Board of County Commissioners of Lincoln County

Agenda for February 5, 2009

9:00 Call to order and Pledge of Allegiance

9:05 Sheriff Tom Nestor to discuss staffing and salaries in the Sheriff’s Office and Jail

9:30 The Commissioners will leave to attend a Regional Renewable Energy Strategy Session in Flagler at the I-70 Diner

2:00 Reconvene the meeting

2:05 Shop Foreman Chris Monks to discuss sealing the courthouse parking lot and to provide information on county vehicles that may be offered for sale by sealed bid

1. Approve expense vouchers

2. Approve the minutes from the January 30^th meeting

3. Review the January 2009 report from the Sheriff’s Office

4. Discuss applying for membership to the Flagler Cooperative Association

5. Review and sign the agreements for Lincoln Community Hospital and the Bee Hive to use the handicap accessible bus

6. County Commissioners’ reports

7. County Administrator’s report

8. County Attorney’s report

9. Old business

a. Appoint members to the Lincoln County Tourism Board

10. New business

The Board of Lincoln County Commissioners met at 9:00 a.m. on February 5, 2009. 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 for a short time in the afternoon.

Chairman Lyons called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance, and then Sheriff Tom Nestor met with the Board to discuss staffing and salaries in the sheriff’s office and jail. Due to an oversight regarding two employees becoming certified this year, the sheriff requested that he be allowed to move the two from Correctional Officer I on Level I of the pay scale to Correctional Officer III on Level III, beginning June 1, 2009. The sheriff wants to give each deputy more duties to justify the increase in pay, so he hopes to assign the Useful Public Service to one and the collection of bad checks to the other. The increase would come to about $2,400 that was not added into the original budget, but Sheriff Nestor felt that since the two employees become certified, he needed to increase their wages, as well as give them more responsibilities.

Mr. Burgess made a motion to allow Sheriff Nestor to promote two jail deputies to Level III Correctional Officers, beginning June 1, 2009. Mr. Beedy seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

Another item that the sheriff asked the Board to consider concerned the fact that he will need to replace the stove in the jail kitchen, as it has all but quit working. He explained that he had budgeted for a washing machine in Capital Projects, but that the stove was far more important at this time. The Board did not have a problem with Sheriff Nestor purchasing a new stove for the jail kitchen.

Also, one of the commercial hot water heaters at the jail went out, so the sheriff informed the Board that they have been running on one. He contacted Tony Bandy to get another one, as it will not be possible to operate on just the one unit. According to the sheriff, the bad hot water heater was last replaced in 1999, and it will cost approximately $4,000 for a new one.

Sheriff Nestor said he spoke with Shawn Smith regarding the problem with the broken snake when they tried to clear the clog in the sewer line, and Shawn told him that the snake had gotten caught on something when they tried to remove it, which is what broke it. Sheriff Nestor didn’t feel it was the county’s responsibility to have to pay for it, but apparently Shawn didn’t think he should have to, either. Sheriff Nestor agreed to pay half the cost, which will be about $500.

Finally, the sheriff said he’d found a desk at American Furniture Warehouse for the main entrance of the courthouse and wanted permission to purchase it. His intention is to put a computer at the desk and have the security personnel work on forms or other clerical tasks while they are on duty. The desk will run about $900 and the company will deliver the unit and set it up for $200. He will also need to purchase a decent chair.

Mr. Burgess made a motion to allow the sheriff to purchase a desk from American Furniture Warehouse for approximately $900 with a $200 delivery charge, and a new chair. Mr. Beedy seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

Mr. Lyons signed the Sub-Contract form for the CDBG Award #09-085 signed on January 29, 2009.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 a.m. in order for the commissioners to attend a Regional Renewable Energy Strategy Session in Flagler at the I-70 Diner.

At 2:00 p.m., the meeting was reconvened and Shop Foreman Chris Monks met with the Board to discuss sealing the courthouse parking lot and to provide information on county vehicles that may be offered for sale by sealed bid. Chris had checked on the decals for the traffic signs, and a thirty inch decal would be $13.55 and a twenty-four inch decal is $9.35. Apparently, there are 3M grant funds available, and since Chris had received the information, he said he’d check into it.

