Board of County Commissioners of Lincoln County

Agenda for October 30, 2008

9:00 Call to order and Pledge of Allegiance

9:30 Sheriff Tom Nestor and representatives from CBM Americas Food Service Partner to discuss the company providing the meals for the inmates. The Sheriff will also discuss salaries for the 2009 budgets for the Sheriff’s Office and the Jail.

10:30 Paul Huber with EcoStruct-EcoSol to present plans for solar power for the courthouse

1. Approve payroll and expense vouchers

2. Approve the minutes from the October 16^th meeting

3. Review and approve the Court Security Grant Award Agreement in the amount of $40,072

4. County Commissioners’ reports

5. County Administrator’s report

6. Old business

7. New business

The Board of Lincoln County Commissioners met at 9:00 a.m. on October 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. Kay Christie with The Limon Leader and Eastern Colorado Plainsman arrived at 9:30 a.m. and left at noon.

Chairman Lyons called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance, and then Mr. Burgess made a motion to approve the minutes from the meeting held on October 16, 2008, as submitted. Mr. Beedy seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

After reviewing the Court Security Grant Award Agreement in the amount of $40,072, Mr. Burgess made a motion to sign the grant paperwork. Mr. Beedy seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

At 9:30 a.m., Sheriff Tom Nestor met with the Board to discuss CMB America’s Food Service Partner providing meals for Lincoln County inmates. The company’s representative, Steve Lignon, was running late, so the sheriff said he had some other things to discuss until he arrived, although the sheriff did say that he had misinformed the Board about the cost per meal. They are actually $2.20 per meal and $2.00 for staff, which would run about $75,000 for the year.

Mr. Burgess asked if the sheriff felt there would be a problem with continuing to apply for the part-time security officers through the Court Security grant each year, as they had reviewed the grant and realized that was something that would need to be done for the funding to continue. Sheriff Nestor said he was told that once part-time security funding is approved, it usually is not an issue to keep it up.

Sheriff Nestor explained that he would like to begin the process to move one of his current jail deputies to the road, as he has three who are certified at this time, as long as it meets with the board’s approval. He reiterated that he is not adding a position when asked; simply moving positions within the departments, since the court security grant was approved and he will have two part-time people for that. Mr. Burgess told him he could probably try it for six months to see if it worked out, and the sheriff said he himself would not be conducting the interviews, but they would be done by three impartial law enforcement officers from other departments. He added that if there comes a time when that person is needed for court, they will have to be re-assigned from the road, but he felt that it is critical that another road deputy be on patrol.

Mr. Beedy made a motion to allow Sheriff Nestor to begin the oral board process that will move a current jail deputy to the position of road deputy. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

Sheriff Nestor also explained that he had met with Ms. Devers regarding adding a level to the current employee pay scale for a corporal position. He has no idea yet which two employees he will move into the positions, but he would like one to oversee the jail and one to oversee dispatch. The first line supervisors will begin January 1, 2009, after completing a testing process.

Mr. Burgess made a motion to allow the sheriff to add the position of corporal to the county employee pay scale and to move two of his jail deputies into those positions, effective January 1, 2009, upon completion of proper testing. Mr. Beedy seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

The sheriff also informed the Board that he had received information regarding state bid on patrol cars, and he can get one for about $21,000, whereas locally they are about $25,000. When fully equipped, a state car would cost approximately $24,000.

Discussion was held regarding purchasing a new van for the county and giving the old one to the sheriff’s department as a transport vehicle, and the sheriff said his oldest car has over ninety thousand miles on it. If they pull the old car that they are now using for transport back into line for the newest road deputy to drive, then they will no longer have a transport car. With over one hundred seventy thousand miles on it, the sheriff felt it would probably last another year.

Mr. Burgess felt they could buy a new van out of the current year’s Capital Projects budget, and Ms. Devers said there is around $38,000 in the “not specifically identified” line item that could be used. Mr. Lyons said he thought the economy may get even worse, and wasn’t sure spending the money now would be wise. Mr. Beedy said that, on the other hand, the vehicle would last four or five years and since prices are lower now, it may be a good idea to go ahead and get it since they know they will need one soon. The Board decided to obtain price quotes and discuss it again after that.

Sheriff Nestor put in that the undersheriff seems to be making good progress with the Model Traffic Code enforcement process and that it should be in place before the first of the year. He felt that it would not make the county a lot of money, but that his department may be able to purchase one car per year with money collected from enforcement of the Code.

Steve Lignon with CBM arrived, so discussion was held regarding meals for the inmates. Mr. Lignon explained that they would keep the current employee if that was the sheriff’s wish, that they would pay that employee’s wages, as well as other benefits, and that the employee would then be under the policies and working rules of CBM. He added that they would also like to hire a part-time person for when the current employee is off-duty, and agreed that they would try to find someone local, or even use other county officers who may want to work additional hours to fill in during those times, which would be about thirty hours a week.

