HomeMy WebLinkAbout20102140.tiff RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
MINUTES
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
WELD COUNTY, COLORADO
SEPTEMBER 15, 2010
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
Centennial Center, Greeley, Colorado, September 15, 2010, 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 Douglas Rademacher, Chair
Commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer, Pro-Tem
Commissioner Sean P. Conway
Commissioner William F. Garcia
Commissioner David E. Long
Also present:
County Attorney, Bruce T. Barker
Acting Clerk to the Board, Elizabeth Strong
Director of Finance and Administration, Monica Mika
MINUTES: Commissioner Conway moved to approve the minutes of the Board of County
Commissioners meeting of September 13, 2010, as printed. Commissioner Kirkmeyer seconded the
motion, and it carried unanimously.
AMENDMENTS TO AGENDA: There were no amendments to the agenda.
PUBLIC INPUT: Doug Meyer, Weld County resident, stated he wanted to comment on Commissioner
Conway's radio interview with Governor Ritter regarding emissions. He stated hopefully the Counties
of Larimer and Weld will be able to point out to Governor Ritter that the State is in violation of the
Federal law regarding coordination with local governments and it is also in violation of its own statute
regarding coordination; 30-11-101.1.k, C.R.S. He stated the County needs to formally invoke
coordination and notify the State of its right to coordinate through a written letter. Mr. Meyer stated he
thinks the County should request that a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) study be completed
for the Air Quality Commission matter. He stated the State is supposed to notify the local governments,
prior to notifying the public, of all actions or plans which will affect the local governments, and the local
governments are supposed to receive the opportunity for meaningful input. He stated the Federal
agency is supposed to consider local policies and plans and make all practical efforts to make the
Federal policy or plan consistent with the local policy or plan. Mr. Meyer stated he continues to discuss
coordination with the Board because it is the only true authority available to protect the private property
rights of the citizens in Weld County. He stated he will be attending a meeting tonight, and every third
Wednesday of the month, in the City of Fort Morgan, to discuss the coordination legislation in the State
of Arizona, which has become a model. He invited everyone to attend. In response to Chair
Rademacher, Mr. Meyer stated the meetings will be conducted at the Country Steak Out from 7:00 p.m.
to 9:00 p.m. He stated it is a steak house and the meetings will be conducted in the banquet room in
the back. In response to Chair Rademacher, Mr. Meyer stated the American Stewards of Liberty is not
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Minutes, September 15, 2010 2010-2140
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a political party and it has not expressed a position on Amendments 60 and 61 or Proposition 101. In
response to Mr. Meyer, Commissioner Conway stated Weld County is coordinating as the result of
meetings the Board has attended with Mr. Meyer and other citizens; not as the result of Lincoln County
choosing to invoke coordination, as Mr. Meyer had heard a Morgan County Commissioner indicate.
CONSENT AGENDA: Commissioner Long moved to approve the Consent Agenda as printed.
Commissioner Kirkmeyer seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously.
COMMISSIONER COORDINATOR REPORTS: Commissioner Long stated he attended a meeting
with the U.S. Forest Service and Pawnee Grazing Association; however, he did not get to stay long due
to a major fire occurring east of the Town of New Raymer. He stated it was the third fire to occur in the
same area within two (2) weeks. He stated the fire burned 300 acres and it required 23 trucks,
47 firefighters, and a crop duster to control the fire. Commissioner Long thanked Blattner Energy for
preventing a home from being burned down; two (2) employees on a tanker saw the fire and
immediately emptied two (2) tankers onto it. He thanked the men for having the presence of mind to
act quickly and for interrupting their work schedules to assist with the fire. In response to Chair
Rademacher, Commissioner Long stated it is possible a trucker's brakes may be causing the fires.
BIDS:
PRESENT BID #61000139, TAX NOTICES AND ENVELOPES - TREASURER'S OFFICE: Monica
Mika, Director of Finance and Administration, stated said bid will be presented for approval on
September 29, 2010, and she will explain at that time why these services cannot be completed
in-house. In response to Chair Rademacher, Ms. Mika stated none of the local vendors provide both
the printing and mailing services.