Chris had also called Vance Brothers regarding a router for use when they crack seal the parking lot, and at this time, they do not have one available. He did learn that it would cost around $100 per day or $450 for a week and told them at Vance Brothers that they would like to start the project in two or three weeks, but they did not know if the router would be available at that time. Mr. Burgess wanted to know if Chris had an idea how much the whole project would cost, and he thought $2,000 would cover it.

The Board discussed which vehicles they might like to put up for sealed bid, but Mr. Burgess said he would rather wait until the end of the month, so further discussion was tabled until that time.

Mr. Beedy commented that it appears Senate Bill 09-108, which is the increased fees on vehicle license plates, is likely to pass legislation. According to a projection from CCI, the bill could increase Lincoln County revenue by approximately $406,000.

Chris asked Ms. Devers if she had heard anything regarding the DOLA grant for the loader, and since she had not, she said she would contact Greg Etl to check on the status.

Mr. Burgess commented that it was brought to his attention that the county van was driven five thousand miles before anyone thought to have the oil changed. He didn’t feel that it was Ms. Devers’ responsibility to keep track of service and maintenance, but wanted to know what could be done to ensure that the county vehicles used by various departments were serviced more regularly. Ms. Devers said she would bring it up at the next department head meeting.

Mr. Kimble reported that he’d been working with the Assessor regarding ownership of a small parcel of property, and that the law firm of Frank and Finger, which is representing a past county employee, had contacted him. Mr. Kimble requested that if anyone received phone calls from any party with that firm, that they be referred to Mr. Kimble and that no questions be answered. He also said that he would contact the county’s insurance company to make them aware of the situation.

Mr. Kimble said that he’d gotten the updates for the Model Traffic Code ordinance and he understood that the notice of hearing would need to be published twice, then the hearing would be held, and then the paperwork would be sent to the state for their approval. Once it was approved there, they would be able to publish the ordinance. Ms. Devers told him that the notice of hearing should appear in the paper both this week and next.

Ms. Devers said that Stacey Phythian told her that they are having problems with the lights in the RSVP office, and that Shideler Electric quoted $300 to fix them. However, Ms. Phythian told her that George Garner, the owner of the building, believes that the lease reads differently than she does. He says the county has to pay the first $100 of any repairs to the building, and he will pay the remainder. However, Ms. Devers believes it to read that the lessor will pay any costs over $100. Mr. Kimble agreed that was the way the lease was written when Ms. Devers provided a copy of it, adding that it would be the lessor who would lose in that case because he was the one that drafted the original agreement.

Ms. Devers wanted to know if she should send Mr. Garner a letter to that effect, and Mr. Kimble agreed that he should be made aware of it. However, Mr. Burgess said he thought the repairs should be made to all of the lights at one time, as he understood there to be more than just a few that weren’t working properly, and that if the county had to pay $100, then that was fine.

Mr. Burgess had asked for a correction to the minutes from the meeting held on January 30, 2009, regarding the fact that Paul Jenkins said the Edison Fire District needed a tandem axle truck, not a tank. The fire department has the tank; they just need a truck to mount it on. Mr. Burgess made a motion to approve the minutes from the meeting held on January 30, 2009, once corrected. Mr. Beedy seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

The January 2009 report from the sheriff’s office was reviewed, as well as the January report from the County Treasurer.

Since the fee for a membership to the Flagler Cooperative Association was only $25, and the Board all felt that it would be worthwhile to join, Mr. Beedy made a motion to join the Flagler Cooperative Association. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

The Board reviewed the agreement for Lincoln Community Hospital to use the handicap accessible bus. Mr. Beedy made a motion to sign the agreement, Mr. Burgess seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously.

Mr. Beedy reported that he attended the Economic Development board meeting on February 2, and that he and the other commissioners toured the roads in District One on the Third. He also caught the tail end of the department head meeting on February 3.

Mr. Burgess reported that he took some maintainer parts to Burlington on February 2 and received a phone call from Mick Jaques on his way back regarding the fact that the gentleman who was buying the steel from the landfill offered them fifty dollars per ton. Mr. Burgess told him to take it. He also stopped by the old feed lot in Limon to check on the concrete crusher. He attended the department head meeting on the Third, and on the Fourth he went to the COG meeting. There may be a potential funding decrease for the nutrition program this year, causing cut-backs of up to forty percent. He also said that CDOT owes $60,000 for the use of the buses, as they have not paid their October, November or December bills.

