The Gilpin County Commissioners approved a new deputy coroner position during a special meeting at 9 a.m. on August 9, 2022, at the courthouse and virtually.

The Board also approved a resolution directing the county manager to present a budget which reserves a minimum of eight percent of the twelve percent of the limited and extended gaming funds distribution to Gilpin County, and also discussed public notices in the Weekly Register- Call.

Director of Human Resources Chanda Johnson and Coroner Zane Laubhan requested creating the position of Chief Deputy Coroner. The Coroner’s office has identified a need for a chief deputy coroner.

This would not be an addition to staff. A member of the Coroner’s existing team would be appointed to the position. The Coroner is not requesting a change in pay for the duties performed. Under the direction of the Coroner, this position would perform a variety of administrative and forensic analytic duties to assist the Coroner in maintaining coverage for the Coroner’s office, such as responding to death scenes, conducting or assisting with the investigation at the death scene, making notifications, transporting remains and other related activities of the office, assisting with the preparation and implementation of the Coroner office budget, assisting with and coordinating the ongoing function of the Coroner’s office in the absence or incapacity of the duly elected Coroner, assisting with the utilization of reporting software and submittal of any required reports, including office statistics.

The Board approved the position of Chief Deputy Coroner.

County Manager Ray Rears introduced a resolution directing the County Manager to present a budget which reserves a minimum of eight percent of the twelve percent of the limited and extended gaming funds to Gilpin County for the 2023 budget and future years. The County is interested in reserving eight percent of gaming funds with a cap of $4 million.

Due to COVID-19, the County furloughed significant numbers of employees, cut significant expenditures, including the full closure of the Gilpin County Community Center, and received about 42 percent less direct gaming revenue in the year 2020, according to the resolution. The County is rural, with significant holdings of public lands of more than 50,000 acres with primarily crowded, similarly aged timber stands, which create hazardous fuel loading in a high- drought, insect-infested environment, presenting a significant fire danger.

The County has a number of needed capital improvements which require necessary funding to ensure that improvements are made, and the commissioners adopted a Strategic Plan in May 2019. The Strategic Plan established a mission, as agreed upon, that “We provide responsive services for our residents and visitors to protect, maintain and enhance our unique community, our historic and cultural heritage and our mountain environment. We focus on health, safety and well-being, partnerships, community engagement and effective use of public resources.”

An update to the Strategic Plan conducted on July 23, 2022, with input from County staff, which is still being finalized, identified a short-term financial sustainability short-term goal to “place a minimum of eight percent of the annual gaming tax payments in reserves for emergency situations, preservation of critical services, and capital improvement,” according to the resolution.

The resolution declares that the Board of County Commissioners authorizes and directs the County Manager to ensure each annual draft budget, starting with the 2023 annual budget, includes a minimum of eight percent of the total limited and extended gaming funds the County is projected to receive. The funds will be held to ensure the County is able to continue to function if and when a declared emergency occurs or there are dramatic negative forecasts to County revenue collections and/or to preserve continuity of government.

These funds may also be used for wildfire protection, post wildfire clean-up efforts, or critical capital needs. The maximum held in this account shall be $4 million.

Commissioners asked why it is capped at $4 million. Rears said they need some kind of cap. Commissioner Web Sill said they also have proposed ten percent, but eight percent is a positive step forward. The Board approved the resolution.

Ray Rears provided a staff report regarding public notices in the Weekly Register-Call newspaper. He said this is an informational item for the public to be aware of. “It has recently come to our attention that the Weekly Register- Call (WRC) has failed to publish a number of public notices over the past several months.

“A number of public notices sent for publication, as required by state law and County code, were not published and therefore not made public. As a result, public hearings have been continued or republished to ensure proper notice to the public of Board of County Commissioners action.”

On January 4, 2022, the Board discussed their list of annual appointments. During that meeting, a discussion ensued regarding which newspaper should be the Newspaper of Record: the Weekly Register-Call and/or The Mountain-Ear.

On January 14, the Board held a public work session to hear input from both newspapers, which included prior legal opinions on each newspaper’s eligibility to be appointed as a jurisdiction’s newspaper of record and on a jurisdiction appointing two newspapers.

On January 18, the final decision was made to appoint both the Weekly Register-Call and The Mountain-Ear the newspapers of record for 2022 as a trial arrangement, with additional costs and staff work to be considered.

On May 25, Director of Community Development Robert Gutierrez submitted to the Weekly Register-Call and The Mountain-Ear requests to publish notice of a public hearing on July 5, 2022, for Temporary Use Permit (TUP) 22-05, Central City Cemetery Crawl. Notice of the public hearing was published in the June 2 issue of The Mountain-Ear.

The Weekly Register-Call did not publish the requested notice. On June 22, Gutierrez followed up with the Weekly Register-Call after it was discovered by County staff that the notice had not been published.

As a result of this failure to publish, the public hearing was postponed until the August 2, regular meeting.

On July 6, Paralegal Sarah Baciak submitted to the Weekly Register-Call and The Mountain-Ear requests to publish notice of a public hearing on August 2, 2022, for the second reading of Ordinance 22-01, Concerning the Restriction of Open Fires, Fireworks, Public Displays of Fireworks and Use of Combustible Devices; and Ordinance 22-03, establishing a Licensing Authority to Regulate Massage Businesses.

Notice of the second reading of Ordinance 22-01 was published in the July 14 issue of The Mountain-Ear and the July 14 issue of the Weekly Register-Call. Notice of the second reading of Ordinance 22-03 was published in the July 14 issue of The Mountain-Ear. The Weekly Register- Call did not publish the requested notice of the second reading of Ordinance 22-03.

On July 6, Baciak submitted to both papers a request to publish notice of a public hearing on August 9, 2022, for the second reading of Ordinance 22- 02, Prohibiting Firearms in All County Buildings. Notice of the second reading

Ordinance 22-02 was published in the July 14 issue of The Mountain- Ear. The Weekly Register-Call did not publish the requested notice.

On August 3, it was discovered again by County staff that the Weekly Register-Call had failed to publish notice of the public hearing for the second reading of Ordinance 22-02 and the second reading of Ordinance 22-03. As a result of this failure to publish, the public hearing for the second reading of Ordinance 22-02 will be opened and continued to the September 6, 2022, regular meeting.

Since Ordinance 22-03 was not properly noticed in both Newspapers of Record, its approval during the August 2, 2022, regular meeting was suspended pending a repeat of the process. This new hearing is also scheduled for September 6.

Year-to-date, Gilpin County has paid to the Weekly Register-Call $6,020.53 in publishing fees; and year-to-date, Gilpin County has paid The Mountain-Ear $1,366.88. These amounts were paid for the same notices.

Weekly Register-Call owner, Bob Sweeney, responded that their system is, if the paper receives a public notice on Friday afternoon, they will send a proof back on Monday. Sweeney said they never got the notice. “If we don’t receive it, we can’t print it.”

Sweeney apologized and said they believe they have solved the problem. Board Chair Sandy Hollingsworth said they will move forward and will be watchful. For now, she said, we have been told there is a proposed resolution.

The next meeting of the Gilpin County Board of Commissioners will be Tuesday, August 16, 2022, at 9 a.m., at the Gilpin County Courthouse. For more information, go to https://gilpincounty.colorado.gov/ public-meetings/board-of-county- commissioners-bocc-meetings.