John Scarffe, Gilpin County.

Gilpin County will request proposals for a Justice Center needs assessment after approval by the

Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners during a regular meeting at 9 a.m. February 6, 2018, at

Central City Hall. The Board also received an update on the Courthouse renovations and approved two

boundary line eliminations.

To begin the meeting, Chair Ron Engles said the Board will be having a work session following the

meeting to discuss 2020 to 2040 capital and deferred maintenance needs totaling $43 million. The

discussion will focus on what staff thinks may be necessary in the next 20 years, prioritizing those needs

and asking for real numbers, which are very preliminary.

County Manager Leslie Klusmire said that Gilpin County may not have done this very often. “We

need to figure out what our 20-year capital program is going to be. We haven’t done this all in one

place. We listed everything we knew of and everything we’ve heard of.”

Staff gave a higher end estimate, so the process is that staff comes up with the preliminary list, but

the Board decides the final list. It doesn’t mean the County is going to go out and spend $43 million.

Engels said it also will depend on community input for such things as paving dirt roads.

Klusmire said she has drafted a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the County’s Justice Center

renovation. The proposed RFP for the Justice Center’s 20-year study includes the Human Services

Department, which has some severe space needs.

The Department can’t meet HIPPA requirements because they have two employees sharing the

same office who shouldn’t hear each other work. If housed together, Public Health and Human Services

can share staff. Also, the courts will need expansion.

Commissioner Gail Watson said the Board just approved funds for a new roof. “An issue for me is

that we’re being told that gaming is flat, so are we sharing that information with these possible

proposals? If gaming is flat, do we really need a new jail?”

Engels said that it may be that criminal activity doesn’t have any correlation to gaming revenue.

That’s part of this request. Tell us what our future needs are going to be. Historically there has been an

increase in retention. Is that going to increase?

Commissioner Linda Isenhart said, “I don’t see that gaming is going to go down.” The casinos are

trying to offer more diverse entertainment, so our criminal element will probably be in the same upward

trend.

Sheriff Bruce Hartman said he has floated the timeline by people in the industry. It is critical to have

a good solid needs assessment, but the timeline is quite short. Their recommendation is to give more

time for the critical needs assessment. Handling our immediate needs must be separate from this long-

term study.

Engels said that part of this timeline could roll into the work session discussion. What are the long-

term needs and when are we going to ask for citizen participation? Is there is going to be something on

the ballot this fall or is that out of the question? There are a whole lot of moving pieces with ballot

language due the first of August.

Watson asked if including Public Health in the facility is complicating it more than necessary. The

focus is on detention. Engels said it makes sense to address the totality.

Watson said: “I don’t think we’re going to have the growth people are counting on. What we

thought the school population was going to be, and it’s not here. We have too many people who

shouldn’t be in your jail. The forecast for incarceration is heading down and not up. We’ve had studies

before that weren’t accurate.”

Hartman said the projection from the Department of Corrections is the inmate population is going

to go down. The state does not deal with it and is pushing prisoners out to the counties, and we have

three empty prisons in this state because the inmates end up in county jails.

Engels said that Denver is projected to have one million people, some of whom will be pushed up

here, and there are development opportunities that will increase activity in Central City and Black Hawk.

We will have more residents coming into the county that will put more demands on the court system.

This will help us get a more reasonable idea.

Hartman said that you already have a number as to how much it will cost: $12 million. “I have no

clue whether it’s realistic.”

Klusmire said it’s a wild guess. The Justice Center cost $9 million when it was built, and if you are

going to rebuild it would cost about $12 million today..

Engels said we are not picking a path but are opening doors, and the Board approved the RFP.

Regarding the renovation of the Courthouse, Klusmire said they have a number of change orders

due to work on an old building. Project Manager Bill Harrington said they are near the end of the second

phase ahead of schedule.

They found an extra wall in the middle of the floor in the Commissioners’ office, and the Deputy

Clerk’s office had beams that didn’t line up. The paint had lead content in the Manager’s office and a

pipe that had been leaking for some time. The contractors vibrated the pipe and exacerbated the leak

which required a plumber.

The rear stairs are a problem, Harrington said. They pulled the carpet off the first stair and those

stairs are not something you can sand. They will have to use a carpet runner.

Engels said that we are $52,000 under budget today, and that doesn’t include everything we want

to spend. It looks like we can look at the counter we want to have built and installed and some level of

finishing on the counter tops.

For a cost analysis, three change orders have been signed, Harrington said. They had an issue with

tile in the vault. The subcontractor found out it was loose, so they had to put in a leveling and that was

$400.

They had two change orders in abatements, paint issues and temporary wiring, Harrington said.

They are right on target with plumbing costs, so we are a little under the $52,212 budget, but not much.

County Planner Daniel Horn introduced two boundary line adjustment applications.

Morgan and Amy wells in the Kingdom of Gilpin Unit #5 applied to convey .46 acres onto Lot 117 to

widen the lot.

The boundary line adjustment will allow the homeowners to build a garage in addition to their

existing house. Lot 114 will remain vacant for now and will remain a buildable parcel.

Carl Schembri, of Bonanza Land, LLC, applied for a BLA for the southwest corner of the Maldar

Mining Claim, which is landlocked and disconnected from the rest of the Maldar claim. Adding that

corner to the Air Line Claim will create a buildable parcel with consistent topography and eliminate any

needs for a variance for building projects, Horn wrote in a memo to the Board.

The Airline Claim has a dilapidated, detached garage, which the owner plans to re-roof and

rehabilitate as well as build a new home. The Maldar claim has a brand-new house with no future plans

for development.

The Board approved both BLA’s. The next meeting of the Gilpin County Board of County

Commissioners will be at 9 a.m. Tuesday, February 20, 2018, at the Central City Hall.