Board of County Commissioners of Lincoln County  

Agenda for November 26, 2008

 

 

9:00 Call to order and Pledge of Allegiance

 

9:00 Dean and Nova Waite to discuss the janitorial position at the courthouse

 

9:30 Conduct a conference call with Brent Osterman with Flagler Co-op concerning purchasing fuel

 

 

1.      Approve additional expense vouchers if necessary

2.      Approve the minutes from the November 25th meeting

3.      Cancel County General check #9745 written on October 8, 2008 to the Colorado Division of Housing for $100 since the county is an affiliated organization and doesn’t need to pay dues

4.      Review a letter notifying the county of an additional Payment in Lieu of Taxes for $1,787

5.      Review a letter of resignation, effective December 5, 2008, from Teena Ludwig as bus driver

6.      Review the Department of Local Affairs Energy and Mineral Impact grant application to purchase a new loader for Road District #1  

7.      Review information from Toni Crismon concerning the Pet Overpopulation program

8.      Review information from Blue Valley Energy, LLC concerning a geothermal heating and cooling system for the courthouse

9.      County Commissioners’ reports

10.  County Administrator’s report

11.  Old business

12.  New business

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Board of Lincoln County Commissioners met at 9:00 a.m. on November 26, 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 Dean and Nova Waite met with the Board to discuss the janitorial position at the courthouse.  After Mrs. Waite updated them on her medical condition and said she had an appointment with her doctor on December 23, Mr. Lyons explained that if she could not return to work in her full capacity on January 2, 2009, the commissioners felt they would be forced to advertise for the position and hire someone else.  He told Mrs. Waite to be sure her physician understands that he needs to clear her so that she can be back to work at that time.

 

Mrs. Waite said she would probably never be back fully without some restrictions, and Mr. Lyons said he understood that, but they wanted her to really converse with her doctor.  He added that the county has done everything they can at this point, and a decision has to be made.  Mr. Lyons went on to say that the worst case scenario would be that she couldn’t come back to work at all.  In that case, one option is for the county to change the janitorial position to a contract position.

 

Mrs. Waite asked if that meant that Mr. Waite would lose his job as well, and Mr. Lyons said that yes, that would be the case.  He added that she would need to let the Board know immediately after her appointment what she intended to do.

 

Mr. Lyons also asked Dean to make sure the office doors inside the building are locked after hours, as the Assessor’s office was left unlocked last Saturday, and the sheriff reported that several of the doors on the court side of the building were propped open recently. 

 

Dean said that he never props doors open, but that there are times when there are still people working over on that side of the building when he leaves.  Mr. Burgess asked him to please make sure he checks doors and Mr. Lyons added that he also needs to be sure all lights are turned off.  Mrs. Waite said it might help if they came back later in the evening and checked to be sure everything is locked up.

 

At 9:30 a.m., the Board conducted a conference call with Brent Osterman with Flagler Co-op concerning purchasing fuel for the road districts.  Chris Monks was also present and before the call was placed, he asked Mr. Burgess if he was only considering purchasing a contract for the summer months, as he was concerned with how much it would cost in the wintertime when they begin blending the fuels for the cold weather.  Mr. Burgess said they would just need to ask Mr. Osterman and talk about it.

 

Mr. Beedy said he’d spoken with Don Morrison at DJ Petroleum about it, and Mr. Lyons said he spoke with Jim Capraro also.  Chris asked if they were talking about contracting for the full one hundred thousand gallons of diesel that the county uses on average each year, and Mr. Burgess said he would never do that to begin with, but would consider possibly half of that, or maybe forty-two thousand gallons.

 

Mr. Lyons voiced a concern with who would deliver the fuel, or what it would cost, if those businesses in the county refused to deliver the fuel if it wasn’t being purchased in the county.  Mr. Beedy added that he would prefer to keep the business in the county, and Mr. Burgess agreed, but stated that they also have an obligation to be good stewards of the county funds, and if the businesses in the county won’t sell the fuel through a contract price, then they would have no choice but to get it elsewhere to save money.

 

Mr. Beedy said that Don Morrison had told him that because the county is one of their big customers, it helps to keep the costs down, and added that he would like to know if there are hidden costs in purchasing through a contract.

 

The call was placed to Brent Osterman, who explained when prices were the best, which is in the winter months, and what the current price is.  Dyed diesel would be approximately $1.91 per gallon if they were to get a transport load today.  However, with a contract, the average price for diesel would be about $2.28 per gallon right now, as he assumed it would be around $2.60 a gallon, or higher, in July.  When asked about delivery to Genoa and Karval, Mr. Osterman said they may have to add a twelve cent per gallon charge to deliver a tank wagon load to Karval, although he wasn’t too worried about Genoa. 

 

Mr. Lyons wanted to know how the contract process works, so Mr. Osterman explained that the county would be required to put four cents per gallon down, and then that amount would be deducted from their total bill.  He buys the number of gallons in the contract and the county would get a set price, even though that price fluctuates throughout the year.  According to Mr. Osterman, it generally averages itself out.

