Lake City | The Silver World Newspaper

Snow Showers, Elevated Spirits at Long-Awaited Groundbreaking…

After decades of discussion and faltered plans, Hinsdale County Commissioners, staff, and Sheriff’s Office personnel have broken ground on the 6,000-square foot Operations Building which is being built directly south of Hinsdale County Courthouse at the corner of 4th and Henson Street.Ground breaking in advance of this week’s start of work by contractor Buildings-by-Design and excavation subcontractor — additional photos, page 5— took place last Tuesday afternoon, May 7, with commemorative hardhats and diminutive gold-painted shovels in the midst of a spring snow shower.Pictured left to right are County Finance Officer Lynn McNitt, Administrative Assistant Davee Menzies, County Administrator Sandy Hines, Building Official Gabe McNeese, Dana Hlavac on behalf of Colorado Department of Local Affairs, Hinsdale Commissioners Robert Hurd, Greg Levine and Kristie Borchers, Hinsdale Sheriff’s Department Administrative Assistant Bobbi Vickers McDonald, and Hinsdale County Sheriff Denim Starnes. Cole Zwesler, a travel tech working with Montrose-based Alpine Archaeology — standing, far left — is monitoring subsurface excavations at the site of the new County Operations Building on Henson Street.Zwesler is keeping an eye out for remnants of the old county jail building which burned in 1946 — pictured below left at the site location from a 1902 Sanborn Insurance Map — together with another now vanished frame building at the site, identified below as an assay office, which was originally occupied as a library started by Rev. George Darley in 1877, and later briefly used as a hospital.

May 15, 2025 No Comments

Town, County OHV Regs, Hours of Operation in Advance of Busy Season

Hinsdale Commissioners at their Wednesday, May 7, meeting briefly discussed the county’s amended ordinance addressing increased safety fines, mandatory spark arrestors, and hours of operation for Off Highway Vehicles on county roads.As previously reported, the county’s annual Colorado Dept. of Transportation program allowing OHVs on the portion of State Highway 149 from the Lake Turnoff at CR30 south to and through the Town of Lake City once again commences the first Friday before Fathers’ Day – this year Friday, June 13 – and continues through September.In their amended ordinance, commissioners are enacting increased OHV fines for safety violations and, as a fire precaution, are mirroring State of Colorado’s requirement that OHVs are equipped with spark arrestors.In addition to the four-mile section of Highway 149 through town, OHVs are allowed on all county roads in unincorporated portions of the county at all times, although new this year and in effect from May 25, seasonal hours of operation June 1 – September 30 are limited to 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.Town of Lake City is in process of adopting similar mandatory hours of operation for OHVs on all town streets.Elsewhere during last Wednesday’s meeting, Commissioners Borchers, Hurd, and Levine heard an update on spring runoff outflow from Lake San Cristobal and lake outlet gates that are gradually being lowered as runoff peaks.Commissioner Levine reported on a whirl of activity at Lake San Cristobal Peninsula Park which includes work on the summit of the peninsula for the Ben Brownlee Memorial with engraved rails, Terry Klug’s new lockable gate regulating access to the county boat dock ramp per the invasive aquatic species program, and installation of the county’s new disability-accessible fishing pier that is scheduled May 21.Commissioner Borchers, who will address crowds attending the annual Memorial Day Veterans’ Service on May 26, updated her fellow commissioners that engraving is scheduled updating the Veterans’ Park Memorial with the names Paul Olson, Martin Franz, David Flynt, Robert Case, Denis Cox, and R.S. Scott.In announcing First Responder Appreciation Week this week, Borchers expressed gratitude to the local EMS team, reciting the following list: Brad Jones, Paramedic; Amanda Hartman, AEMT; Dan Humphreys, AEMT; Rachel Moore, EMT-IV; Melody Crump, EMT-IV; Leslie Nichols, EMT-IV; Katherine Heidt, EMT; Richard Williams, EMT; Kelly Elkins, EMT; Danny Oge’, EMT; Sarah DeCristino, EMT; Grant Loper, EMT; Lorie Stewart, Driver; Tom Arnold, Driver; Jenn Pierce, Driver; Lydia McNeese, Driver; Jerry Johnson, Driver; Daniel Bernat, Driver; and Sarah Moody, Driver.Borchers also announced that the county has competitively been awarded a no-match $1,100 grant from Sea Tow Foundation as part of a loaner life jacket program.Thirty loaner life jackets in bright yellow hue, together with applicable information on the life-saving importance of wearing a life jacket for lake water recreation, will be available from a metal stand which will be displayed at the county board dock starting this summer. The life jackets — in sizes infant, child, youth, adult, and adult extra large — are described by Borchers as part of a “great proactive project” and were timed for arrival in advance of National Safe Boating Week May 17-23.Intense discussion ultimately leading to an apparent difference of opinion at the Commissioners’ May 7 meeting revolved around disappointing results from this year’s Secure Rural Schools appropriation from the U.S. Forest Service.Last year’s SRS funding appropriation, which the county split with Hinsdale County School District, amounted to a hefty $276,353 of which half, $138,176, went to Hinsdale County School District and the county’s half, $138,176, allotted to Hinsdale County Road & Bridge Dept.A proverbial wrench in the budgeting works for both county and school, however, is the fact SRS legislation expired in 2024 and has not to this point been reauthorized by Congress.In lieu of SRS, the 1908 Act for apportionment of FS funds — for Hinsdale County, primarily receipts from logging on FS land and concessionaire payments from FS Campgrounds — is in effect and results in a dramatically reduced financial payment to the county.Instead of $290,000 which was budgeted in 2025, the county has in fact received just $88,503. Under the old SRS, Hinsdale County had already agreed to split the amount evenly with Hinsdale School District, but the 1908 Act allows distribution at the county’s discretion with a minimum 25 percent to the school.A lively discussion ensued with Commissioner Hurd strenuously advocating that 75 percent FS funds should be retained by the county and apportioned entirely to Hinsdale County Road & Bridge, Hurd describing funding for the county’s Road & Bridge Dept. as “dire” and “extremely hard for them to function without this money.”A formal vote on the 1908 F.S. funds will come in the form of a resolution at the county board’s next meeting, Commissioners Levine and Borchers expressing their preference to continue the 50-50 split with the school despite the lesser amount.

