Hofmeister elected chair for board of commissioners
Among the business conducted at Dec. 31, Jan. 8 and Jan. 17 meetings, Phillips County Commissioners elected Terry Hofmeister as chair of the board for 2020. Commissioners Harlan Stern and Don Lock were then appointed as co-chairs by Hofmeister in case of his absence.
Employees hired, wages adjusted
In the Phillips County Department of Human Services, Lori Lundgren was hired as director effective Jan. 13. She’s been with the department for 10 years and had been the acting director since Nov. 15, 2019. Karina Davis was hired as an income maintenance technician.
In the communications center and the road and bridge department, several adjustments were made to employees’ level of compensation. Those employees include Briar Bergner, John Davis, Dave Salyards and Kevin Scott.
Commissioners also approved a $100 per month stipend for Toby Thompson and a $1,200 stipend for County Attorney Al Wall for the month of January.
After discussing hiring policies, commissioners agreed that job vacancies will be advertised internally first, after which the vacancies will be advertised externally per department head’s directive. Background checks and pre-employment drug tests will not be required of new hires unless state or federal guidelines require it.
Fees updated
Harvest RV Park rates were re-evaluated, and commissioners decreased the rental fees to $25 for the first day and $20 for each additional day; $140 for seven days; and $450 for 28 days.
Maintainer and loader rental rate will be $185 per hour and backhoe $160 per hour. All rentals include the operator and fuel. Rentals will be subject to convenience of the County and available only when private contractors are not available.
“We do not ever want to take work from those that do it for a living,” Hofmeister emphasized.
At the gravel pits, loading dirt and gravel is $20 per cubic yard. The County prefers not to haul, but if necessary, $6 per load mile will be charged. No sales will be made to commercial enterprises.
If a landowner requests culverts on driveways and fills, the individual will pay for the culvert and the County will install it. The County does not allow more than three culverts in one half mile.
At the Bank of Colorado Pavilion, horse stall rentals for overnight stays will cost $15 per night per horse.
Phillips County planning and zoning fees were also updated Jan. 8 and will be reviewed annually.
Subdivision exemptions approved
Accepting the recommendation of the planning commission, the commissioners approved subdivision exemptions.
Property owned by Dewane and Cynthia Pace in the SE1/4 of Section 30, T8N, R47W includes four tracts to be sold to buyers to be determined. The tracts are 5.42 acres, 5.39 acres, 5.37 acres, and 5.28 acres.
The application was approved with the condition that any future well or septic installations will abide by the applicable regulations and standards of minimum horizontal distances between components of wastewater and well site and that the notice will be given to any future purchasers of the tracts.
A subdivision exemption was also approved for the sale of approximately 30.61 acres from Velma Schmidt to Melvin E. Bittner in the SE1/4 of Section 20, T9N, R45W.
Contract approved for 2020 races
Last month, commissioners also approved a contract with B&B Enterprise (dba Phillips County Raceway-PCR) for staging car races at the Phillips County Fairgrounds track. A net payment of $1,000 per completed race event will be made to the County. Equipment shall be returned to the County in good working order, and keys will be maintained by County personnel only.
Races are tentatively scheduled for May 29, May 30, June 19, July 3, July 17, July 31, Aug. 28, Sept. 4 and Sept. 18.
Comm center seeks additional dispatcher
At the end of 2019, communications director Kenny Gaskill met with the commissioners to request an additional dispatcher in the communications center for the hours of 5-9 p.m. Presently, Gaskill is gathering additional information to present to the board.
Outside of the meeting, Gaskill explained that the workload is simply getting heavier. As more officers are active during that time, there’s more radio traffic. Having a second dispatcher during those hours would help handle the load.
Adding manpower during that time frame is something that Gaskill said he’s been trying to get approved for years, but ultimately it comes down to funding.
Other business
In other business last month, Phillips County Commissioners:
— Received monthly reports from Emergency Manager Bob Heldenbrand and Lundgren.
— Retained law firm Cline Williams Wright Johnson & Oldfather.
— Sent a letter of support to PC Telcom for support on applying for another Colorado broadband grant.
— Approved an ad for the Phillips County Event Center to run in the Enterprise “Weddings” section.
— Added County Administrator Pamela Jensen, deputy administrator Laura Schroetlin and Lundgren as officers and speakers on the DHS credit card accounts. DHS bookkeeper Monica Ramirez was added as a speaker on the same accounts.
— Waived pavilion rental fees for the April 18 FFA Alumni donkey racing fundraiser.
— Approved the purchase of a 2002 lowboy trailer for the road and bridge department at $29,300, contingent on a satisfactory inspection.
— Approved the purchase of two maintainer magnets, not to exceed a total cost of $2,500.
— Rescheduled the first March commissioners meeting to March 10.