Board of County Commissioners of Lincoln County
Agenda for June 8, 2009
8:00 Call to order and Pledge of Allegiance
8:05 Assessor Estelle Thaller and appraiser Jeremiah Higgins to further discuss job descriptions for the Assessor’s Office
8:30 Public Health Director Tonda Scott to present the revised STEPP budget
11:00 Discuss adoption of a resolution asserting legal standing and formally requesting coordination with all federal and state agencies maintaining jurisdiction over lands and/or resources located within Lincoln County
1. Approve additional expense vouchers
2. Approve the minutes from the May 29, 2009 meeting
3. Cancel County General check #11521 written to the Limon Leader on June 1, 2009 for $536.58 since it was written to the wrong vendor
4. Review the May reports from the Treasurer and the Sheriff
5. Review a letter from Susan Kirkpatrick, Executive Director of the Department of Local Affairs, giving discretionary factor weights for the August 2009 distribution of Severance Tax and Federal Mineral Lease revenue
6. Sign a letter to Kim Schallenberger with the Plains to Peaks Retac requesting reimbursement for county designated funds
7. Review the required notification from Castle Rock Construction Company for removal of material from the Vick Sand Pit and the Cullen Borrow Pit
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 8:00 a.m. on June 8, 2009. The following attended: Chairman Ted Lyons, Commissioner Steve Burgess, County Administrator Roxie Devers and Clerk to the Board Corinne M. Lengel. Commissioner Gary Beedy attended from 8:00 a.m. until 9:30 a.m., and County Attorney Stan Kimble attended from 10:45 a.m. until noon. Kay Christie with The Limon Leader and the Eastern Colorado Plainsman attended from 11:00 a.m. until noon, as well.
Chairman Lyons called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance, and then County Assessor Estelle Thaller and appraiser Jeremiah Higgins met with the Board to further discuss the job descriptions for the Assessor’s office. The Board decided they would approve the adjusted pay scale, but Ms. Devers asked that they wait to take official action until they spoke with Tonda Scott about the STEPP budget; then they could simply make one motion to approve all of the changes at one time. Since there is a possibility that the STEPP position and the school nurse position may be made into one full time position, the Level 5 salaries might have to be revised for a Public Health nurse.
At 8:30 a.m., Public Health Director Tonda Scott met with the Board to present the revised STEPP budget. Karen Mosher attended as well, and explained to the Board that Floyd Bierd with BOCES had agreed to compensate the School Nurse for twenty hours of pay per week; including all benefits, so combined with the STEPP duties, which would be another fifteen hours per week, it would make it a full time position. Miss Mosher said that the school nurse covers hearing, vision and immunization screenings, and added that Becky Herron intends to go back to school herself, so will no longer provide the service.
Mr. Burgess wanted to make sure that the county would not be obligated to BOCES to provide more funding or to find someone to fill the position, and Ms. Scott assured him the county would not have to pay any additional money. Miss Mosher added they would not sign the contract with BOCES until they had found someone to fill the position, and even though BOCES is required to have an RN fill the school nurse position, it is not a necessity that the county have an RN for the STEPP program. Ms. Scott put in that there is no obligation to the county to even have the school nurse program.
Mr. Beedy made a motion to sign the Approved Task Order Contract – Waiver #154 with Public Health in the amount of $22,743.00 for the STEPP coordinator for the period of July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.
The Board reviewed the May reports from the Assessor, Sheriff and Treasurer, as well as the Treasurer’s Revenue and Expenditure report for May.
Mr. Beedy reported that he attended the Colorado East Community Action grant review meeting for the ARRA funding on June 1, as well as the Economic Development board special meeting to work on the strategic plan that evening. They intend to schedule a meeting with commissioners and town board members later in June to discuss funding the position. He added that they will most likely use the county’s commitment of funds for 2009, since that seemed only fair. On June 2, he attended the pre-construction meeting in Limon for the Highway 40/287 project.
Mr. Burgess reported that he attended the Centennial Mental Health budget workshop in Yuma on June 1. On the Second, he traveled to Keystone for the Child Welfare Action Committee meeting, and since he had received a few phone calls regarding muddy roads, he toured roads on June 3. He also attended a COG meeting in Kiowa that evening. On June 5, he participated in a conference call with Baby Bear Hugs, where they discussed serious future funding issues.
Mr. Lyons reported that Gene Amann had stopped to talk to him on June 1, regarding the painting of the Clerk’s office. On June 2, he attended the pre-construction meeting in Limon with Mr. Beedy, and also went by the landfill where he learned that their car had broken down. It was taken to the county shop for repairs.
Sheriff Tom Nestor came by to discuss the new keycard system for the courthouse, since Mr. Beedy will be unable to attend the department head meeting on June 9.