APPROVE BID #B1000134, COPIER - DEPARTMENT OF PRINTING AND SUPPLY (CON'T FROM
09/08/2010): Ms. Mika stated that Edna Mata, Department of Printing and Supply, submitted a letter,
dated September 13, 2010, which recommends the bid be rejected in order to allow staff adequate time
to research the copier. She stated she wants to find out how the County can reduce printing and
copying costs. She stated there are cost policies, which were implemented years ago and are not
being enforced, including limitations on how much printing can occur in each department; therefore, she
recommends denying the bid until she can gather all the related information. Chair Rademacher stated
the County has numerous color copiers and it is important to make sure another one (1) is necessary
and that it will work in conjunction with existing equipment. Commissioner Garcia thanked Ms. Mata for
looking at the big picture, looking beyond the bid procedure process, and considering the best interests
of the tax payers. Ms. Mika stated Marcia Walters, Purchasing, who monitors the copy machine
purchases, and Anita Scrams, Affiliated Computer Systems, will also be involved with evaluating the
situation. Chair Rademacher stated the County spends approximately $67,000.00 each year on color
toner cartridges. Commissioner Conway moved to reject said bid, based on staff's recommendation.
Seconded by Commissioner Garcia, the motion carried unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS:
CONSIDER LAW ENFORCEMENT SERVICE AGREEMENT AND AUTHORIZE CHAIR TO SIGN —
TOWN OF GARDEN CITY: Commander Alan Caldwell, Sheriff's Office, stated this agreement was
discussed in a work session with the Board and it is for a total amount of $184,120.00, for Fiscal
Year2011. Chair Rademacher stated this is a one (1) year renewable contract. Commissioner
Conway stated in the work session he questioned the automatic renewal and he inquired as to what
was determined. Commander Caldwell stated no decision was made during the work session, and all
of the law enforcement service agreements are automatically renewed, other than the agreement with
Aims Community College. He stated he was not employed by the County when the decision was made
for the agreements to automatically renew; however, he believes the reasons the stipulation was added
was to make the renewal process easier, and because the municipality must provide the amount it
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Page 2 BC0016
wants to spend in the upcoming year and agree to the hourly rate Weld County charges, otherwise, the
agreement will not automatically renew. Commissioner Kirkmeyer stated it was also discussed at the
work session that future work sessions will be scheduled for either September or October of each year,
in order to review all the existing law enforcement service agreements and ensure the reimbursement
rate is correct. She stated she believes that was the resolution the Board reached, based on its
concerns. Chair Rademacher concurred. Commissioner Conway stated he is fine with that solution;
however, he does not want the agreements to automatically renew without being reviewed annually,
since there are concerns about whether the County is being fully reimbursed for the law enforcement
services by the identified rate.
Bruce Barker, County Attorney, stated the fourth paragraph was added to the law enforcement service
agreements, in order to address the concerns about automatic renewal, and the paragraph specifies
either party can terminate the agreement with 60 days notice. Commissioner Conway stated there are
many of these agreements in effect and he is not confident all the agreements will be presented to the
Board each year for review. He stated if the review process is going to be evaluated in September or
October he is satisfied with that; however, he is not comfortable with the agreements being approved
without any oversight.
Commissioner Garcia apologized for not noticing this at the work session; however, it has come to his
attention that the agreement indicates on Page 6, under Weld County Court and Weld District Court
Appearances, the Town shall not be required to reimburse the Sheriff's Office for appearances by Weld
Sheriff's deputies, even if the alleged violation occurred within the incorporated limits of the Town. He
stated Weld County is still utilizing its man power and the deputies must provide testimony to pursue a
conviction on a charge; therefore, the Town ought to be responsible for that cost, in order for the
Sheriff's Office to fully recover its cost. Chair Rademacher stated this concern was brought up at the
work session and he concurred with Commissioner Garcia that he is not comfortable with this language
being in the agreement. Mr. Barker inquired as to how often the Sheriff's Office writes tickets within the
municipalities for County and District Court matters, since the agreements are to enforce the town
ordinances. Commander Caldwell stated it rarely happens and most of the tickets the Sheriff's Office
writes are to enforce the towns' ordinances. In response to Chair Rademacher, Commander Caldwell
clarified the appearances deputies make at the municipal level are covered in the agreement and the
appearances are generally during the deputy's regular on-duty hours. He stated the Sheriff strives to
provide a deputy at every court hearing. Chair Rademacher stated this has been an issue before,
where County tickets are written, as opposed to municipal tickets. Mr. Barker stated the County tickets
are written in unincorporated areas. Chair Rademacher clarified there has been an issue with County
tickets being written within the incorporated portions of towns. Mr. Barker stated the model traffic code
does not apply in incorporated areas; therefore, he does not understand what happened in the situation
Chair Rademacher is referring to. Commissioner Garcia stated the two (2) areas he is concerned
about are drinking establishments and medical marijuana facilities. Responding to Commissioner
Garcia, Commander Caldwell confirmed Driving Under the Influence (DUI) tickets and tickets for
accidents involving injuries are County tickets.
