Board of County Commissioners of Lincoln County

Agenda for May 29, 2009

9:00 Call to order and Pledge of Allegiance

10:00 Social Services Director Colette Barksdale to give her monthly report

1:00 Surveyor Keith Westfall with High Plains Survey Company to discuss a survey he did for T-Cross Ranch

2:00 Joe Linnebur to discuss a noxious weed management plan for portions of his property in Lincoln County

1. Approve additional expense vouchers if necessary

2. Approve the minutes from the May 28^th meeting

3. Review a proposed amendment to the East Central Council of Governments’ Articles of Association allowing flexibility of the Board to meet less than monthly

4. Review the required notification regarding a Special (111) Permit for the taking of aggregate (sand) from the Vick property for the CDOT Highway 287 project

5. Review the Quarterly Financial Status Report and the Quarterly Employment Report for the quarter ending March 31, 2009 for the Community Development Block Grant

6. Review further information on the ARRA funding from the State Energy Program

7. Review a letter from the Crowley-Kiowa-Lincoln Cattlemen’s Association concerning the proposed sale of State Trust lands in Southern Lincoln and Crowley counties

8. County Commissioners’ reports

9. County Administrator’s report

10. County Attorney’s report

11. Old business

12. New business

The Board of Lincoln County Commissioners met at 9:00 a.m. on May 29, 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 attended in the afternoon, and Kay Christie with The Limon Leader and the Eastern Colorado Plainsman attended from 1:00 p.m. until approximately 3:00 p.m.

Chairman Lyons called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance, and then Mr. Beedy made a motion to approve the minutes from the meeting held on May 28, as submitted. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

The Board reviewed a proposed amendment to the East Central Council of Governments’ Articles of Association allowing flexibility of the Board to meet less than monthly, as well as the required notification regarding a Special (111) Permit for the taking of aggregate (sand) from the Vick property for the CDOT Highway 287 project, the Quarterly Financial Status Report and the Quarterly Employment Report for the quarter ending March 31, 2009 for the Community Development Block Grant, and further information on the ARRA funding from the State Energy Program. Ms. Devers had received an e-mail from Christie Gay informing her that another meeting will be held on June 2 in Flagler.

A letter from the Crowley-Kiowa-Lincoln Cattlemen’s Association concerning the proposed sale of State Trust land in southern Lincoln and Crowley counties was reviewed, and then Mr. Lyons called for commissioner reports.

Mr. Burgess had nothing to report, and Mr. Beedy said he’d made an attempt to call in to the Eastern Colorado Services for the Developmentally Disabled meeting the night before, but apparently there were issues with the conference call line, so he was unable to participate. Mr. Lyons attended the hospital board meeting and said that auditor Gary Woodward had given an extremely favorable report on the hospital’s financial situation.

Ms. Devers had nothing to report, but had drafted the letter to Gene Amann regarding his workmanship in the Clerk’s office and their request that he not complete the job, so the Board signed the letter. The Board also signed the letter authorizing Ms. Devers to sign the extension amendment to the roundhouse contract.

Old business discussed included the job description revisions and pay scale upgrades for the Assessor’s office. Mr. Burgess felt that it appeared they were moving every employee up a level, but Ms. Devers thought it was just basic clean-up and actually seemed to be more logical. She added that they had simply adjusted the job descriptions to reflect the duties that the employees actually perform.

As for new business, Ms. Devers said that the Plains to Peaks Retac had to amend their bylaws to include another facility; a hospital in Teller County, and Mr. Beedy added that any new medical system can now have a member on the board. Ms. Devers also said that they had changed how bills are approved, and that Cheyenne and Kit Carson counties had already signed the new IGA.

Mr. Beedy made a motion to sign the Intergovernmental Agreement establishing the Plains to Peaks Region Emergency Medical and Trauma Advisory Council. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

Mr. Burgess said he thought the county should purchase a leaf blower and a weed sprayer for the maintenance department, as he felt they would both be very useful items.