Ms. Devers asked about the benefit package that CBM has, and after learning that they have a $1,500 deductible and that it costs the employee $160.00 per month for coverage, she asked if the county could retain the employee as a county employee and just have the company reduce the cost of the meals, since the county’s benefit package does not cost the employee anything. Mr. Lignon agreed that they could set up the contract any way the county chose.

Security in the kitchen was also discussed, as well as maintenance of equipment, and Mr. Lignon said again that it would depend on whatever was built into the contract and Mr. Lyons asked what the term of the contract was. Typically, Mr. Lignon said it would run three-to-five years, with a yearly review. They do build in a yearly CPI for inflation, which averages about three percent.

Ms. Devers asked about meals for staff and Mr. Lignon said that if the county is paying for staff meals, they usually have those employees sign a log sheet and then the county gets charged per signature. Portions are the same size for employees as they are for inmates.

Sheriff Nestor said it takes about four weeks to get set up, so if they agree to use the company they would like to get started by the first of December so that they can implement the new system at the first of the year.

Mr. Lignon said it takes anywhere from a week to three weeks to train the cook, depending on the person, and when the sheriff asked about training for the inmate workers and if they could leave with any type of certification, Mr. Lignon said he would check into it. Mr. Lignon also added that they have corporate dieticians on their staff, as well as separate menus for medical and religious requirements, although the inmate must provide proof of those special requirements.

The Board asked Mr. Lignon to put together new figures regarding the cost to the county without including the employee’s salary and benefit package, and he and the sheriff will get together and discuss other details.

Jim Hubbard stopped by the meeting with some information from Fred Raish regarding letters that Yuma County sent out, but the Board informed him that they had already sent the same types of letters and that was how the northern half of the county was cleared for black-footed ferrets.

Mr. Lyons said he’d spoken with Mac McGraw and told him that he felt the best course of action is to file the class action law suit. He added that there is support from numerous counties to the east and south of Lincoln County, and Jim put in that he was told they are gaining ground and they just need to keep pushing the issue.

Mr. Lyons felt that the first step is to get cleared of black-footed ferrets, and then they would need to pass an ordinance requiring that landowners be required to control the prairie dogs on their own property to within a mile of other landowners. That way, those landowners who do not have a problem with keeping prairie dogs on their property, or those with the Nature Conservancy, would still be able to do so, as well.

Ms. Devers said that representatives from Fish and Wildlife are scheduled to meet with the Board on December 8.

At 11:00 a.m., Paul Huber with EcoStruct-EcoSol met with the Board to present plans for solar power for the courthouse, but he did not have good news regarding a system. Since K.C. Electric does not offer a rebate program, and Lincoln County is not one of the counties included in the Governor’s Energy Office rebate program at this time, the cost of the system would not really be cost effective. A 100kW system would cost approximately $675,000, but would only offset about seventeen percent of the current usage. However, a 570,000kW system would offset one hundred percent of the usage, but would cost close to two million dollars. Mr. Huber suggested applying for grant funding, but again, without a rebate program, it really is not cost effective at this time. He suggested that the county start putting money aside and working on the grant applications, as well as begin working with the Governor’s Energy Office and attempting to get a rebate program established with them and the REA, and added that it is best if the county have complete ownership of the system. Mr. Huber predicted that the price of equipment will see a huge decline over the next three-to-five years due to incentive tax credits.

Once Mr. Huber was gone, Mr. Lyons called for commissioner reports. Mr. Burgess attended the candidate night in Blue Cliff on October 16, as did Mr. Beedy. They also both attended the Farm Bureau meeting on October 18; Mr. Burgess spoke with Cory Gardner about the prairie dog issue while he was there. On the Twenty-first, he went to a meeting with Morgan Community College, and on the Twenty-second and Twenty-third he attended the Child Welfare meetings in Denver. He also called Gary with Asphalt Specialties about the trash blowing from the off-load project in Genoa and was told they are going to try and put up a chain link fence on the south side. He attended the hospital board meeting that night. On October 28, he called Roxy Huber with the Department of Revenue, as she had called and talked to Ms. Devers about the county’s twenty-dollar out-of-county surcharge on driver’s licenses. She apologized to Mr. Burgess that neither she, nor anyone from the AG’s office, had ever answered any of the Board’s letters or questions regarding the surcharge, but did state that as long as the county attorney is comfortable with the decision, there is not a problem with charging the twenty dollars. Although the state cannot raise the fees without legislation, counties can implement a fee if they are so inclined. Mr. Burgess said he also took a truck to Denver to get a load of rock, talked to the loader operator about blowing trash, and participated in a video conference with Centennial Mental Health regarding the budget, which was on October 29.

