Board of County Commissioners of Lincoln County  

Agenda for August 28, 2008

 

 

9:00 Call to order and Pledge of Allegiance

 

9:05 County Sheriff Tom Nestor to update the Commissioners on prisoners being held in other jails

 

9:30 Land Use Administrator Ken Morrison to present the Land Use Board’s decision on development permit applications from Running Foxes Petroleum for a storage yard and Lincoln County for the Brent gravel pit

 

10:00 Kelly Uhing with the Colorado Department of Agriculture to discuss Lincoln County’s Noxious Weed Management Enforcement Plan

 

11:30 RSVP Director Melody Maskus to discuss the lease on the RSVP office in Flagler and to ask several questions concerning the 2008 budget

 

 

 

 

1.      Approve payroll and expense vouchers

2.      Approve the minutes from the August 18th meeting

3.      Review the July reports from the County Treasurer and the Veterans Service Officer, as well as of revenues and expenditures for the County General Fund

4.      Review and act on a bid from Automatic-Access, Inc. for installation of an automatic slide door at the Ellis Allen Building

5.      Review and consider adoption of a resolution to refer a lodging tax issue to the 2008 General Election ballot

6.      County Commissioners’ reports

7.      County Administrator’s report

8.      County Attorney’s report

9.      Old business

10.  New business

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Board of Lincoln County Commissioners met at 9:00 a.m. on August 28, 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.  County Attorney Stan Kimble was present from 10:00 a.m. until noon and Kay Christie with The Limon Leader and Eastern Colorado Plainsman was also present until noon.

 

Chairman Lyons called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance, and then Sheriff Tom Nestor met with the Board to update them on Lincoln County prisoners being held in other jails.  The cheapest he can find outside of Lincoln County is $45 per day, and at this time they are housing four inmates in Elbert County at a cost of approximately $5,000.00 per month.  Sheriff Nestor’s main concern is that the cases are not getting prosecuted in a timely manner, resulting in prisoners being held in the jail for longer periods of time than seems necessary.  The Board felt they may need to meet with Chief Judge Bill Sylvester and District Attorney Carol Chambers in order to expedite the caseload sentencing.  According to the sheriff, Judge Fisher believes the problem will be solved within six-to-eight weeks, as the new, full-time Deputy District Attorney seems to have made a good impression.  Mr. Beedy said he’d spoken with Judge Sylvester at one time, and had been told that the 18th Judicial District may possibly be getting a different judge in the near future.  It didn’t seem to Mr. Beedy that slow prosecution was all the fault of the attorneys, as the judges play a major role in sentencing, as well.

 

The sheriff also informed the Board that he would have Shane Johnson come and do some work on retro-fitting and updating plumbing at the jail, in order to move along with his plan to turn the indoor recreation area into a dorm-like pod for prisoners.  Any shower or plumbing additions will need to be ADA compliant, but the sheriff felt that being able to add more beds will be a greater benefit.  He would also like to install some type of mesh-like material, or create a partition or doorway, in order to utilize both the A-pod and the C-pod for housing female inmates, as he only has room for five female prisoners at this time.   Whatever is used will have to provide for adequate air-flow, as well as meet fire code, so the sheriff will check into it.

 

Sheriff Nestor asked if Mr. Kimble had ever sent a letter to Tom Hagan regarding the computer lease, and Ms. Devers said she would ask Mr. Kimble when he arrived.

 

Brief discussion was held on whether or not the sheriff had obtained any further information regarding patrol cars, but Sheriff Nestor said he honestly hadn’t had time to work on it anymore.  Mr. Burgess suggested purchasing a new vehicle, rather than mess with going out-of-state for a used one, and the sheriff said he would do further research.  He commented that had the county adopted the Model Traffic Code two years ago, they would probably have brought in around $150,000.00 to the county so far, which is the funding that Elbert County uses to purchase their cars.

