Board of County Commissioners of Lincoln County

Board of County Commissioners of Lincoln County

Agenda for September 30, 2014

9:00 Call to order and Pledge of Allegiance

10:00 Human Services Director Colette Barksdale to present her monthly report

1:00 Discussion with the road foremen on the proposed road policy and updated road map

2:00 Lincoln County Treasurer Jim Covington to discuss Treasurer’s deeds

2:15 Land Use Administrator John DeWitt to present the Land Use Board’s decision on the development permit submitted by Nereo GC Lincoln for a wind farm

1. Approve the minutes from the September 29, 2014 meeting
2. Review the agreement with GMS, Inc. for developing a Preliminary Engineering report and Site Application to tie the fairgrounds septic into the town of Hugo’s septic system
3. Review the agreement with Stan Kimble to continue as the County Attorney for 2015
4. County Commissioner reports
5. County Administrator’s report
6. County Attorney’s report
7. Old business
8. New business
9. Approve additional expense vouchers if necessary

The Board of Lincoln County Commissioners met at 9:00 a.m. on September 30, 2014. The following attended: Chairman Ted Lyons, Commissioners Greg King and Doug Stone, County Administrator Roxie Devers, and Clerk to the Board Corinne M. Lengel. County Attorney Stan Kimble attended in the afternoon.

Chairman Lyons called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance, after which Ms. Devers requested that “others from town boards as well” in the September 29 minutes be changed to, “representatives from Lincoln County, the town of Limon, and the Lincoln County Economic Development Corporation.” Mr. Stone made a motion to approve the minutes from the meeting held on September 29, 2014, as corrected. Mr. King seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. Since Mr. Kiely will not be available on the dates that Mr. King could attend the requested meeting regarding the Foreign Trade Zone, Mr. Stone will attend in his place. Mr. Stone requested October 24, with an alternate date of October 23.

The Board reviewed an agreement with GMS, Inc. for developing a Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) and Site Application to tie the fairgrounds septic system into the town of Hugo’s septic system. The recommendation is for the commissioners to authorize GMS to pursue a planning grant through the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Water Quality Control Division. A planning grant in the amount of $10,000 is available and can be obtained within a few weeks of authorization from the Board. According to Dave Frisch with GMS, the grant is basically guaranteed and will help with some of the upfront costs that they will incur compiling and processing the PER and Site Location Approval package. Ms. Devers said that one of the commissioners will need to attend the next Hugo town board meeting on October 13 to make the request to tie into their septic system. Mr. Lyons said he would go.

Ms. Devers had obtained a phone number for Mike Gaines with MGA Structural Engineers and placed a call to him to discuss moving the annex building to the fairgrounds. Mr. Lyons explained the current issues with the building and foundation, and Mr. Gaines said he would be happy to come out the following day and do an evaluation on it. When Mr. Lyons told him the proposed cost to move the building, Mr. Gaines said they could probably put a new foundation under the building in its current location for that price. He added that moving the building may aggravate any existing structural conditions the building may have, and also that it may be much more difficult to move a building of that size than what they estimate. For $750 he will complete the evaluation, write a report and take measurements. The Board agreed to have him come the following morning and Mr. Gaines said he would write up a proposal and email it to Ms. Devers this afternoon.

The Board reviewed the agreement with Stan Kimble to continue as the County Attorney for 2015, and Mr. King made a motion to sign the agreement. Mr. Stone seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

Mr. King reported that he’d gone to Bovina after the previous day’s meeting to check on the progress of the railroad crossing and they were finished with the south side at that time and waiting for the asphalt to cool. He also spoke with Sheriff Nestor about overweight permits for trucks and was told that vehicles are limited to 85,000 pounds on county roads. Mr. King said the commissioners need to decide if they are going to try and pursue enforcement because the oil truck traffic is definitely tearing up the roads. Mr. Lyons asked about farm vehicles and Mr. King responded that his main concern is the triple-axle trucks, not the regular semis, as they are the ones carrying the overweight permits. The group decided to speak with Mr. Kimble about it later in the afternoon.

Mr. Lyons said he’d forgotten to report attending the hospital board meeting on September 25, adding that they have put together a search committee for a new hospital administrator as they accepted Monica Wilkins’ resignation. There are five or six applying from within.

At 10:00 a.m., Human Services Director Colette Barksdale and Robert Kraxberger met with the Board to give the monthly report for the department. The Board reviewed the employee time sheets and August financial reports, as well as the C-Stat Report for September.

