DEL NORTE— The Rio Grande Board of County Commissioners started their day out with a manager meeting with several department heads from within the county on June 12. The meeting is held once a month and offers the chance for department heads to discuss ideas, voice concerns or talk about upcoming training sessions or changes.
Wednesday morning the group focused mainly on changes they would like to see added to the new employee handbook that the county is currently working to revamp. Managers and commissioners discussed topics like employee dress codes and whether or not the current verbiage in the handbook reflects what they are trying to accomplish. By the end of the meeting, it was decided that a draft of the handbook needs to be made and that a group dedicated to revamping it needs to be organized.
After the manager meeting, commissioners opened the regular monthly meeting with a report from Public Health Director Emily Brown who gave a brief update on the Rio Grande river and potential closures that may come as a result of highwater levels.
During that particular meeting on June 12, water had started to recede, and Brown thought the river could potentially be open for use in the next few weeks. As of this printing, water levels have maxed out, but the river remains closed to public use.
Commissioners also received a report from Rio Grande Land Use Administrator Dixie Diltz on a recent landfill inspection. Diltz stated that they had passed their inspection of both the Rio Grande County Landfill and the old Del Norte landfill location. “We passed with flying colors and CDPHE was very pleased, but when they returned to their office, they noticed that they did not have the right paperwork for the old landfill here in Del Norte,” explained Diltz.
She continued, stating that until they provide the proper paperwork needed, the landfill is not considered released from post closure procedures. Diltz recommended that they contact the CDPHE and show that the county has been in full compliance with all post closure rules and regulations for the entire five-year period and see if a letter from their lawyer would suffice. Commissioners gave Diltz permission to move forward with communications and to keep them updated regularly.
Diltz also reported that the Department of Local Affairs that awarded them funding needs to help with costs associated with redoing the county’s land use code book and also granted them an extension until December. The project has taken longer to complete than expected, but Diltz feels confident that a draft will be ready for approval by October.
The next item on the agenda was a presentation of the 2018 budget by Wall, Smith and Bateman associates. According to the audit report, the county passed with only a few negative marks for internal control issues that are being worked on by new Administrator Tricia Slater.
“This is typical in places where there is a high turnover rate in employees. It is not something we are very concerned about because the issue has been identified and your administration is doing their best to remedy the problem. We do have to report it though and so we did,” said auditor Jessica Bogner.