 

At 9:30 a.m., Land Use Administrator Ken Morrison met with the Board to present the Land Use Board’s decision on development permit applications from Running Foxes Petroleum for a storage yard and Lincoln County for the Brent gravel pit.  Both permits were unanimously approved by the Land Use Board with no additional requirements.  Mr. Morrison also had a letter to Tammy Lang, CDOT Project Manager with the Rail Relocation Implementation Study, stating that the Land Use Board had approved a motion to oppose the study.

Mr. Beedy asked Mr. Morrison if he had been contacted by Patricia Vice with LCED regarding a manufacturing facility or resin plant, but Mr. Morrison had not heard from her about any such project.  Mr. Beedy said the county really needs to be pushing for economic development regarding these types of facilities, or other counties will be reaping all the benefits.

 

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

 

Sheriff Nestor brought Judge Fisher over to meet briefly with the Board regarding the expedition of cases through the courts, and the judge reiterated what the sheriff had mentioned earlier regarding the new deputy district attorney.  He added that the last Deputy D.A. was part-time, and with Mr. Cahill being full time, it shouldn’t take long at all for them to clean up the docket.  Mr. Burgess told Judge Fisher that the Board had considered contacting Carol Chambers and Bill Sylvester to set up a meeting, and asked what his opinion was on that.  Judge Fisher said he felt it would be better to give them a little time, as he believed that they would see a significant change within two months.  Mr. Lyons said they would do nothing else until Judge Fisher requested they do so.

 

At 10:00 a.m., Kelly Uhing with the Colorado Department of Agriculture met with the Board to discuss Lincoln County’s Noxious Weed Management Enforcement Plan.  Fred Raish with Yuma County Weed Enforcement and Lincoln County Weed Coordinator Wayne Shade were also present.  Mr. Shade explained the situation they were having with Linneburs claiming they are organic farmers, adding that there had been several complaints from neighboring landowners about the weeds moving onto their properties.

 

Ms. Uhing wanted to know if the Linneburs are certified organic farmers, as it makes a difference if they are, but Mr. Shade told her that they have been unable to determine that factor.  Ms. Uhing informed the Board that she had spoken with Mitch Urghert, the Director of Division of Plant Industry with the Department of Agriculture, who told her that Linneburs can be enforced on regardless of whether or not they are organic farmers.  She read Lincoln County’s enforcement policy and asked Mr. Kimble if he understood the enforcement procedures.  Mr. Kimble did have a few questions, but for the most part said he understood the process.  Ms. Uhing cautioned that they be extremely detailed in any steps they took to get to that process, advising that letters be sent via certified mail, although the initial letter of good will need not be certified.  She added that once the landowner submits their management plan, the county can definitely state that the methods outlined in that plan are not acceptable solutions to the problem, if they feel that they aren’t.

 

Mr. Lyons wanted to know if they would have to obtain bids to determine which applicator would do the enforcing, which they do.  Mr. Shade said he wasn’t sure if any of the applicators in the county would be willing to take on the project, as it is roughly fifty-thousand acres—although not all of them are in Lincoln County.  Ms. Uhing suggested Mark Wright, a commercial applicator out of Bennett, explaining that they had always used commercial applicators for enforcements.  She went on to say that Linneburs could not be forced to spray if they are truly certified organic farmers, but that they could be given alternative ways to control the weeds, such as mowing every ten-to-twenty-one days.

Fred Raish put in that federal organic law states that it is the organic farmer’s responsibility to put up a buffer strip to separate their ground from neighboring landowners, and there are provisions for non-compliance with that law, as well. 

 

Ms. Uhing explained that it is not a requirement that the county send the initial “soft” letter, but that it often helped to maintain good relationships.  She advised enforcement now, as it will soon be fall, which is a great time to spray Canadian thistle and bindweed.  Enforcement will most likely need to continue in the spring, however.

 

Mr. Burgess asked if the neighboring landowners who had complained would have to lodge formal, written complaints, but Ms. Uhing said as long as the commissioners had received complaints that would be enough.  She did suggest documenting each complaint, in the event that anything should ever go to court.