In response to Chair Rademacher, Commander Caldwell stated the Sheriff's Office is not acquiring any
vehicles or other assets from Garden City. He clarified he is unaware of Garden City owning any police
vehicles, and it is his understanding the City of Evans previously provided all the vehicles utilized for
policing purposes within Garden City.
Commissioner Kirkmeyer inquired as to whether the Sheriff's Office will be enforcing just traffic and
criminal matters, or whether it will also be performing code enforcement, such as catching dogs and
monitoring weeds. Commander Caldwell stated the Sheriff's Office will be purely conducting law
enforcement; it will not be conducting any code enforcement or animal control under the proposed
agreement.
Minutes, September 15, 2010 2010-2140
Page 3 BC0016
Commissioner Kirkmeyer stated she understands the termination clause, which is good to include in the
agreement; however, the Board needs to review the ongoing and future costs for all of these
agreements, in order to secure the reimbursement of the actual costs, and all the agreements, including
the agreement with Aims Community College, should be reviewed at the anticipated work session.
In response to Chair Rademacher, Commander Caldwell stated he has been told that there is enough
personnel within the Sheriff's Office to fulfill this agreement; therefore, an existing employee will be
transferred from one (1) position to another.
Responding to Commissioner Garcia, Commander Caldwell confirmed this will be an hourly agreement
and if the hours specified in the agreement are exceeded, the Town of Garden City will be charged for
the additional hours. He stated the business model which the Sheriff's Office utilizes includes both
direct and indirect hours, and he monitors the budgets for these agreements and when a town's budget
is getting low, he advises the town it needs to contribute more funds, or the law enforcement services
will be reduced or eliminated.
Commissioner Garcia moved to amend Item 3 on Page 6 of the agreement to remove the word "not," in
order to modify the language to read, "The Town shall be required to reimburse Sheriff for appearances
by Weld Sheriff's deputies in Weld County Court or Weld District Court even if the alleged violation
occurred within the incorporated limits of the Town." Commissioner Kirkmeyer seconded the motion,
and she clarified the Town shall reimburse the Sheriff for court appearances related to matters which
occurred within the Town. Commissioner Garcia concurred, and he amended his motion to include
deleting the word even from Item 3, in order to modify the language to read, "The Town shall be
required to reimburse Sheriff for appearances by Weld Sheriff's deputies in Weld County Court or Weld
District Court if the alleged violation occurred within the incorporated limits of the Town." Commissioner
Kirkmeyer seconded the motion. Commissioner Long stated he is concerned about consistency and
the County has not charged any municipalities it does not have law enforcement agreements with for
making County or District Court appearances. Mr. Barker stated these are State claims, and the
Sheriff's deputies are not being subpoenaed by the municipalities to testify; the deputies are being
subpoenaed by the District Attorney's Office. He stated the Sheriff's deputies can write a ticket within a
town that the County does not have a law enforcement service agreement with, and the deputies are
not making District or County Court appearances on behalf of the municipality, which are both reasons
the language was included within the agreement. He stated he understands it is a part of the policing
of an area; however, the municipalities were going to request that the Sheriff's deputies not write any
County tickets within the towns, in order to avoid having to pay for the District and County Court
appearances, and the County wanted to avoid the restriction, which is one (1) of the reasons the
language was included in the agreement. Commissioner Kirkmeyer stated the Sheriff's Office is
essentially acting as the law enforcement within a town which it has a law enforcement service
agreement with, and if a police officer within a town writes a DUI ticket or a ticket for another criminal
violation, the District Attorney would require the police officer to testify in court; therefore, the Sheriff's
Office should be reimbursed for the time its deputies spend in court for those types of situations. She
stated if the municipality was operating its own police force and the officer was required to attend court,
the municipality would have had to pay for its police officer to attend the court hearing. Commissioner
Garcia stated the way he views the situation is that the Sheriff's deputy would not be the officer
involved in the situation if the Sheriff's Office was not involved in this agreement. Mr. Barker stated it is
unknown whether a police officer would write the same ticket if the municipality had its own police force.