At 10:00 a.m., Social Services Director Colette Barksdale met with the Board to give her monthly report. Robert Kraxberger attended as well. April Financial reports and May Caseload reports were submitted for the Board’s review, and then Ms. Barksdale updated the commissioners on the CRS Child Welfare Study, the letter regarding the Colorado Works TANF reserve of $120,000, which the Board had already seen, and Project School Supply. Supplies are coming in and the department has begun sorting them for the various schools in the county. Ms. Barksdale said that Kit Carson County will reimburse them $3,837.98 for students in the Arriba-Flagler school, so they did not even reach their limit of $30,000. Since they are under-budget, she would like to purchase some supplies for the Lincoln County students in the Miami-Yoder school district, as well as the four Lincoln County students who attend the Woodlin School.

Mr. Burgess thought it would be a nice gesture for the commissioners to send thank-you letters to the businesses that have been kind enough to participate in the project.

Ms. Barksdale also provided Suicide Prevention information and the CPS Referral and Assessment report, as well as the CORE Regional contract.

Mr. Beedy made a motion to sign the Signal – CORE Regional contract in the amount of $12,150, for the period of June 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. Since Mr. Lyons had to leave, Mr. Burgess said they would wait to actually sign the contract until he returned later in the day.

Ms. Barksdale’s last item was to let the Board know that their cell phones no longer seem to work in the courthouse where they did before, and that the batteries drain much more frequently than they used to. Ms. Lengel said she had noticed the same thing with hers. Ms. Barksdale said she had contacted Verizon and was told that the county may need a booster of some kind, which could cost about $250. Ms. Barksdale also spoke with Travis Nall and he thought Zane Nestor might be able to do something, but she offered to pay for the booster if that was what was needed. Ms. Devers said she would call Todd Dreiling at Verizon and speak to him about it.

Since all three commissioners and several other department heads are going to be unavailable on June 2, Mr. Burgess asked if the department head meeting could be changed to June 9. Ms. Devers said they would need to discuss the new keycard system, as it is ready to be activated. She added that she would send out an e-mail asking other department heads if that was agreeable with them.

At 1:00 p.m., Keith Westfall with High Plains Survey Company met with the Board to discuss the survey he completed for T-Cross Ranches. He explained that the original survey plats were done in 1871, and any surveyor’s job is to go out and reconstruct what was originally established. He took all historical evidence into consideration, even though technology is much better today than it was a hundred and thirty years ago. He used the old surveys and GPS to establish where the boundaries were, adding that it took almost three weeks to complete the survey. He did not find any of the old charcoal posts or mounds. Mr. Westfall felt it was more an issue of adverse possession than anything else.

Mr. Kimble said that the Elbert County Surveyor had suggested that monument records may not have been used when he did his survey, and Mr. Westfall said he had hoped that the surveyor would be here today, as he would like to speak with him.

Mr. Lyons said that the Hollowells own property to the south and east of the Kucera driveway, and they had noticed a marker. Mr. Westfall asked if it was a brass monument marker, and when Mr. Lyons said he believed it was, Keith said it was probably a USGS benchmark used for elevation in the 1930’s, which didn’t have anything to do with his survey.

Mr. Lyons said he believed the issue would probably end up in court, but the county’s concern was with the county line and Norris’ fencing the section lines.

It is Mr. Westfall’s opinion that the situation has nothing to do with the county line. According to him, state statute determines where the county lines are, even though there may be differences of opinion based on farming practices. He added that the courts may change the ownership through adverse possession, but it certainly wouldn’t change the county line.

Mr. Kimble agreed that fences are often put up where topography allows, although they might not necessarily be accurate.

The Board thanked Mr. Westfall for his information and for coming in to meet with them.

Mr. Kimble reported that he’d received a letter regarding the past employee’s retirement benefit, and that he believes that a case he has been involved with for Social Services because Darla Scranton Specht felt it would be a conflict of interest, will be dismissed on Monday. He also informed the Board that he will be attending the county attorneys’ conference next week. Mr. Kimble wanted to know if the commissioners felt he should obtain any information he could in regard to organic farming, and they agreed that would be fine.

