HomeMy WebLinkAbout20193823.tiffMINUTES
WELD COUNTY COUNCIL
July 15, 2019
The Weld County Council met in regular session in full conformity with the Weld County Home
Rule Charter at 6:30 p.m., Monday, July 15, 2019, at the Weld County Administration Building,
1150 0 Street, Greeley, CO.
ROLL CALL:
The meeting was called to order by President Brett Abernathy. Councilmembers Nancy
Teksten, James Welch and Gene Stille were present, constituting a quorum of members.
Councilmember Tonya L. Van Beber had an excused absence. Also present was Council
Secretary Linda Kane.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA :
Councilmember Abernathy asked that discussion of the whistleblower program under Old
Business be tabled to next month when there's a full Council. Councilman Stifle made a
motion to approve the agenda as amended, seconded by Councilmember Welch and carried.
APPROVAL OF DOCUMENTATION:
Approval of June 17, 2019, Minutes
Councilmember Welch made a motion to approve the May minutes, seconded by
Councilmember Stifle and the motion carried.
Approval of 2nd Quarter Report to the People
Councilmember Teksten made a motion to approve the May minutes, seconded by
Councilmember Welch and the motion carried.
REVIEW PROGRAM:
Mr. McDonald gave an overview of his vast department. They have six operations
divisions; an engineering division; and an administration division; and he has two deputy
directors.
When fully staffed, the department employs 261 workers. They maintain 744 miles of paved
roads, 2,189 miles of gravel roads and 448 bridges. Their budget is $71.6 million.
Whenever a road needs to be reconstructed and improved it's handled by the road and bridge
construction team. They've spent more than 10 years perfecting the process now used to build
the foundation on which we build an asphalt road. They also repair, maintain and replace
bridges. They recently completed reconstruction on the last load -restricting bridge within the
county road system. It was part of a 30 -year project.
The trucking division transports a half -million tons of surface items per year including surface
gravel and asphalt, etc. The Mining Division planning committee has its own crushing plant that
produces gravel.
In 2018, the Maintenance Support Division replaced they maintained, replaced or installed
more than 15,000 signs. They also re -stripe every mile of every road each year as a safety
precaution. The Weed Division takes care of roadside spraying and mowing.
The engineering department is very diverse. They provide engineering services for capital
improvement projects; materials testing; review of development of infrastructure; work with
contractors and permitting; and work closely with the operations division.
The administrative division processes new employees and those leaving; manage citizen
Jay McDonald, Director of Public Works
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complaints and other requests; and innumerable other tasks.
The Public Works Department strives to ensure a safe, efficient and cost-effective
transportation infrastructure to the general public. At any one time they have dozens of projects
ongoing over 4,000 square miles of Weld County.
Councilmember Abernathy asked about solar blinking intersections across the county. Mr.
McDonald said several criteria go into recommending a flashing stop sign at an intersection
including safety, accident numbers and complaints.
Councilmember Abernathy asked about the cost. Mr. McDonald didn't know the exact number
at the meeting, so he sent an email the following day with the information. He reported the signs
cost $800 each and cost $200 to install.
Councilmember Teksten relayed a compliment to Mr. McDonald. She said she attended a
program with the state patrol and they complimented public works on how responsive they are
to requests from CDOT. Mr. McDonald said they have a good working relationship with CDOT
with the goal of improving safety of the entire road system for residents.
Councilmember Welch asked about priority projects for the near future. Mr. McDonald said
they have a five-year plan presented to County Commissioners each year. One project includes
CR 13 and the CR 34 intersection, improving CR 13 from CR 36 to Hwy 66.
He said they take into consideration the disruption to people's lives when they undergo such a
big project. This one included enlarged the intersection to allow for better turning radiuses and
underground utilities had to be moved.
Another big project includes County Road 29, paving north from Hwy 14 up to County Road
90. He said a lot of drainage structures had to be replaced and improved on that project.
Councilmember Stille asked about a bridge north of Kersey. Mr. McDonald said that project
was contracted out to another company. It was a result of the flood of 2013.
Councilmember Stille also inquired about County Road 47 coming up to County Road 392,
where there seem to be several fatal accidents. Mr. McDonald said at the meeting he was not
aware of any fatalities at that intersection. He responded via email the following day their data
shows one fatality and that it's a CDOT controlled intersection so they would be the agency to
examine and evaluate that data and institute any control measures.
Councilmember Welch asked when they decide to contract out a project versus using their
own team. Mr. McDonald responded that many times projects are contracted out because his
department is too busy. He said a lot of it is workload and sometimes it depends on grant -
required deadlines.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Dave Kisker, of Johnstown, directed his questions to Mr. McDonald. He asked where the public
could get information about capital improvement plans. He said he realizes they are provided
during public meetings before the County Commissioners, but said they're crowded and hard for
citizens to sit in on it. He asked if there's a place where the public can acquire the capital
improvement plans; priority projects; and traffic counts.
Mr. McDonald declined to answer Mr. Kisker's questions. He said to answer citizen questions
in this setting seems like an ambush. He said his contact information is available to the public
and he's happy to talk to anyone who contacts him.
NEW BUSINESS:
Coordinator Reports/Councilman Reports
Councilmember Welch said he met with representatives of the Extension Office and the Fair
Board. He said the fair kicks off this weekend and provided fliers to Council and the public if
they wanted. He said Weld County has the biggest county fair in terms of livestock sales. The
fair this year has over 1,000 exhibitors.
Bills
Councilmember Teksten made a motion to approve bills, it was seconded by Councilmember
Stille and carried. The bills were paid as follows:
o Weld County Phone Bill for May $25.00
Correction to May Minutes
Councilmember Welch made a motion to approve the amended May 20, 2019, Minutes, it was
seconded by Councilmember Teksten and carried.
Proposed 2020 Budget
Councilmember Stifle made a motion to approve the Proposed 2020 Budget, it was seconded
by Councilmember Teksten and carried.
OLD BUSINESS:
Continued Discussion of Whistleblower Program
As approved in the amended agenda, this item was tabled until the August meeting.
ADJOURNMENT:
By acclamation, the meeting was adjourned at 7:02 p.m.
August 19, 2019 '�oyatffe`�i`tlent, Brett ,gc�ernathy
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Council Secretary, Linda Kane
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