The Boulder County Board of Commissioners (BOC) spent an afternoon meeting with a group of residents at the Jamestown Town Hall on Thursday, May 12, 2022. The Commissioners sat down with a group of residents for the first “in- person” town hall meeting since before the Covid-19 pandemic. It was the first time the three commissioners had met with the residents of Jamestown.

Marta Loachamin, who was elected as Boulder County Commissioner for District 2 in July 2020, described herself in her election campaign as a “cultural broker fighting for housing, education, resiliency and economic mobility for over 20 years.” She has worked as a teacher as well as a realtor in the Longmont area and has been involved in housing advocacy for first time homeowners. She was in Jamestown to promote her work in outreach, not only in person but digitally, multiculturally, and multilingually; she planned updating government processes to support that mission.

Along with Loachamin were Vice- chairperson and Boulder County Commissioners for District 1, Claire Levy, and District 3, Mike Jones.

Levy is a seasoned civil servant who has served in political capacities in Boulder since 1982. She was also elected to her current post in July 2020. She has historically been an advocate for the health and economic security of low- income residents of Colorado.

Jones had served as the Senator for District 17 for six years before being elected to the BOC. He has also served four terms in the Colorado House, the most recent being from 2010-2012. He was chosen as Colorado Conservation 2015 Legislator of the Year in 2015, and his record of work in the environmental, conservation, wildfire, and water resources field is recognized. He stated that due to his work in the past as a wildland firefighter, his passions now include “forest health and making things better that way, reducing wildland fire risk, but also in the environmental world, that’s where I’m focused. Open space, climate action, those kinds of things.”

Levy reiterated that the BOC had been conducting Town Hall meetings since they had been in office, but had made it a priority to conduct in-person meetings with different communities since it they felt it was more effective: “Getting to be in the room with people, and getting the feel, and chat beforehand and chat afterwards and getting a sense of who you are,” she said.

In their meeting with Jamestown residents, they expressed their desire to hear what they could provide for Jamestown and what the residents felt they needed from the County.

A question was asked concerning revised building standards for new construction, in reference to a law, Article 19 (https://assets.bouldercounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/land- use-code-article-19.pdf), that had been passed that morning. Jones stated that the standards for building in the mountains would be like construction on the plains, except for requirements for “defensible spaces” in relation to wildfire risks. Loachamin read the article and added some information about new codes for “accessory structures” and standardizing materials for homes and other structures for wildfire mitigation.

Residents expressed concern about resources that were available for future flood recovery efforts, as well as other disaster relief strategies. The commissioners gave an overview of which organizations were responsible for specific types of responses, and which agency (i.e., federal, state, local), should be overseeing efforts. They also gave a brief breakdown of response budgets and how they were distributed and from where the finances would be allocated.

A resident raised the question of increasing land use, which Loachamin referred to as “sub-division of larger acreage” in relation to lot sizes of homes in the canyons. She replied that the Boulder comprehensive plan and its associated land use codes would continue to prioritize open space policies that have been put in place. She added that there was a conversation regarding “accessory dwelling units,” or ADUs, which are being discussed in relation to housing crisis issues.

Levy emphasized the reluctance to creating urban sprawl in the county due to the myriad problems that it would cause, and which other communities along the Front Range are already experiencing.

Another concern that was raised referenced the law enforcement availability in the mountain regions: how it was set up, and who was responsible for enforcement responses in the case of an incident.

Former Jamestown mayor Ken Lenarcic and current mayor Michael Box inquired about an ongoing IGA with Boulder County concerning the program Firewise, and questioned whether there might be amendments to be aware of, and other current construction and building concerns related to creating a Firewise community. Commissioner Jones gave a good overview of the wisdom behind the effort.

The BOC spoke about the need to have some First Responders being mental health professionals rather than law enforcement, which is being designed and implemented through the co-responder program: https://cdhs. colorado.gov/behavioral-health/co- responder.

It was the first time that the new BOC had the opportunity to speak in person with a community since the Covid restrictions had been lifted. Jamestown was fortunate to be the first on the list of Town Hall meetings. The BOC plans to organize more Town Hall meetings in the future.

For more information about the Boulder County Board of Commissioners, see their website: https://www.bouldercounty.org/government/elected- officials/commissioners/

For more information about Jamestown and its government activities: https://sites.google.com/a/jamestownco.org/town-of-jamestown/.