John Scarffe, Gilpin County. The Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners approved a contract for a Quality of Life Survey and imposed fines on McCollums’ Excavating for no permit or license during a regular meeting at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, February 19, 2019, at the Gilpin County Courthouse. During a work session following the meeting, the board received an update on the Justice Center’s 20-year needs assessment.
County Manager Abel Montoya said that on January 24, 2019, the county released a request for proposals (RFPs) to create, coordinate and conduct a 2019 Gilpin County Quality of Life Survey. The bids closed on February 11, 2019, and the county received five proposals.

During the review, the proposals were scored on a one to five scale, and the Center for Research and Public Policy (CRPP) responded to questions about their proposal, and staff is recommending them for $10,900. Montoya said he will be in contact with the consultant tomorrow and then will have a kick-off meeting on March 5 and 6, 2019, at which point he will meet with community stakeholders.

This recommendation was $12,000 cheaper than the next bid, Montoya said. “We felt that CRPP allows flexibility with some questions completed online and we’re looking for 300 to 400 responses.”

The survey will have 40 questions, and the timeline is contingent on the response rate. They could be done as fast as a week, but he built in a couple of months.

Commissioner Gail Watson asked about printing and mailing costs. Montoya said the county would have some cost and has asked for an estimate, which could be about $100. The primary focus is on social media.
The county has 600 followers on different social media formats and will ask their partners to post it on their websites. If that doesn’t bring in enough responses, they will mail postcards as well as mail out hard copies and post paper copies at county buildings.

Commissioner Ron Engels said that if the primary focus is social media, the results won’t be representative of the public. Montoya said they will have a lot of flexibility. Engels said he was very impressed with the proposal and would be happy to endorse it. The board approved the $10,900 contract.

Tami Archer, county code enforcement officer, requested a ruling on the status of an On-site Wastewater Treatment Systems installer license, and requested a penalty assessment for performing work without permits or licenses, according to background. Lincoln Hills entered into an agreement to repair the system at 759 Pactolus Lake Road in November 2018.

The Lincoln Hills attorney contacted Gilpin County on January 23, 2019, to release the agreement because the repairs were done, but no permits were pulled to do repairs. That day, the Gilpin County Board of Health investigated the installation of the Pactolus Road septic system, according to background.

The investigation revealed that Steve McCollum and McCollum’s Excavating, LLC., had installed the system without the necessary permits and without a current Gilpin County Installers’ License. Lincoln Hills immediately obtained permits after the fact, and then hired a licensed contractor to rectify the situation.

County Attorney Bradford Benning said McCollum was served on Friday. In January, he did not have a permit.

Board Chair Linda Isenhart said contractors have no excuse for not doing things correctly. “We’re not that tough. To me, I’m not feeling very lenient this morning.”

Archer said it’s not difficult to obtain a license. You have to take an open book test and pay a $100 fee. The county currently has about 90 licensed contractors.

Engles asked why Archer was asking for $50 per day. Benning said the violation should begin January 1, 2019.

Archer said she has two separate components, working without a license and a permit. No permit application was submitted. Engels said the work was done, and it was self-evident he didn’t pull the license.

Archer said he did pay a double permit fee. Watson said the county can fine up to $500, and Benning said that the two violations each carry a maximum of up to $500. Watson suggested fining him the $500 for each and $50 per day with Archer to determine the number of days.

Isenhart said, “I’m alright with that and we need to set a precedent. We just can’t keep operating government that way. We have rules for a reason.” The board approved the fines.

Bob Johnson, with RJA Architects of Denver, provided an update on the Justice Center’s 20-year needs assessment. The firm started work on the needs assessment in April of last year and did most of the work in summer and early fall.

County staff had some concern about whether the Justice Center was a good building, with cracks in the wall and problems with the HVAC system, but the engineers found no reason to abandon this building, Johnson said, nothing to be alarmed about. The generator is over 40 years old and getting parts is nearly impossible and will cost about $600,000 to replace.

For the sewage system, a lift station serves the Justice Center, barn, the Community Center and Fire Station Number 7. Concerns were expressed that the system wouldn’t handle that, and the possible addition of 12 to 14 senior housing apartments and an addition to the Justice Center. There are concerns about the security of the Justice Center which Johnson would like to address as well.

The courts can last there 20 years, but the building doesn’t lend itself to expand those. The courts are comfortable with the size, and they’re not saying they can’t operate there. By 2028, they might need a hearing room, a non-jury room, and then they can last until 2038. If there is a need, we can create that room.

Now that Human Services and Public Health are moving out of the building, they can then move in Victim’s Services, Sheriff’s Investigation and the District Attorney, and that frees up space for other groups to grow, Johnson said. They did inmate population projections for the next 20 years and projections are between 70 and 111 inmates, Johnson said.

A jail runs best at 80 percent capacity, so capacity should be 80 to 130 and will need 110 beds. Now they only have 76.

“We were asked to have conversations with the stakeholders to discern whether policies could have an effect,” Johnson said. They have talked to surrounding towns about sharing beds. They have contacted Park, Summit and Clear Creek counties, and Park has an interest and will charge $45 to $50 per day and wants to be compensated for transportation for $50.

The jail averaged slightly more than 64 inmates in 2018. That jail won’t run any more than 64. “We were at capacity last year – a 76 bed capacity at 85 percent. We’re right there,” Johnson said. In 2019, there may be a time when they can’t hold any more.

Projections are that it keeps going up. You can’t be certain what happens to the daily population. Kitchen, laundry, medical are very tight now and not ideal, so they added a second bunk and were slightly under violations.

Part of work was to determine if the Justice Center can be expanded, and they found a wall they could take down. The cost of putting an addition would be $8.7 million and closer to $11.5 million with necessary accessories, Johnson said.

“You have very favorable electric rates. Any level of capacity for solar won’t pay for itself unless the rates go up.” Johnson suggested putting together a criminal justice committee to talk further about how policies and procedures could be changed to have a positive effect.

Move Public Health and Human Services and take that step to begin to release some pressure for law enforcement and bid it as one contract with two phases. Move those groups and then remodel as one contract with two phases.

The sewage lift station could be fixed for $150,000. One of these days that grinder will stop working. It needs maintenance, and he is recommending closing the gap with a piece of tempered glass above the Sheriff’s Office. He will print this in report in two volumes for the board.

(Originally published in the February 28, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)