Board of County Commissioners of Lincoln County

Agenda for July 30, 2008

9:00 Call to order and Pledge of Allegiance

9:05 Public Health Director Tonda Scott to give an update on the Family Planning program

9:30 Conduct a conference call with Blue Valley Energy to discuss geothermal heating

10:00 Road & Bridge Foreman Chris Monks to discuss the Energy and Mineral Impact grant received for work on County Highway 109 and other issues related to Road & Bridge

10:30 Sheriff Tom Nestor to discuss personnel and computer issues

11:00 Dan Merewether with Karval Community Alliance to discuss a GOCO grant application for the organization

Approve payroll and expense vouchers

Approve the minutes from the July 18^th meeting

Review the June report from the Assessor and the reports of revenues and expenditures for County General, Road & Bridge, Landfill, Library, E911 and the individual road districts

Review the 2008 Semi Annual report from the County Treasurer

Review Energy and Mineral Impact Grant contract EIAF #6305 for Lincoln Community Hospital electrical upgrades

Appoint a Commissioner as the Board’s CCI 2008 Legislative Committee member

Review and sign the Emergency Management Performance Grant with the Department of Local Affairs, Division of Emergency Management

County Commissioners’ reports

County Administrator’s report

Old business

Discuss selling two parcels, 2.04 acres and 6.01 acres, owned by Lincoln County in Sections 8 and 9, T9S-R52W

New business

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

Chairman Lyons called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance, and then Public Health Director Tonda Scott met with the Board to give an update on the Family Planning program. STEPP Coordinator Stacey Phythian was also present. First, Ms. Scott provided the “Cavity Free at Three” contract, stating that her office was approved for the $10,000.00 in grant funding. Mr. Burgess made a motion to sign the contract, Mr. Beedy seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously.

Ms. Scott also submitted the yearly WIC renewal contract in the amount of $34,109.00. Mr. Beedy made a motion to sign the WIC contract, Mr. Burgess seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously.

Ms. Scott also said her grant application for Lamaze training for Wendy Pottorff had been denied.

Finally, Ms. Scott said she and Liz Pautler met with Dr. Fox and the mid-levels to discuss the family planning clinic, and they had been receptive to the idea so they spoke with LCH director Herman Schreivogel about it, and he will allow the service in his clinics. She explained she would need to meet with the commissioners and obtain their approval, as well. After some discussion regarding women’s wellness, cancer prevention, how having the clinics may help to delay or alleviate some unwanted pregnancies, and parental consent, Stacey Phythian spoke up to say that it would also provide education and a place for girls and young women to go if they had no one else to talk to.

Mr. Burgess asked if any county money would be used to help fund the Family Planning program, and Ms. Scott responded that it would only be what Ms. Pautler charged for mileage and her time, depending on how many clients she saw.

Mr. Beedy made a motion to allow Ms. Scott to pursue her efforts in putting together a Family Planning program at the clinic in Hugo, based on the hope that it will alleviate problems in other areas in the future. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion and Mr. Lyons called for the vote. The motion carried with Mr. Lyons and Mr. Beedy voting in favor. Mr. Burgess was opposed.

Mr. Lyons asked when they would begin the program, but Ms. Scott said she had several things to do first, including speaking with Ms. Pautler again.

Ms. Phythian wanted to speak with the Board regarding the STEPP program, and progress she felt is being made with it, especially with the young people in the county. She has promoted not using tobacco in several locations, including the Ranch Rodeo recently, and said she would have a booth out at the county fair. She was chosen to receive funding for sponsorship of two young people who will have their entry fees paid for their rodeo events if they will remain tobacco free and promote a tobacco-free lifestyle. Ms. Phythian exhibited the shirts that the two contestants would be wearing and allowed the Board to read the short essays they had submitted. She said she had spoken with Ms. Devers about a contract for the two contestants to sign, and Ms. Devers had forwarded it on to County Attorney Stan Kimble. Stan looked it over and the corrections he had suggested were made.

The last item Ms. Scott wanted to bring up was that the county is under higher surveillance for rabies, as the disease was recently found in a skunk, a cat, and a raccoon in neighboring counties.

Mr. Burgess said he and Ms. Scott met with James Martin, the Executive Director for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, yesterday, and it appears that the funding is going to stay intact for Public Health programs, at least for next year.

