Pavilion to get $40K from Coors Foundation

    Thanks to the Adolph Coors Foundation, the Phillips County Pavilion and Education Center is $40,000 closer to being fully funded, the Phillips County Board of Commissioners reported in reviewing its activity for the month of March at its March 29 meeting.
    Chairman Joe Kinnie noted that the additional funding is greatly needed and appreciated and added that the Coors Foundation also contributed generously to the Phillips County Event Center in 2008 and 2009. Commissioners Don Lock and Harlan Stern noted the excitement of county residents as they see the building rise up out of the ground. They also see excitement about the potential uses and events possible when the new facility is in place.
    The Pavilion and Education Center, begun in late February, has the goal of completion by mid-June in order to prepare it for the 2018 Phillips County Fair in late July. Skarco Construction of Burlington is close to finishing all cement work for the project. Maverick Steel of Byers, winning bidder on the building, is erecting the red-iron frame. Maverick’s owner, Ron Williams, hopes to hire additional workers locally. Matt Brasby of Fort Morgan is serving as project manager. At this time, the project is on schedule.
    Fundraising continues even as the original fundraising goal of $1.6 million has been met through state and private grants along with generous local donations and pledges. As project bids were received, estimates rose to close to $2 million, necessitating ongoing fundraising.
    The fundraising committee, chaired by Mendi Lutze and Tim Becker, is planning a farm consignment auction in November 2018. Auctioneers Tyler Knode and Josh Larson have offered their talents to conduct the auction, with sales commissions donated to the pavilion project. A similar auction benefited the Phillips County Event Center. With that auction, some farmers donated the entire sale price of older equipment, a donation that qualified then — and now — for an enterprise zone tax credit.
    The fundraising committee also plans a raffle with the choice of a Honda four-wheeler or a John Deere riding mower, with the drawing at the county fair. Committee members filled 1,600 Easter eggs for an egg-my-yard fundraiser this past weekend.
    Monetary donations and pledges also are eligible for an enterprise zone tax credit, with 25 percent of each gift creating a 25 percent tax credit on Colorado income tax. Donations of bushels of any crop also qualify for an in-kind enterprise zone tax credit of 12.5 percent.
    A popular way to donate is with the commemorative brand wall inside the pavilion that will feature ranch, farm or operation names. Buy-a-pen is yet another way to donate, with an individual or family name on a livestock pen. To make a donation, contact a county commissioner or the county administration office at 970-854-3778.
    
CTSI plaque received
    Last month, commissioners also met with Jon Wagner, a representative of County Technical Services. CTSI oversees three insurance pools: liability, workers’ compensation and health.
    Wagner presented the board with a plaque for being a member of all three CTSI insurance pools since their inception in 1984.
    
Other business
    In other business for the month of March, commissioners approved the following:
    —Purchase of a 2001 W-W enclosed trailer from Big Iron for $2,300 for use by the road and bridge department.
    —The Holyoke Chamber of Commerce request to use the courthouse square for Dandelion Daze on June 23.
    —An additional date for use of the fairgrounds raceway Oct. 13 for a demolition derby, monster truck and trick bikes show.
    —Two requests by PC Telcom for roadway occupancy agreements. They entail burial of a 3,400-foot fiber-optic line in County Road 12 between county roads 53 and 55 and a 1,200-foot fiber-optic line in County Road 38 between county roads 27 and 29.
    —A subdivision exemption application from David O. and Adria Easton Colver for the sale of approximately 7.86 acres in the NE 1/4 Sec. 21, T8N, R44W to Sprague Brothers Land LLC.
    —Purchase of two hydraulic lifts from Kurtzers LLC in the amount of $2,985. They will be used on mowers at the fairgrounds.