May 15, 2025 No Comments

Assessment Sees Dramatic Increase in Property Values

Property owners throughout the state, including Hinsdale County, received a jolt last week after reading the state-mandated 2025 reappraisal communique from their local assessor.Hinsdale County Assessor Sherri Boyce and her deputy, ad valorem appraiser Sarah Tubbs, were matter of fact in their presentation to Hinsdale County Commissioners last week, the knowledgable duo alerting the county board that in their role as Board of Equalization they should be prepared for a larger than usual number of protests arguing against the new valuations.The protest period for this year’s property value appraisal began last Friday, May 2, and extends to Monday June 9.Referencing the significant increase in property values at all levels — residential, commercial, vacant land, and mining claims — Commissioner Hurd was understated, acknowledging, “it’s hard to make that a positive spin.”Property owners who have now recovered from the initial shock will readily realize that property values at all levels in the county have significantly increased, in part because the state mandated odd year reappraisal was laser focused, “aiming to be bullseye accurate,” as described by Deputy Assessor Sarah Tubbs, in valuing property based on comparable neighborhood sales which occurred from July 1, 2022, all of 2023, and up to June 30, 2024.Tubbs told commissioners that based on sales, there was a “big market jump” between 2019 and 2022.Hinsdale’s last reappraisal in 2023 based property values “conservatively,” according to Tubbs, which was remedied in this year’s appraisal.Sales of comparable properties in 2022, 2023 and the first half of 2024 provided sufficient data for the county reappraisal as a whole, according to the assessor office staff, although in specific neighborhoods with insufficient data, comparable sales were reviewed in six-month increments as far back as 2019.State-wide, including Hinsdale, this year’s re-appraisal reflects a tremendous sales market — and corresponding increase in values — for vacant land and mining claims.Added to the mix, and a jaw-dropper for homeowners, was an automatic $55,000 increase in residential values this year as the result of expiration of the state legislature’s Taxpayer Relief Bill which has now ended but was in effect in 2023 and 2024 aiding homeowners with an automatic reduction of $55,000 in home value.Distantly and unfortunately not in 2025, there is a glimmer of good news property tax-wise on the horizon. For armed service veterans and seniors over age 65, the Homestead Senior Exemption remains in effect now and in 2026, allowing a 50 percent reduction in the first $200,000 valuation of the taxpayer’s principal residence.And while the Taxpayer Relief Bill has now expired, Assessor Boyce says that starting in 2026 — not 2025 — homeowners will receive an automatic $70,000 reduction in property valuation.Asked for specifics, the Hinsdale Assessor Office duo stated that for taxing districts other than schools, the residential assessment rates drop from 6.7 percent in 2024 to between 6.15 and 6.25 percent in 2025 depending on a complex state-wide growth ratio; for school districts — again based on state growth — the residential assessment percent will range from 6.95 percent if state growth is over five percent, to 7.05 percent if state growth is less than five percent.For commercial, vacant and all other properties, the rate goes from 27.9 percent in 2024 to 27 percent in 2025.On a positive note, audience member Arlene Gonzales, newly-appointed member of Hinsdale County Planning Commission, extended congratulations to County Commissioners and Hinsdale Assessor Office staff for the new GIS site which, according to Gonzales, “is now live and, in addition to transparency, is a clear benefit to taxpayers.”As an example, Gonzales said the county’s GIS website aids the planning board and serves as a boost “removing potential friction” in interactions between financial institutions and landowners wishing to obtain a loan.The new GIS site, according to Gonzales, “is cause for celebration.”The site’s address is https:///.hinsdalecounty.colorado.gov/.assessors-officeThe site enables property owners to get an estimate of the location of property lines and is of use to emergency responders wishing to access homeowner information in the event of an emergency.Other plusses are to hunters and hikers desiring a better idea of the location of public and private lands; real estate professionals such as realtors, appraisers, and insurance agents can get a better idea of location and topography before site visits; and construction and utility contractors for a better understanding of property lines.A caveat with the GIS site is that it is not intended to replace the need for a professional plat or survey. Boundary lines are not pin-point accurate but are useful in furnishing a visual estimate.

