HomeMy WebLinkAbout20130129RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
MINUTES
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
WELD COUNTY, COLORADO
JANUARY 9, 2013
The Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, Colorado, met in regular session in full
conformity with the laws of the State of Colorado at the regular place of meeting in the Weld County
Administration Building, Greeley, Colorado, January 9, 2013, at the hour of 9:00 a.m.
ROLL CALL: The meeting was called to order by the Chair and on roll call the following
members were present, constituting a quorum of the members thereof:
Commissioner William F. Garcia, Chair
Commissioner Douglas Rademacher, Pro-Tem
Commissioner Sean P. Conway
Commissioner Mike Freeman
Commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer
Also present:
County Attorney, Bruce T. Barker
Acting Clerk to the Board, Esther Gesick
Director of Finance and Administration, Monica Mika
Ei MINUTES: Commissioner Rademacher moved to approve the minutes of the Board of County
Commissioners meeting of January 7, 2013, as printed. Commissioner Conway seconded the motion,
and it carried unanimously.
ID AMENDMENTS TO AGENDA: There were no amendments to the agenda.
ID PUBLIC INPUT: Doug Meyer, County resident, commended the Board for its efforts in opposing
the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission proposed setback rules and regulations. He also
submitted a copy of an article, titled "Background on the Greater Sage Grouse Listing", marked
Exhibit A, which he read for the record. El Commissioner Conway stated he spoke with Garfield
County Commissioner, John Martin, and he anticipates further discussions on this issue.
El CONSENT AGENDA: Commissioner Kirkmeyer moved to approve the Consent Agenda as
printed. Commissioner Freeman seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously.
El COMMISSIONER COORDINATOR REPORTS: Commissioner Kirkmeyer reported that she and
County Attorney, Bruce Barker, spent the past two days attending hearings before the Colorado Oil and
Gas Conservation Commission. She stated new groundwater monitoring rules were passed and the
new setback rule is still under consideration, with a decision anticipated later today. IR Commissioner
Conway thanked Commissioner Kirkmeyer for representing the Board in this matter. He also reported
on the work session discussions held with regional emergency responders concerning proposed
revisions to the Weld County Code for ambulance licensing, and also sat in on a presentation made by
Platte Valley Health. He attended the South Platte Round Table meeting and reviewed the goals for
Minutes, January 9, 2013 2013-0129
Page 1 BC0016
I
the coming year, and stated the Groundwater Subcommittee hosted a presentation by Colorado State
University and he invited the public to participate in the future meetings. He commented on the
consensus of the need for additional water storage. ID Chair Garcia reported that he and
Commissioner Rademacher will be hosting their monthly South County meeting on Friday, from 4:00-
6:00 p.m. Tom Parko, Planning Director, will also be present to address public questions. ID At the
end of the meeting Commissioner Conway indicated that Congressman Cory Gardner will be hosting
an open house in his new district office in Greeley from 4:30-6:30 today.
NEW BUSINESS:
C 1) CONSIDER NONEXCLUSIVE LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR THE UPGRADE AND
MAINTENANCE OF COUNTY ROAD 87 AND AUTHORIZE CHAIR TO SIGN - NOBLE ENERGY,
INC.: Donald Carroll, Department of Public Works, reviewed the terms of the agreement.
Commissioner Rademacher moved to approve said agreement and authorize the Chair to sign.
Commissioner Conway seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.
la 2) CONSIDER RESCINDING RESOLUTION #2012-2867, DATED OCTOBER 10, 2012, AND
APPROVE REVISED INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT FOR BRIDGE 26/25A REPLACEMENT
AND AUTHORIZE CHAIR TO SIGN: Stephanie Arries, Assistant County Attorney, reviewed the terms
of the revised agreement and addressed questions from the Board regarding the change to the option
letter process. Commissioner Rademacher moved to rescind the first resolution, and approve the
revised agreement and authorize the Chair to sign. Seconded by Commissioner Kirkmeyer, the motion
carried unanimously.
El 3) CONSIDER RESCINDING RESOLUTION #2012-2962, DATED OCTOBER 22, 2012, AND
APPROVE REVISED INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT FOR COUNTY ROAD 49 AND
COUNTY ROAD 44 INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS AND AUTHORIZE CHAIR TO SIGN: Based
on the previous discussion, Commissioner Conway moved to rescind the first resolution and approve
the revised agreement and authorize the Chair to sign. Seconded by Commissioner Kirkmeyer, the
motion carried unanimously.
IR 4) CONSIDER DESIGN -BUILD CHANGE ORDER #1 FOR NORTHERN COLORADO
REGIONAL FORENSIC LABORATORY (BID #1200096) AND AUTHORIZE CHAIR TO SIGN -
ROCHE CONSTRUCTORS, INC.: Toby Taylor, Department of Building and Grounds, explained that
the design process is complete, and that this change order will address the actual construction of the
facility. Commissioner Kirkmeyer moved to approve said change order and authorize the Chair to sign.
Commissioner Conway seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.
ID 5) CONSIDER INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT FOR PAYMENT OF FEDERAL
MINERAL LEASE FUNDS FOR VARIOUS ROAD IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS AND AUTHORIZE
CHAIR TO SIGN - WELD COUNTY FEDERAL MINERAL LEASE ACT DISTRICT: Janet Carter,
Department of Public Works, displayed a Haul Routes Map, 2013 HARP Map, and a list of projects
funded by Federal Mineral Lease District distribution funds. Commissioner Kirkmeyer commented the
projects are dispersed throughout the County and are not restricted to the federal lands areas, since
the funds are generated in relation to the oil and gas employees who reside in the County.
