Larimer County Board of County Commissioners - Administrative Matters 4/09/24

For more information (including members in attendance) see the full notes document here.*

View the meeting agenda and packet.

When available, a video recording of the meeting will be on the Larimer County Government YouTube channel.

From the Board of Commissioners website:
“Larimer's three-member Board of County Commissioners is the main policy-making body in the County and works to represent the interest of the citizens of Larimer County at local, state and national levels. Commissioners are elected at large from one of three geographic districts for four-year staggered terms. In Larimer County, Commissioners are limited to serving three four-year terms.”

Highlights

The Sheriff’s Office has added 3 investigators by reassigning positions and using funding from Wellington and Berthoud to enhance services in those municipalities.

The County Jail now has a Family Time Room for incarcerated parents and their children.

The Conservation Corps is recruiting for 56 summer positions – applications are open now.

Meeting Notes

Following the approval of minutes and review of the next week’s schedule, the board considered the Consent Agenda.

Some of the items included:

1. MOU with Big Elk Meadows to monitor flow with gauge installations. 

2. Appointments were made to several boards, including:

   1. Reappointment to the Land Stewardship Advisory Board Ronald Harris

   2. Reappointments to the Parks Advisory Board Ruthie Rollins and Bill Prater 

   3. Reappointment to the Board of Health: Brian DelGrosso 

   4. Reappointments to the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Advisory Board: Lynne Adame, Daysi Sweeney, and Karina Ledezma 

   5. Reappointment to the Smithfield Public Improvement District: Sue Dority 

   6. Appointments to the Environmental and Science Advisory Board: Zachary Maffeo and Leo Grassens 

   7. Reappointments to the Board of Appeals: Clint Hanna and Stephen Steinbicker 

3. The Sheriff’s Office requested 3 FTE investigators, funded by reassignment of positions and support from Wellington and Berthoud.

4. The Board issued a position of Amend to SB 24-136 related to Uniform Guardianship to protect respondents in guardianship cases and avoid duplicate reporting.

Commission Guests

Guests included Tina Harris, Larimer County Clerk and Recorder. She stated that 104,355 ballots were received in the last election. Voting in person were 1,053 voters. Undeliverable ballots (which cannot be forwarded) included 413 ballots. The Congressional District 4 election to replace Congressman Ken Buck will be June 25. The schools are participating in a competition for the design of the I Voted sticker. The winning sticker design will be determined by a ranked choice vote. The Recorder’s Office will use this as training for the upcoming Fort Collins elections, which will use ranked choice voting.

The second guest was Maelly Oropezu, Conservation Corps Program Manager. For 30 years, the Corps has managed summer youth programs. In addition to forestry crews, the Corps also offers free home efficiency assessment and remediation. They are recruiting 56 members for the summer, mostly working on fire mitigation. Applications are open now with a typical age range of 18-25. They are looking at starting a wood bank similar to that of Nederland to use the wood from trees removed for fire mitigation.

Proclamations and Awards

The Sheriff’s Office presented the Proclamation for National Public Safety Telecommunications Week, April 14-20. It was explained that staff who handle emergency calls deal with multiple issues – including such crises as CPR, motor vehicle accidents, and childbirth. They also manage multiple languages and accents.

The Department of Human Services and Larimer County Sheriff’s Office were awarded the 2024 Spirit of the Convening Award by the Colorado State Courts. They included multiple departments making it possible for incarcerated parents to keep a connection with their children through such tools as a Family Time Room in the jail. They work to break the cycle of intergenerational trauma and incarceration. Larimer County is setting a statewide example of how to implement SB23-039, which calls for such services.

After reporting on commissioner activities, the Board adjourned at 11:05 a.m.

The next meeting is on Tuesday, April 16 at 9 a.m. at the Hearing Room, 1st Floor, 200 West Oak Street, Fort Collins

*Citizen Observers further the commitment of the League of Women Voters to its principle of Citizens Right to Know, however, we are not acting as journalists. Omissions and errors are possible. It is assumed that users of this information are responsible for their own fact-checking. This could include contacting a government clerk, conversing with an elected official or staff, and/or asking us to speak to the Observer who attended.