Monday’s Garfield County commissioners’ (BOCC) meeting lasted all of an hour, including an executive session looking at legal issues involving two cases: the U.S. District Court case of the Estate of Oscar Canas v. Garfield County and the Garfield County District Court Case of Madrid v. BOCC. Dustin Moyer, the new CEO of Mountain Family Health Centers, started off the meeting by introducing himself during the open public comment period.
As for items on the agenda, Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario finally struck gold with a solution to the department’s patrol vehicle upfitting challenge. He told the BOCC, in this case John Martin and Mike Samson, that he found a local company, GreyCo Customs in Rifle, to upfit patrol vehicles.
According to a letter from the sheriff’s department, supply chain shortages have pushed back the date of upfitted vehicles from the county’s regular vendor on the Front Range to March 2025. Vallario said that GreyCo Customs has upfitted vehicles for the Rifle and Silt Police Departments, and that the company could begin upfitting the county patrol cars in October. He added that, even though the finances have not yet been finalized, it looks like an emergency contract with GreyCo Customs would save the county $27,000. Commissioner Samson said, “If we can do it locally and cheaper, I’m all for it.” The contract was approved.
Richard McIntyre, representing the East Mesa Water Company (EMWC), asked the BOCC for a letter of support for a grant request to the Colorado River District for fixing sinkhole damage to the East Mesa Ditch, about two miles southeast of Carbondale. The 30-foot sinkhole appeared in September 2023, cutting off water to downstream irrigators. A geophysical survey has been completed. Now, the EMWC needs to pipe the ditch and relocate it away from the sinkhole.
McIntyre ended his presentation with comments on the contentiousness and unpredictability of water in the Upper Colorado River Basin and across the West, based on findings from the third Colorado State University Climate Change in Colorado Assessment. His comments included how climate change is human-caused from burning fossil fuels to which Martin took exception.
“Climate change is a cycle. And, you know, one of the climate changes we had, we had no humans whatsoever on earth and it wiped out a whole bunch of things,” he opined. “It goes in a cycle and it’s not just fossil fuels that cause it; it’s all kinds of other things.” The BOCC unanimously approved the requested letter of support.
Commissioners also approved liquor licenses for the Elk Creek Campground and for WindWalkers Equine Assisted Learning and Therapy Center for the annual Kentucky Derby fundraiser on Saturday, May 5. They approved the consent agenda and the annual gift basket to the 4-H Shamrock Shindig fundraiser. Finally, they honored the county financial team, who received another Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers’ Association for the county’s annual comprehensive financial report for fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2022.
Deputy County Manager Bentley Henderson announced that the landfill hours have now gone to seven days a week from 8am to 4pm. Discount coupons worth $15 off one load can be found on the county website through April 30.
Toward the meeting’s end, County Manager Fred Jarman reviewed the organizational framework for the April 30 library trustee candidate interviews. He stated that the meeting will be in-person and on Zoom, but he expects candidates to appear in-person. Commissioners and Adrian Rippy-Sheehy, president of the library board, will ask questions of the candidates. He added that the questions will be the same for each candidate and that candidates will be interviewed one at a time.
The meeting, which starts at 1pm, is public, although no audience comments will be accepted. Sixteen people have submitted applications for one library trustee position representing the Rifle area. Commissioners will make a decision on the trustee appointment at their regular meeting following April 30. The organizational framework, however, is subject to change.