Mindy Leary, Gilpin County. On Tuesday, March 24, 2020, the Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners met online for a special meeting at 9 a.m. Commissioners Gail Watson, Linda Isenhart and Ron Engels were in attendance, as were County Manager Abel Montoya and County Attorney Bradford Benning. Highlights included a discussion of the potential extension of Emergency Declaration through April 3, 2020, Rodeo Riders Safety and Delinquent Interest on Property Taxes. No conflicts of interest or public comment were made. 

On the issue of extending the Emergency Declaration to April 3, Engels asked if we should match the casinos extension through April 30. This would also make it concurrent with the pay period. A motion was made to extend the Emergency Declaration to May 1, including the current pay plan for employees and county closures. All were in favor of the amended motion.

Next on the agenda, Parks and Recreation Director Kyle Benedict and the commissioners talked about safeguarding riders with a helmet and a chest protector and how the rodeo organizer the county currently uses is not willing to make mandatory for his riders. Isenhart said she would rather skip the rodeo if safeguards are not in place. The issue was tabled up further review of other counties’ rodeo safety protocols.

Delinquent interest on property taxes was discussed and County Treasurer Mary Lorenz said the governor announced that treasurers can waive interest on first half-payments that were due last day of February. “People will have to mail in or drop off their tax payment in order to waive the interest,” said Lorenz.

The governors only giving thirty days to do that so it doesn’t encompass full payment which are due the last day in April. The hope is that on April 20 the governor will allow another thirty days. 

Gilpin County Commissioners approved the consent agreement that will allow the City of Black Hawk to annex land for the Lake Gulch Whiskey Resort property pending the agreements on the term sheet. They agreed that the Covid-19 pandemic has shown them they need to have other business in Gilpin. The new construction will provide jobs as well.

Two representatives from the Jefferson County Public Health were phone-in guests and talked about the COVID-19 outbreak. There has been a huge amount of people showing up to hike trails in the mountains. Boulder has closed their trails and Jeffco is looking at doing the same because people are not staying at home. 

Engels asked Dr. Mark Johnson how these restrictive orders will be enforced and the response was education, social policing, and finally, penalties like fines or imprisonment although this step has yet to be specifically planned. 

Sheriff Kevin Armstrong mentioned that he reached out to USFS on the possible closing of Tolland Road, where there was possibly 1,300 people recreating this past weekend. Isenhart said, “People aren’t taking social distancing seriously and we really need to be diligent right now.” The sheriff said he would assure the legality before enforcing any closures.

The board extended the precautionary closure of the county offices excluding essential services. The closure will continue through Friday May 1, 2020. The board will once again evaluate the closure before it expires and make adjustments as necessary. Please note that there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Gilpin County at this time.   

In addition, the Board approved an extension of an emergency declaration on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, in a public meeting. The state of emergency will run concurrently with the precautionary county office closures.

(Originally published in the March 26, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)