Ms. Barksdale said that she and Mr. Kraxberger handed out the TANF grants to the schools, Gordon Clinic, and Peak Vista and explained some of the DHS programs while they did so. October 8 will be a workday in the Human Services department, although they will remain open for business. Ms. Barksdale reported that she will be working closely with Gary Higgins from Frontier Telephone on setting up the new hotline, as they will need to add a direct line with a dedicated number.

The Board looked through the thank-you notes from the Karval school kids who received school supplies from DHS through Project School Supply, and Ms. Barksdale said she had nothing else to report.

Ms. Devers reported that Wayne Shade looked at the windows in the old Genoa shop that were broken out in the June hailstorm. He believes he can fix them but will have to replace the entire windows rather than just the glass. There were also some broken skylights that someone else may have to look at.

As for old business, Ms. Devers said she’d brought copies of the county’s meal reimbursement policy for the Board to review since they had brought up an issue the previous day. Mr. King felt that a paragraph should be added regarding trips to the city to pick up parts or errands that could be done during times of the day that would not fall around a meal time. Ms. Devers commented that changing the entire policy for all employees when there seems to only be a problem with one particular incidentdidn’t seem fair. Mr. King will speak to the employee about it and then the Board will decide if further action needs to be taken.

Mr. Stone suggested that Mr. Lyons take the blueprints of the annex with him the following day when he meets with Mike Gaines, and Ms. Devers went to get them.

Discussion ensued regarding the coroner’s budget requests and the commissioners agreed that they would speak with Mr. Kimble to see if certain items such as office space are required to be provided by the county.

Ms. Devers had done further work on the 2015 budget and explained that the county can have 47.5 mills statutorily. With the current 2015 requests, they are at 51.45 mills, meaning they will need to cut 3.95 mills, or $679,573. She took one mill off of County General and moved it to Road & Bridge, as well as .05 of a mill from Library. She did include the 12 mill property tax credit in her calculations, as well. The fund balance may go up closer to the end of the year when the individual departments decide whether or not they will make large expenditures that they budgeted for this year. For example, Ms. Lengel will not be purchasing new election equipment in 2014, so $61,000 will be returned to the Capital Projects Fund at the end of the year. Ms. Devers added that the commissioners would need to keep in mind that as the mill levy increases, the amount owed to the municipalities goes up as well.

The Board decided to remove the $400,000 for the new fair building from the Capital Projects budget, saving a little over 2 mills.

Mr. Stone asked if the county ever received the rest of the FEMA money, but Ms. Devers said it had not yet been remitted. She added that they may need to resubmit the request.

Mr. King suggested reducing the Road Oil line item back to what it was in 2014, so it was decreased from the requested $900,000 to $675,000. Ms. Devers will recalculate Capital Projects and make the necessary changes to the Road & Bridge budget. She added that they really need to start planning for the new cell at the landfill since it will take a long time to get it approved.

At 1:00 p.m., John Theisen, Linda Ashmore, Gale Lukow, Monty Mattson and County Assessor Jeremiah Higgins met with the Board to discuss the proposed road policy and updated county road map. Chris Monks joined the meeting later. Mr. Kimble stated that Mr. Higgins has been working on a new map and they decided after the meeting on September 19 that the old roads, regardless of whether they are primary, secondary or unmaintained, need to remain on the new map if they were included on the 1992 map.

Mr. Higgins spoke up to say that some roads may have been upgraded from a lower level of county road over the years, but he didn’t find too many instances where new roads exist now that did not appear on the old map. Mr. Kimble added that the new county road policy will allow people to petition the Board with requests, and any revisions of the policy will be in the same manner as the official adoption, meaning a hearing will be held in order to make changes.

Mr. Higgins said that the policy may need to include a statement that a county road is just that by definition and must be designated as such on the county road map. There are several roads in the county that farmers and ranchers have improved on their own for their own use, but it doesn’t make them a county road. Mr. Kimble said that the policy does include an area addressing the fact, adding that roads will not become county roads without Board of County Commissioner action. He went on to say that the county will be adopting a policy that is in line with other counties, and once the 2014 county road map is adopted, people will be able to rely on it as the county road map. The hearing to adopt the county road map and county road policy was scheduled for October 30, 2014, at 9:30 a.m.

Chris Monks said he’d been asked several questions, including why the county won’t vacate a road if there is no intention of ever maintaining it. Mr. Kimble responded that the new policy states that minor secondary county roads may be bladed once a year or not at all, at the discretion of the particular road district foreman, adding that the county has no legal obligations to maintain unmaintained county roads.

Once everyone had gone, Mr. Kimble researched the statutory obligations for the County Coroner’s office, and Ms. Devers also asked him how long old files and cremains need to be kept. Mr. Kimble will look into it.