May 9, 2025 No Comments

Med Center, EMS, VA,Public Health Hosting Health Fair May 12-16

It’s all hands on deck at Lake City Area Medical Center, with assistance from Hinsdale County Emergency Medical Services, as in-house staff hosts this year’s annual Health Fair.In previous years, an outside agency coordinated the annual event and appointments were scheduled on just a single day. This year’s Health Fair, like last year’s, is being scheduled as a service to the community by the medical center staff and is by appointment at reduced rates from Monday, May 12, through Friday, May 16.Dental appointments with Dr. Quigley may also be scheduled at this time. He will be available Monday through Wednesday, May 12, 13 and 14 to provide free oral cancer screenings on those days. Interested parties are encouraged to call the medical center (970-944-2331) to schedule an appointment for screening.Other screenings include assessments for cardio-vascular disease, diabetes, memory, hearing, and vision, which will be offered by clinic staff from 1 to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13 and Wednesday, May 14.Throughout the length of the Health Fair, Monday through Friday, residents may sign up by prior appointment for blood draws, which will be taken from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. each day.Individual blood draws, priced at the discounted rate of $25 per draw, are in turn used for a plethora of tests, based on one blood draw for each test: PSA (prostate), CBC (complete blood count), CMP (complete metabolic panel), Liver Panel, Lipid Panel, TSH (thyroid), Ferritin (blood protein testing for iron), TICB (total iron binding capacity), A1C (hemoglobin), Vitamin D, and Vitamin B12.According to Lake City Area Medical Center board member Greg Olson, tables will be set up in the mornings all week with representatives from Emergency Medical Services, Public Health, Medical Center, and Veterans’ Affairs.EMS Director Katherine Heidt will be demonstrating hands-only CPR on mannequins and Veterans’ Affairs Service Officer Mike Harrington will be there to answer questions about VA services available to residents and visitors.Something new this year from Silver Thread Public Health – representatives will be available to answer questions about the dangers of vaping and will also be unveiling a new system for disposing of vape cartridges.Vaping devices have batteries that are problematic when discarded into landfills, so Public Health is devising a system of disposal boxes for expired vape pens. There will be secure boxes throughout town at a number of locations where vaping equipment can be discarded for free to be properly recycled.Olson also wanted WORLD to know that Medical Center staff have been hard at work trying to secure funding for the Health Fair, and were able to secure a grant from the Colorado Health Foundation (CHF). “We are very fortunate,” Olson said, “to have the gracious sponsorship of CHF for this year’s Health Fair.”Olson also said that he hopes the Lake City community will take advantage of this opportunity, as “managing one’s health is so important, at all ages and stages of life.”“As a board member of the Lake City Area Medical Center, I’m proud of the incredible healthcare resources we have in our community. The upcoming Health Fair is a great opportunity to take control of your health with free screenings, low-cost blood work, and direct access to our EMS, VA, and Public Health teams. From hands-only CPR demos to safe disposal of vape cartridges, there’s something valuable for everyone.”“I look forward to seeing our community come together for this important event, “Olson said.

