Board of County Commissioners of Lincoln County  

Agenda for April 29, 2008

 

 

9:00 Call to order and Pledge of Allegiance

 

9:05 Approve payroll and expense vouchers

 

 

 

 

1.      Approve the minutes from the April 17th meeting

2.      Review two Notices of Purchase of Mineral Rights at Tax Lien Sale and of Application for Issuance of Treasurer’s Deed on minerals owned by Stone Schuler

3.      Review a letter from the Board of Land Commissioners concerning an application for a wind energy lease on state lands located in Elbert and Lincoln Counties and requesting comments

4.      Review the March reports of revenues and expenditures for Capital Projects, Conservation Trust, E911, Landfill, Library, Road & Bridge and the individual road districts

5.      Review an Energy/Mineral Impact grant submitted for electrical work to be completed at Lincoln Community Hospital

6.      County Commissioners’ reports

7.      County Administrator’s report

8.      Old business

9.      New business

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Board of Lincoln County Commissioners met at 9:00 a.m. on April 29, 2008.  The following attended:  Chairman Ted Lyons, Commissioner Steve Burgess, County Administrator Roxie Devers and Clerk to the Board Corinne M. Lengel.  Commissioner Gary Beedy arrived at approximately 9:30 a.m.

 

Chairman Lyons called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance, and then the Board approved the payroll and expense vouchers for the month of April.

 

Road District Two Foreman Roger Noakes arrived at Mr. Burgess’ request, to discuss the purchase of a new road grader for the district.  Roger provided bids from Wagner Equipment on a Caterpillar 12M Motor Grader, and another from Power Equipment on a Volvo 140M model.  Roger explained what the trade-in value would be on the county’s 143H with each company, adding that since Wagner was promoting the new joy stick model, they had agreed to give the county a total of twelve months free mileage and travel time.  He added that if the county purchased the extended warranty for $1,500.00, they would get 7 years/7,500 hours of total governmental machine warranty.

 

Mr. Burgess made a motion to allow District Two to purchase a Caterpillar 12M Motor Grader from Wagner Equipment in the amount of $216,000.00.  Trade-in on the 143H will be $100,000.00, and the extended warranty will be an additional $1,500.00, bringing the total to $116,500.00.  Mr. Beedy seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

 

Mr. Burgess added that they would really like to purchase two graders, but that since he did not want to finance one, he would rather wait until November to see what the new budget year might bring.  He was told that Wagner would honor the prices until that time.

 

Mr. Burgess then asked the others if they felt purchasing digital cameras for each of the road district foremen would be a good idea.  He said that in light of the recent lawsuit action, being able to take pictures of certain situations that may involve a county road might come in handy.  Mr. Beedy said that the county does have a digital camera in the Land Use department that they could use, and Mr. Lyons said that in such instances as this, certainly law enforcement took pictures.  Mr. Burgess felt that they may need to ask the county’s legal council if the foremen should provide documentation in such cases, or if it would just be better to let law enforcement handle it.

 

Roger Noakes spoke up and said that he has taken pictures with his cell phone in the past when he came upon something dumped in the middle of the road, and that they could always do that if they needed to.

 

The only correction to the minutes from the April 17, 2008, meeting was a spelling change.  Mr. Burgess made a motion to approve the minutes as submitted, once the correction was made.  Mr. Beedy seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

 

The Board reviewed two Notices of Purchase of Mineral Rights at Tax Lien Sale and of Application for Issuance of Treasurer’s Deed on minerals owned by Stone Schuler, as well as a letter from the Board of Land Commissioners concerning an application for a wind energy lease on state lands located in Elbert and Lincoln counties, and requesting comments.  Mr. Beedy made a motion to sign the application, Mr. Burgess seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously.

 

The March reports of revenues and expenditures for the Capital Projects, Conservation Trust, E911, Landfill, Library and Road & Bridge funds were reviewed, as well as the reports from the individual road districts.

 

Also reviewed was an Energy/Mineral Impact grant submitted for electrical work to be completed at Lincoln Community Hospital.  Ms. Devers said they had asked for $200,000.00, and Mr. Lyons added that they would need at least $300,000.00, according to what had been said at the hospital board meeting on the Twenty-fourth.

