John Scarffe, Gilpin County. The Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners approved the fifth continuation of a Disaster Declaration order during a virtual regular meeting on December 15, 2020. The Board also approved the 2021 budget, a resolution levying taxes and two boundary line eliminations and discussed the County’s Comprehensive Plan.

Board Chair Gail Watson opened the meeting with a moment of silence in honor of Cody and Shelby Allen. The two Central City Fire Department fire fighters, Lieutenant Cody Allen, 29, and his wife, Shelby Allen, 27, were found deceased in their home on December 11, 2020, in Central City. 

Cody Allen had been with the Central City Fire Department as a volunteer since July of 2009, and was recently hired full time to the position of lieutenant. Shelby Allen was a member of the Fire Department as a volunteer since February 2016.

Watson said, “They were taken too young from this earth.” Commissioner Linda Isenhart said it was a horrible tragedy and our thoughts go out to the family.

Memorial services were planned for Friday, December 18, at 11 a.m. Services were to begin at a church for family and first responders and then move to the exhibit barn next to the Community Center. Public Health Coordinator Bonnie Albrecht said they will set up screens at the Fairgrounds, and people can listen from their cars.

They also and will have hay bales in place to separate guests from the family, masks on site and hand sanitizer available. Sheriff Kevin Armstrong said the hay bales will create a hallway and a path that people will walk through, and they have taped down the six feet for social distancing. “We are doing everything we can to make sure people are social distancing.” 

Emergency Manager Nathan Whittington said they have been working the family, and they will have deputies there to respect the wishes of the family. They are encouraging people to show up at the drive in or view it from their homes. 

Regarding COVID-19, Whittington said they are starting to receive vaccines but still looking for needles and supplies. They are working on a plan for vaccinations and will start administering them in January. 

Albrecht said the County is holding steady in cases with 105 total and only one death. The positivity rate is down, and they have already tested 20 people today so far.

Gilpin County was notified by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment that effective at 5 p.m. on November 23, 2020, Gilpin County will move to Level Orange, and the Commissioners approved an amendment moving to the orange level during a virtual special meeting on November 20, 2020. 

 To get back to yellow, the County must have 175 cases per 100,000 and the positivity rate must be down. 

For detailed information about the different levels, visit https://covid19.colorado.gov/covid-19-dial.

As a result of COVID, County Attorney Bradford Benning introduced the continuation of the Disaster Declaration through the Fifth Amendment. He said the declaration is set to expire at the end of this year, and the County, State and nation are still in the third wave of COVID, which is the worst wave so far. The fifth generation of this can be extended to June, which makes sense, and the Board agreed to extend the amendment to June 30, 2021.

According to the Fifth Continuation of the Disaster Declaration Order for Gilpin County, Colorado, on March 13, 2020, the Board of County Commissioners declared a disaster emergency for the period of Saturday March 14, 2020, to Friday March 27, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The order was continued more times, and on June 30, 2020, the Board determined that the COVID-19 pandemic and related reasons for issuing the Disaster Declaration Order were still very much present and anticipated to continue for some time beyond the June 30, 2020, so they extended it to December 31, 2020.

On October 26, 2020, the Board amended the Fourth Continuation Order to reflect the additional impact major fires in adjacent and nearby counties were having on Gilpin County and its COVID-19 disaster emergency, according to the order. At that time, Gilpin County was the designated evacuation shelter and care location for Boulder, Larimer and Grand Counties in response to catastrophic and record-setting wildfires raging in Colorado. 

Gilpin County was also providing direct assistance to the U.S. Forest Service in enforcing the Closure Order of the Arapaho and Roosevelt Forests in Gilpin County and was assisting Larimer County law enforcement and emergency services, according to the order. Gilpin County’s Office of Emergency Management was also assisting the State and local governments in the monitoring and communications related to these fires. 

COVID-19 infection rates are again surging in Colorado and all counties including Gilpin County. In fact, a number of first responders in Gilpin County contracted COVID-19 while assisting the local governments and the State in their efforts to adequately address the catastrophic forest fires, according to the order.

 Gilpin County remains the hardest hit county, economically from the pandemic. Its financial resources have been drastically reduced requiring large layoffs of county employees and the cutting and reduction of capital resources and services. 

It is anticipated that Governor Polis will extend Colorado’s disaster declaration into 2021 given present circumstances. Additionally, Colorado Executive Orders and CDPHE public health orders are being extended into 2021, and the vaccination of all Coloradans is forecast not to be fully completed until the end of June 2021.

The Board approved a resolution adopting the Gilpin County 2021 Budget. Finance Director Clorinda Smith said the process started in June, and staff and Commissioners have had many meetings. 

Commissioner Ron Engels said it was a very difficult budget to come up with, and it was a huge amount of change for everyone. He thanked County Manager Abel Montoya and each of the departments for working so diligently to make the cuts they had to make.

Estimated expenditures total $23,357,196, and total revenues total $23, 551,374. According to the budget message, the major source of revenue for Gilpin County is gaming taxes. In 2021, Gilpin County’s share of the gaming tax is estimated at 39 percent of total revenue. 

When gaming tax revenue decreases, some ways to offset that decrease may need to be a reduction in services, an increase in fees or to ask the voters to approve a property tax increase. Two property tax ballot questions were approved by voters during the November 2020 election to increase funding for the Gilpin County Library and to increase funding for Parks & Recreation for a three-year period. 

The anticipated 2021 gaming tax revenue is $8,700,000. The historical high of $11,668,400 was received in 2019 and the historical low of $6,711,856 was received in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic caused the closures of casinos.

The Board approved a resolution levying general property taxes for the Year 2020, to help defray the costs of government for the 2021 budget year. Smith said she has added two sections for the two new mill levies. 

The Board approved two boundary line eliminations. The Young Ranch North, LLC, and owner Bob Young requested merging 50 parcels into six parcels, so 37 potential development rights are eliminated. County Planner Tami Archer said the request meets the criteria for BLE and staff recommends approval. The County has never had a BLE request this big. 

Carl Schembri on behalf of Maher/Grapes/Perryman requested the realignment of three parcels, so they are better aligned with the Virginia Canyon Road. All three parcels remain developable. Staff recommended approval. 

Commissioners expressed concerns that it is fundamentally changing the nature of Russell Gulch, but agreed that it makes sense to have these parcels change so Virginia Canyon Road is accessible by all three of them.

Senior Planner Stephen Strohminger and County Manger Abel Montoya introduced the County’s new Comprehensive plan. Montoya thanked the Planning Commission, which worked tirelessly on the plan. The Planning Commission approved it on December 8, 2020, and the Commissioners are not required to hold a vote on it.

Strohminger said the Planning Commission did approve the Comprehensive Plan with six conditions, and they will review it again in 2021. To see the plan go to http://www.gilpincounty.org/ and click on the link at the right.

The next meeting of the Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners will be on January 5, 2021, at 9 a.m.

(Originally published in the December 24, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)