May 2, 2025 No Comments

Homecoming April 26 for Local Man Critically Injured in Hit-and-Run Accident

Saturday, April 26 will be a joyous day in Lake City, as Shad Barlow returns to town after a lengthy stint in a Craig, Colorado, rehabilitation center.52-year-old Barlow was struck by a vehicle January 24 on Gunnison Avenue and suffered fractures to his ribs, vertebrae and left arm, and was left unconscious in sub-zero temperatures, leaving him with severe frostbite.Barlow was thus rendered paralyzed and will need to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life, and it was uncertain whether he would be able to return to Lake City to live with his mother, Phyllis Bairrington. But Lake City being the amazing community that it is, local contractors volunteered their time, skills and materials to make renovations to Bairrington’s home so that it is now wheelchair-accessible.The community will be celebrating Barlow’s return to town on Saturday – time still to be determined, but expected to be late afternoon – with a welcome home celebration. Sheriff Starnes will be waiting outside of town for the approach of the vehicle and will lead the cavalcade into Lake City. Those wishing to attend the event are encouraged to follow updates regarding the time on Facebook’s Lake City Locals and Friends page.There will a multitude of ballons and yellow ribbons tied around trees, WORLD has been informed by Barlow’s former landlord, Tammy Nekoba. Residents are also encouraged to make welcome home posters, and a poster-making party will be held today – Friday, April 25 at the Arts Center from noon until 5:00 p.m. Folks are encouraged to bring their own materials, but the Arts Center does have some supplies as well.

April 24, 2025 No Comments

Fire District Seeking Sales Tax Support

Board agrees to ask voters for 1.25 % bump — By Chris Dickey Leaders of the Lake City Area Fire Protection District are preparing to do something they haven’t done since 1982: Ask voters to raise taxes in order to fund ongoing operations of the organization.The proposal is different this time around, however. The district was initiated more than 40 years ago with a nod from Lake City residents to assess themselves a property tax dedicated to fire services. This fall, local voters will be asked to approve a 1.25% increase in the sales tax rate.The decision to seek more money was reached by a consensus of the district’s board of directors in January. Last Wednesday, April 16, during a special meeting, the board voted unanimously in favor of seeking the 1.25% sales tax initiative.If approved, the sales tax would generate approximately $375,000 annually, based on the current level of local retail sales activity, according to Fire District Secretary Michelle Warren Pierce. This year, the district’s property tax mill levy is expected to bring in $121,285, which is divided amongst its general fund, capital reserve and contingency budgets.“We haven’t asked for money here in 40-something years,” said outgoing General Manager and Fire Chief Bill Hagendorf. “The worst thing we can do is come back in three or four years asking for more. At 1.25 percent, you’d be very solvent for the next 15 years.”Fire district leaders point to a multitude of factors driving the need to seek more funding. Retail transactions in the Town of Lake City currently are assessed a 7.9 percent sales tax (comprised of 2.9 percent to the state, 4 percent split between the town and Hinsdale County, and 1 percent for the Lake Fork Health Service District. If the fire district proposal were approved by voters, this overall rate would jump to 9.15 percent.For example, a $100 purchase at a local restaurant, bar or retail outlet would increase from $107.90 in total cost, including tax, to $109.15.The sales tax rate in the City of Gunnison, by way of comparison, is 8.9 percent.District leaders opted to pursue a sales tax initiative, rather than property tax, because they believe it is a fairer way of spreading costs out amongst visitors as well as locals. Firefighters respond to a lot of vehicle and ATV accidents, in addition to the rare structure fire.“We see this as a way of sharing the burden with people who come to visit us in the summer too,” Pierce explained.District leaders noted the sensitivity citizens have to tax increases, but hope to state their case to local voters before the November election. They’ve budgeted $10,000 for a campaign that could include a mailer, presentations to local groups and other means of demonstrating the need to individuals.“No, people are not fond of tax increases, but they are fond of the thought that somebody is going to put a fire out at their house, or that volunteers are going to be well trained and equipment is going to roll out of the station and operate like it’s supposed to,” Pierce told the Silver World.“It’s about the level of service,” board member Crystal Brown said at last week’s meeting.“This has to pass,” added board member and volunteer firefighter Evan Milski. “We have to make this pass.”Some concern was expressed at last week’s meeting that this may not be the only tax-related question local voters face this fall. Hinsdale County Commissioner Greg Levine addressed the possibility that a proposal to increase the local lodging tax may be in the offing.“I would say the status of the County Lodging Tax increase is close to entering the deliberation stage,” he told the Silver World. “In my opinion, the county is facing other, more pressing issues.”Representatives of the Lake Fork Health District told the Silver World that they were not moving forward with a tax-related ballot issue this year.

