for funding it. The structure will be constructed on the south side of the Justice Center at an approximate cost of $2 million.

  The structure will provide secure parking for jurors, witnesses, court personnel and law enforcement while transferring high risk defendants. Commissioner Slinger noted that will save the County money because the “high risk” cases must currently be sent to other facilities and the County pays for that. The parking structure and an evidence room for the Sheriff’s Office were part of the original plan of the Justice Center, postponed pending available funding.

DOLA Deadline

  Grant applications for next year’s DOLA gaming impact funding are due May 15^th. All local non-profit organizations and County departments who are submitting applications for the grants must have them to the County Manager by May 1^st. Commissioners will review the applications on May 6^th and officially prioritize them on May 13^th. 

Can You Hear Us Now?

  Several weeks ago, Events Coordinator Vicki Nemec, requested $860 additional funding to purchase a portable sound system. $400 had been approved prior to that. Commissioners asked Nemec to seek funding from the 911 Authority Board as one function of the sound system would be emergency notifications. The chairman of that board indicated to Nemec that funding would not likely be granted, however the matter is to go before that board at their April 11^th meeting. Nemec researched state statute and advised Commissioners she also thought the 911 funding would not be granted. Commissioner Nicholson suggested Nemec check with Peak-to-Peak Rotary to see about acquiring a system they have but are no longer using.

Lobbying Nationally

  Colorado commissioners, as members of the National Association of Counties (NACo), attempt to influence national powers and programs to benefit Colorado issues. Commissioner Nicholson reported on the recent NACo conference and said issues affecting Gilpin County that NACo will support are Forest Health, Farm Bill Reauthorization (includes rural development funds and the food assistance program), Transportation, tax issues (described by Nicholson as counties doing federal government work without getting the money to do it), and Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funding. PILT funds are paid to counties that include tracts of national forest or Bureau of Land Management lands. Because these tracts generate no property tax revenue for the county, the federal government is to pay the counties to make up for the lost revenue. Nicholson pointed out the PILT funding received last year was $50,000 – far below what it could have been had the government not diverted these monies to other funds.

Monthly Departmental Reports

  CSU Extension Agent Irene Shonle, reported the topic for the Annual Symposium, scheduled for April 26^th at the Community Center, will be “Renewable Energy Options.” March saw the continuation of plans for summer weed management programs, a Family Fun Day at the county fair, future Extension programming, and pine beetle battle strategies. A new website, www.FrontRangePineBeetle.org, should be up by the end of April. Shonle still has radon testing kits available (free) for Gilpin residents. She is also accepting seedling tree applications until April 11^th (303-582-9106). Shonle continues to seek grant funding for a wood chipper to use for the Road and Bridge biomass system.

  At the Parks and Recreation Department, Director Penny Kipley, reported 1,368 Gilpin residents had visited the Community Center during March. Drop-In Admission raised $3,081 and membership revenues contributed $3,098 for the month. High Country and Colorado Sierra Volunteer Fire Fighters are now able to work out at their convenience and the County will bill their departments per visit. “Virtual punch cards,” allow folks to pre-purchase drop-in admission visits so they don’t have to pay each time. The spring Fitness Expo on March 8^th was well attended. Another Expo is planned for fall.

  Human Services Director Betty Donovan, submitted a report showing annual funding allocations and the breakdown of expenditures, for January, of the department’s services. The County runs on a fiscal year of January to December. Federal and state funding is on a cycle from June to July.

  Human Services received an annual allocation of $1,187,493 in federal, state and county funding for services to needy Gilpin families and individuals. That includes financial assistance for child care, food, healthcare, protection service for persons at risk of harm, and administration of those services. The department has disbursed $343,717 of that funding to date. 275 Gilpin households were provided these services in January.

  The Low Energy Assistance Program (LEAP) was funded at $80,000.  This program helps with energy costs (primarily heating), and runs from November to April. There were 77 Gilpin households that received LEAP funds in January, totaling $3,715. Total used to date for this program was $16,704. Child Welfare programs include funded out-of-home care (foster homes, hospitalizations, etc.). These services are expensive, running as high as $3,000 per month per child. The annual allocation for Child Welfare was $449,536. $24,076 of that was spent in January. There are 51 Gilpin children (39 families) benefiting from these programs. $250,787 remained in the fund at January’s end.

  Core Services, funded at $88,628, provides mental health (11 children/8 families), substance abuse (7 children/4 families), special economic assistance and other services to Gilpinites. At January’s end, there was $54,948 remaining in Core Services funding.  

  Commissioners funded the above services at $149,647 for 2008. Gilpin County is the primary funding source for Emergency Assistance ($25,000), Food Bank ($2,500), Senior meals and transportation ($112,733) and Veteran services ($13,700). In total, the County funded these services for 2008 at $153,933. $6,500 was expended at January’s end.

  This report, showing all revenues and expenditures broken down by services, is public and available from the Department of Human Services. 

Youth Awards

  Gilpin’s Emma Berg and Michael Knaus are the recipients of the 2008 Metropolitan Mayors and Commissioners Youth Awards (MMCYA). They, and other winners from the eight metropolitan counties, will be honored at a luncheon in Denver on April 13^th. The awards are given to youth who have turned adversity into advantage. Winners must also have demonstrated that they are engaged in their community, with other youth or family, and have made a positive difference with their involvements. Berg was nominated by her principal at Gilpin County High School. Knaus’s nomination came from Teens, Inc. in Nederland. Both have demonstrated personal strength and conviction in leadership roles with peers and adults. The MMCYA award includes a Community College scholarship for each winner.

“Connector” Report

  Now that the County’s shuttle service (the “Connector”) has been in service for more than a year, data on who and how many people are using it has become available via the 2007 Annual Report. The shuttle operates seven days a week from the apartment complex at the south end of the County to the mid-Gilpin Community Center. It is funded from the County’s General Fund and a Federal Transit Administration grant. There were 13,500 riders, averaging 5.4 riders per hour, during the first seven months of service in 2006. In 2007, the average number of riders per hour was 7.2, with a high of 10.2 riders per hour in July. All in all, there were 22,511 riders in 2007, with the service running a total of 4,620 hours. The County is now looking at expanding the service to north-Gilpin.

Historic Document Dispute

  County Attorney Jim Petrock told Commissioners a dispute about whether an 1886 survey map in the County’s vault is subject to public access has been resolved. A man involved in a legal dispute with the City of Black Hawk wanted access to the map as photocopies were not adequate, he said. County staff, fearing the map would disintegrate if handled, consulted professional archivists. They determined the map is fragile at the folds but not in too bad of condition, considering its age. The man will be allowed to see the map, only Clerk and Recorder Jessica Lovingier, is allowed to handle it.  

  Commissioners adjourned at 12:05 p.m. and meet next on April 15^th.