Mr. Beedy attended the Economic Development board meeting on October 20, the Plains to Peaks Retac meeting in Kit Carson on the Twenty-first, the Colorado East Community Action board meeting on the Twenty-third, and the Colorado Works Strategic Allocation Committee meeting on the Twenty-ninth. Earlier this morning he attended another Economic Development meeting. He commented that the new website is up and running and Eric Hilton did a fantastic job. He is also very pleased with the new director at CECA.

Mr. Lyons said he attended the hospital board meeting on October 23 and the hospital is doing very well. He spoke with Deborah Young with CSU Extension, and she will be calling the commissioners at 1:30 to discuss the letter that was sent regarding El Paso County 4-Hers being allowed to participate in the Lincoln County 4-H program. He also checked on the trash blowing from the off-load project and attended the presentation of the funds to the hospital on the Twenty-ninth for their electrical work. He also spoke with Christie Gay, who took Jeff Koster’s place at RC&D.

Ms. Devers said that she had a bit of new business before she gave her report, which was that Social Services had received the MOU for the Colorado Works Program and the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program covering the period of July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009, which needed to be signed and returned immediately. The Board reviewed the MOU and then Mr. Beedy made a motion to sign it. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

Mr. Lyons said he’d been contacted by John Wilkins who informed him that the American flag at the courthouse is not the proper size for the height of the pole. If the commissioners will allow it, Mr. Wilkins will purchase the correct size flag. The Board had no problem with allowing Mr. Wilkins to purchase the flag.

Ms. Devers reported that the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority has apparently drastically reduced the fee to join their organization and asked if the Board would be interested in joining. The price has gone from $5,000 to about $300, as they were originally trying to get enough to make the match for their grant funding. The Board chose to table further discussion until the following day.

Mr. Burgess made a motion to approve a county credit card with a $500 limit for County Clerk’s office employee Lisa Crawford. Mr. Beedy seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

Deborah Young with CSU Extension called at that time and asked if the Board had spoken with Linda Yoder recently. After being told that Ms. Yoder is scheduled to meet with them tomorrow, Ms. Young stated that state 4-H policy dictates that members can cross county lines as long as both counties know about it and agree to it. She added that they prefer that the counties work it out amongst themselves, but she believes that El Paso County will be able to provide more funding. They do have a ballot initiative on Tuesday’s ballot, and if it passes, they will be able to give more money than originally planned. She does believe that the El Paso County Extension office will stay open.

Mr. Lyons asked what would happen if the members wanted to come to Lincoln County regardless of whether or not the El Paso County office stayed open, and Ms. Young said that Ms. Yoder and the El Paso County director would have to agree to change the enrollment. Ms. Young will try to contact the Board again during the meeting on November 7.

Ms. Devers went on with her report, stating that she had received two applications for the position of RSVP Director, and that she and Carol Fritz have been trying to work something out to get the new person hired as soon as possible. Kit Carson County commissioners would like to do the interviews the afternoon of November 7 at the Flagler RSVP office starting at 2:30 p.m. Mr. Burgess will contact the Kit Carson County commissioners during their meeting on November 5 to discuss who they would like to interview.

Melody Maskus has offered to continue working on an hourly basis in case someone isn’t hired in a timely manner, or if the new director needs additional training, although Ms. Devers stated that she would assume Ms. Maskus would require compensation.

The copier at the county landfill is no longer working, and Ms. Devers asked if it would be acceptable to purchase one. She found one for around $200 in the Quill catalogue, and the Board agreed to the purchase.

Ms. Devers reported that Dave Divis and Joel Sydlow with Spectrum are working closely together to reduce the costs of the roundhouse roof as much as possible. They would like to meet with Ms. Devers, but she asked Ken Morrison to sit in on the meeting since she feels that she does not have adequate construction knowledge. Mr. Burgess said if she would call him when the meeting is arranged he would come down as well.

Mr. Burgess had one other item to discuss and that was that he felt there should be better lighting at the fairgrounds. Mr. Beedy said his goal is to get the entire facility in better shape and felt they should have a study done to see what it would take to improve the parking, the lighting and numerous other things. Mr. Burgess was not in favor of spending money on a study that may only require improvements that could not be afforded. Mr. Beedy reminded him that Conservation Trust funds would be spent, not county dollars.

Mr. Beedy said he’d forgotten to mention that he found out at the Economic Development meeting that Lincoln County and Morgan Community College were not included when twenty-six other counties were considered for grant funding regarding workforce development for renewable energy. Patricia Vice will work with them to get Lincoln County included. He also told her that if they need the Board to sign a letter to let them know.

The Board approved the October payroll and several expense vouchers for the month, and then looked over the DOLA grant application for the loader and held a brief work session on the 2009 budget.

With no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned until 9:00 a.m. on October 31, 2008.

_______________________________________ _______________________________

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