The Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners swore in newly elected County officials and elected a Board chair during a regular meeting on January 10, 2023, at the courthouse in Central City. The Board also approved the 2023 list of Official Appointments, Boards and Committees, a grant application for Emergency Management and authorizing a contract and additional funds for audio and visual improvements in the meeting room.

Judge Vreesome swore in newly elected officials: Susan Berumen, county commissioner; Kevin Armstrong, sheriff; April Nielsen, assessor; Sahari McCormick, clerk and recorder; and Zane Laubhan, coroner. The Board discussed the 2023 list of official appointments and Boards.

First was the election of the next Board Chair. Commissioner Berumen moved that current chair Sandy Hollingsworth continue as chair. Hollingsworth asked new commissioner Marie Mornis if she would like to be chair.

Mornis said she would like to be chair. It’s an honorary position, and the main responsibility is to conduct the meetings. District 1 has not been represented as chair.

The Gilpin County community was shocked at Commissioner Web Sill’s death in November. Sill would have been chair in 2023. It has been since 2018 that a District 1 commissioner was elected as Board chair.

Hollingsworth said Commissioner Sill was going to be chair, but the composition of the board has changed. Berumen changed her motion to elect Marie Mornis as chair. The motion passed, and Hollingsworth passed the gavel to Mornis.

The Board elected Hollingsworth as chair Pro Tem. All three board members will be on the Board of Adjustment, the liquor licensing authority, the Board of Equalization and the Board of Health.

Ray Rears will be the County Manager for 2023 and Bradford Benning the County Attorney. Administrative assistant will be Margaret Keller. Emergency Manager Nathan Whittington will continue as director.

The Board approved the newspaper of record as The Mountain-Ear with Mornis voting against it. At the previous meeting, the Board voted to dismiss the Weekly Register-Call as the newspaper of record.

During public comment at the end of the meeting, Weekly Register-Call publisher Bob Sweeney said two public notices a year ago were left out. They have a new system to send back a proof to the County for public announcements and that has worked well.

Sweeney said, “A public announcement in The Mountain-Ear had the wrong date. This county has only one newspaper that has a postal permit in Gilpin County. “

The Mountain-Ear is not a legal newspaper in the County. This is putting the County in jeopardy. You made the decisions on inaccurate information, Sweeney said.

The Board also approved Commissioner appointments to Colorado Counties, incorporated, and other committees. The Board approved the appointments as discussed.

Nathan Whittington, Director of the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) introduced the annual division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) Application. He said this is an annual grant application.

These are federal government funds through Colorado. The County budgeted the salary for emergency management at $60,000, and they can go after residual funds.

Nothing major changed. It’s for his salary. The County just received the 2022 year reimbursement. The County has to submit financials. The Board approved the request.

Sam Bower, administrative analyst, presented awarding a contract to Ford Audio-Visual Systems, LLC, for the procurement, configuration and installation of meeting room technology and the authorization of additional funds. He said he was excited to bring this item today.

In October, the Board authorized $50,000 for a sound system in the meeting room. He presented three options in a request for additional funds depending on the size of the video to replace a cabinet in the meeting room. The Board approved a 65-inch screen and about $62,000 for the improvements.

County offices will be closed for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday on January 16, 2023, and the Board will have a work session on January 17.

The next regular meeting will be on January 24, 2023, at the Gilpin County Courthouse.