 

Mr. Lyons wanted to know if Ms. Uhing had anything to do with prairie dog control, and when she said that she did not, Mr. Raish said that it is actually covered in Article VII of the Rodent section of the Colorado Pest Act.  He sited C.R.S. 35-7-101 through 110, adding that he had contacted Representative Cory Gardner to ask if he may be interested in helping with legislation to clean up the Pest Act.

 

Ms. Uhing asked Mr. Kimble several questions about the Request for Inspection document he had presented to the Board at the previous meeting, and then Mr. Burgess brought up the fact that all of the Linneburs’ property is not located in Lincoln County.  Ms. Uhing felt that the counties should work together to get rid of the problem for everyone, and Mr. Shade said they intended to take a tour of the area and would report back.

  

The Board reviewed the July reports from the County Treasurer and the Veteran’s Service Officer, as well as the revenue and expenditures report from the County General fund, the Assessor’s report and corrected Road & Bridge fund reports

 

At 11:30 a.m., RSVP Director Melody Maskus met with the Board to discuss the lease on the RSVP office in Flagler and to ask several questions concerning the 2008 budget.  First, Ms. Maskus asked if it would be acceptable to overspend her Office Supplies line item by $1,600.00 since she has extra in her Travel and Transportation line item that could cover it.  She was over-budget in the former line item due to an error at the beginning of the year with bills being paid out of the current year budget that she thought would be paid out of the 2007 budget.  She said that her federal budget allows for up to ten percent discretionary movement of funds between line items, but at least her overall budget would not be overspent if she handled it in this manner.  The Board did not see a problem with her request.

 

After discussing the e-mail that Ms. Maskus received from George Garner, owner of the building in Flagler that RSVP leases, Mr. Burgess made a motion to accept the lease, which increases the amount of electricity that Lincoln County pays to three-fourths of the total bill.  Mr. Beedy seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

 

Mr. Lyons said he would like to ask Mr. Garner if he would be willing to accept an option for lease of the building for 2009-2010 with the same conditions, so a call was placed to Mr. Garner to present that option.  Mr. Garner found the agreement to be suitable, so Ms. Devers will contact Kit Carson County to see if they are also in agreement.

 

Ms. Maskus said she had gotten pricing for vinyl lettering for the front window of the office and it would cost approximately $120.00 to have their name printed there.

 

Mr. Beedy made a motion to approve the expenditure for vinyl lettering on the RSVP office window.  Mr. Burgess seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

 

Mr. Lyons called for Mr. Kimble’s report so that he did not need to return after lunch, and Mr. Kimble said that he thought that Ms. Devers had done an excellent job on the wording of the resolution to refer a lodging tax issue to the 2008 General Election ballot.   The Board reviewed the resolution and discussion ensued regarding the issue and how much the county would pay for their portion of the election, and Mr. Lyons said he wasn’t sure he could justify the cost for something that may not actually pass.  Only if the issue passes would the county recoup its costs.  Mr. Lyons added that he wasn’t sure that Mr. Anderson’s group had even been promoting the issue, and since the Board felt they would like more clarification before adopting the resolution, Ms. Devers said she would see if she could contact Mr. Anderson to either call or meet with them during tomorrow’s meeting.

 

Ms. Devers asked Mr. Kimble if he had ever sent a letter to Tom Hagan regarding the sheriff’s computer lease, and Mr. Kimble responded that he had, but that it had been returned to him with the wrong address, so he would send it again.

 

The Board reviewed a $1,750.00 bid from Automatic-Access, Inc. for installation of an automatic slide door at the Ellis Allen building.  Ms. Devers said they had also included heavy-duty rubber bumpers for each of the doors at $200.00 each, but the Board wasn’t sure they were necessary and would like to see what they are talking about before approving the additional amount.