Commissioner Caldwell stated there are some charges which cannot be written into the Town
Ordinance, for example, DUI, which is a State charge, and whether a police officer or a Sheriff's deputy
writes the ticket, the matter will not be considered in a municipal court. Commissioner Kirkmeyer stated
the County should be reimbursed for any time the Sheriff's Office has spent acting on behalf of a
municipality it has a law enforcement service agreement with. Mr. Barker reiterated a court appearance
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Page 4 BC0016
for a DUI charge is not an example of the deputy acting on behalf of the municipality; the deputy is
subpoenaed by the District Attorney's Office. Commissioner Kirkmeyer clarified the Sheriff's deputy is
subpoenaed by the District Attorney's Office because they issued a ticket as the law enforcement
officer for the municipality, which means the deputy was acting on behalf of the municipality when it
wrote the ticket. Commissioner Conway stated he understands a DUI charge is a State matter;
however, there are situations where moving violations, which are normally handled by municipal courts,
will be considered in County Court as a result of a law enforcement service agreement, and there will
be rare instances the cases end up in a trial and the deputy will be required to testify. He stated there
will be situations where traffic accidents, which would normally be considered in a municipal court
setting, will be considered in County Court, and he is unsure about how often this occurs and how
much time the deputies invest in attending court for these types of situations. Mr. Barker stated if the
Board is amending this agreement, it should terminate and amend all the existing law enforcement
service agreements, in order to be consistent. Commissioner Conway indicated he is concerned about
consistency and he wants to consider all the existing agreements at the same time. In response to
Commissioner Conway, Commissioner Kirkmeyer clarified the Sheriff's deputies will write some tickets
for municipal courts, mostly traffic infractions. In response to Commissioner Conway, Commander
Caldwell stated Garden City is in the process of establishing a municipal court. He stated the Sheriff's
Office's practice within all the municipalities is to write tickets for that jurisdiction's court when it is
possible; however, when there is not a provision within the municipal code for a violation, or when it is a
State matter, such as a DUI charge, the deputies have no choice other than to write the ticket for
County or District Court. He stated the number of tickets the deputies write for County Court are few in
comparison to those written for the municipal courts. In response to Commissioner Conway,
Commander Caldwell confirmed the deputies write tickets for violations of the municipalities' ordinances
and the County will be reimbursed for the time the deputies spend in municipal courts, as a result of the
law enforcement service agreements. Commissioner Long inquired as to how the County will
distinguish a time it would have been present in Garden City without the agreement, for example, to
conduct roadside sobriety checks, as opposed to time the deputies are serving under the law
enforcement service agreement. He stated he does not want to charge municipalities for time the
deputies would have been present within the municipality anyway. Commissioner Kirkmeyer stated the
County should bill the municipality when it is acting on its behalf, and the example Commissioner Long
gave about roadside sobriety checks would be an example of the Sheriff acting independently;
therefore, the municipality should not be charged for those hours. She stated there are more than
traffic violations to consider; the criminal code must be considered, since the Sheriff's Office is
essentially acting as the police department in the municipalities that the County has law enforcement
service agreements with, and if there is a rape, shooting, or burglary, where a municipal officer would
be required to attend a District Court hearing, the County should be reimbursed for the Sheriff's
deputy's time to attend as the officer representing the municipality. Commissioner Long stated the lines
remain blurred to him because there are situations where the Sheriff's Office would have been the first
to respond to a scene, or at least responded to a scene to assist, absent of an agreement. He stated
he is unclear about how the billing should occur in those situations, and he would rather consider all the
law enforcement service agreements at the same time, in order to be consistent.