At 9:40 a.m., the Board conducted a conference call with Blue Valley Energy to discuss geothermal heating for the courthouse and annex building. They spoke with J.D. Best, asking that the process be explained as to how the system works. Since the average ground temperature is fifty-to-fifty-five degrees, they use ground water and circulate it through a heat pump, basically like an air conditioner. It runs through a heat exchanger, since the goal is to pull the heat from the water, and then it is refrigerated or heated, whichever the outside temperature calls for. He explained that geothermal heating can get four-to-five units of heat for each single unit of electricity, making it four-to-five times more efficient. The heat pump is actually about the same size as a regular furnace; possibly a little bigger, and can be either vertical or horizontal. Mr. Best explained that the county’s situation would probably require that one big heat pump be used for four different zones, as it would be very expensive to try and replace every furnace with its own heat pump. Depending upon the existing system, thermostats could be used in each office, but since the thermostats are currently in the attic, duct work would have to be redone in order to get each office its own thermostat. Discussion was held as to how the pumps would be installed, how close they could get to the building, or how far away they could work since there are approximately six open acres about a hundred yards from the courthouse, how many holes would be drilled (8-12) and how far apart they would be (15 feet), as well as how deep (300 feet). Mr. Best said the best thing for the county to do at this point would be to send him a set of blueprints or floor plans, as well as a couple of years of past utility bills, and they would be able to provide a more accurate bid. When asked about the annex building, Mr. Best quoted approximately $50,000.00 for geothermal heating/cooling in that building.

At 10:00 a.m., Road and Bridge Foreman Chris Monks met with the Board to discuss the Energy and Mineral Impact grant received for work on County Highway 109, as well as other Road and Bridge issues. Fair Manager Mike Mosher was also present. Chris said the new Skidster loader that they purchased broke down while they were working on the parking lot over two months ago, and they can’t seem to fix it. He was told they thought there was a problem with the hydraulics in the drive somewhere, so he called Mike Vaughn to let him know that they had gotten it basically for the fairgrounds and that they would need it since fair is coming up. New Holland sent down another one as a loaner, but then sold it so wanted it back. They then sent another one, which is what the county is using now. Mike Mosher felt the county had gotten a lemon, and the comment was made that maybe they would just let the county keep the one they are using now and New Holland could keep the one that they can’t seem to fix.

The Board was incredulous that a piece of equipment with barely thirty hours on it could have such a serious problem that it would take over two months to fix it, so a call was placed to Farmers New Holland in Burlington. Since Mike Trahern was unavailable at the moment, the Board spoke with Larry, the shop manager. He told the Board that they had found the problem and that the pump should be in today, and as soon as they can get someone in off of service calls to work on it, they will get it done.

Mr. Lyons told him it shouldn’t take two months to fix something, and Mr. Burgess said they wanted to speak with the manager. Larry said he would have Mike Trahern call as soon as he could.

Mike Mosher reported that he had already booked three additional rodeos for this coming fall, and would probably have a total of seven next year. Mr. Beedy said they may need to consider raising the fees, especially when Mike commented that he may have to hire more part-time help.

He also said that he had put the pipe in the area on the east side of the fairgrounds where the trees are, then Dave Thompson called and told him that he owned that property, so Mike moved the pipe.

Other issues discussed with Mr. Mosher were whether or not he had ordered No Parking signs for the area north of the Ellis Allen building, which he hadn’t, although he ordered more Handicapped Parking signs, the drainage that will be completed after the fair, and the groups that are scheduling the rodeos.

Mike Trahern with Farmers New Holland called back at that time, and Mr. Burgess explained that he did not feel it was an acceptable business practice to keep a piece of equipment over two months for repairs. Mr. Beedy put in that a brand new piece of equipment shouldn’t have had such a large failure and that they were concerned that there may be other issues with it, even after it is fixed. Mr. Burgess also asked if there was an extended warranty on the pumps, and Mr. Trahern said he would see what he could do. Mr. Burgess added that they would send a letter expressing their displeasure, adding that New Holland should do something about it.

Once Mr. Trahern was off the phone, Chris Monks said he’d had some discussions regarding the sand that they hauled into the fairgrounds for the demolition derby, and what a big expense it was, just for that event. Chris said he’d told them that they need some around the grandstands, and that they would definitely use it after the derby if they could. He said he just wanted the Board to be aware that they may hear about it during the fair. He added that there were also comments made about digging up the arena and burying any metal that was left over after the derby, but Chris assured the Board they would remove the loose stuff once the event is over.