 

Mr. Burgess asked if the county would be responsible to take all of the fuel that they contracted for and was told that was correct.  Payment would be required ten days after delivery.  Mr. Osterman said that they would probably add fifteen cents per gallon to deliver to Karval, although he felt he might be able to work something out with local deliverymen and still be able to lock in a price. 

 

Mr. Lyons asked if the contract price would be locked in from now until next October or November at the $2.28 per gallon, but Mr. Osterman said that was the price at close of business yesterday, as well as for straight number two fuel; not the winter blend.  He said it would cost about nine cents per gallon more to add the number one diesel.  He also suggested making sure the tanks were full now, buy the December and January fuel “off the rack,” and then work up the contract later in February or March when prices were lower.

 

Mr. Beedy wanted to know if the districts would be able to request when the deliveries would be made, and Mr. Osterman said they’d like to have a one-or-two day notice, and Mr. Beedy asked if there were any hidden fees within the contract, but was told that all fees are included in the price per gallon.

 

Mr. Burgess asked if the county would get dividends if they joined the Flagler Co-op, and was told that they would.  Membership is $25 per year.  The Board thanked Mr. Osterman for his time and explanation, and he said he would be happy to answer any other questions if they think of any.

 

Mr. Burgess asked Mr. Beedy if Don Morrison would forward contract, and Mr. Beedy responded that Mr. Morrison said he would work with the county, although Mr. Beedy felt that he deals more directly with the fuel suppliers.  Mr. Burgess said he would speak with Mr. Morrison again, and Chris Monks put in that he agreed with doing what they could to keep the costs down, but first, he would prefer to see the county make some improvements to storage capacity at Genoa and Karval so that transport loads could be used.

 

Mr. Burgess said he’d checked into buying a twelve thousand gallon tank for approximately $9,000, and Chris said he thought they could move the tank at Genoa to Karval so that they had another four thousand gallon capacity there, as there is only a two thousand gallon tank there at this time.  He suggested sharing a tanker load rather than each district getting their own transport load, because they can’t always hold a full transport load.  He felt keeping every district’s tank full by splitting the load would be the most economical.

 

Mr. Burgess said he wanted to pursue the contract option and Mr. Beedy said he felt they should do it as the Road and Bridge department if they were going to do it.  He also agreed with Chris that the first thing to do is increase the storage capacity and then split the tanker loads between the districts.

 

Mr. Lyons said that if they started with a forty-two thousand gallon contract, they would know they were under-budget with the price, plus they shouldn’t be stuck with any leftover fuel.

 

Mr. Burgess said they make self-contained tanks that do not require that a berm be built around them, although it might be cheaper to build the concrete berm.  He figured that a six thousand gallon containment area would be required for the twelve thousand gallon tank he wants to purchase.  Mr. Beedy said that he didn’t see a need for a twelve thousand gallon tank, especially if they were to split loads and always keep the tanks full, but Mr. Burgess disagreed and said he wanted a larger tank.

 

Weed Coordinator Wayne Shade stopped by the meeting to inform the Board that he had told Stan Martin that he would need to get his bindweed and Canadian thistle under control before it goes to seed and starts blooming, or the county will give him ten days and then they will take care of it.  Mr. Martin is an organic farmer and intends to meet with the Board on December 8, but Wayne said he just wanted them to know what he had told him.

 

Mr. Burgess made a motion to approve the minutes from the meeting held on November 25, 2008, as submitted.  Mr. Beedy seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

 

Mr. Beedy then made a motion to cancel County General fund check #9745 in the amount of $100, written on October 8, 2008, to the Colorado Division of Housing, since the county is an affiliated organization and does not need to pay dues.  Mr. Burgess seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

 

The Board reviewed a letter notifying the county of an additional Payment in Lieu of Taxes for $1,787, as well as a letter of resignation from part-time COG bus driver Teena Ludwig, effective December 5, 2008.  Ms. Devers said that Keith Caulkins has also turned in his resignation, effective January 1, 2009, but that he has agreed to be a substitute driver, if needed.  She will put an ad in the newspapers, as well as contact the work force center in Limon.

 

The Board also reviewed the Department of Local Affairs Energy and Mineral Impact grant application to purchase a new loader for Road District One, information from Toni Crismon regarding the Pet Overpopulation Program, and information from Blue Valley Energy, LLC concerning a geothermal heating and cooling system for the courthouse.  Any decision regarding the geothermal system was tabled indefinitely.

 

The Board signed a letter to County Coroner Jennifer Nestor in regard to autopsies and one to Senator Ken Salazar, with copies to numerous others, concerning the Livestock Feed Program and drought in Lincoln County.

 

Mr. Burgess reported that he attended the security team meeting earlier this morning where the sheriff announced that the grant funding for the part-time help at the metal detector was approved.  Mr. Beedy had nothing to report, and Mr. Lyons said he’d contacted Scott Ravenkamp about appointing someone from the CARR committee to serve on the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority.  Scott said he would bring it up at the next meeting and see if anyone was interested.

 

Ms. Devers had nothing to report, and the only item of old business was an employment agreement with Stan Kimble for county attorney services for 2009.  Mr. Burgess made a motion to sign the agreement, Mr. Beedy seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously.

 

With no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned until 9:00 a.m. on December 8, 2008.

 

 

 

 

 

_________________________________________             ______________________________

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