At 2:00 p.m., County Treasurer Jim Covington met with the Board to discuss Treasurer’s Deeds issued to Lincoln County on September 25. The firstis for a small strip of land in the Southwest Quarter of Section 12, Township 9 South, Range 55 West. Mr. Covington suggested finding out who owns the rest of the property around it and giving it to them. The other; Lot 9, Block D, Original Hugo, has never been taxed. Mr. Covington said the county doesn’t even believe it exists, although the town of Hugo disagrees. He suggested deeding the property to the town in order to clear up the tax rolls, and added that there is one other parcel that will be deeded soon which is in the flood plain in Limon and has a special assessment placed on it. He felt that one should be deeded to the town of Limon.

Mr. Covington asked the Board if they are still inclined to have him title four mobile homes in the county’s name, as the commissioners will then need to find a way to dispose of them. Mr. Kimble asked if the landowners would consider taking care of them once they are in the county’s name, stating that it may be wise to have them sign an agreement for disposal. Mr. Kimble will draft a letter to send to the landowners where the mobile homes are located, and a call was placed to Will Glass to see if he would consider dismantling the trailers if the county would let him have all the material he could salvage from them. Mr. Glass said he would think about it and the Board gave him two weeks.

At 2:15 p.m., Land Use Administrator John DeWitt met with the Board to present the Land Use Board’s decision on the development permit submitted by Nereo GC Lincoln for a wind farm. Land Use Board Chairman Chris Monks also attended the discussion. Mr. DeWitt stated that the request was denied due to the fact that the board members felt the easements for the transmission lines needed to be in place and although the mineral right owners have been notified, the Land Use Board wants Nereo to have agreements in place with them within the next sixty days. The meeting was postponed for sixty days in order to give Nereo time to comply. Mr. DeWitt added that the problem is that both Excel and Tri-State ask that Nereo obtain county approval first, putting the company in a Catch-22 situation. He also said that the stipulation to notify mineral right owners is already a part of the development permit guidelines, and having the requirements met in only sixty days may be a problem for Nereo. He suggested to them that they apply for an extension in thirty days and to let the Land Use Board know that they are making an effort to comply with the requirements.

Chris Monks said that a couple of the Land Use Board members were concerned with approving the permit prior to the transmission line routes being established, and another abstained from the final vote due to a conflict of interest.

Mr. DeWitt stated that the application is for the wind farm, not the transmission lines, and Mr. Kimble put in that the Land Use Board is supposed to make recommendations, not policy. Mr. DeWitt added that Nereo actually needs the board’s help to proceed, as they are new to the business, but the Land Use Board is used to seeing canned presentations from established companies, which is not the case with Nereo. Mr. Kimble stated that it may put Excel and Tri-State in an awkward position, and Mr. DeWitt added that he can’t make a qualification for this wind farm that he didn’t for any of the others.

Before leaving, Mr. DeWitt told the commissioners that the Pickenpaugh Pit will be inspected on Thursday and should be available for mining shortly thereafter.

Chris Monks said that when the commissioners sign another road agreement for a proposed development, there needs to be a stipulation included that trucks not staying on designated routes will be fined. He also informed the Board that the Local Technical Assistance Program is holding a seminar in Hugo on oil and asphalt mixes on October 29.

Mr. Lyons asked how many hours are on the three oldest road graders and Chris said that two in District Three have close to 8,500 hours, one in District Two has about 8,300 hours, and the oldest in District One has 7,000 hours on it. He suggested looking for something used with around 1,000 hours on it if they were trying to cut things from the budget proposal.

After Chris had gone, Mr. Kimble said he had reviewed the Agreement for Professional Services with GMS, Inc. for the lift station at the fairgrounds, and it seemed to be fine, although county government is not allowed to pay attorney fees.

Mr. Stone madea motion to sign the Agreement with GMS, Inc., Mr. King seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously.

Mr. King made a motion to sign the agreement with MGA Structural Engineers, Inc. for structural engineering services for the annex building at 326 8th Street in Hugo. Mr. Stone seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

Mr. King asked Mr. Kimble if the county has any authority in enforcing fines on vehicles that are overweight on county roads when the sheriff says the weight cannot exceed 85,000 pounds. Mr. Kimble felt that the county definitely has the authority, but it may be a matter of how difficult it is for the understaffed sheriff’s department to enforce it.

With no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned until 9:00 a.m. on October 7, 2014.

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Corinne M. Lengel, Clerk to the Board Ted Lyons, Chairman

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