The mask mandate for Gilpin County Schools will continue for the rest of the semester after a regular virtual meeting of the Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday, October 26, 2021. The Board also approved a temporary ADA coordinator, hiring a human resource consulting firm, and a Memorandum of Understanding regarding an Opioid Settlement.

Gilpin County Public Health Coordinator Bonnie Albrecht updated the Commission on COVID-19 and said the number of cases in the County is creeping back up with 14 in the last seven days, which puts the County in a high-risk category. The County has COVID-19 testing available at 100 Chase St., the parking lot for the Z Casino, every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.; and at 15193 Highway 119, Gilpin Public Health, every Tuesday from 12:30 p.m.to 4:30 p.m. You can sign up here: https://www.affinityecarecolorado.com/co/. Please pre-register prior to arrival.

During a discussion of the Public Health Order Mask Mandate for Gilpin County Schools, Gilpin County Public Health Director Dr. Dawn Comstock said vaccination boosters are now available for all three vaccines, so you can continue with the same vaccine you had or you can opt for a different vaccine.

For individuals who received a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, the following groups are eligible for a booster shot at 6 months or more after their initial series: 65 years and older, age 18+ who live in long-term care settings, age 18+ who have underlying medical conditions, and age 18+ who work or live in high-risk settings, according to the Gilpin County Public Health website.

For the nearly 15 million people who got the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, booster shots are also recommended for those who are 18 and older and who were vaccinated two or more months ago.

Comstock said they are expecting approval of a vaccine for children five to 11 years old and hope to have doses around November 5. It does look like during the first week or two the demand will be more than the supply, so she encouraged parents to vaccinate their children as soon as possible.

During a recent meeting of public health directors, it was reported that capacity at hospitals is at 95 percent, and they have concerns as we move into the winter months, Comstock said. She provided information about the most recent evidence of the effectiveness of masks.

National and State data compared 520 counties with COVID numbers before the start of school and after school openings. Schools with mask mandates showed a significantly lower incident rate and showed a decrease in incident rates.

Jefferson County, which requires masks in schools, has had to quarantine zero classes.

Mask mandates are working, Comstock said.

Gilpin Schools has been doing in-person learning. Before the mandate, the school had 13 cases from eight different households with four faculty or staff and nine students.

After the mandate, the school has had nine cases from two different households with no quarantine orders since the mask mandate was put in place, Comstock said. She added that recent scientific publications support the effectiveness of masks.

Comstock added that there is no evidence of masks making children sick or causing mental health problems. She said mandates will end with the vaccination of the younger children, and it will help discuss when it would be reasonable to change the public health orders.

Commissioner Web Sill said he was curious about why there is such a push to vaccinate children of five to 11 years old. He is trying to put things in perspective. In his family, one of the children had a bad reaction to the vaccination.

“I’m hesitant where the cure is worse than the disease. If we don’t get back to reality pretty soon, we will never get back to reality,” he said, He suggested they concentrate on the older people. Comstock said she will set up a meeting with Commissioner Sill to discuss this further.

During Public Comment, three residents, one including a school physical education coach who got COVID, spoke in favor of requiring the masks. The Board approved a motion to continue the public health order mandating masks in the public schools. Sill voted no.

Human Resources Interim Director Susie Allen presented a Grievance Procedure and designated an ADA Coordinator after David Whitlock left the Human Resources position. The Board approved the updated grievance procedure, with Human Resources Specialist Ava Plamondon as ADA coordinator.

Allen presented a proposal to hire H2R-Solutions to get Human Resources through the end of the year. H2RSolutions has been in the industry for a long time and they know the County’s software and what needs to be done.

H2R submitted a proposal to help with open enrollment, recruiting clean up, training for new staff, and streamlining the process. To get Human Resources where it needs to be, they would work for 20 hours a week for a total for the County at the end of the year of $18,000.

Commissioner Sill said it looks like a pretty good idea to get us the breathing space we need to find a new Human Resources director. The Board accepted the proposal by H2R- Solutions to help with tasks identified up to $18,000.

County Attorney Bradford Benning presented a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Settlement Documents for the Opioid Settlement with companies Johnson & Johnson, Amerisource Bergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson. The settlement is for about $400 million for Colorado, and this amount will be allocated with funds to the State at 10 percent, local participating governments at 20 percent, regions at 60 percent, and statewide infrastructure projects at 10 percent.

The revenue must be used to address opioid impacts. Gilpin County’s regional partners are Jefferson and Clear Creek counties. The signed MOU must be sent to the Colorado Council of Governments, Inc., by November 5, 2021.

Benning said the 20 percent is based on the whole state. There are 64 counties, and the funds are disbursed over an extended period of time. Board Chair Linda Isenhart said it’s an 18-year project, and they’ve been talking about pooling the County’s amount with Clear Creek and Jefferson counties so the money can be used for a better project. The Board approved signing the MOU.

Benning discussed Dory Hill Road and said a portion of that road was discontinued by the City of Black Hawk, so it reverted back to unincorporated Gilpin County. The County is looking at resuming maintenance and has to get this in the County’s Road System. It is a public road, but the County has the rights.

Benning is collecting deeds from the property owners on the road, most of them in Black Hawk, and they are thinking about widening the road. Road and Bridge is resuming maintenance and will get that worked out.

The Board met for a work session on fund requests on October 27, 2021, at noon.

The next meeting of the Gilpin County Board of Commissioners will be on November 9, 2021.