Mr. Lyons said he got some pictures of the prairie dog towns from Greg King at the ASCS office. They want to get landowners and Wildlife officials together again to see what can be done.

Ms. Devers reported that she’d spoken again with Paul Engle with Ennovate and asked him what his company would do regarding energy savings that hadn’t already been done. He said they would come out and do a utility analysis at no charge, and then they would come out again and suggest alternatives. The Board decided not to have him come out since they felt that it is basically more performance contracting, which is the same thing they have already been through.

Mr. Beedy asked if an on-demand hot water heater would be more efficient for the jail than one of the big commercial hot water heaters, and Mr. Burgess suggested he talk to the sheriff and find out his opinion.

Mr. Burgess made a motion to appoint the following members to the Lincoln County Tourism Board: Jodi Schifferns from Arriba; Steve Beedy from Genoa; Linda Orrell from Hugo; Vernon Stone from Karval and Donna Metcalf from Limon. Mr. Beedy seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. Mr. Burgess asked Ms. Devers to schedule a time that they can meet with the new board.

Discussion was held regarding the new lights for the fairgrounds building; Mike Mosher said he’d found mercury vapor lights for eighty dollars each. Since the Board wasn’t sure if they wanted mercury vapor or halogen lights, Mr. Lyons said he would contact Jim Connolly and see what he would suggest.

Dave Catron with Catron & Company met briefly with the Board to let them know they are still waiting for authorization from the company that wants to lease the minerals from the county, so he hopes to have a document prepared and will meet with the Board again on February 18. He also asked the Board if they would consider top leasing, as a few of the leases they have come across during their researching will expire this year, and Mr. Lyons told him that they certainly would agree to top leasing.

Ms. Devers said that the Tri-County Fire chief, Jeremy Gardner, asked if Lincoln County would write a letter honoring their ambulance license once they obtain it through El Paso County. She said that Lincoln County would request they get a multi-county license once that occurred. Mr. Beedy made a motion to sign a letter supporting Tri-County Fire Department’s efforts to obtain an ambulance license through El Paso County. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

The Board reviewed a letter from the Lincoln County Chiefs Association, updating them on the development of the new organization.

As for new business, Ms. Lengel informed the Board that she would like to purchase a new Dell computer for her office in order to begin an indexing project of plat maps. The project was started several years ago using an Excel program, but since the new recording system was purchased through Saul’s Creek Engineering, it has the capability of producing a separate index specifically designated for plat maps. However, the old Gateway computer that has been used for the Excel program does not have the memory capacity or adequate compatibility with the recording system. All of the old maps have been microfilmed onto aperture cards, but even those are beginning to fade and will eventually be useless. Ms. Lengel said that at some point she will need to consider what to do about digitizing records, bur for now she would simply like to begin getting the maps organized. A new computer will cost approximately $2,500, and since Ms. Lengel did not anticipate the purchase at budget time, she only has $1,000 in her Capital Outlay line item in the Clerk’s budget. However, there is $2,500 in the Capital Outlay line item of the Election budget, and Ms. Lengel said she didn’t really want to take a portion of the cost from there, although she could since there is a chance the computer can also be used for election judge training.

Mr. Burgess felt that overspending the line item already this early in the year was not a good sign, but Ms. Lengel told him that her staff has the time to begin the project this year, where they did not last year. She anticipates no other equipment expenditures at this time.

Ms. Devers said there was money in Capital Projects, but Ms. Lengel said she would prefer to split the cost between her Clerk and Election budgets. Mr. Lyons agreed; saying that if something happened later in the year, they would address it at that time. Ms. Lengel also said that she would be willing to give Sheriff Nestor her old Gateway for the security desk if he needed it, as long as she had Eric Hilton clean off the Clerk’s office data first.

Mr. Burgess made a motion to allow the Clerk’s office to purchase a Dell computer for approximately $2,500, with the old Gateway computer going to the sheriff’s office, if the sheriff is interested. Mr. Beedy seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

The Board approved the remaining expense vouchers for the month of January, 2009.

CLAIMS

With no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned until 9:00 a.m. on February 18, 2009.

___________________________________________ _____________________________

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