Commissioners approve special use for Christ the King Church
Located near baseball fields
Spring cleaning (summer, fall and winter, too) took on literal meaning at Gilpin County Commissioners’ weekly meeting on Tuesday morning, February 24th. Commissioners Forrest Whitman, Jeanne Nicholson and Buddy Schmalz began by approving a custodial contract for County buildings.
Cleaning the County
Omni-Pro Cleaning Company was the custodial contractor recommended by Facilities Manager Bill Paulman. Commissioners approved renewal of the contract for 2009. The contract was originally awarded in 2007 and is bid every three years with renewal based upon performance satisfaction in between. Omni-Pro will be paid monthly to clean the Courthouse in Central City ($1,211), Apex Building ($145), Justice Center and Fairgrounds Exhibit Building ($1,830), Community Center ($5,302), Road and Bridge Building-Administrative Space only ($226), and the Ball Field Restrooms-April through November ($199). Total paid to Omni-Pro for 2009’s services is not to exceed $106,168. Paulman, Parks and Recreation Director Penny Kipley and Maintenance Foreman Tim Lewerke are authorized to request/approve bids for additional work.
Treasurer’s Report
Gilpin County Treasurer Alynn Huffman’s January report showed 1.27% of County taxes had been collected (compared to 0.32% at the same time last year). The County had collected 1.07% of taxes payable to special districts ($121,419). Huffman attributed the higher rate of collection to workers in the Property Tax Work Off Program for Gilpin’s seniors. They had prepared 15,000 tax notices in a three day period, said Huffman, something it usually takes regular staff two weeks to do in-between other duties. County coffers held a grand total of $5,552,079 at January’s end. That’s down $1,161,454 from the January 2008 holdings of $6,713,533.
Clerk and Recorder’s Report
Jessica Lovingier, Gilpin’s Clerk and Recorder, showed January revenues totaling $88,465 in January. Of that, the Clerk disbursed $23,714 to the state, $53,916 to the Gilpin Treasurer, $2,194 to Central City and retained $8,641. Comparing the 2009 revenues to those of January 2008, the dollars are down by $83,114. By this time last year, Gilpin’s Clerk was showing revenues of $171,579. Lovingier said the decline was due mainly to a construction company that didn’t renew equipment licenses in January as usual. They have renewed in February, she said, although not as much equipment as before. The Clerk includes accounting for expenditures from the department’s various line items and accounts. She alerted Commissioners that the likely legislative passage of Senate Bill 212 will decrease the amount of revenue the County gets to keep from vendor sales and use taxes.
HAC Appointments
Commissioners reappointed Colleen Stewart to three more years of service on the Gilpin County Historic Preservation Advisory Commission (HAC). Stewart’s HAC fellows had recommended her reappointment. Two members’ terms of this five-member commission end each year. Alternate member, Steve Staneff was appointed to fill a remaining seat. Barbara Thielemann was appointed to serve as the new Alternate. Other members of the HAC: Rick Newman, Linda Jones and Debra Krause.
Monthly Departmental Reports
Road and Bridge Director Earl Robinson reported a slow January for snowfall. Although the crew had plowed 10-12 inches in parts of Gilpin on January 12, this winter’s total snow accumulation is less than 24 inches. The department is now augmenting heat at the Rollinsville shop with a waste oil burner. The County has begun a logging venture with the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS). CSFS is cutting logs around campgrounds which they leave near the road. County staff hauls the logs to a sort yard near the slash site. CSFS culls and transports those suitable for a processing mill. The County uses what’s left to fuel the biomass system. CSFS is to reimburse the County for loading and transport time.
At Gilpin County Public Library, Director Larry Grieco reported 2,148 items circulated during January. 455 DVD movies and 536 children’s materials were checked out, making those two the most popular categories. Grieco estimated December attendance at 1,284, an average of 61 people per each of the 21 days open. Grieco serves on the Board of directors for the Association for Rural and Small Libraries and reviews grants for the American Library Association for the “We the People Bookshelf” program. He also serves as judge for the Colorado Center for the Book’s “Colorado Book Awards.”