While waiting for Joe Linnebur, the Board discussed adopting a nuisance ordinance and adding special use regulations to the zoning regulations in regard to railroads.

When Mr. Linnebur arrived, Wayne Shade was also in attendance. Mr. Linnebur said he fully intended to take care of all of the noxious weeds on his property by spraying and Wayne asked when he was going to start. Joe asked when he should start and Wayne told him right away.

Mr. Linnebur went on to say that he may have to take some of the patches out of organic and some he hoped to deep till, but he intended to stake it off and take care of everything. Mr. Beedy said he could work on the Canadian thistle until late June and Mr. Kimble asked what Joe intended to use for chemical. He responded that he would use Milestone for the Canadian thistle and something new called Quinchlorac; recommended by CSU, for the bindweed. No one had heard of the new chemical, although Mr. Beedy said he’d heard that something new was out there.

Wayne asked Joe if he would have a problem inspecting his property without a court order and was told that there would not be any problems at all. He added that he would put together a plan, line up his sprayers and get it done in the fall, asking if it was acceptable to mechanically control the weeds until August and then spray the chemicals.

Mr. Lyons said that even though the commissioners told him it was okay to control the weeds mechanically, apparently NRCS and ASCS may not be in agreement with that. Mr. Lyons recommended that Joe speak with someone at the office there before he did anything.

Wayne said that he should try to spray now before the weeds bloom and go to seed, and Mr. Beedy added that if he could start now with the areas where he can’t keep it from going to seed by farming; such as, the grassy areas, fencerows, drainage areas and around his residence, then he could get to the areas that he farms in the fall.

Joe asked if he could still cut his wheat this year and was told that since he really couldn’t do anything with the weeds that are in the wheat crop right now, there would not be a problem with waiting until the fall on those. He added that he may be out of Organic production for six-to-eight years, but he will stake it off and get started because he is tired of it being a problem.

Mr. Burgess told him they didn’t expect him to have it all cleared up in a year’s time; it will take awhile to take control of the weeds, and Mr. Beedy asked Joe if he had looked at trying to break some of his fields into more strips to help with the erosion problem. Joe responded that he was in the process of doing that, as well.

Once Mr. Linnebur had gone, Land Use Administrator Ken Morrison was called down to discuss the zoning regulations and the prospect of requiring railroads to obtain Use by Special Review permits. He said that, as of 2002, all land in Lincoln County was classified as agricultural, except in the community overlays. He added that it will have to be re-zoned if they want to put a railroad through, as the permitted uses under agriculture do not include railroad.

Mr. Kimble asked him if he thought it would benefit the county to add some stronger language into the zoning regulations now, and suggested borrowing language from Morgan County.

Mr. Morrison said the regulations have been amended twice, so it would take nothing more than a resolution. He added that at the same time, he would like to add some exemptions for agriculture to the last amendment that was done regarding the IBC/IRC. Ms. Devers said the resolution for the UBC was separate, so it would not all have to be done at the same time. Mr. Morrison said he would like to wait until July, as he is extremely busy in June.

Mr. Kimble asked if they should also look at a Sexually Oriented Business ordinance at the same time, as once those types of businesses show up in the county, they are hard to get rid of. Mr. Beedy agreed that it would be better to have the ordinance in place before there was a problem.

At 3:00 p.m., CARR members Scott Ravenkamp, Jay Jolly and Travis Taylor met with the Board at Mr. Lyons’ request to discuss the railroad relocation. After some discussion regarding their feelings that any of the concerns they voiced seemed to be ignored, it was determined that the county would most likely file for coordination and change the zoning regulations to reflect stricter guidelines for railroads. Mr. Morrison will contact the Land Use Board and schedule a hearing, probably for July.

Mr. Burgess asked Mr. Morrison if he could help with a survey of the fairgrounds to determine where drainage areas were, as well as power and anything else they could find. Mr. Morrison said again, he would not be able to do anything until July.

Ms. Devers wanted the Board to know that the ECRC&D meeting for June 2 to discuss the ARRA funding had been cancelled, due to lack of interest.

With no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned until 8:00 a.m. on June 8, 2009.

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