The Gilpin County Board of Health issued a public health order requiring masks in all public indoor venues during a regular, virtual meeting of the Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday, January 4, 2022. The Board also elected new officers and established annual appointments.

Gilpin County Emergency Manager Nathan Whittington said the county has a 25.5 percent positivity rate with COVID-19, with 47 confirmed and probable cases in the last seven days with no new hospitalizations and no new deaths. Public Health Director Dr. Dawn Comstock said Gilpin County has the highest positivity rate of nearby counties, but it mirrors other counties and the state.

The Omicron variant is driving cases, but symptoms are not as severe. She recommended a short-term public health order, because she believes the surge will peak in the next few days.

The Board approved a county-wide indoor masking order starting January 4 until February 4, with Commissioner Web Sill opposed.

The Board elected Chair Pro-tem Sandy Hollingsworth as the new chair and Web Sill as chairman pro-tem. During the discussion of annual appointments, County Attorney Brad Benning agreed to continue as County Manager until a new manager is found. Sharon Cate will continue as assistant to the Board, Tami Archer as Chief Building Official, and Wittington as Emergency Manager.

Two newspapers were vying to be newspaper of record: The Weekly Register Call out of Black Hawk and The Mountain-Ear based in Nederland and Gilpin County. The Weekly Register Call questioned a County grant to The Mountain-Ear from American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds to help with advertising.

Both newspapers serve the Peak to Peak community. The Board agreed that the County gets good coverage from both papers. The Weekly Register Call has more coverage in southern Gilpin County and Clear Creek County. The Mountain-Ear covers the Peak to Peak region from Gilpin County up to Allenspark and beyond.

Commissioner Sill said The Weekly Register Call is the oldest weekly publication in the state and is housed in Gilpin County. He would be more than happy to have them both. You want as broad a publication as possible, he said, so publish in both.

Staff cautioned that it would double the cost, and this is not budgeted. Sill said, “It’s a spit in the ocean compared to our budget to keep the citizens appraised of what is going on.” The Board agreed to table the requests of both papers and then revisit this after staff does research.

Whittington requested an Annual Emergency Management Performance Grant Application for $49,000 this year. It goes for salaries to keep EM up and running. The Board approved.

The Board approved the Certification of Ambulance Inspections and License requested by Gilpin Ambulance Authority (GAA) Director Brandon Daruna. Commissioner Isenhart said they are doing a wonderful job and keeping the ambulances in good shape.

Daruna said they need new cardiac monitors, since their current models are about 11 years old, so they hope to get grant funding. They cost $30,000 to $40,000 per monitor. They have received a grant to purchase a new ambulance, but it could take a few months to get it.

The GAA usually trades in the older vehicles, Daruna said, but that’s not enough to offset the cost. It may be a good strategy to keep a sixth ambulance in case they had a catastrophic failure. They usually replace the vehicles every ten years.

Daruna said they have three ambulances fully staffed for 24 hours, but when they are busy or experiencing bad weather they can have a fourth, and a fifth is a security blanket. Commissioner Web Sill said that keeping the sixth one might be overkill.

“I’d look really hard at whether you want to keep the sixth,” Sill said.

The Board approved the renewal for 2022 of the IT consulting services agreement with Teryx, Inc., for $6,050 per month. This would be a 10 percent increase in cost, but still competitive. The amount had been approved in the budget. Staff also requested anti-virus software at $2 per machine, a relatively insignificant amount for something that provides so much protection.

The Board approved the consulting services agreement with Teryx for 2022 for $72,600, to be paid monthly at $6,050, plus $2 per machine for antivirus software.

Gilpin County Sheriff Armstrong requested Board permission for a $27,700 grant application for peer support, and the Board approved.

The next meeting of the Gilpin County Board of Commissioners will be on January 18, 2022.