Mr. Lyons said he’d asked Chris to look at the fuel usage for the project on 109, which he did. If they had used a truck to haul it they would have spent approximately $54,000.00, but the total came to $29,108.48. Chris said they hauled seventy-three loads and used seventy-seven gallons of fuel per day. Mr. Burgess wanted to know what was left in the grant, and Ms. Devers said the county has to put in $51,400.00 in-kind, and there will still be roughly $79,000.00 in cash coming from DOLA. Mr. Beedy asked if the intention was to use some of the grant money to offset the cost of the fuel, which it was. Chris asked if he should just pay for his next load of fuel out of the special oil projects line item, but Ms. Devers said she would look into it.

Chris also had a request to purchase a tire changer, since the new patrol cars have eighteen inch tires. He said the landfill may have need of one, so his plan was to purchase a new one for the shop, send theirs to Genoa, and the one in District Two would go to the landfill. He added that it would change tires from ten to twenty-one inches, and since it is on sale, the total price would be $3,099.00, if he buys it from Witt Boys NAPA. Unfortunately, he only has $600.00 left in that line item, so wanted to know if the others would split the cost.

Mr. Burgess made a motion to purchase a Coats Model 5040 tire changer for $3,099.00 from Witt Boys NAPA with the following breakdown of the purchase: $1,000.00 from District 1; $1,000.00 from District 2; $600.00 from District 4; and $500.00 from the landfill. Mr. Beedy seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

At 10:30 a.m., Sheriff Tom Nestor met with the Board to discuss personnel and computer issues. He said that a bit of good news was that their cadet at the academy, Michael Yowell, is at the top of his class academically and was promoted to sergeant of his team. Otherwise, he has had two employees resign, but only wants to replace the road deputy at this time, as he would like to hire two part-time people to work the metal detector. That way, they would not have to provide benefits and it will be a test of how it will work if the grant money he applied for is approved. He also has an employee on active duty in the military who will probably return the first part of September to work in the jail. Since that position was left open for that employee, the sheriff felt he had to be fair, and wouldn’t want to fill that position with someone else and then have to let them go after a month. The Board agreed that Sheriff Nestor could hire two part-time people for the metal detector.

As far as computers, Sheriff Nestor said he would like to use the maintenance agreement money he has in his budget to buy some new computers, since the guy hasn’t shown up at all this year for equipment maintenance. The Board asked if he had any kind of agreement at all, but the sheriff said it had only been a verbal agreement with LeRoy, as far as he knew.

Mr. Lyons said he would like to speak with Stan Kimble tomorrow when he is here to see if they are obligated in any way, before they use the money somewhere else, and the others agreed.

Sheriff Nestor also said he found out that the light in the tower was shot out with a high-powered rifle, so they would try to replace the assembly. He also has an employee who he needs to give a higher rate of pay to since he didn’t adjust the salary accordingly when they were assigned to the road, so he asked the Board if they would allow him to move the employee up two steps.

Also, since the transmission has gone out of one of his deputy’s cars, and the one in the commissioners’ car is compatible, they would like to switch them. Mr. Burgess said he would bring the car down to the shop when the other members agreed that they should do so.

At 11:00 a.m., Dan Merewether, Jeff Thornton and Carl Stogsdill with the Karval Community Alliance met with the Board to discuss a GOCO grant application for the organization to build an RV park on the lots that they purchased from the county. Mr. Merewether said it was his understanding that they would need a letter of support and resolution from the commissioners to apply for the grant, which is due August 22. He added that the group wanted to meet with the Board prior to then, in order to allow them time to consider it. They will have a restroom with showers that will be handicapped accessible, and would like for the county to provide part of the in-kind; either in helping with dirt work for the RV pads, or in building roads into the facility. Apparently, it is a mini-grant with a maximum of $45,000.00, but they aren’t even sure if putting in an RV park is an acceptable use for GOCO funds; however, GOGO has not called Dan back yet to let him know.

Mr. Lyons wanted to know if they would provide power hook-ups for each unit and was told they would, as well as water and sewer. Mr. Beedy asked how many pads they would have and was told eight, although they would be gravel, not concrete. Dan also said that WW Enterprises had given them a figure for the engineering, and they discussed how the county might help, what the organization’s chances were of getting the grant, and some of the events that Karval holds where an RV park might be beneficial.

Ms. Devers wanted to know if GOCO had said they could apply, or if the county needed to do it and Dan said he thought the county would need to. After further reading, Ms. Devers asked if they had the ten percent cash match they needed, and although Mr. Stogsdill thought it could be in-kind, she said it had to be cash. Mr. Thornton thought they could come up with the $4,500.00 it would take, and Dan asked if they could use the money that the county gives them, although Mr. Beedy wasn’t sure if they could do that.

