Two of the three commissioners were present for the Monday, Aug. 11, Garfield Board of County Commissioners meeting, with the exception of Commissioner Mike Samson. 

Dale Whittington, a resident impacted by the flooding on Peach Valley Road, inquired about financial relief. He estimated the cost, including dump fees, would come out to about $20,000. “It’s bad,” Whittington said. 

The board and staff told Whittington that an action item would have to be added to the agenda for them to make a decision, on at least whether to waive the dump fees. This came on the heels of other nearby property owners making a similar request during public comment last week.

Jeanne Golay returned for public comment on behalf of the Lower Valley (LoVa) Trail Association, again asking the commissioners to sign a letter of support for a federal grant to fund a project connecting two existing trails to “to make a complete, seamless path through South Canyon,” Golay said. She noted that her request to appear on the agenda was again denied. 

County Attorney Heather Beattie said that the letter of support would likely be altered to reflect that funding the county is applying for through the same program is its priority. The board said that it’d be on the agenda next week.

Jail standards

Sheriff Lou Vallario appeared on behalf of the department to discuss jail standards adhering to the State of Colorado’s Jail Standards Commission’s guidelines that went into effect on July 1. 

“They’re trying to standardize jail management, jail treatment across the State of Colorado,” Lou said. He noted that the county already meets many standards. 

Lou added that of the 22-person commission, only two are sheriffs. 

“We just felt like there were things in there that were not in the best interest of sheriffs managing the jails, and took more of an interest of the inmates and … their needs and wants,” he continued. “Now, more privileges have become rights and it makes it harder … for disciplinary issues.” 

As of Monday, the jail was implementing a tablet system, where inmates can take tablets to their rooms to “enjoy” during lockdown hours, Jim Brassfield, who appeared along with Lou and Detention Commander Kim Vallario, explained. “We’re hoping that is a new tool for behavior management,” he said. 

“It sounds more like a cruise ship than a jail,” Commissioner Perry Will joked. 

Meeting the new standards will come down to more “manpower,” Brassfield and Vallario echoed, considering increased tracking, documentation and processing, for everything from medical to the food services. 

“Do we need more staff for it, possibly, but we can’t hire to fill the vacancies that we have,” Kim explained. “I mean, our guys are great. They just do it. We give them more, and they do it. I’m impressed and proud of them, but I know we’re adding more on them and it’s going to be more difficult for them.” 

Action items

A short time later, the Sheriff was back in front of the board, along with Administrative Commander Cathy Dalla, asking for a $267,000 supplemental for overtime pay — the first action item on the board’s agenda. 

Jankovsky immediately stated that he’d like to wait until the full panel is there, otherwise “it very well could end up in a one-to-one vote.” He also asked Finance Director Jamaica Watts if, rather than a budget supplement, the jail can transfer funds from its vacancy savings to the overtime budget. Because both fall within operating costs, the answer is likely yes, Watts said. 

Jankovsky asked that Watts get with the jail team and see if a supplemental request is necessary. Because Samson will be away again next week, if a supplemental request does come back to the commissioners it will be in September. 

The next action item was another supplemental request for $325,000 from the jail for its contract with Corrhealth. Lou said that due to not being able to hire enough local nurses, additional expenses accrue to bring medical support staff from outside the area. 

“That’s driving our costs above what’s in the contract,” Lou said. 

Jankovsky did some math, and surmised that if there are 80 inmates on average, then the $2,936,000 contract with Corrhealth should cover roughly 36,000 per inmate through the year, and the supplemental would bring that up to more than $40,000. He was curious how that money is spent and suggested inviting Corrhealth to a meeting before approving the supplemental request. 

Lou said that there were around 60 inmates in custody on Monday. 

Dalla brought up that “more like 2,000 inmates [are] processed throughout the entire year,” and that many come and leave and “all of them have to be medically reviewed.” 

The board plans to revisit the budget request during the Sept. 8 meeting. 

The last action item was a consideration to lease 170-acre-feet of  water from the county’s holdings in Ruedi Reservoir to the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Of the 400-acre-feet the county owns, it already leased 200 to West Divide Water Conservation District earlier this summer. The county plans to reserve its remaining 30-acre-feet. 

The two commissioners on hand approved the release.