John Scarffe, Gilpin County.   The Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners heard about proposed updates to the 1999 Growth Intergovernmental Agreement during a regular meeting at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, at the Gilpin County Courthouse. The board also considered two boundary line changes and discussed credit card limit increases.

Community Development Director Stephen Strohminger gave the board an update about the 1999 Growth Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) meeting on November 6. Black Hawk is releasing some portions that were previously held in their area of the IGA to Gilpin County and Central City.

Strohminger has just sent out maps that show what areas Black Hawk is releasing to the county and one area to Central City. Central City is working on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to allow Black Hawk the continued use of their easement from Miner’s Mesa to Lake Gulch Road but prohibiting the improvement of the easement into an access road.

Black Hawk is working on an agreement to allow Central City access to Highway 119, if needed for development, as long as Black Hawk’s plans for the highway are not impeded by Central City, according to a memo to the board. Black Hawk is providing a GIS layer to show the city’s pipeline easement on the IGA boundary map.

The next meeting was at 11 a.m. on November 14, 2018, at the Black Hawk Council Chambers.

Board Chair Ron Engels asked for a meeting on a different day or a separate work session to walk the board through this.

County Planner Daniel Horn introduced a boundary line adjustment (BLA) for Donald Miller, Amy Mowry and Robert Adams, owners of 824 Mountain Meadows Drive. They would like to reconfigure their adjoining property line to accommodate for a building setback violation.

It’s essentially a land swap and no loss or gain, Horn said. The owners built a 256-square-foot garage in the northwest corner of the property without a permit. It is situated 24.3 feet from the west property line, which borders U.S. Forest Service land.

By approving the BLA, the garage would be situated 31.5 feet from the north property line, which brings them in compliance with county regulations. It was the most cost-effective way to go about this for the applicants.

The board approved the BLA. Horn presented a boundary line elimination (BLE) for Reva Ohlsen in the La Chula Vista subdivision. The applicant would like to combine two lots into one lot.

The BLE would combine a .03 acre lot with a one acre lot. The combined lot goes up to the edge of the road, so it doesn’t encroach on the road, Horn said, and the board approved the BLE.

Finance Director Clorinda Smith requested an increase in the county-wide credit limit of $44,000. This will save card holders time and give them more flexibility for larger or emergency purchases.

The last small increase in the limit was in 2006, Smith said. Engels said it’s been a dozen years without an increase, and they have talked about bumping it up.

Smith said that all three commissioner and the County manager have cards. They approved an increase in the limit to $100,000.

(Originally published in the November 15, 2018, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)