April 24, 2025 No Comments

Flawed Flow Estimates by 1921 Federal Govt. Caused River Water Over-Allotment

Whiskey is for drinkin’ & water is for fightin’~Mark Twain by Bruce Heath The dryness of the land west of the 100th Meridian has been known for a considerable number of years. As early as 1540, Francisco Vazquez de Coronado, on his 4,000 mile odyssey through land that would become six western states, in search of the seven cities of Gold reported water was difficult to find. The most frequent physical malady reported in the journals of Lewis & Clark was the men’s sore feet caused by cactus tines puncturing their moccasins. In 1820, Stephen Long’s expedition traveling through what would become the states of Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma and Arkansas noted, “ I do not hesitate in giving the opinion that the land is almost wholly unfit for cultivation, and of course uninhabitable by people depending upon agriculture for their subsistence.” In reference to these conditions, he then labeled the region The Great American Desert.In 1878, John Wesley Powell sent Congress a Report on the Lands of the Arid Regions of the USA. By careful observation, Powell determined the vast amount of the territory west of the 100th meridian received less the 20” of precipitation annually. He stated that only 2% of the land was suitable for agriculture and that that land needed to be near a water source. He suggested an approach for the government to distribute land to settlers and how to organize water usage because its existence was not in sufficient amounts needed to irrigate large swaths of land. The federal government, railroad companies and land speculators all needed western settlers to achieve the economic growth they desired. Negative publicity about their “ promised land” was not acceptable. This group rejected Powell’s approach in favor of the theory put forth by Professor Cyrus Thomas. His idea was agricultural development would change the climate and cause higher rates of precipitation. He coined the phrase, “ rain will follow the plow.” The famed author Wallace Stegner has described the American West as the geography of hope. Hopeful settlers filled with belief in Thomas’s theory showed up in increasing numbers. For the following 60 years, cities, farmers and ranchers dealt with the inconvenient fact that the territory west of the 100th Meridian received less that 20” of precipitation a year. It wasn’t until the dust bowl years of the 1930s, after brutal hardship and suffering, that Powell’s recommendations were reconsidered.For those in Hinsdale County of a certain age, who knew the settling generations, there was an oft repeated joke told by them. Two cowboys on horseback are riding along the Lake Fork of the Gunnison river. One said to the other, “ This land is starting to grow on me. I am really taking a liking to it. All this place needs is good people and water.” His riding partner thought about it for awhile and then said, “ Just remember people say the same thing about Hell.”By 1900, it became known that portions of Arizona and southern California were capable of significant agricultural production if sufficient irrigation water could be brought to the crops. This would be a major catalyst for forming the Colorado River Compact in 1922. The river’s water source was recharged annually by snow melt from the Rocky Mountains. The purpose of the compact was to provide for an equitable division and apportionment of the river water for municipalities and agriculture use among seven western states located in two basins. The Chair of the Commission who would decide this was the Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover.The challenge was to determine how much water was available to be distributed. The middle section of the Colorado River Basin was one of the most remote and inaccessible regions in the nation at the time. In particular, the canyon region from the mouth of Green River in Utah to the Grand Wash in Arizona, covering a water course of approximately 520 miles, was accessible to wheeled vehicles at only three points. Because of the inaccessibility, no stream gauges were established at Lees Ferry until 1921.An article providing the detail of how the river flow estimates were determined can be found on EOS.org Fixing the Flawed Colorado River Compact. Portions of what follows come from this article. The federal government used a methodology that in retrospect can be labeled as non scientific and politically driven. Their estimate was an assumption that the river’s average discharge at Lees Ferry was 16.4 million acre-feet per year. Based on this estimated flow, the commission then allocated a combined total of 15 million acre-feet per year which would leave the remaining water to meet the needs of future development. It’s clear today that the commission’s 16.4-million-acre-feet-per-year estimate was based on errors about past flow amounts, inaccurate water evaporation assumptions and grossly optimistic future precipitation considerations. They also ignored the more conservative science and more reliable hydrology data available at the time.Actually, the best data available came from a US Geological Survey employee named Eugene LaRue. LaRue calculated the average discharge at Lees Ferry between 1895 and 1920 to be 15.0 million acre-feet per year using records from actual stream gauges and tributary contributions up and downstream from Lees Ferry. LaRue submitted his findings to Hoover who replied with a polite thank you note and then ignored them. LaRue’s findings did not support the political needs associated with proposed water distributions. The different approaches of LaRue and the one used by the federal government led to a disparity in their discharge estimates of approximately 1.4 million acre-feet per year. Future measurements and tree ring analysis would prove LaRue’s calculated flows of 15m acre feet to be valid. So from the compact’s inception, the government distributions were based on an exceedingly wet previous 20 years, non scientific calculations of historic flows and overfly optimistic future flow estimates caused the river to become over allocated.With the Compact in place, the era of dam building began in 1931 with the Hoover Dam and neared completion in 1963 with