Ms. Mika stated she is uncomfortable with the language in Schedule D, on Page 12 of the agreement,
regarding the maximum cumulative amount, since an hourly rate is being charged. She indicated the
Town of Garden City may interpret the agreement to state it will not pay more than the listed cumulative
amount; however, the Town could be paying more than the projected cumulative amount, based on the
number of hours utilized. Chair Rademacher inquired as to whether this language is in all the law
enforcement service agreements. Mr. Barker confirmed the language is in all the law enforcement
services agreements and he indicated the cumulative total is included for the Sheriff's Office to know at
what point to cease providing service and billing hours. In response to Chair Rademacher,
Commander Caldwell stated something of this nature is necessary in the agreement because it
indicates how much funding each municipality has budgeted for this service, and the $51.00 per hour is
Minutes, September 15, 2010 2010-2140
Page 5 BC0016
the rate at which the budget will be depleted. He stated there has never been a problem concerning
additional services; the Sheriff's Office is there in a specific role and that is to enforce the law. He
stated the Sheriff's Office does not provide code enforcement or animal control under these law
enforcement service agreements and those are not services the Sheriff is interested in providing.
Commander Caldwell stated there are constantly municipalities requesting that the Sheriff's Office
provide code enforcement and animal control, and the Sheriff consistently declines to provide those
services. He stated one (1) of his roles at the Sheriff's Office is to monitor the budgets listed in the law
enforcement service agreements and if the budget is going to be depleted before the year is over, he
communicates with the municipality about its options, which are to exhaust the budget and no longer
receive services from the Sheriff's Office for the remainder of the year, or to reduce the number of
hours the Sheriff's Office is allocating to the Town, in order to make the budget last for the remainder of
the year. Ms. Mika stated she understands if there is a reduction in hours; however, she inquired as to
what happens if the Town wants twice as many hours in November, for example, since the agreement
seems to prevent the Sheriff's Office from providing services which exceed the cumulative amount.
Commander Caldwell stated the schedule has to be determined by mutual agreement and if the
municipality requests something the Sheriff's Office cannot provide, it simply communicates that, and
there have been instances where the municipality has chosen to reserve its hours for a specific time of
the year when it anticipated a higher call volume. Ms. Mika inquired as to whether the agreement will
be presented to the Board again in the situation where the municipality has indicated it wants to utilize a
number of hours which will exceed the maximum cumulative amount. Commander Caldwell confirmed,
in the situation Ms. Mika described, the agreement would be presented to the Board, since the Sheriff's
Office does not possess the authority to enter into these types of agreements without the Board's
approval. Chair Rademacher inquired as to whether there has ever been a situation where the
municipality reached its maximum cumulative amount. Commander Caldwell stated there was a
situation where a municipality had under-budgeted for the services it needed, and it decided to amend
its budget by increasing the cumulative amount. Chair Rademacher stated the Board needs a work
session to discuss these agreements in the future. Upon request for a roll call vote, the amendment
passed three (3) to two (2), with Commissioners Conway and Long in opposition. Commissioner
Conway moved to approve said agreement, as amended, and authorize the Chair to sign. He stated he
is making this motion with the understanding that all the law enforcement service agreements will be
reviewed in the near future and on a regular basis thereafter. Commissioner Garcia seconded the
motion, and he indicated he appreciates the comments about consistency; however, the Board should
not approve an agreement which is contradictory to what it believes for the sake of remaining
consistent with previous agreements. He stated the Board should not continue approving the law
enforcement service agreements without making the necessary changes. Commissioner Kirkmeyer
stated she will vote in favor of this motion; however, she has concerns about the direction the County is
heading with the law enforcement service agreements and she is not confident the County is being fully
reimbursed for its services. She stated the Board needs to discuss all the law enforcement service
agreements, and this particular agreement may need to be amended again later, depending on what is
determined concerning reimbursement. She stated Commissioner Conway indicated at the work
session that law enforcement is a municipal service, and the municipalities have a responsibility to
provide law enforcement to the citizens and pay the cost of providing the service. Commissioner
Kirkmeyer stated she will be voting in favor of this agreement because it would not be fair to deny it and
decide to terminate all the existing law enforcement service agreements at this moment; however, the
Board needs to consider the agreements over the upcoming months. Commissioner Long stated he is
in support of the agreement; however, he wants clear lines of distinction to be drawn for what costs will
be reimbursed and which costs will not be, and a work session is needed. There being no further
discussion, the motion carried unanimously.
RESOLUTIONS AND ORDINANCES: The resolutions were presented and signed as listed on the
Consent Agenda. No Ordinances were approved.
Minutes, September 15, 2010 2010-2140
Page 6 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 9:51 a.m.
BOARD OF COU► COMMISSIONERS
ATTEST:
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David E. Long
Minutes, September 15, 2010 2010-2140
Page 7 BC0016
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