At Victim Services, the January report showed 32 new clients. Eight were Gilpinites. The majority of the cases originated in Black Hawk (21) with nine originating in Gilpin County and two in Central City. The 21 gaming-related cases involved only non-Gilpin residents. Gilpinites were involved in four of the seven domestic violence cases.
Gaming Tax Hearings
Gilpin County, Black Hawk and Central City have a date with the Colorado Division of Gaming. May 21, 2009 is the date set for gaming tax hearings with the Limited Gaming Control Commission. Each gets ten minutes to present information for the five-member Governor-appointed commission to later use when setting the annual tax rate. That meeting will be in Lakewood (1881 Pierce Street, Room 112). Commissioner Schmalz and the County Manager are to attend with the County’s message, “Don’t lower our revenues.”
Crowley County TANF $
When Commissioners decided to take over operations of the “Connector” shuttle service, they went looking for ways to fund it and found one source in the Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) reserves held by other Colorado counties. Some of the excess reserves have been channeled to Gilpin County via the Colorado Works Allocation Committee, including most recently, $100,000 from Crowley County.
Acting as the Board of Health, Commissioners directed Human Services Director Betty Donovan to segregate Federal TANF funding so it can be used for qualifying programs within the County, rather than sent back to the state as a grant match. Doing so allows the County to extend assistance time for some clients, fund needs not covered by Medicaid, serve non-U.S. citizens here legally, fund some capital construction projects and provide services to help maintain two-parent families, reduce out-of-wedlock births, fatherhood initiatives, aid teen parents not in school and transportation services. Human Services is seeing an increase in the number of folks needing assistance, especially in Medicaid-related services and food stamps.
CCI Dues
Commissioners did not approve payment of $241 for the County’s annual Colorado Counties Incorporated (CCI) Public Lands Committee dues. CCI lobbies legislators on behalf of county interests. A letter from that committee credits its lobbying efforts for the federal bailout stimulus package inclusion of PILT (Payment In Lieu of Taxes) and SRS (Secure Rural Schools) funding, and “a lot of new money into county coffers throughout the state.” Commissioners chose to put money toward CCI lobbyists in general, rather than funding just the Public Lands Committee efforts.
DRCOG Dues
The annual dues for Gilpin County to be a member of the Denver Regional Council of Governments come to $4,000. Commissioners approved the expenditure noting they have no voice at that table without membership. Commissioners would like to see DRCOG money used to fund public transportation (in Gilpin, the “Connector”), and not just roads and bridges. The expenditure had been cut from the 2009 budget, but Commissioners reconsidered.
CTK Church Special Use
Bob Unruh and Pastor Tom Davidson presented the case for a Special Use Permit for their church, Christ the King, to parcel 20-acres along Highway 46 into one 14.9-acre church use lot and one 5.1-acre residential lot. Plans are to sell the residential lot and use the proceeds to build the church and other outbuildings. The Planning Commission recommended approval of the special use on condition that no more than four on-site buildings be constructed for church related activities; daily occupancy levels be incompliance with fire, building, sewage, health, mobile home, zoning, Colorado Department of Transportation and State water restrictions; overnight camping not exceed 120 nights per year and no single individual’s stay longer than 30 nights per calendar year; outdoor events not to exceed two days per event and total outdoor event days not to exceed ten days per calendar year; provide a 30 foot vegetated buffer zone on the east property line; 30 foot building setbacks from non-buffered property lines; access via Highway 46 only; no for-profit commercial uses; and requests for future expansion must be submitted and reviewed by the Planning Commission and Commissioners. The deal includes a transfer of water rights from a privately-owned lot in Colorado Sierra to the property on Highway 46. During the public hearing, two people spoke in favor of the church’s plans. No one spoke against. Commissioners approved the special use with conditions requested by the Planning Commission.
Executive Session
Part of the morning was spent in Executive Session as Commissioners conferred with County Attorney Jim Petrock regarding the Brannan litigation and a personnel matter. Commissioners adjourned their public meeting at 10:40 a.m. and moved into a work session regarding the Connector shuttle service. Commissioners meet next on Tuesday, March 3, 2009.