CONSENT AGENDA:
Approval of CDS mylars; vouchers; Walmart liquor license renewal; and variance report receipt.
STAFF REPORTS:
> County Clerk Dallas Schroeder explained new procedure for this year’s Notice of Value Appeals hearing. Instead of the Commissioners hearing the appeals from citizens, a qualified arbitrator has been retained with real estate appraisal training. Each appeal will be heard privately with 5 minutes for the assessor, five minutes for the appealing taxpayer, and another five minutes for assessor rebuttal. The arbitrator will try to facilitate an agreement between the assessor and the taxpayer. Four days have been scheduled for these first hearings (July 22-25?). Final recommendations for each hearing will be provided by the arbitrator to the Commissioners as the County Board of Equalization (CBOE), who will make the final decision on appeals. Taxpayers who are not satisfied with the result may then appeal to the State Board of Appeals (BOA).
> CDS Director Christina Stanton reported that her department was working to resolve property zoning classifications on XX-zoned properties for 148 parcels. Letters have been mailed 96 property owners, to date.
> Road and Bridge Director Rory Hale reported on the great work from his road crew during this week’s big snow storm and the bomb cyclone. Approximately 15 members of the county road crew were in attendance for recognition. Commissioner Richardson read the Proclamation Recognizing National Public Works Week… and then there was a well-earned standing ovation for the road crew. Commissioner Thayer commended new Deputy County Manager Eileen Krauth for pushing an effort to investigate potential local gravel pit sources.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
> Resident Susan Shick questioned the necessity of monthly county expenditures of $672 for publishing the Elbert County Connection insert to The Prairie Times, instead of posting those items on the county’s “perfectly fine website”. Commissioner Richardson responded that not everyone was in agreement that it was a “perfectly fine website”. He said it was part of their long term communication strategy with the citizens. The Prairie Times is a monthly advertising/local color publication distributed free to thousands of households in Elbert County (Editorial note: With an IT budget of over $750,000 annually, funded by taxpayers, why are citizens billed another $8,064 annually to publish government stories? In Nov 2018 and Feb 2019, Prairie Times was compensated $4010….
See: https://www.elbertcounty-co.gov/4%20-%20Budget%20&%20Financial/November%202018%20v2.pdf
AND
https://www.elbertcounty-co.gov/4%20-%20Budget%20&%20Financial/February%202019.pdf)
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
>Sheriff Tim Norton addressed the need for adopting a new modified Model Traffic Code (MTC/traffic ticket) Ordinance that allows ticketing of commercial vehicles for traffic violations. Ordinance is expected to be adopted at the next BOCC meeting on June 12.
ACTION ITEMS:
> Commissioners approved May 8 BOCC meeting minutes and an IGA (inter-governmental agreement) with the town of Kiowa to provide county law enforcement for the town.
> Commissioners approved a resolution, a letter to the COGCC, and zoning regulation changes defining and clarifying that the county does not regulate the siting of oil and gas locations. Commissioner Thayer said that O&G developers can’t put wells any place they want, but have to go through a State approval process. Resident Susan Shick questioned why the commissioners felt the need to take this step. Response was that it was needed due to SB19-181 which gave more control to local governments over O&G development. So, basically, our commissioners took this opportunity to advertise that EC is open to developers who may be feeling pushback from other communities. The county building department will handle applications for well construction.
> Commissioners approved special event liquor licenses for Elbert Days and the Elizabeth Rodeo.
BOARD PLANNING
> Next BOCC meeting scheduled for June 12. Items to be considered include MTC ordinance for commercial vehicles, staff briefing on USGS water study in Elbert County (See: https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20195014). Also there will be a work study session on June 11 regarding the upcoming county audit. The long overdue (since Feb) plan to upgrade IT services has been pushed out to some unspecified time.
--Susan Shick