Mindy Leary, Gilpin County.

EOC, IGA and returning to county buildings

On September 15, 2020, the Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners met online at 9 a.m. for a special meeting. Commissioners Gail Watson, Linda Isenhart and Ron Engels were present as were County Attorney Brad Benning and County Manager Abel Montoya. Highlights included a Covid-19 update, a discussion on the EOC and an IGA.

Public Health Coordinator Bonnie Albrecht said there are still 18 cases. Gilpin County’s application for “Protect Our Neighbors” has been approved.

Emergency Manager Nate Whittington said he is currently working on the planning of mass vaccinations for Covid, which will be multi-tiered for who gets the vaccine. Regular flu vaccines will be available in October and are encouraged.

The EOC (Emergency Operations Center) has been operational for 185 days thus far and has performed testing and given support to the county during this crisis ranging from food management and PPE inventory to disaster mitigation. 

The annexation IGA between the County, Black Hawk, and Central City concerning Lake Gulch Road was discussed by Benning. Proximo Development has bought the property to develop a whiskey distillery and this IGA addressed concerns about the impact on the nearby roads. Proximo will pave and maintain the road to municipal standards per this agreement. The commissioners approved the IGA unanimously.

The county has been working on how to return business to county buildings. People working from home who have underlying health conditions can remain at home. Working from home also reduces the carbon footprint by using less single-use PPE and less fuel for transportation. The new normal for local governments and businesses may be quite a bit different moving forward.

Benning reported on the claim sent by Jefferson County in the amount of about $8,000 that was incurred when a county employee hit a guardrail. 

The food bank will move to the old, modular public health building, not the new public health building, which saves about $100k. It will need a new roof and a concrete pad. 

The county has added a feature to the Assessor’s website that uses 2020 home values to estimate taxes due. There is also a way to find out what you owe by looking at your 2019 property taxes. 

The Gilpin County Planning Commission will have a meeting on September 22, 2020, and can be accessed virtually via the county website.

Commissioners discuss ballot information

On Thursday, September 17, 2020, the Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners met online at 9 a.m. for a special meeting. Commissioners Gail Watson, Linda Isenhart and Ron Engels were present as were County Attorney Brad Benning and County Manager Abel Montoya. Highlights included discussions on the budget, ballot information and public health orders. 

Montoya discussed budget expenditures and projected profits. Revenues are at an estimated loss of 3.5 to 4.9 million for the year. 

Watson suggested another round of cuts but Montoya responded, “The county’s not spending any money on any projects. We have a hiring freeze and the only thing left to cut for 2020 is more services.”

Watson said, “We have to focus on this estimated budget,” which cites more dramatic losses than this report.

Montoya said this is more of a snapshot. As required by law, Gilpin County must submit financial estimates for 2020 and 2021, including park and recreation estimated mill scenarios.

“Without the passage of the mill levy, most community center indoor activities would not open to the public,” the commissioners and Montoya decided.

 Next on the agenda, the commissioners discussed the upcoming ballot and its information, such as pros and cons. The board reviewed the final draft of the ballot, which is required by law to be no more than 500 words per ballot item.

Montoya said, “The last thing we want are any of the county residents to say the county intentionally did not include certain information on the blue book. If anyone has questions on our budget, we have tons of content that we’ve gone through that’s available on our website and we have budget meetings coming up next week so anybody can tune in and listen to those to learn more.”

Next, the board discussed the offices of the courthouses. Watson said, “The first-floor offices, the Assessor, elected officials, the Treasurer and the Clerk and Recorder are happy with the way things are being run. The second and third floor is what we want to get working on the same level,” which has Administration, Community Development and the County Attorney.

Montoya responded, “Consider that done.” There will be a 30-day slow transition as recommended by the Public Health Director. Eighty percent of county employees currently work 100 percent in the office. Only 5.6% work exclusively from home and about 92 percent work fifty percent or more in the office.

“I think the numbers look pretty good. I think we certainly want to return to normal, but not at the expense of anyone’s health.” said Isenhart. 

Watson would like to see all the “public-facing county departments” more open. 

