The URL can be used to link to this page

Browse Search

Home My WebLink About20112995 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS MINUTES BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WELD COUNTY, COLORADO NOVEMBER 16, 2011 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, November 16, 2011, 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 Barbara Kirkmeyer, Chair Commissioner Sean P. Conway, Pro-Tem Commissioner William F. Garcia Commissioner David E. Long Commissioner Douglas Rademacher— EXCUSED Also present: County Attorney, Bruce T. Barker Acting Clerk to the Board, Esther Gesick Director of Finance and Administration, Monica Mika MINUTES: Commissioner Conway moved to approve the minutes of the Board of County Commissioners meeting of November 14, 2011, as printed. Commissioner Long seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. AMENDMENTS TO AGENDA: There were no amendments to the agenda. PUBLIC INPUT: Doug Meyer, County resident, stated Commissioner Rademacher recently indicated the Board was considering meeting with the U.S. Forest Service every six months, rather than quarterly; however, he encouraged the Board to consider meeting every other month. He also submitted a Tribune article, dated November 14, 2011, titled Rep. Tipton asking questions on water rights, marked Exhibit A, which he read for the record. Mr. Meyer also referred to a Tribune article, dated November 8, 2011, titled Running Out of Options to Fight Flood Officials, marked Exhibit B, regarding flood damage to the farm owned by Larry and Mary Starck. He stated the main issue of Coordination is prior notice of plans, policies, and decisions, to ensure all parties have time to research and negotiate issues to reach consistency. CONSENT AGENDA: Commissioner Conway moved to approve the Consent Agenda as printed. Commissioner Garcia seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. PROCLAMATIONS: NATIONAL ADOPTION DAY - NOVEMBER 18, 2011: Chair Kirkmeyer read the certificate into the record, proclaiming November 18, 2011, as National Adoption Day. Christie Barron, Child Protection Case Worker, thanked the Board for the recognition and for helping to draw attention to the number of children in foster care waiting for adoption. Commissioner Long stated the biggest factor for a child is being attached to an established and loving family, and the sooner they are connected, the better they \' Minutes, November 16, 2011 2011-2995 \.�. Page 1 BC0016 thrive in future years. Commissioner Conway thanked the child protection representatives for their efforts and stated he plans to attend the ceremony on Friday to make a formal presentation of the Proclamation. Commissioner Garcia agreed with the previous comments and thanked the foster families for doing a great job while the children are waiting for permanent families. Chair Kirkmeyer stated she has close personal friends who have had a positive experience working with the Weld County Foster Care/Adoption system. COMMISSIONER COORDINATOR REPORTS: Commissioner Conway commended County Attorney, Bruce Barker, for his arguments made before the Supreme Court concerning the unconstitutional House redistricting plan and he read the opening statement of the Decision. He stated the Commission still has to meet and draw up the plans, which must be completed by December 6, 2011, and the Board will be very active to communicate to the citizens as the process moves forward. Commissioner Conway stated there is also a Congressional redistricting plan, and although the map took on a Democratic flavor, he is pleased that all of Weld County will be in one congressional district. He explained this process takes place once every ten years and he is very proud of Weld County's efforts to represent the desires of the constituency, with the assistance from the County Attorney. Commissioner Garcia reported the Small Business Development Center has 28 new clients this month, with 171 jobs created, 76 jobs retained, service time per client increased to six hours, $2.3 in increased client sales, and 358 distinct clients and continued improvements. NEW BUSINESS: CONSIDER NONEXCLUSIVE LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR UPGRADE AND MAINTENANCE OF CR 98 AND AUTHORIZE CHAIR TO SIGN: Heidi Hansen, Department of Public Works, stated County Road 98 is currently unmaintained section line right-of-way, the surrounding property owners were notified of this proposal, the upgrades will be open to public use, and the County will not provide maintenance or snow removal. Commissioner Long moved to approve said agreement and authorize the Chair to sign. Seconded by Commissioner Conway, the motion carried unanimously. CONSIDER SPECIAL PROJECT APPLICATION FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE PROGRAM GRANT AND AUTHORIZE CHAIR TO SIGN: Roy Rudisill, Director, Office of Emergency Management, stated this application proposes to use leftover funds to acquire equipment to help monitor weather incidents and expand the emergency operations center. He stated, if awarded, the County will receive $8,145.00 in federal funds, with a 50 percent match requirement of $4,072.50. Commissioner Garcia moved to approve said application and authorize the Chair to sign. Seconded by Commissioner Long, the motion carried unanimously. CONSIDER REVISIONS TO BYLAWS FOR NOXIOUS WEED MANAGEMENT ADVISORY BOARD: Tina Booton, Department of Public Works, stated the proposed revisions reduce the number of Board members from nine (9) and a quorum of seven (7), down to a membership of five (5), with a quorum of three (3). In response to Chair Kirkmeyer, Ms. Booten stated she believers the smaller Board will still be able to complete the necessary obligations. Commissioner Conway moved to approve said revisions to the Bylaws for the Noxious Weed Management Advisory Board. Seconded by Commissioner Garcia, the motion carried unanimously. CONSIDER APPOINTMENT TO NOXIOUS WEED MANAGEMENT ADVISORY BOARD: Commissioner Garcia moved to appoint Joseph Hatch to the Noxious Weed Management Advisory Board, to replace Bud Clemons, with a term to expire August 19, 2014. Seconded by Commissioner Conway, the motion carried unanimously. RESOLUTIONS AND ORDINANCES: The resolutions were presented and signed as listed on the Consent Agenda. No Ordinances were approved. Minutes, November 16, 2011 2011-2995 Page 2 BC0016 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 9:44 a.m. