The new Gilpin County Manager signed his contract for the position during a regular, virtual meeting of the Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners on March 1, 2022, at 9 a.m. The Board also heard a presentation about the Hazard Mitigation Plan, approved a moratorium on short-term rental applications, and discussed a Clear Creek Watershed & Forest Health Partnership Memorandum of Understanding.

The finalist for County Manager, Ray Rears, met with County Attorney Brad Benning at the Gilpin County Courthouse meeting room during the meeting to sign his employment contract. The county manager position has been vacant since July 2021.

Ray Rears is originally from Jefferson County and is a fifth generation Coloradoan. He graduated from Arvada West High School and attended the University of Northern Colorado, receiving a bachelor of arts degree in applied geography with a minor in history.

In 2021, he received his master’s of public administration degree with honors, as part of the Executive Program with the University of Colorado Denver. From 2004 to 2015, he served in the Gilpin County Community Development Office in many roles until finally as the Gilpin County Planner and Historic Advisory Liaison.

From 2015 until the present, Rears has served as the Director of Community Development and Historic Preservation with the City of Central, managing one of the largest departments within the City. With a staff of seven and a budget up to $4.1 million, he managed various programs and community efforts. Currently he also serves on The Belvidere Foundation Board of Directors. In his various civic roles, he has served Gilpin County for close to 18 years.

He and his wife, Janisse, have been married almost 20 years and have three children, Isabella, Alex and Sophia.

Board members said they are excited to have Rears as county manager. Rears said this has been an 18-year process, and he is thrilled to have this opportunity. Benning said Rears would start on March 7, and the Board approved the contract.

After Rears signed the contract, Benning said the contract was confidential information but after the signing, it became a public document. Residents can request it from the County. Hollingsworth said the County will host a meet and greet event on Tuesday, March 8, at 11 a.m.

Also during the meeting, Rears introduced an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Northwest Enterprise Zone for an annual cost of $2,000, shared between Central City and Gilpin County. This IGA has been in place since 2017. It is geared toward business development and job training.

Participating organizations can receive tax credits. Two non-profit organizations, the Central City Opera and the Belvidere Theatre, have taken advantage of it.

Commissioner Sill said there is no way the County can release itself from this agreement. It is an annual agreement. Benning recommended adding the term for one year, and Sill said he wants a nice clean contract.

The Board approved a motion to table this to March 15 while Rears and Benning work on it.

Emergency Manager Nathan Whittington introduced the County’s new Hazard Mitigation Plan and the open public comment period. He is excited that a lot of people are wanting to deploy the mitigation plan. It has been in the works for over a year.

The Hazard Mitigation Plan has been developed in cooperation with the City of Black Hawk, City of Central, and the Timberline Fire Protection District. This plan will lower risk from hazards, reduce losses from future disasters, make the jurisdictions more resilient, and also make the County eligible for FEMA grant funding.

On the Plan’s website, https://virtual. woodplc.com/VirtualSpace/186775, visitors can enter into the room and find the strategy they are looking for. There will be public comment for two weeks, and then staff will condense the comments into a draft plan and submit that to the commissioners and the State of Colorado. That will then be the plan for any mitigation moving forward.

Whittington said the goal is to get people out of the county with egress and ingress planning. The mitigation projects last year at Dory Lakes were a huge success.

“We’ve got to start doing something,” he said. He asked that residents review the plan and give him a call. Commissioner Isenhart said the greatest importance is that of the ingress and egress routes. If the plan does nothing but identify those, that will be important.

Commissioner Sill said “let’s get it right and not worry about doing it fast.” Whittington suggested a work session, adding that the plan would be better if it were county-wide rather than broken down by subdivision.

Hollingsworth said the Board has been waiting for the county manager to start and has been in meetings with watershed protection groups. A lot of work is going on behind the scenes and a work session would be extremely helpful.

During public comment, Timberline Fire Protection District Chief Paul Ondr said miscommunications have occurred about the Missouri Lakes mitigation project. The intent was that communication go to the Homeowners Board for a meeting on Wednesday, March 2, at the Fire Station, at 7 p.m. The intent is not to take out all of the trees.

The Fire Department also performed a fire mitigation project in Dory Lakes, and every person they talked to in Dory Lakes said they did a great job, Ondr reported. They proposed the same chipping for Missouri Lakes.

Members of the public called in. Missouri Lakes HOA Board members and President Paul Britton said they are opposed to the project.

During the continued discussion of short-term rentals (STRs), Hollingsworth said that at the last meeting the Board decided to continue this discussion to today. They have 131 STRs in the County approved or pending at this point.

The Board hadn’t discussed a moratorium previously, but they allowed a temporary moratorium to buy time until the county manager and community development director were hired. The Commissioners heard from residents who operate and own STRs for income.

About 68 percent of the STRs are owned by people who don’t live in Gilpin County, and that impacts the community significantly. The County has collected $18,400 in fees so far. Research is showing many different solutions to the STR issue.

Sill said he would entertain regulations that keep the in-county rate for STRs at $200 and raise the rate for out-of-county and out-of-state owners. Commissioner Isenhart said that problems arise from building onto existing homes and from violations of septic system regulations. “People are taking advantage of this. We need more time to get on top of this,” she said.

The Board voted two to one to implement a 90-day moratorium on new short-term rental applications starting March 7, 2022, to give staff time to reassess the process. Sill voted against it.

County Attorney Benning introduced the Clear Creek Watershed & Forest Health Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). He said no money is being asked, and no money is being made.

The Watershed & Forest Health Partnership is entered into by and between the City of Arvada, the City of Black Hawk, the County of Clear Creek, the Clear Creek Fire Authority, Climax Molybdenum Company, the Board of Regents for the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado Trout Unlimited, and the Town of Empire.

This MOU creates no right, benefit, or trust responsibility. The parties will manage their respective resources and activities in a separate, coordinated, and mutually beneficial manner to achieve the outcomes sought and described within the MOU. Nothing in this MOU authorizes any of the parties to obligate or transfer anything of value.

Hollingsworth asked if the County also has an MOU with the Boulder County Watershed. She said the Clear Creek Watershed is already performing one project near the school in Gilpin County and one in North Clear Creek

Commissioner Sill said he likes part of this but thought it should be “cleaned up” somewhat. Benning said it is an agreement, so the County could join in projects later. Nothing is binding. The Board can delegate authority, but Benning would want any action or recommendations to come before the Board. This may require some special meetings.

Hollingsworth said the Board would be in charge in cases of staff changes. The Board approved the MOU establishing the Clear Creek Watershed.

The next meeting of the Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners will be on March 15. 2022. For more information, go to gilpincounty.org.