The board is planning on having some live commissioner meetings in the courthouse soon, with rehearsals in the works for streaming the event.

Then the board discussed a public health order, as requested by Engels, who said casino operators asked if they could install plexiglass dividers so as to increase capacity to 8 people instead of six at poker tables and to 4 players per black jack table instead of 3, which he said also adds an additional layer of security.

“These are the solutions that are in place in Las Vegas. This is more informational for all of us.” All the same requirements would be in place.

Watson suggested the county allow changes incrementally and wait at least 30 days to observe any possible dangers, just like in the county offices. She cited an article which criticized the Black Hawk casinos concerning spacing between people, comparing it to pre-pandemic times.

The work session concluded with the board looking forward to seeing the final version of the blue books later in the day.

Alcohol service extended to 2 a.m.

On September 22, 2020, the Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners met online at 9 a.m. for their regular meeting. Commissioners Gail Watson, Linda Isenhart and Ron Engels were present as were County Attorney Brad Benning and County Manager Abel Montoya. Highlights included a Covid-19 update, an amendment to the health order concerning alcohol service and an update on the GOCO grant for Covid relief concerning the Community Center Campus.

Emergency Manager Nate Whittington said the EOC (Emergency Operations Center) has been working with multiple vendors to procure PPE and that there is a nationwide shortage of nitrile gloves. 

Covid vaccinations would need to be stored at -120 degrees Fahrenheit and the EOC is seeking solutions by possibly partnering with Jefferson County. The state will be initiating a software system to track vaccinations.

Public Health Coordinator Bonnie Albrecht said there are still 18 cases, but that she was made aware of two positive cases out of two different casinos. They are not Gilpin residents, but she is working with them to do contact tracing. There are five more tests scheduled today.

Alcohol service is currently allowed to go until 11 a.m., but the governor recently allowed sales/service to go until 2 a.m. under “Protect Our Neighbor.” Benning said he would take a closer look at how the county will respond to the change. Engels suggested the board should make a motion to clarify the county’s status with the public health order.

The board then adjourned and reconvened as the Board of Health to discuss the matter. Engels made a motion to amend health order #20-11 to allow alcohol sales until 2 a.m. across the county, but with the concerns that business owners be vigilant of intoxicated drivers and law enforcement of late-night traffic. All were in favor.

Next was a public hearing for an application for a community development block grant, specifically to DOLA in the amount of $50,000 for the Human Services Food Bank and Meals on Wheels programs. Business Analyst Gabrielle Chisholm presented the information.

The board thanked the team for putting in the work and passed the motion unanimously to approve the application for the grant and the public hearing was closed.

Stephen Strohminger updated the board on the Comprehensive Plan and Land Use Development. Survey #3 is now available for residents to help the shape the future of development in Gilpin. 

Three hundred and fifty or so people have responded to the first two surveys with about a hundred who have already responded to the third and final survey. The next virtual community workshop will be on Tuesday, October 6, 2020, from 6:00-7:30 p.m. and can be accessed through the county website.

The GOCO resiliency grant application sought funding for outdoor activities at the Gilpin Community Center campus and was successful in receiving some partial funding in the amount of $109,000. Business Analyst Gabrielle Chisholm reported that the county was awarded funding for the ball field, fairgrounds and maintenance, surfacing for the playground, utilities for the exhibit barn, etc.  

Regulations must be met, and training administered to meet Covid requirements. Chisholm discussed staff requirements and possible hours and budgeting for the center if it were to fully re-open in relation to the proposed mill levy. Watson suggested former staff or furloughed staff be given first consideration.

A motion was approved to retain Safebuild as inspector throughout the rest of the Human Services building project.

Today is National Voter Registration Day. Be sure to register to vote.

Jaime Tirado, Business Analyst, delivered some good news: Gilpin County, which applied through OpenGov, was awarded the Digital Government Experiences Award which is given to various counties nationwide for their shift to digital. Gilpin was included among L.A. County and Miami-Dade, speaking to the amount of effort seen from the County’s recent digital initiatives.

The minutes for September 1, 3, 8 and 11, 2020, were approved and accepted; all were in favor.

(Originally published in the October 1, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)