April 17, 2025 No Comments

All-Hazard Fund Reimbursement to be Paid by State

There was an audible sigh of relief prior to the start of Hinsdale County Commissioners’ Wednesday, April 9, meeting with announcement by County Finance Officer Lynn McNitt that long-awaited reimbursement funds are being paid by State of Colorado.As previously reported, the county’s financial reserves were severely depleted as the result of a lag in reimbursement payments from the state based on the county’s All-Hazards Team Program. Under terms of the program, the county retains an administrative fee and is reimbursed for up-front costs, including salaries and related expenses of personnel who are deployed to wildfire emergencies throughout the U.S.Under terms of the sponsorship contract, Hinsdale County retains its administrative percentage — amounting to $2.4-million since the start of the program as of February 2025 — and then is promptly repaid for upfront costs, typically within 60 days.The financial rub, however and consequent depletion of county reserves, began in June last year when reimbursements from the state slowed to a truckle.Commissioners engaged legal counsel and scheduled several executive sessions as they conferred with County Attorney Michael O’Loughlin and private counsel on a strategy to obtain delinquent payment to refill county coffers. County Finance Officer Lynn McNitt is typically demure in her financial reporting but at the county board’s meeting last Wednesday bordered on the giddy as she told Commissioners Borchers, Hurd, and Levine that state reimbursement checks for the All-Hazard Team repayments will begin to flow as early as this week.A total of $3,925,783 in documented paid All-Hazard Team expenses is owed to the county by the state. In financial terms, McNitt explained to commissioners that the total amount owed to the county is separated into five separate categories based on review and approval for repayment through the state’s Division of Fire Protection & Control.As of Wednesday last week and expected in hand on Monday this week, McNitt says $837,665.25 has been approved for repayment, “but the state has been working on our invoices and updating the payments.”A second phase of the repayment schedule, as explained by McNitt is the “eligibility checker” in which an additional $2.5-million in owed funding is set to be repaid “within the next few weeks.”Additionally, according to McNitt, and foreseen slightly further down the line, is an additional$235,674 to be paid to the county by the state which is “coded in-process for approval”, and — finally — a further reimbursement payment amounting to$253,037 which is in the state’s payment system but not yet approved.State payment of the reimbursement funds may have an impact on the county’s hoped-for 2025 start of construction on the long-awaited County Operations Center which was reported at length in last week’s WORLD. Reported in last week’s edition of the newspaper was a lengthy discussion on interest rates and repayment schedule if the county seeks interim funding for the $4.3-million operations center which includes $1-million from Hinsdale County.A planned meeting between the commissioners and financial representatives Kutak Rock and Piper Sandler & Co., originally scheduled this Friday has now been moved to a special meeting on Wednesday, April 23.In other agenda items at the county board’s workshop and regular meeting on April 9, commissioners were unanimous as they reluctantly voted to more than double the per-yard transfer station charge for tree limbs and slash.For years the county has utilized a drastically reduced, money-losing per yardage fee for tree debris as a wildfire mitigation incentive for landowners in the county.Without financial assistance from either Town of Lake City or a succession of state fire prevention grants (which were denied), Commissioners will now increase the per-yard transfer station fee from. $6.10 to $12.75 effective May 1.Tree limb and slash disposal at the transfer station — although viewed by the county as a pro-active incentive against wildfire — has become an increasingly costly proposition requiring an annual subsidy from the county. Slash and debris were collected at the transfer station, and the county in turn rented an industrial-grade tub grinder to transform the natural timber into mounds of chips for landscaping and soil stabilization.Even the grinding process proved a challenge, however, with added expense one year when the grinder was inadvertently damaged and required repair. Disposal of the increasing mounds of pulverized wood was also slow, with a suggestion from Road & Bridge Supervisor Don Menzies earlier this year to budget for trucking the chips to the landfill in Gunnison.In 2021, according to Finance Officer Lynn McNitt, total revenue based on the county’s moderate per-yard fee for organic materials amount to $7,066, while expenses for rendering the organic material amounted to $24,688; similar discrepancies between revenues and outgo for tree debris was noted in 2022, income $8,000, expense $24,315; 2023, revenue $9,469, outgo $38,834 with grinder repair; and 2024, income $11,342.85 and expense $23,350.58.The move to immediately increase fees on organic material came with regret, Commissioner Hurd expressing his view “we can no longer subsidize the program to this extent; we must cover ourselves,” and Commissioner Levine concurring, “we’ve got to cover ourselves.”During open discussion last Wednesday, Commissioner Hurd said he has spoken with local Colorado Parks & Wildlife wolf reintroduction expert Max Morton with confirmation that a traveling wolf with radio collar has been confirmed 10 miles south of Blue Mesa Reservor. The solo animal is apparently a “great traveler,” according to Hurd, since this same animal has also reported in such diverse areas of the state as Eisenhower Tunnel at I-170, the Grand Junction area, and Salida.Possible modifications to the county’s yet-to-be passed amended OHV Ordinance will be on the Commissioners’ meeting agenda Wednesday, April The ordinance calls for hours of OHV use to be limited to between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. Both Commissioners Hurd and Levine are now expressing concern over the hours of operation, Hurd saying he would be in favor of an extended time “cut out” for hunters using OHVs in the fall and Levine noting he is receiving phone calls from concerned constituents. Levine stated “we might want to yank the time limit entirely,” Commissioner Borchers countering that she,