Mr. Beedy had asked that the word “organic” be added to page five of the minutes from the meeting held on May 29. Once the correction was made, Mr. Burgess made a motion to approve the minutes from the meeting held on May 29, 2009, as amended. Mr. Lyons seconded the motion, which carried.
Mr. Burgess made a motion to cancel County General check #11521, written to the Limon Leader on June 1, 2009, in the amount of $536.58, since it was written to the wrong vendor. Mr. Lyons seconded the motion, which carried.
The Board reviewed a letter from Susan Kirkpatrick, Executive Director of the Department of Local Affairs, giving discretionary factor weights for the August, 2009 distribution of Severance Tax and Federal Mineral Lease revenue, as well as a letter to Kim Schallenberger with the Plains to Peaks Retac, requesting reimbursement for county designated funds.
The Board reviewed required notification from Castle Rock Construction Company for removal of material from the Vick Sand Pit and the Cullen Borrow Pit, and then Mr. Lyons called for the Administrator’s report.
Ms. Devers said that rather than a report, she had items for old and new business. She is waiting for a response from Greg Etl regarding the DOLA grant for the courthouse security and energy upgrades, as there is enough money left to purchase the x-ray machine for packages, but she needs to be sure it is acceptable to change the categories that the funding is used for.
She had also contacted Todd Dreiling with Verizon to discuss the booster for cell phone coverage in the courthouse, and he told her it is actually called a network extender, but that it will only work to increase service on about three cell phones. He suggested contacting someone local, so Ms. Devers called Lynn Stone to discuss it with him. He said the unit that is most beneficial is actually two antennas and an amplifier, but that the cost is between eight and nine hundred dollars, which did not include labor for installation.
A phone call was placed to Lynn Stone to discuss it further, and he said the units work very well, even in metal buildings, and that it would cost about $150 for installation; however, there was probably no reason why someone at the county couldn’t do it.
Ms. Devers will speak with Ms. Barksdale about it, since she was the one that brought it up.
Mr. Lyons asked Lynn about the radio tower out south of Hugo; whether or not it would be best to paint it or install beacons. Mr. Stone said he thought it would be best to install the beacons because, even though it is showing rust, there is no way it will be rusted through in the next fifty years, and it might be difficult to find someone willing to paint it.
Ms. Devers showed the Board a copy of a letter from Laurie McKager, District Administrator with the Eighteen Judicial District, to District Attorney Carol Chambers, which she had received from Lincoln County Court Clerk Kim Graham, concerning Ms. Chambers’ decision to withdraw from the Colorado District Attorneys Council. Mr. Burgess will be attending a meeting later on with officials from the Eighteenth Judicial District, so he will see if he can find out more information.
The Board reviewed a letter from the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority concerning implementing a high-speed intercity passenger rail corridor through the state, and decided to wait for the county attorney before they discussed it.
The May 19, 2009 Tourism Board minutes were reviewed, as well as a letter from the Colorado Department of Revenue regarding Colorado state sales tax service fee changes effective July 1, 2009, as a result of SB09-275.
Weed Coordinator Wayne Shade stopped by to inform the Board that he had been by a plowed field earlier in the day and it was filled with Canadian thistle and bindweed, so he called the lessee to let him know. Mr. Burgess felt that they should send a letter to the landowner, with a copy going to the lessee, so Ms. Devers will prepare it and have it ready for their signature at the department head meeting on June 9.
Ms. Devers informed the Board that she’d had a phone call from Chris Monks regarding a broken side window in the RSVP bus. She told him to fix it and she will call Stacey Phythian to see if she has the money in her budget for the repairs.
The Board approved the remaining expense vouchers for the month of May.
CLAIMS
At 11:00 a.m., the Board discussed adopting a resolution asserting legal standing and formally requesting coordination with all federal and state agencies maintaining jurisdiction over lands and/or resources located within Lincoln County. Ms. Devers said she’d gone through Morgan County’s and made changes to pertain to Lincoln County, but there were still some areas that she was unsure of. Mr. Kimble said he’d been at the attorneys’ conference, so hadn’t had much time to work on it, and that he still needed to figure out a way to incorporate it into the zoning regulations. The Board decided not to adopt a resolution until Mr. Kimble had more time to work on it, and he and Ms. Devers will get together to do so; hopefully, for the meeting on June 18.
Mr. Lyons asked if the county needed to start considering a pest control ordinance in relation to prairie dogs, if they are going to schedule a Land Use Board meeting, and Mr. Kimble said he would check to see if he could find any other Colorado counties that have ordinances as opposed to a pest control district.
Since Mr. Kimble had been gone, he had nothing to report, other than that he learned some interesting things at the conference and he had some requests out on the List Serve for information.
Kay Christie said she’d been asked to find out the Board’s opinion on the Clean Water Reclamation Act, but no one knew anything about it and said they would need further information.
With no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned until 9:00 a.m. on June 18, 2009.
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Corinne M. Lengel, Clerk to the Board Ted Lyons, Chairman