John Scarffe, Gilpin County. The Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners prioritized local applications for Colorado Department of Local Affairs Gaming Impact Grants during a regular meeting at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 7, 2019, at the Gilpin County Courthouse. The board also discussed the Second Amendment to the 911 Authority Board Intergovernmental Agreement and approved the annual parking lot leases with the Central City Opera House Association and a Special Event Liquor Permit for the 2019 County Fair.

The county annually applies for gaming grants with financial assistance available to local government entities for documented gaming impacts. “This provision of financial assistance is based on documented gaming impacts incurred for calendar year 2018,” according to the application. 

Commissioner Ron Engles said it’s pretty much the same as last year. The commissioners asked about the EMS and Fire Category. Engels, who also said he is on the state board for the gaming impact funds decisions, explained that because the fire district is a special district, it has its own application process for the grants. On the other hand, Eagles Nest is not a taxing entity, so their application would go through the county. 

Engels suggested ranking those that are direct county applications first. “Last year, most of the applications we put in were funded at 100 percent,” Engels said. Put EMS services higher on the list so it gets closer to 100 percent. The amount we’re asking for continuously goes up, so the probability is we will be funding part of the requests.

Board Chair Linda Isenhart agreed that EMS services are high on her list. “It really is important. detentions and patrol are pretty much formulaic.”

Commissioner Gail Watson asked how much weight the commissioner’s priorities are given, and Engels said the application is weighed on its own right. Sometimes they have conversations about costs, because different sheriff’s offices can have different costs. How commissioners rank the priorities comes into play later down the road. 

Brandon Duran, Gilpin County Ambulance Authority executive director, said they have noticed a lot of factors that play against them. “We noticed over time we get about 20 percent of the distribution. We’re satisfied with that, but of the $950,000 distribution, the other agencies got $750,000. Gilpin County received $215,000.

Duran wants to go to the other agencies and formalize the costs.

Historically, Gilpin County has taken the nonrefundable aspects of Medicare and only asked for one third of the costs. “We need $150,000 and sold ourselves short,” Duran said. Teller County, where gambling is also legalized in Colorado, has a very simple formula, and historically they get 100 percent, about $550,000. 

“I don’t expect we will get $900,000, but this is a true representation of our gaming impact. It’s a strategic move, and maybe this will reset the thinking on how to compare with the other applicants,” Duran said.

Engels said that last year no one did a presentation to the board from Gilpin County, and he recommended that Duran personally be there to explain what he has explained. Engels had to step out of the room for Gilpin County matters, so Duran said he will definitely be there.

The commissioners then wrote down their rankings and went on with the agenda while the results were tabulated. Later in the meeting, Engels explained that the way the county runs its budget, they have a legal requirement for how much the county has to fund the DA’s office, which is minus the grant amount to meet the legal minimum requirement. Putting this lower on the list means the county might have to spend more.

Isenhart said it has been funded at 100 percent but point well taken. Watson said the DA is well funded by Jefferson County. “I feel like they are not going away, whereas Eagles Nest and Jefferson Center for Mental Health might go away.” 

The board ranked the application for the Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office Detentions as number one with 2018 gaming related costs at $567,396, Sheriff’s Office Patrol number two with costs of $68,305, Gilpin Ambulance Authority number three with EMS costs of $950,318, County Victim Services as four with Human Services costs at $196,469, Eagles Nest Early Learning Center as five, the Jefferson Center for Mental Health as six and the First Judicial District Attorney as seven.

The board discussed the Second Amendment to the 911 Authority Board Intergovernmental Agreement to meet the IGA requirements for two signatures on vouchers or checks. The 911 coordinator, Vicki Nemec, recommended requiring the two signatures on the vouchers but not on the checks. Now they are required to have two signatures on checks, but two signatures on the vouchers will only meet the requirements of the IGA, so checks don’t need two signatures. 

Watson said the board is required to have five signatures. Isenhart said that, in light of what happened in Clear Creek, when a person absconded with $200,000, we need more eyes on them. 

Engels pointed out that the 911 board is joint between all the parties, and their policy should be their policy. We are one member of five. Nemec said that all the other parties have agreed. It can take a week to get a signature. 

Isenhart, who is also on the 911 board, said she is happy to run over and sign stuff. The board recommended that Nemec chat with County Treasurer Mary Lorenz and see what the most sensible thing to do is. Nemec will bring it back to another meeting. 

The board approved the annual parking lot leases with Central City Opera House Association for the county to use the Teller House parking lot off season and for the Opera company to use the Courthouse parking lot outside of work hours. 

The board also approved a Special Event Liquor Permit for the 2019 County Fair. 

(Originally published in the May 16, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)