Commissioner Kirkmeyer moved to approve said agreement and authorize the Chair to sign.
Commissioner Conway seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.
Minutes, January 9, 2013 2013-0129
Page 2 BC0016
PLANNING OLD BUSINESS:
E 1) CONSIDER FINAL HEARING CONCERNING RESCINDING USR PERMIT #1590 -
CONTRERAS FARMS, INC. (CON'T FROM 1/9/2012): Chris Gathman, Department of Planning
Services, reviewed significant progress made on the project since the last hearing, summarized the
remaining outstanding items, and recommended the matter be continued for at least seven months or
be referred back to staff. a Tim Naylor, AGPROfessionals, LLC, concurred with staff's presentation,
confirmed the applicant is preparing a check for payment of the 50% investigation fee, and reviewed
the State process to be completed. Commissioner Conway moved to refer this matter back to the
Department of Planning Services staff, who will work with the applicant to address the remaining issues
and record the plat. Commissioner Kirkmeyer seconded the motion. Mr. Gathman addressed
questions from the Board concerning the $2,707.00 fee. The motion carried unanimously.
Commissioner Kirkmeyer requested that the reason for the late fee be further researched as to whether
the assessed fee was due to a lack of action on the applicant's part, or if the delay was a result of the
State process.
Let the minutes reflect that the above and foregoing actions were attested to and respectfully submitted
by the Acting Clerk to the Board.
There being no further business, this meeting was adjourned at 9:47 a.m.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
WELD CONTY, COLORADO
ATTEST:enup!
Weld County Clerk to the
BY
Deputy Cle
Iliam F. Garcia, Chair
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Sean P. Conway
Mike Freeman
Barbara Kirkmeyer j
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Minutes, January 9, 2013 2013-0129
Page 3 BC0016
BACKGROUND ON THE GREATER SAGE -GROUSE LISTING
Up until 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) said the Greater Sage Grouse did not
warrant listing. However, environmental groups had another plan.
They realized if they could force the federal government to list the GSG, they could lock up
millions of acres in the West running ranchers off the land and stopping oil and gas producers from
extracting precious resources that produce wealth for our nation and economy.
Currently, the GSG is on course to be listed as endangered in 2015. Because of this, every federal
and state agency with responsibility for the species has been frantically working to put in place
stringent regulatory measures that would supposedly preclude the federal action.
However, for these plans to be accepted by the Service, they must be as restrictive as those the Service
would put into place and guarantee the regulatory assurance that the species will be protected if it
is not listed as endangered. So, in essence, even if those plans are accepted, landowners will still be
regulated and still lose. There is a better way to prevent the listing and assure we can still freely use
our land - defeat the listing in its entirety!
Need to Focus on Science
The single question that needs to be asked is: Does the science warrant the listing?
That alone is the only relevant issue under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Fortunately, Garfield
County stepped forward and required the federal government coordinate this issue with their county
and called for help from American Stewards.
We have met with two of the leading scientists on the GSG whose work is cited over 200 times in
the Service's Federal Register notice and both have sounded the alarm that the actions being taken
by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which manages half of the species habitat, will do more
harm than good.
And, they unequivocally told us that livestock grazing is not the problem, yet the Service and BLM
are proceeding to severely restrict the use just as the environmentalists have demanded.
Our belief, as well as other scientists, is the government's scientific findings are built on a house of
cards and if challenged will very likely fall just as the science for the lizard fell.
2l -7r b 11
We have already found two key scientific studies known by and purposely ignored by the Service
when they issued their 2010 Federal Register notice. These studies provide substantial evidence
their historical estimations of the number of birds present prior to European settlement are grossly
inaccurate making their current population estimates unreliable.
We have also discovered the studies relied upon by the government that projected future oil and
gas production as the destroyer of grouse habitat were based on studies not available to the public
and, therefore, not fully peer -reviewed at the time the Service made its finding. Several cited studies
were clearly biased, such as the one prepared by The Nature Conservancy in Wyoming, hardly an
objective scientific perspective.
The BLM is currently preparing Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) to amend all of their
resource management plans in areas with grouse habitat is located by putting in place stringent and
ineffective conservation measures.
One of these restrictions creates an eight -mile buffer zone around breeding sites preventing all
human disturbances such as grazing, fence building, roads, power lines, pipelines, development, oil
and gas production and dozens of other beneficial uses.
Another restriction creates an arbitrarily determined three percent "disturbance cap," where no more
than three percent of the land within a priority habitat can show human disturbance.
Together, the eight -mile buffer and three percent cap means 97 percent of the priority habitat for the
greater sage -grouse in the 11 Western states will be off limits to any human activity.
For more information on the sage -grouse, as well as the scientific studies mentioned, go to:
http://americanstewards. w/sage grouse-listing/240-sage grouse-luting/723-bktck-rock-report
http://americanstewards. us/sagegrouse-luting/240-sagegrouse-listing/724- final-sagegrouse-report
http: //wyoftle. com/2009/10/the-sagegrouse-report-wyoming-ground-zero-of-three year -study/
http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/more/sagegrouse/documents and resources/b1m,tilanningrunits.html
Not only do we need your contributions, but we also need your local governments
to join with us as well Make sure they know of our efforts and encourage them to
contact us to learn more about how they can help implement this strategy. Please
send your support today.
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