 

Mr. Lyons called for commissioner reports, and Mr. Beedy reported that he attended the CCI Eastern District meeting in Fort Morgan on August 22.  On the Twenty-fifth, he attended the Economic Development board meeting, commenting that the Travel Region that does a tour will not stay or stop in Lincoln County since the $500.00 in dues was not paid this year.  He also toured roads in his district and discussed truck options with David Seymour.  He attended the Early Childhood Council meeting that evening.  Mr. Beedy also gave information regarding a meeting hosted by PB, Inc. regarding draft results for the Rail Transportation Facility Feasibility Study at the town hall in Limon on September 4.  He added that there will be another open house rail meeting in Limon again on the Nineteenth.

 

Mr. Burgess reported that he attended the Child Welfare Action Committee meeting on August 20 and 21, and the Eastern District meeting on the Twenty-second.  On the Twenty-fifth he took a contract to Flagler, and the evening of the Twenty-sixth, he attended the PMC board meeting.  He provided some economic development information from Jo Downey, and reported that he helped Roger Noakes on August 27.  He also spoke with Ken Morrison regarding the same resident loading up more of the pallets from the off-load project. 

 

Mr. Lyons reported that he attended the Southeast Colorado Recycling meeting on August 19, and it is doing very well.  He also checked on County Road 25 and they finished out the additional portion of it with rotomill.  On the Twenty-second, he attended the Eastern District meeting, and he and Wayne Shade attended a prairie dog seminar in Kansas on August 25 and 26.

 

Ms. Devers gave an update on the roundhouse, stating that she had spoken with Rhonda Maas with Building Restoration Specialties to get the work on the roundhouse wall put on her schedule.  She commented that it would take forever to get the bricks picked up and cleaned, and Mr. Burgess suggested seeing if a local organization would consider doing the project, such as one of the FFA chapters.  Ms. Devers said she had contacted Will Mallory to see if the Boy Scouts would be interested, but it didn’t appear that they would be.  The dumpster in the quote that was discussed in the last meeting is the roll-off kind, so the county dumpsters will not work for the project.  Also, Ms. Maas did not know which hotel the crew would be staying in when they came to do the work.  CAPP has agreed to pay the engineering fees, but not those for the historical architect, which are $995.00.  Ms. Devers e-mailed her to see if the work can be done without her assistance, but she has not responded yet.

 

Ms. Devers shared an e-mail from Extension Director Linda Yoder regarding number of customers they see on Fridays, and the Board decided to wait to make a decision until the meeting on September 9.  She also had a letter from County Attorney Stan Kimble regarding unclaimed human bodies, since there was a recent case where the county thought they would have to take possession and pay related disposition costs.  Ms. Devers said Ms. Nestor had contacted her and told her that they may have found some family to take possession, but the Board decided they may need to consider it in the future.

 

The Board reviewed an e-mail that Ms. Devers received from Pat Vice concerning the Northeast Colorado Travel Region, and then she reported that the jury assembly room carpet needs to be cleaned, so as soon as she receives a list of possible dates from Court Clerk Kim Graham, she will contact someone to clean it.

 

Ms. Devers’ last item to report was in regard to the undesignated fund balance on the County General reports, and she said she would speak with the Clerk’s office accounting department and possibly Gary Woodward to see what the issue was.

 

In regard to old business, Mr. Burgess said that he had volunteered to be on the Child Welfare Board, but that he felt he should pay his own mileage, since they have frequent meetings, as long as the county would agree to pay for his meals.  Mr. Lyons felt that the board was important enough that he should continue to be on it, and Ms. Devers suggested they ask Ms. Barksdale if the Department of Social Services could pick up some of the costs when she meets with them tomorrow.

 

Mr. Burgess had some information that he had pulled from the internet regarding mobile restroom and shower trailers, and then Mr. Beedy made a motion to approve the bond for Deputy County Coroner Chiara Jameson.  Mr. Burgess seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

 

The Board approved the payroll and expense vouchers for the month of August and then, with no further business to come before them, the meeting was adjourned until 9:00 a.m. on August 29, 2008.

 

 

 

 

 

 

________________________________________        __________________________________

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