 

Mr. Lyons called for commissioner reports, and Mr. Beedy said that he’d participated in a conference call regarding the community-based wind development on April 21, and that he would like to request that the commissioner meeting scheduled for May 7 be changed to May 6, in order for him to attend the meeting in Lamar.  The others agreed that they should probably attend, as well.  On April 22, Mr. Beedy attended the LCH/USDA grant award ceremony, as did the others, and received a demonstration of the new bariatric ambulance.  On the Twenty-fourth, Mr. Beedy attended the Colorado East Community Action board meeting, stating that they received additional grant funding in the amount of $5,622.00.  That evening, he participated in a conference call for the Eastern Colorado Services for the Developmentally Disabled.  On April 28, Mr. Beedy attended the Economic Development board meeting and learned that the First National Bank of Hugo will be increasing their contribution amount back up to $5,000.00, adding that Mountain View Electric may do the same.  Patricia Vice is also working with other banks in the community and told him that the Eastern Colorado Bank-Monument division may contribute, as well.  Mr. Beedy asked if it would be acceptable for the county to go ahead and cut a check for the other $5,000.00 that they had committed to at the beginning of the year, as they had enough cash to carry through June 1 at this time, but would not make it with Ms. Vice’s salary much after that without more contributions.  Ms. Devers said she could write up a voucher and submit it tomorrow, and the others agreed that would be fine.  The last thing Mr. Beedy had to report was that he thought the Genoa Motorsports group may be coming to the county with a tax incentive request.  Mr. Burgess said that it would have to be completely separate from what the county has currently, and Mr. Lyons felt they should not get too excited until they actually see some progress with the project.

 

Mr. Burgess reported that on April 17 he attended the Weed Board meeting, on the Twenty-second he went to the hospital grant award ceremony and the PMC board meeting that night, and on the Twenty-third he attended the Centennial Mental Health meeting in Burlington where they discussed mental health issues in rural areas.  Afterward, he visited with the Kit Carson County commissioners.  On April 24, Mr. Burgess attended the hospital board meeting, and on the Twenty-eighth, he had a call from Kevin Rogers with Genoa Motorsports.  Mr. Burgess felt they should talk to him again, and if he called back later today, he asked Ms. Devers if she would ask that he call again tomorrow during the meeting.  Mr. Burgess also said that the amount of gravel he had given to Asphalt Specialties amounted to approximately one hundred and sixty-four ton of asphalt that the county would get.

Mr. Lyons reported that he also attended the Weed Board meeting on April 17, but added that they had also discussed what it would take to rid Lincoln County of prairie dogs, stating that they were taking such measures in Yuma County.  On the Twenty-second, Mr. Lyons attended the ceremony at the hospital, and on the Twenty-fourth he attended the hospital board meeting.  The main topic there was the electrical issue, but Mr. Lyons said they are struggling with revenues, also.  He added that he intended to speak to Ms. Barksdale regarding Lincoln County residents on DSS assistance because when DSS clients receive medical attention at the hospital, the hospital actually receives less payment than what the services are costing them. Mr. Lyons was concerned that there may be some fraud occurring in that arena.  On April 26, Mr. Lyons received a phone call from Mick Jaques wanting to close the landfill due to the wind, and he also told him that he had lined up some prisoners to help out with trash clean-up.  He wanted to know if it would be acceptable to buy the guards lunch when they came out, and Mr. Lyons told him that would be fine.

 

Mr. Burgess said that reminded him that Sheriff Nestor would like to purchase a plaque for Elbert County for all of the assistance they had given during the Bueno trial, and asked if one of the commissioners would like to go along to present it.  He added that he would also like to take some of them out to lunch and wondered if the county could pay for that.  Mr. Burgess said he thought that would be fine, and the others agreed.

 

Mr. Lyons also reported that he called Representative Cory Gardner about the electrical problems at the hospital, as he felt that they would end up paying far more than the estimate of $300,000.00 by the time it was all finished.  He added that he was also worried that they may uncover asbestos if they start trying to replace electrical lines in the walls, since the building was built in the fifties.  Mr. Lyons told Cory that they had applied for a grant in the amount of $200,000.00.  Representative Gardner felt that it was ludicrous for the state health department to do such a thing, and thought that he may be able to get a waiver of some kind.  Mr. Lyons added that there would be ten-to-fifteen electricians doing the work, which would be a huge disruption for everyone in the facility.

 

When Mr. Lyons called for the Administrator’s report, Ms. Devers asked the Board what they wanted Allen Chubbuck’s starting salary to be.  They decided on $1,923.00.  She also asked if they wanted to consider putting a fire ban in place, and Mr. Burgess made a motion to adopt a resolution putting a countywide fire ban in place, effective May 1, 2008.  Mr. Beedy seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. 