Mr. Burgess said he would like to table further discussion until they could speak with Stan Kimble, so they scheduled a time for the Alliance to meet with them again on August 6.

Ms. Devers said they would have an extensive budget to complete, and still wasn’t sure if an RV park would be an acceptable use for a GOCO grant. Dan said they are pursuing other grants, just in case, but felt it would be worthwhile to let the Board know what their intentions were.

Mr. Beedy made a motion to approve the minutes from the meeting held on July 18, 2008. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

The Board reviewed the June report from the Assessor and the reports of revenues and expenditures for the County General, Road & Bridge, Landfill, Library and E911 funds, as well as those for the individual road districts. Also reviewed was the semi-annual report from the County Treasurer, and Energy and Mineral Impact grant contract EIAF #6305 for electrical upgrades at Lincoln Community Hospital. Ms. Devers said since the time factor was critical, she had called the Board when the contract came in to ask them if Mr. Lyons could sign it, and they agreed.

Mike Trahern with Farmers New Holland called back and offered a two-year extended warranty on the power train Skidster; it will expire on September 5, 2010. The Board accepted the offer, but agreed that they should still send a letter so that there is record of the event.

Mr. Beedy was appointed as the Board’s CCI 2008 Legislative Committee member, with Mr. Burgess listed as his alternate.

After reviewing the Emergency Management Performance Grant with the Department of Local Affairs, Division of Emergency Management, Mr. Beedy made a motion to sign the grant. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. Ms. Devers said they would get back approximately $6,600.00 of Ken Morrison’s salary, as well as a portion of hers for work she has done.

Mr. Burgess reported that on July 21 he spoke with Joe Kiely, who thanked the Board for submitting the increase of landfill fees prior to budget time. On the Twenty-second, he hauled some water for the park in Arriba and said that Darrel Lehrkamp is going to finance a pump to keep them from losing the park. On the Twenty-third, Mr. Burgess toured roads and talked to Melody Maskus, who is very pleased with the car she was given to use. He attended the hospital board meeting on July 24, and spoke with Jodi Schifferns and Jim Covington about the money due to the town of Arriba on the Twenty-eighth. Mr. Covington sent them a check for $42,589.61. On July 29, Mr. Burgess met with Tonda Scott and James Martin with CDPHE, and also spoke with Gretchen Blackwelder about the Baby Bear Hugs raffle. He attended the PMC board meeting that evening. Mr. Burgess was also appointed to the state Child Welfare Action Committee.

Mr. Beedy reported that he attended the Lincoln County Economic Development board meeting on July 21, and the Colorado East Community Action board meeting on the Twenty-fourth. The director resigned, so they will be advertising for another one. That evening, he attended the Clean Energy Development Authority board meeting and discussed the rebuilding of a portion of line that blew down. He also received a phone call from Marilyn Musgrave regarding CRP and the emergency haying and grazing, and then checked roads and bridges in his district with David Seymour on the Twenty-eighth.

Mr. Lyons reported that he attended the hospital board meeting on July 24. Herman Schreivogel has a plan to give a twenty percent discount on outstanding bills in the month of August and is hoping to use those funds to help pay for the electrical upgrades. Mr. Lyons also mentioned that Kerry Halde still wants gravel from the Ravenkamp pit so that they do not have to haul so many loads down County Road 109, and when he talked to Stan Ravenkamp, he was told that they are considering putting in a private gravel pit. Mr. Lyons suggested that perhaps they could work something out, and that maybe Halde would be willing to gravel about three miles of County Road 26, since it is also a school bus route.

Ms. Devers reported that Jennifer Nestor asked her to let the Board know that the cost for the number of autopsies completed to date have used up the entire line item in her budget.

Also, Bev Rains asked her (Ms. Devers) again about the county-owned parcel adjacent to their property. Ms. Devers told her that the county had contacted Jack Pfost and would like to list it for $300.00 an acre. Ms. Rains would like to lease the property and said the state would have to fence the side next to the highway, but that they would put up electric fence on the other sides. The only comment from the Board was that they didn’t really want to get the state involved as far as the fence.

Ms. Devers asked who would attend the Eastern District meeting in Fort Morgan on August 22 and then said she received an e-mail from an employee with Apex Insurance Services asking if the county is accepting proposals for casualty and property insurance. Tim Anderson was interested at one time. The Board decided not to get any further information from Apex, but might consider someone local. Ms. Devers asked about health insurance, but the Board said that they are satisfied with CHP.

