The Gilpin County Commissioners approved a resolution imposing Stage 1 Fire Restrictions as well as passing resolutions regarding American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funds during a regular virtual meeting at 9 a.m. on May 3, 2022. The Board also approved letters of support for NoCo Places 2050 and a grant for the I-70 Mountain Corridor, and adopted policies for the disposition of county-owned personal property and Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) Requests.

Gilpin County Sheriff Kevin Armstrong introduced a resolution imposing temporary Stage 1 Fire Restrictions. He said he put Stage 1 fire restrictions in place one week ago due to the high winds and dry conditions.

According to the resolution, “By the reason of extremely dry fire conditions prevailing for the past month, an emergency exists because of extreme fire danger.” The Board has deemed it necessary and appropriate that temporary Stage 1 fire restrictions be imposed and amended the restrictions by prohibiting shooting or discharging firearms for recreational purposes on public lands.

The prohibition does not include hunting with a valid and current hunting license, which is allowed. The fire restrictions became effective in Gilpin County at 12 p.m., Thursday, April 21, 2022.

Commissioner Web Sill said the last time we did this, a problem existed under restrictions. We are definitely behind the curve on moisture, but he said he will vote against it because of the provision that limits the shooting of firearms for recreation and does not include hunting. He felt that the combination of words makes no sense: to allow hunting but not recreational shooting.

Board Chair Sandy Hollingsworth said the sheriff is the fire warden, and he can determine when fire bans are needed and can impose them. “It’s our job to approve it.”

Sarah Baciak, paralegal for County Attorney Brad Benning, said she wrote the resolution. It is worded like that to keep people from going on public lands for target practice. They can do target practice on private land with some restrictions.

Hollingsworth said that 32 counties in the state have fire bans. Emergency Manager Nathan Whittington said he has a flier about what you can and can’t do during the restrictions and emailed it to the Commissioners.

Commissioner Linda Isenhart said the resolution follows fire ban protocol. “I think this is perfectly fine,” she added. The Board approved the resolution with Sill voting against it.

Interim Finance Director Lorna Plamondo introduced two resolutions regarding American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funds. The first was adopting the revenue replacement election of the American Rescue Plan Standard Allowance.

Federal reporting requirements for ARPA include electing to take the standard allowance for up to $10 million and not exceed the award of $1,212,620. The amount that has been received to date is $606,315.

Gilpin County used ARPA funding for revenue replacement to rehire staff terminated because of COVID-19 and for funding other government services. These funds were used to support community business, healthcare facilities, the ambulance authority services, and small businesses.

The Board approved the resolution and another memorializing American Rescue Plan Allocations Break Out. Allocations to date include $295,000 for community support, $100,000 for the Clinica Healthcare clinic, $50,000 for Eagles Nest childcare facility, $100,000 for the Gilpin Ambulance, $20,000 for Jefferson County DA, $25,000 to The Mountain-Ear newspaper to assist local businesses with advertising, $462,935 for staffing positions, and $119,881 for the Sheriff’s Office.

Plamondo said the County is rehiring staff and supporting community businesses. County Manager Ray Rears said this has no changes from the previous Board discussions, but they might have new resolutions in the future.

Steve Coffin and Aaron Mayville, NoCo Co-chairs, requested a letter of support for a NoCo PLACES 2050 Grant from Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Mayville said he is the deputy forest supervisor for Arapaho and Roosevelt national forests. Coffin said he is the architect and is on the executive committee with Sandy Hollingsworth.

NoCo has eight groups across the front range, including five counties, the U.S. Forest Service, and the state. It was started in 2019 to protect and preserve recreational resources for future generations.

More specific goals are to inspire a stewardship ethics among visitors. They want to provide a quality experience for all. They did research and surveys and came up with a solutions phase to develop a common level of understanding and guidelines for action.

They have common messaging about the kinds of behaviors expected when people go into public lands. “Know before you go” is the common theme. They will have a joint news release and video.

They will be kicking off the campaign on Memorial Day. They have applied for a grant to enable them to work with Colorado State University and their huge database to come up with what recreational resources are in the region.

They will post the presentation on the NoCo tab on the Gilpin County website. Commissioner Sill said he supported the grant request and asked “Where does the money come from, and where will it go?” Coffin said the grant request is for up to $150,000, and they have $40,000 already.

The funds will come from Colorado Parks and the State legislature, They started small and have an annual and consistent stream of money.

Coffin said he hoped the Board would sign the letter of support he drafted that was edited by Sandy Hollingsworth that supports the partnership application for a grant request. The grant application is due in a week.

The Board approved signing the letter of support. County Manager Ray Rears requested a letter of Support for the I-70 Mountain Corridor Project Grant Application. It requests $240 million to widen I-70 at Floyd Hill.

CDOT has invested $500 million in the Floyd Hill project from Floyd Hill to Veterans Memorial Tunnels since 2011. CDOT has identified and committed $460 million of the $700 million to complete the Floyd Hill Project. The requested $240 million investment is critical to complete the funding for this project.

The Board approved the letter of support.

County Manager Ray Rears presented a resolution adopting a policy for disposition of county-owned personal property, He said this policy has been in place but never approved by the Commissioners. Selling property in excess of $1,000 must be advertised.

The funds would go to the general fund. Commissioner Isenhart said the section on Board limits should be on gifts and not salary and should be limited to $50, and the Board suggested to add a line that recycling is encouraged. The Board approved.

Benning introduced a resolution adopting policies relating to the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) Requests. They made changes based on the Board’s recommendation at the last meeting.

Benning said they included examples of why some requests should be denied, and tightened verbiage. The Board approved the resolution.

The next meeting of the Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners will be on Tuesday, May 17, 2022, at 9 a.m. For more information go to https:// gilpincounty.org/public_ meetings/ bo_ c_ c_ meetings