County crews log 1,000-plus hours for snow removal

Snow removal costs resulting from storms across Phillips County have reached about $90,000, according to a report by the Board of Commissioners on Friday. About $69,000 can be traced to equipment and $21,000 to labor. Since Monday, Dec. 12, county workers have logged in more than 1,000 hours dedicated toward the process.

In all, the cost adds up to about 4.2% of the county’s $2.16 million allocated for road and bridge funding. 

“The Road and Bridge Department, they worked every day through this,” County Commissioner Terry Hofmeister said. “I think they need a big round of applause for what they’ve accomplished.”

Soon after, he also commended maintenance crews and the Sheriff’s Office for their efforts.

For residents stranded during the storm, Commissioner Garold Roberts said, there are liability issues involved in helping them. Hofmeister added the county could provide aid along the roads, but they could not travel onto private property. That said, he continued, the county “absolutely” would not leave an old woman in a ditch.

“When it’s an emergency, it’s an emergency,” Roberts said. “We’re trying to cover everybody. We’re trying to be good neighbors.”

Election security

Under Senate Bill 22-153, passed to increase internal election security measures, Phillips County must move its election equipment to a location where the public does not have access. Saying there was “no way” she could keep the equipment in its current spot, County Clerk and Recorder Beth Zilla intends to place it in a restricted area behind an electronic strike pad.

Each county with a population below 25,000 – including Phillips – received $12,500 from the State of Colorado to accomplish the bill’s requirements. The security door, Zilla said, will cost more than $17,000 more.

According to Zilla, counties were led to believe their costs to update security would be reimbursed by the state. Many counties, she said, “have already spent thousands and thousands of dollars.” Rio Grande County, she continued, spent an estimated $20,000 on its security before realizing it had to foot the bill.

“They’re all mad,” she said.

Money for the remaining cost of security for Phillips County will come out of Zilla’s clerk and election budgets through the general fund. Of the amount budgeted for 2023 in the general fund – $4.13 million – this security update will involve 0.4% of the budget.

Minimum wage

Effective Jan. 1, every Colorado county is set to raise its minimum wage to $13.65 per hour, in accordance with Amendment 70 to the Fair Labor Standards Act.

In November 2016, the state’s voters chose to raise the minimum wage by $0.90 at the beginning of each year until it reached $12 per hour in January 2020. From there, the wage would increase annually to account for cost-of-living expenses. The act passed by 55.4%.

Tipped employees, the act states, can be paid no less than $10.62 an hour.