April 17, 2025 No Comments

OHVs, Liquor License, EMS Fee Increase at Lengthy County Meeting

During open discussion and a two-hour workshop, followed by half-hour meeting last Wednesday, April 2, Hinsdale Commissioners covered a myriad of topics including formally increasing safety-related OHV infractions to $300, requisite spark arrestors and reflects Town of Lake City’s lead in mandating hours of OHV operation on public roads in unincorporated areas of the county from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. effective May 5, 2025.Simmering dissension also marked the board’s workshop discussion on wording and timing for a county OHV ballot initiative, and prior to the three-member board’s unanimous approval concerns which were expressed during normally routine renewal of a Wade’s Addition liquor license.Topping the April 2 meeting agenda was formal approval appointing Lori Hanko as successor to recently resigned Hinsdale County Treasurer & Public Trustee Lori Lawrence. Hanko, who was Deputy Treasurer, was recommended in Lawrence’s March 17 resignation letter.During the workshop portion of Wednesday’s meeting, EMS Director Katherine Heidt advised Commissioners on an impending incremental three-year increase in Emergency Medical Service rates, the first since 2015, based on charges for comparable emergency services in neighboring areas.Under the incremental three-year plan starting this year and extending through 2027, the rate for BLS (Basic Life Support) transport increases from $900 to $1,400 in 2025 and then respectively $1,650 and $1,900 in 2026 and 2027. For ALS (Advanced Life Support), $1,200 since 2015, the new rate is $1,700 2025, $1,900 2026, and $2,200 2027.One-way ambulance ground mileage — for instance from Lake City to Gunnison Valley Hospital — increases from $24 currently per mile to $31 per mile 2025, $33/mile 2026, and $35/mile 2027.Modest one-time charges for specific supplies, as explained by Heidt, will see an increase from $45 current to $50 new rate for oxygen supplies; heart monitoring goes from $65 now to $75; ALS IV drug administration, $65 to $75; ALS and BLS routine disposables, $100 to new $150 rate.Heidt emphasized to Commissioners that the new EMS rates are the result of a calculated study last September by a team of EMS professional from throughout Colorado as part of a state-funded consultative visit. The upshot from that study, according to Heidt, was the suggestion for improved financial stability through a review and update of Hinsdale EMS rates.Heidt furnishes the chart reprinted above which illustrates comparable rates being charged by regional agencies (among them Gunnison and Crested Butte) and comparisons between industry standards and Lake City which, based on its remote location, is classified as a “frontier area.”As an incentive “intended to thank the community for its incredible support over the decades, Hinsdale EMS’ proposed rate increase also includes a $200 “Local Discount” for local patients with the 81235 billing address.Heidt said the new 2025-2027 rate structure will be widely publicized on the Hinsdale EMS website and with handouts to patients.Hinsdale Commissioners were receptive to the increased EMS fee structure, Commissioner Hurd noting that the new rates will result in reduced county subsidies to EMS, “the closer we get to a self-supporting program the better,” said Hurd.The county’s 2024 “contractual adjustment” to Hinsdale EMS in 2024, according to Finance Officer Lynn McNitt, amounted to $75,000.Commissioners are scheduled to formally approve the new EMS rate structure at a special meeting on Wednesday, April 23, and new rates will go into effect on May 1.Commissioners’ workshop discussion and subsequent meeting finalized an amended OHV ordinance mirroring Town of Lake City with hours of operation on unincorporated public roads in the county limited to 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., county following Federal standards with mandatory spark arresters, and an increase to $300 fine for safety-related citations.The amended county OHV ordinance, published in its entirety elsewhere in this week’s issue, is set for a second reading at the county’s 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 23, special meeting and, once passed, goes into effect prior to Memorial Day. While discussions between the three commissioners regarding the amended OHV ordinance were in general amicable, differing viewpoints were evident as the OHV topic turned to specific wording and timing for a planned ballot…… Continue Reading this Lengthy Article! Subscribe to the Lake City Silver World and receive the weekly issue in your inbox or mail!