Ms. Devers went on to say that Meredith Burcham with CHP contacted her about allowing people to take only one of the supplements offered, since one of the county employees would really like to take only the dental insurance. Since the county is currently set up as a package deal, employees have to take all or nothing. The Board felt they should look into it again at budget time to see what other options are available.

Ms. Devers received a draft budget from the District Attorney’s office and they are willing to set up a staff-only budget meeting, a staff and commissioner meeting, or any other meetings that the Board feels are necessary, but would prefer it be done sometime in August. The Board checked their calendars and Ms. Devers will submit some dates to the DA.

The RSVP car that was given to Ms. Maskus by the Board is sometimes used by the Kit Carson County Coordinator for the Flagler/Seibert RSVP program on project day. Ms. Devers wanted to know how the Board wanted the fuel to be paid for, and Mr. Burgess suggested they simply charge Kit Carson County their mileage rate, rather than worry about fuel.

Ms. Devers said she had discovered that July 25 was the last day to submit a letter to the County Clerk if an entity wished to participate in the General Election, so she typed up a letter regarding the lodging tax issue and turned it in to Ms. Lengel last Friday.

Ms. Devers gave an update on the janitorial situation, stating that Mr. and Mrs. Waite were scheduled to meet with the Board the following day. One of Ms. Lengel’s staff is interested in working, and Cynthia Barnes indicated it is possible for her to do the work and not get paid overtime, although the county would be responsible for a worker’s comp claim if she were injured. She added that the department heads have agreed to vacuum and dust their own offices for a short period of time, until other arrangements can be made.

In regard to Tonda Scott’s comp time, Ms. Devers asked the Board what they intended to do. Mr. Burgess felt they should send her a letter and let her know that, according to the personnel policy, she is not allowed to earn comp time.

When Mr. Lyons called for old business, Ms. Devers said she had not called Kochs about the two parcels of property owned by Lincoln County in Sections 8- and 9-9-52, because further research showed that they were located between the railroad and Interstate 70. There are other county-owned parcels in the same situation, so no action was taken on that matter.

Mr. Burgess said that he only had one item of new business, which was that Flying J will let the county borrow some of their old trash containers for the fair. They intend to sell them at a cheap rate, so Mr. Burgess said that when he returns them after the fair, he will find out what they want for them.

Ms. Devers said that since it is getting close to budget time and she needs to send the letters out to department heads, she would like for the Board to consider whether or not they will be able to give cost of living raises to the employees, and if so, what amount they want to have turned in. They decided on $50, $55 and $60, depending on hours worked.

The Board approved payroll and expense vouchers for the month of July, and while they were doing so, Weed Control Coordinator Wayne Shade stopped by the meeting to discuss the problem with the noxious weeds on Linneburs’ place. The Board decided to contact John Stulp with the Colorado Department of Agriculture, but when Mr. Burgess placed the call, he was not available. Eric Lane was available, so they held a conference call with him. He explained that he was no longer the State Weed Coordinator, and gave them the name of the new coordinator, Kelly Uhing. Since she was out of the office, Mr. Lane said he would answer whatever questions he could. Mr. Shade told him that there are fields filled with Canadian thistle and bindweed in northern Lincoln County that he has received numerous complaints on, but that the property owner is an organic farmer and thinks he is exempt from the county’s weed regulations because of that fact.

Mr. Lane said that is not correct and that if the county has a set of weed regulations in place, no one in the county is exempt from them. He explained the process for enforcing the county regulations, which would first require notification to the landowner. If there is no response, then the county would have the right to spray the weeds, or hire someone to do it for them. They could then bill the party. If the party does not pay, the county has the right to place a lien on their taxes. Mr. Lane asked if Canadian thistle and bindweed are on the county weed list, to which Mr. Shade responded that they are, and then he asked if the county has a management plan in place, and Mr. Shade affirmed that, as well. Mr. Lane felt the party would have no recourse against the county in that case, as long as they were given proper notification and time to alleviate the problem. He said action can be triggered by complaints from the neighbors, which appeared had been the case, and if the landowner refused the county the right to enter the property, statute would allow the county to go to the courts where the judge would grant permission to enter. They could then do an assessment and order the landowners to comply with the management act. The county must give them a list of the county’s expectations, although the landowner does have the option to ask for an alternate plan, as long as they follow it and the county approves it.

The Board thanked Mr. Lane for his help and he told them that Ms. Uhing should be in tomorrow if they wanted to speak with her.

The Board discussed sending Linneburs a certified letter, and then finished up the meeting by approving the remaining expense vouchers. With no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned until 9:00 a.m. on July 31, 2008.

__________________________________________ _____________________________

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