“Connector” keeps rolling in familiar red bus
Gilpin Commissioner’s business
Gilpin County Commissioners Forrest Whitman, Jeanne Nicholson and Buddy Schmalz resumed their Tuesday morning meetings on June 16th, after skipping last week to attend the annual Colorado Counties, Incorporated (CCI) conference.
Connector bus service schedule/ routes may change
Commissioners extended the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Black Hawk Transportation Authority (BHTA) to continue operating the Connector shuttle service at its current level for up to an additional 30 days while the County makes the transition to Seniors’Resource Center (SRC) as the shuttle operator.
The County owns one of the red buses used to shuttle people, free-of-charge, from Gold Mountain Village to the Community Center, with stops along the way. It currently leaves the apartment complex on the hour, making five round trips in the morning and seven round trips in the afternoon, starting at 7:00 a.m. and leaving for the last trip of the day at 7:00 p.m. Commissioners want to extend the route through north-Gilpin, with additional stops in that area, and on to Nederland. The limited number of inter-county runs will likely reduce the number of regular runs within the County, however no schedule has yet been set.
SRC will be paid $149,985 to operate the service for one year. Per the contract, SRC is required to have a back-up bus available in case the County bus is out of service. The County pays $.65 per mile when the back-up bus is used. The contract begins July 6, 2009 and ends June 30, 2010 (although BHTA may be operating the shuttle part of that time). The shuttle is funded with federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) funds and grant money.
Head’s Up-Connector Work Session
At 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 23, 2009, the Commissioners will have a work session at the Court House about the new Connector route and schedule. The County Manager noted some runs may go to Gold Mountain Village, others to Nederland and the middle stops would be the same. One proposed “deviated route” schedule has the bus starting at the Road and Bridge building (where it will be housed), running north to Nederland where it connects to RTD at 5:42 a.m. It then runs south, back through the County to Black Hawk, with stops along the way. Commissioners stressed the importance of alerting the public to the upcoming changes and ask that folks attend the work session, if possible. See the County Manager’s column for more information.
PILT $
Gilpin County will receive $74,197 as its 2009 Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) from the Department of the Interior. The PILT program began in 1976 to compensate local government for losses in tax revenue due to nontaxable Federal lands within their boundaries. Funds are to be used to provide and carry out public services such as education, solid waste disposal, law enforcement, roads and infrastructure, search and rescue, health care, environmental compliance, fire fighting, parks and recreation and other community services.
Opera Parking
Gilpin County leases the courthouse parking lots to the Central City Opera Association (CCOA) during the summer opera season at times when they are not needed for county business. That’s generally in the evenings or on weekend afternoons when county offices are closed. CCOA pays the county a total of $10 for the use. CCOA allows the County to use their lot on the off-season.
Child and Youth Leadership
District Attorney Scott Storey and Dr. Mike Jones presented an overview of the Child and Youth leadership Commission. The twelve-member commission is composed of elected officials, officers of the law and public school and human services personnel from the metro area. Their purpose is to consolidate activities of various agencies to improve services to children. They have been meeting since March. To date, the members have been educating themselves on the services available. They are to select one or more strategic priority areas on which to focus planning and streamlining efforts. Commissioner Nicholson plans to attend as Gilpin’s representative. Commissioners will likely pass a resolution in support of the commission at next week’s meeting.
Term Limit Question
Gilpin voters will decide next November whether to extend the term for district attorney from two to three consecutive terms. Commissioners passed Resolution 09-11A to put the question to the ballot.
Employee Insurance Changes
Commissioners renewed service with Delta Dental at an annual cost of $115,016 (a 2% reduction from the current premium). They changed from Vision Service Plan to Eye Med, saving 6.4% with a premium cost of $18,274 per year. For Life and Disability insurance, Commissioners chose an optional plan with Sun Life at an annual cost of $59,988 (saving 36.23% from the current plan with Reliance). Commissioners also renewed the current health insurance plan at an annual cost of $1,170,696 (an increase of 8.5%).
Clerk and Recorder’s Report
In the spirit of transparency, the Clerk, Jessica Lovingier, now includes detailed accounts of all funds handled by her department plus receipts for itemized expenditures. For April, the department had taken in revenues of $107,408. The Clerk retained $15,059 and disbursed $62,036 to the County Treasurer; $28,423 to the State; $1,782 to Central City; and $108 to Black Hawk. It had a balance of $1,474 at month’s end. The Uninsured Motorist Fund contained $4,358.The eRecording Fund held $3,448 at the end of April.