April 13, 2025 No Comments

Commissioners Debate, Concur on Interim Financing Operations Center

Hinsdale County Commissioners hashed out details on interim funding for the county’s $4.3-million Operations Center project during an at-times heated two-and-a-half-hour workshop and meeting on Friday afternoon, April 4.During the process of Friday’s workshop — which was attended by county staff including County Administrator Sandy Hines and Finance Officer Lynn McNitt, together with remote Zoom attendance by representatives from two Denver-based financial firms —it was revealed that $2 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding toward the project, which had been on hold, is now confirmed and available to the county.McNitt said that FEMA funds awarded in 2025 remain under review but that a saving point for Hinsdale County is that the Congressional-Directed FEMA funds were awarded in 2024.The pace at which the FEMA funds will be doled out remains an unknown, although both County Administrator Hines and Finance Officer McNitt stated that paperwork has already been filled out for a preliminary advance payment which would include a $19,775 reimbursement to county billed by general contractor Building by Design for preliminary technology and related contractor costs.McNitt said it is uncertain whether payments to the county from the FEMA grant will be monthly or quarterly.With affirmation from County Attorney Michael O’Loughlin who stated “it’s your meeting,” Commissioners Kristie Borchers, Greg Levine, and Robert Hurd asked Finance Officer Lynn McNitt for an update on funds owed to the county by the State of Colorado as part of the All Hazards Team Program.The lack of reimbursement to date is proving a sticking point to several of the commissioners owing to the fact $500,000 in All Hazards TeamVol. 48, No. 2 Friday, April 11, 2025 Lake City, Hinsdale County, Colorado 81235 U.S.P.S. No. 436-63075¢reimbursement represents half of the $1-million which the county is pledging toward the Operations Center construction.Asked for an up-to-date accounting, McNitt told the county board that, all told, All Hazards Team reimbursements owed to the county by the State of Colorado now exceed $3.6-million.County Attorney O’Loughlin, by Zoom connection, reassured the commissioners, telling them he “remains optimistic” that a resolution with the State will be reached — potentially as early as next week when a representative from the Colorado Attorney General’s Office belatedly confers with him — and that the money will be repaid. Failing that, O’Loughlin stated “they can’t just not pay it back; if they don’t, we go to court.”Lack of the All Hazard Team reimbursement payment in hand remains a major sticking point, an exasperated Commissioner Hurd telling Borchers and Levine, “when is the frick’in State going to pay us our money?”Hurd likened non-payment to date of what is owed to the county as a major “fear” and is the primary reason for his hesitation in proceeding with Operation Center construction.On a similarly cautious note, Commissioner Levine said he has “no confidence in the state at present” in terms of repayment and, in worst case scenario, of not repayment assurances, ultimately “I will not back this project.” An even worse case scenario as alluded to by Levine, would be entering into a lease-purchase agreement for interim funding “and then something else happens, I can’t see tackling two giant issues at once… it’s very, very difficult.”[NOTE: since the April 4 meeting and at the county board’s Wednesday meeting this week, it is now announced that the reimbursed All-Hazard funds are now on schedule for payment, the first check — $862,572.59 — expected Monday next week.]As a brief recap of the project, the 6,409-square foot facility combining sheriff’s dept., emergency operations, and county administration will be funded through the $2-million Congressionally-Directed FEMA grant, $1-million from Colorado Department of Local Affairs which is guaranteed, and $1-million from Hinsdale County (comprised $300,000 from the county’s sale of the Wee Care property to the school district, $500,000 through the All Hazard Team reimbursement, and $226,000 interest earned on investments). In addition to an array of funding which has been lined up for actual construction of the Operations Center, other funds have been competitively awarded to the county for actual construction of the Operations Center, other funds have been competitively awarded to the county for electric wiring totaling $256,500 from the state’s energy office, and a JAG (Justice Assistance Grant) through Colorado Division of Criminal Justice which will furnish and technologically equip the sheriff’s dept. portion of the new structure.Costs to date on the project and already paid by the county, as enumerated by Commissioner Borchers, total $192,900 and include $28,000 for demolition of the old shop building on the site north of the courthouse where construction will take place, $9,800 in attorney’s fees, and $116,000 architectural work paid to the county’s architectural firm on the project, Reynolds Ash & Associates.Following a request for bid, Building by Design was selected as general contractor for the project in February at a negotiated price of $4,398,173.In her compilation of the project, board chair Kristie Borchers reminded fellow board members, staff and public at the meeting that the concept of an Operations Center is not exactly new: discussions on the need for a new facility have been bantered about for decades. Referring to crowded and substandard office and meeting conditions in the existing Coursey Annex, she said, “it’s an embarrassing facility… I want to be the board that solves this.”“Now is the time to do it,” said Borchers, “if we don’t pull the trigger and get it done, it will never get done.”Plans for what was then referred to as a Justice Center combining county and sheriff’s dept. offices with a new county courtroom date back as least as far as 2009 when a DOLA-funded small space assessment resulted in plans for a two-story $7-million building which included basement archival storage. That project, however, languished and proceeded no further. The current plan calling for a reduced-size, 6,409-s.f. single-story complex costing $4-million was revived starting in 2021.Borchers recalled a comment by Commissioner Levine last year when overages were anticipated on the four-mile chip and seal project on County Road 30 to Lake San Cristobal. Comparing the

April 13, 2025 No Comments

Tag: Lake City