John Scarffe, Gilpin County. Gilpin County Sheriff Kevin Armstrong read a statement about the impact of proposed budget cuts during an online meeting of the Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday, July 7, 2020. The Board also discussed a subdivision request from Florian Freymuth, 432 N. County Road, approved a human services contract and ratified the Colorado Communities for Climate Action Policy Statement. 

Sheriff Armstrong thanked the Board for the opportunity to discuss why the proposed cuts in the Sheriff’s Office staff are too deep. The Board has always been supportive of the Sheriff’s Office. 

The Board approved the 800-radio system, software for policies and procedures and improvements in the jail as unfunded mandates as well to protect the Sheriff’s Office and County from civil liability, Armstrong said. Central City contracts with the Sheriff’s Office to provide 24/7 law enforcement to residents and pays about $705,000 for this contract.  

This pays for a sergeant, an investigator, five deputies and a one-half time clerical position. The Sheriff’s Office performs a number of statutory required functions as well as other services and covers 150 square miles.  

“I have always known the Sheriff’s Office was going to be impacted by the severe financial crisis Gilpin County is experiencing. I have said the 12.5 cuts in staffing puts deputies at risk which in turn puts our community and county at risk. These are the reasons I do not support these deep reductions in staff,” Armstrong said.

In 2018, the office received a total of 24,518 calls for service. Of those, 5,177 or 21 percent of the calls required a two-deputy response. In 2019, the office received a total of 19,327 calls for service, and of those 4,319 or 22 percent of the calls required a two-deputy response.

On average, Gilpin County patrol deputies are placed in situations where they are required to use force about 15 times a year, Armstrong said. This low level of use of force incidents are due to the excellent ability of the deputies to de-escalate volatile situations.  

With gaming, a number of visitors enjoy the casinos, which also attracts the criminal element. At any one time, about 93 percent of the inmates in the jail are not Gilpin County residents, Armstrong said.  

As a result of Covid-19, the office has taken measures to reduce the number of arrestees accepted in the jail with the blessing of the Chief Justice of the First Judicial District. “This order could and will end soon, which will require the Sheriff’s Office to accept more arrestees,” Armstrong said.  

A number of special circumstances require the Sheriff’s Office to maintain the current level of staffing. Deputies get hurt, take vacations, court time, days off and training, so they need additional deputies to cover their shifts because of the 24/7 operation.

Armstrong has two injured deputies and two going out for surgery. Other deputies will need to cover their shifts. 

To cover the shifts, minimum staffing, including Sergeants, requires 18 officers for investigations and patrol with seven of these positions paid for by Central City, 16 for detentions and four for the Jail Control room. “When you reduce the number of deputies, this greatly impacts the ability to back fill these shifts,” Armstrong said.  

Some overtime will be required, which results in burnout, higher personnel costs and fatigue. “Any reduction in deputies puts other deputies at risk and in turn puts our community at risk,” Armstrong said.

The Sheriff’s Office has three dispatch positions open and two deputy positions open due to deputies leaving or unqualified people applying for positions. In April, the Sheriff’s Office already cut about $169,490 from the budget for vehicle replacement and equipment, training, supplies, overtime and other line items.  

This $169,490 plus the current vacant positions and a Division Chiefs position equals $711,999. “What I do not understand, is a position was added to the County Manager’s staff, but the Sheriff’s Office who provides public safety to our community, is asked to cut 12.5 positions or $930,000,” Armstrong said. 

The Sheriff’s Office has applied for a Covid-19 grant for at least 10 deputies. The decision on this grant was heard on July 15 and 16, with notification of the awarded grant or portion of the grant around July 17.  

“Again, this is only a disagreement in how deep the cuts in personnel are for the Sheriff’s Office. I appreciate all the BoCC has done to support the Sheriff’s Office,” Armstrong concluded.

Commission Chair Gail Watson said the Commissioners have held off on making the cuts until they know about the grant. She understands that the Sheriff’s Office is the largest department in the County, and half of County employees work for the Sheriff’s Office. 

Other County departments also are involved in the public safety effort, Watson said. If the plow driver doesn’t get the road cleared, emergency vehicles can’t get there. “This has to be an integrated community effort.” 

The Commissioners have had a number of executive sessions and will continue to meet with the sheriff, Watson said. The Board has to pay attention to the needs of elected officials such as the surveyor, coroner and treasurer, and they have to be funded so they can do their jobs. Parks and Recreation was the first to go, and they had to close down the Community Center. 

Watson suggested that, as required by state statue to be transparent with salaries, the County provides a list on the website to show where the money goes. The Board agreed and said the budget process is going to be very painful. 

Commissioner Ron Engels said he is looking forward to the Sheriff coming to the Board with a plan, and the grant is very important to us. “We will have to get together,” he said.

Community Development Director Stephen Strohminger introduced an application for a minor subdivision plat by Florian Freymuth at 432 N. County Road. He owns a 10-acre parcel and proposes moving a building from one vacant lot to another. 

Community Development Director Stephen Strohminger introduced an application for a minor subdivision plat by Florian Freymuth at 432 N. County Road. He owns a 10-acre parcel and proposes moving a building from one vacant lot to another. 

According to zoning he is still allowed to do the transfer as long as it’s one unit. The current site complies to regulations and is developable. The resulting parcels will be five acre minimums, Strohminger said. 

Staff recommended approval for the building envelopes and a conservation easement for one of the lots on the highway. Watson said this is under the Senate Bill Exemption for transfer of development rights (TDR) and acreage rights. 

Strohminger said that a minor subdivision exemption covers transfer of development rights. Watson said she requested that be changed in September, and she is getting a lot of irate messages.

This was rejected in September, and they wanted to change the requirements. It’s almost a year later and that was not changed, Watson said.

Commissioner Linda Isenhart said she has received emails from people who were against this since September. “It’s very pushed through and a bad idea.” 

Watson said the first request was for a variance, and $1,000 was paid. Now he is requesting an exception of about $4,000. Strohminger said the applicant had to go through the minor subdivision plat, and since the variance request was rejected, they didn’t move forward. 

A house was built but not finished. 

Kim Lord, attorney for the applicant, said they do have a permit on the unfinished house. This matter came to her after the variance hearing, and Lord spent several months dealing with the County Attorney and Strohminger. 

It never should have gone forward as a variance, and the variance fee is being refunded because it was the wrong process, Lord said. The whole reason for this remote building site was to move the house off Highway 72, and it gets transferred to the other site and makes it buildable. This project is the example for an appropriate TDR change, Lord said. 

The current application fits the code and should approved under a TDR. He’s paid $4,500 to date and a refund is coming. “We have a situation where the Board approved one TDR, and this it really needs to be approved,” Lord said.

After discussion, the Board expressed frustration about getting documents late and the way this was handled. The Commissioners convened into executive session, and after coming back into session, Watson said that this is very confusing and more research needs to be done. The Board continued the hearing until July 21.

Human Services Director Laura Solomon introduced the annual Human Services Contract with Health Care Policy Finance agreeing to incentives in the amount of $6,700.29 if they meet the conditions. They applied for a grant for half and were awarded that funding. 

The Board approved signing the contract, and approved the ratification of the Colorado Communities for Climate Action (CC4CA) Policy Statement. Watson said they are members and have the ability to influence policy. 

The Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners meets virtually on Tuesdays. Go to http://gilpincounty.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=9285259&pageId=11072364.

(Originally published in the July 30, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)