The May Report from the Clerk and Recorder showed revenues of $118,057 with the Clerk retaining $17,664 and disbursing $163,335 to the County Treasurer; $35,275 to the State; $1,672 to Central City; and $111 to Black Hawk. The Late Fee Fund held $2,693. The Uninsured Motorist Fund contained $6,273. There was no eRecording Fund statement for May.
Commissioners have directed their legislative lobbyists at Colorado Counties, Incorporated, to seek a legislative remedy clarifying how the Uninsured Motorist, Late Fee, and eRecording Funds may be spent. They proposed CCI work with the Colorado Clerks’ Association to draft and promote legislation that spells out the intended use, disposition and oversight of the funds. They note the lack of specific language in the statutes, particularly with the motor vehicle funds, results in Clerks using the funds differently from county to county, reducing the public’s confidence in accountability and transparency.
Vote Centers
Commissioners passed Resolution 09-14 establishing Vote Centers for the 2009 elections and designating their locations at the Courthouse (Central City), Community Center (mid-County) and Road and Bridge Garage (Rollinsville).
Treasurer’s Report
Gilpin County Treasurer Alynn Huffman’s May Report showed County accounts held a grand total of $6,004,588 (compared to May 2008’s $6,526,971). The grand total includes $617,440 collected for special districts and the suspense funds of $288,715. 73.87% of County taxes had been collected as of May 31st. Unpaid taxes are now delinquent and notices are being sent. Huffman commented $1 million had come in on June 15th as a result of casinos paying their taxes.
Assessor’s Report
Gilpin County Assessor Anne Schafer reported the Real Property Notices of Valuation (NOV) had been mailed on May 1 and 312 protests of the valuations had been received by the June 1 deadline. Personal Property (items used for the production of goods for sale or in the operation of a business) NOV’s were mailed June 15th. Protests for those will be accepted through June 30th.
Monthly Departmental Reports
Human Resources Director Susie Allen’s May Report showed 195 people in the County’s employ (112 full-time; 64 part-time; 3 temporary; and 16 property tax work off program). Two people had left the County’s employ in May, and one person had been hired. Training sessions in May included communication, back injury prevention, and electrical safety.
At Parks and Recreation, Director Penny Kipley reported 978 individual Gilpinites had visited the Community Center in May. 217 non-County residents had used the Center. Drop-In Admission raised $2,381 (Resident, $1,404; Non-Resident, $977) in revenues. Memberships had raised $2,383.
Library Director Larry Grieco reported the Summer Reading Program is underway with more than 150 children participating. Artist-in-Residence programs are in progress. 2,143 items were circulated from the library in May. Estimated attendance for the month was 1,461-an average of 66 people per day.
At the Road and Bridge Department, Director Earl Robinson reported the coupon system for free trash disposal is working well. The coupons, given only to county residents, allow them to choose their own “free” trash day. County crews had hauled 319 tons of crusher fines to the Community Center for the new trail. Gunnison County and Western State College officials had visited Gilpin to check out the bio-mass system as they are considering something similar.
At the Dententions Division, there were 63 new bookings in May (47 male; 16 female). The average daily population of the jail was 32. Gilpin Sheriff’s Office arrested 36; Colorado State Patrol, 10; Black Hawk Police, 8; Division of Gaming, 5; and Central City Police, 4. Ten were arrested for domestic/victim related incidents. Seven were DUI arrests and one was for DWAI. Of the 63 total arrests, eight were Gilpin residents. 39 of the incidents were gaming related.
CSU Extension Agent Irene Shonle’s March-May Report noted $3,800 in grant funding received from the Colorado Noxious Weed Fund. 6,100 seedling trees have been distributed to folks who ordered them this year-that’s double the number from last year. The Master Gardeners are at work on the no-water vegetable garden and other gardening projects at the Exhibit Barn.
Stage Stop/Trackside Tavern
Marshall Mills, Owner and Ronald Alto, Manager were granted a temporary (120-day) liquor license. They plan to open a tavern in the Stage Stop building in Rollinsville. It will be called Trackside Tavern.
Public Comment
A Gilpin woman gave kudos to the Library and Director Larry Grieco for all the programs and services offered there.
Executive Session
Following the public meeting, Commissioners met in Executive Session with Attorney Petrock to discuss a personnel issue. Commissioners meet next on June 23, 2009.