 

At a regular meeting of the Board of County Commissioners of Lincoln County, Colorado held in Hugo, Colorado on April 29, 2008 there were present:

 

            Ted Lyons, Chairman                                                    Present

                        Steve Burgess, Vice Chairman                                       Present

                        Gary A. Beedy, Commissioner                                       Present

            Stan Kimble, County Attorney                               Absent & Excused    

                        Corinne Lengel, Clerk of the Board                                Present

            Roxie Devers, County Administrator                               Present

 

when the following proceedings, among others, were had and done, to-wit:

 

RESOLUTION #683              It was moved by Commissioner Burgess and seconded by Commissioner Beedy to adopt the following resolution:

 

A RESOLUTION TO BAN OPEN FIRES IN LINCOLN COUNTY

 

            WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of Lincoln County recognizes and acknowledges the current fire danger in the county resulting from a lack of precipitation and the existing dry conditions; and

 

            WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners believes that a temporary ban on open fires and the use of fireworks within Lincoln County is necessary to protect property, livestock, wildlife and the citizens of the county;

 

            NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of Lincoln County, Colorado that all open fires within Lincoln County, except fires in barbeque grills, shall be banned, effective May 1, 2008 and continuing until terminated by resolution of the Board of County Commissioners upon competent evidence that the wildfire danger has ceased;

 

Upon roll call the vote was:

 

Commissioner Burgess, Yes; Commissioner Beedy, Yes; Commissioner Lyons, Yes.

 

The Chairman declared the motion carried and so ordered.

 

                                                                        Board of County Commissioners

                                                                        of Lincoln County

 

                                                            _______________________________________

 

 

ATTEST:                                                          _______________________________________

 

 

_________________________________      _______________________________________

Clerk of the Board

 

Mr. Burgess called The Limon Leader to see if they could still get the notice in this week’s newspaper, and Ms. Devers asked him to add that the county would provide trucks at designated locations throughout the county in which to deposit household trash, as has been done in the past. 

 

Ms. Devers went on to report that County Treasurer Jim Covington lost two printers on April 17 when there was a power outage at the courthouse.  She told him to replace them, using money for one out of the Treasurer’s budget and one out of the Capital Projects budget, since he didn’t have enough money in his budget to pay for both.  She submitted a claim to CAPP.

 

Ms. Devers had received a notice from the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District that the Colorado Water Conservation Board projects bill, HB08-1346, includes $1,000,000.00 for a matching grant tamarisk program.  The Board reviewed it while Ms. Devers explained that the bill passed the House and the Senate Ag Natural Resources and Energy Committee, but was amended in Senate Appropriations.  The bill was laid over on second reading in the Senate on April 25.

 

Ms. Devers reported that the new Deputy D.A., Pat Cahill, will start on May 2 in Douglas County and will be out to Lincoln County around the middle of the month.  She also spoke with Bev Rains about the tract in the “L” that they were interested in buying, and their previous offer of $100.00 per acre still stands.  Mr. Lyons put in that he had not yet heard back from Jack Pfost.

 

Public Health Director Tonda Scott needed a signature on a letter of support for a “Cavity Free at Three” initiative, so Ms. Devers signed it.  Ms. Devers explained that there is no cash match on the county’s part, and training would be included with Public Health.  She added that both of the medical clinics would be involved with the grant.

 

The CCOERA Board has one term expiring on June 30, 2008, which is Tobe Allumbaugh’s.  He does intend to seek re-election, but Ms. Devers said if the commissioners were interested, they could nominate a registered elector from Lincoln County to run for the position.  No one was interested in doing so. 

 

Ms. Devers’ final item to report was that Floyd Woods does not understand which road in Limon he has blocked.  He requested that someone meet with him and show him what is being discussed, so the Board decided that Land Use Administrator Ken Morrison could do so.

 

Mr. Lyons called for old business, and Mr. Burgess said that he felt they needed to address the sales tax on pesticides issue, as Lehrkamps with Tri-Me Spraying work hard to collect the two percent for the county.  He thought that letters should be sent to the other sprayers who do not collect the sales tax, but Mr. Lyons told him that they have tried that in the past and never had any response.  His thought was that they would do better to do away with the two percent sales tax.

 

Mr. Burgess said that he also thought the Board needed to address increasing the landfill rates, and that they had discussed it in the past, but it always seems too late to notify the towns before budget time.

 

Mr. Lyons said he’d gotten a bid from Shawn Smith Construction for the replacement of the front doors at the courthouse, but that he had not been able to find a window to replace the rounded one above the doors.  The bid for $7,126.70 includes replacing that window with stucco.

Mr. Burgess made a motion to accept the bid from Shawn Smith Construction, LLC, in the amount of $7,126.70, for replacement of the front doors and window at the courthouse.  Mr. Beedy seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

 

As for new business, Mr. Lyons commented that the hospital is going to lease some new copiers and that they will be putting their old ones in the basement until the lease expires, since that is a requirement of their new lease.  He said Mr. Schreivogel could explain it better, but he thought that if some county office needed a copy machine, they may be able to speak with Mr. Schreivogel about it. 

 

With no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned until 9:00 a.m. on April 30, 2008.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

__________________________________________          _______________________________

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