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WELD COUNTY, COLORADO ATTEST:� .z7c c--912a-61--LL --` ,,64.j.--lit rf Barbara Kirkmeyef, plair Weld County Clerk to the Board can P. o w v Pro-Tem BY: CDeputy CI rk to the Board z W' m F. Garcia C IsmC4David E. Long a"y" - Douglas ERademacher z Minutes, November 16, 2011 2011-2995 Page 3 BC0016 a b 2.6 ,6 -o §b a z a iA -.:al s14-1O �o _ '8a. A�; '28 °1 Q 1.! M ° 'g : 8L . l $ o J �, °fit ,aa e. T.orYi g „•S,g �v cg2. smi s s isY. on • hin s'��.,,r. - s °a35a '� I. . & ng �. _. 4 Fn 4.4 z p•-yy-or wo, F_ .L§ ci.) r a+ a+ 5 u g 4 9 0 a0oo4•5gtgt, g & -gil "0c..7Y.4 p240AGI y n lEE ca ;v • 7is!1: Hiiil'il I v I U ,1 5.9E @w as C ' g ;If Ili 2 a ilas-ir''' 0- Bas ° so co..g 5 F3 � 5 � ,,. .�Wy` • � a° tlilui5 f r •imi s x":a.og l50s5 -N a .z 1 Er 5-0:)f aG a a E LuvlH aa3 °w' m.o ie °a1, I < csaG•c� g'Ra- a . RUNNING OUT . OF OPTI ONS TO FIGHT FLOOD OFFICIALS Weld couple writes governor directly about groundwater issues By ERIC BROWN way things are now" sjne Waiting for the problem to be fixed, the Iis not at all what and Starcks - Maiy, who works for the Lar- Larry Mary Starck want to do with their free time. imer County Fairgrounds, and Larry a re- Writing•letters•to the governor is just what they have to do at this tired homebuilder who's always fanned on point,they say. the side — have attended meetings,they've The Weld County residents have run out of other options.; made phone calls, they've tried being pa- The Starcks,like others in the region,are dealing with groundwater issues tier,. at their farm,stemming from what they and many believe is caused by the And Pm not a real patient person,"m Mary state's decision to curtail about 8,000 said with a slight laugh. "Just ask my bus- , groundwater wells— 2,000 of which band? were completely shut down—all along the South Platte River in recent And so the Starcks are now writing di- Years. rectly to Gov. John Hickenlooper, along • That decision was made in the early,2,000,S,following historic drought, - with other officials,detailing their problems because the state determined the continued pumping of those wells would and demanding.action in legal descriptions — instead of continuing to just sit around, deplete water supplies downstream and cause harm to senior water right whining and waiting"as Mary noted. holders who relied on surface water for irrigation and other purposes. It's an effort they hope will get the atten- But without the groundwater wells pumpingnow--when water in the lion of those who can do something about farmers sa thethe problem,they said. river basin is not scarce nowhere to y groundwater in those areas has Asa •portion of their two-page letter goes: go,except for seeping into basements,flowing into Nebraska "By allowing Water to surface and run on before Coloradans can make use of it,or sitting idle on farmland—the latter Said Area,you are needlessly disturbing and of which is the case at the Starck family fatal. encumbering Owners from rightful usage The Starcks don't have any sellingI -of Owners private property; encumbrance wells of their o these groundwater calves that weigh about 400'pounds, has additionally placed a cloud on Said Area days—instead get- I'sometimes less, as opposed to ,them and clearly violated Owners private property ting their water frontaditchcompany—but i at about 650 pounds,which is rights are affected by the lack of groundwater be- to do,causing him a loss in urctaskitely "Due to Water, Private Pro Own- ing pumped by those around them,they say. Along with that and other issues,the fain-. ers have now been negatively impacted by The grazing area on the Starcks'16-acre ily also worries about the property value of State's plans, as well as through the loss of plot near Loveland has often been under wa- the home and the land they've owned for income and damage to property and other ter during the past three years,Larry Starck more than 40 years. valuable environmental resources of Said said.His barn,too,is flooded frequently. "Who's going to want to buy this swampy Area. We therefore provide this letter to Because their ground has been so satu- i mess with all of these problems?"Mary said. serve as a formal demand that,within thirty rated and muddy recently, his cattle have : "A lot of people invest in their homes,trying beaten down and wiped out much of the to do the responsible thing,and look to sell grass,just by walking on it. As a result of it as part of their retirement plan. //CONTINUED being limited on feed, Larry said he's now "I don't think we have that option with the Ax Groundwater EXHIBIT'I -3ic. n . ( THE TRIBUNE a :TUESDAY,N©v.8 2011 A CLOSER LOOK:GROUNDWATER ISSUES .44444O l ate, a�" ,Ft�zr�xa ,y t a .< x .6�.3. a 1r ook v. p� � s , .r re. 4144,4t b`r#14$ THE GRAZIINCJ1ifEA ATFOR THETRIBUNE/Mary Start Larry and Mary Starck's farm in Weld County near Loveland sits under water.Because the grounc has been sosaturated and Muddy recently,the Starcks'cattle have beaten down and wiped out much of that grass,just by walking around on it.As a result of being limited on feed,Larry said he"'s now sellingcalves that weigh about 400 pounds, sometimes less,as opposedto setting them at about 650 pounds,which Is what he used to do,causing him a loss in income lately.Additionally the family also worries about the property value of the home and the land they've owned for more than 40 years. Hello