Board of County Commissioners - public_hearing

All right, everybody, we are going to get started this morning. It is 9.30, 9.30, oh my God. It is 9.30 a.m. on Tuesday, September 8th, and we are going to get started. Erica, can you start with the phone call, please? Commissioner Mulligan. Here. Commissioner Hanson. Here. Commissioner Bender. Here. Commissioner Rodriguez. All right, and can everybody stand as you're able to join me in the Pledge of Allegiance? All right. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda? I see no nominee ahead of his team. We'll move to approve the agenda. Second.

We'll need to do a voice vote today. Okay. Commissioner Yeltsin. Yes. Commissioner Binder.

Yes. Commissioner Arizio. Commissioner Malaga. Yes. All right, and that motion carries. So we are going to jump right into our awards and presentations, and we have a couple going on this morning. So we have a full agenda, and we're going to dive right in. So first, we will begin with the proclamation recognizing September as Suicide Prevention Month. This observance offers us a chance to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and remind people that no one should face life's hardest moments alone. Suicide prevention starts with connection, checking in on one another, listening without judgment, and making sure people know that help and hope are available. This month, we also recognize the loved ones, advocates, and professionals who work day-to-day to support mental health and save lives. By talking openly, reaching out, and caring for one another, we can help build a community where everyone feels seen, valued, and supported. And now, I'm going to hand it off to Commissioner Odorizio to read the confirmation.

Yes, its proclamation is entitled Suicide Prevention Month September 2026, whereas September is recognized nationally as Suicide Prevention Month, and September 10th, 2026 is designated as World Suicide Prevention Day. And whereas this month is a time to honor every life lost to suicide and acknowledge the many individuals who have experienced suicidal thoughts, feelings, or attempts. And whereas Suicide Prevention Month also recognizes the families, friends, and loved ones whose lives have been forever changed by suicide. And whereas this month provides an opportunity opportunity to reduce stigma, increase understanding, and raise awareness of suicide as a preventable public health issue that affects people of all ages and backgrounds. And, whereas suicide continues to impact residents in Adams County, where in 2025, 110 lives were lost to suicide and it was the tenth leading cause of death, Firearms were involved in 57% of suicide deaths, a 16% increase from 2024. And suicide attempts involving firearms are significantly more lethal, with a fatality rate of approximately 90%. And whereas each life lost represents someone in our community, a neighbor, friend, or loved one, And these losses have lasting impacts across Adams County. And whereas suicide prevention requires reducing stigma, increasing connection, and raising awareness of supportive resources through coordinated community-wide public health efforts, and whereas every resident organization and community partner has a role in preventing suicide by fostering connection, promoting hope, and ensuring people know that help is available and accessible. Now, therefore, we have resolved that the Board of County Commissioners of Adams County State of Colorado proclaim this month of September as Suicide Prevention Month, and it is signed by all five commissioners.

Thank you, Commissioner Monaricio. Now I'd like to invite up Sheriff Gene Klaps, District Attorney Brian Mason, and Leroy Hupfer, the Deputy Director of Adams County Health Department, to offer comments about this proclamation.

I'm Brian Mason, the District Attorney for Colorado's 17th Judicial District. And suicide is a really tough topic to talk about. And all of those who have been impacted by suicide struggle with what to say. And those who suffer and ultimately take their own lives often suffer in silence. as those who have lost people from suicide do after they have lost their loved one. And part of what this proclamation does, I think, very well is remind all of us that we have to talk about it and that we have to, as a society and as a community, as leaders in government and in nonprofit and in all areas of society, bring attention to a matter that is very difficult to talk about because so many people suffer in silence. The District Attorney's Office is proud to partner with the Sheriff's Office and to partner with the Health Department to do a suicide awareness event, which we will have on Wednesday tomorrow. And we're proud to partner with Adams County Government to bring attention to an issue that has cost so many people their lives. Thank you. Good morning, commissioners. I want to thank you for recognizing September's Suicide Prevention Month. This is a proclamation about hope, and hope is the feeling that we have that the feelings we have won't last too long. And this is a proclamation reminding everyone who hears this that there can be hope and healing. It also happens to be National 988 Day. 988 is the crisis line that has been established to help those people who need help and need help in those moments. We're really grateful to the district attorney, to the sheriff's office, but also to all of the departments within the county who work to provide help and connection for people. 110 people is too many people. And so I'm here just to say that we can help and we can decrease this number and we have to keep fighting. We all know somebody or a family member who's been affected through the loss of someone. And so it's really important because those lives matter. And the other thing I wanted to mention is 41% of our students and young people And the Lincoln's Colorado Survey report that they have too much stress in their daily lives, that it's unmanageable stress. And so it's something that we have to keep fighting for. It's something that's, I know, near and dear to all of your hearts, near and dear to us. And so together we can keep doing more, and together we can lower these numbers. So thank you very much.

Good morning, Commissioners. Today we come together to recognize Suicide Prevention Month and to reaffirm something that should guide all of us. Every life matters. Every person deserves hope. And no one should have to face a more difficult time alone. Suicide affected me years ago when I had a younger brother commit suicide. Suicide prevention is not just about responding to a crisis. It's about building a community where people feel seen, heard, valued, and supported. It means being willing to ask someone, how are you? Are you really doing okay? It means listening without judgment and letting people know that asking for help is a sign of strength and not of weakness. We all have a role to play as a friend, a family member, a teacher, a co-worker, a neighbor, or a community leader. Maybe the person who notices that someone is struggling and takes time to reach out, sometimes simply by being present and letting them know that they're not alone. During suicide prevention month, let us commit ourselves to creating a culture of compassion and connection. Let us break down the stigma surrounding mental health and make it easier for people to seek support they need as we continue to work with our Adams County Commissioners and other elected officials to bring more mental health services here to Adams County. If you're struggling, please let someone know you matter, your life has value, and you don't have to go through this alone. Reach out to someone that you trust or a mental health professional. Today, as we proclaim Suicide Prevention Month, let us not only take this proclamation with the words, but also the commitment through our actions to listen, to care, to reach out, and to support another. I'd also like to recognize the folks that are here today, the first responders, the co-responders, and any mental health professionals that are here with us today to please be recognized. If you'd stand up, please. It's a very slim crowd today after a holiday, so... Last year, the room was full, so it is frustrating to see that there's so many that are not here today. But again, we will continue to make Adams County strong, and we will continue to move forward. Together, we can help create a community where hope is stronger than despair, and there is no place that you would feel alone. So thank you, and thank you for this proclamation for today.

Thank you so much for your comments. And I want to personally thank each of you for the work that your teams do for suicide prevention and how do we strengthen mental health resources here in Adams County and the work that you do. So thank you so much for being here. Please stick around. We're going to do group photo at the end of this section of our meeting. So don't go too far. But I do also want to open it up to my fellow commissioners to provide comment on the proclamation. Thank you.

Thank you, Chair. I know that we have a long agenda today, but I wanted to comment on this matter specifically just because of a personal experience I had last night. A longtime friend, a parent, a fellow parent of teenagers called me at 9.30 at night. And I'm like, oh, my friend is calling me to check in. And she was calling me because her teenager was dating someone who was starting to kill themselves. And she's like, I know you serve on a bunch of committees. Like, what do I do? Who do I call? What are the resources in the state of Colorado? We spent some time on the phone referring services and talking through strategy and connecting her and her teenager with their therapist and then reaching out to the other parents and making sure that they and their daughter were connected with therapy as well and immediate support. But I don't want it to be that you have to know somebody who serves on a committee to be able to refer you to support services. And I love that I was able to take that phone call, but I want to highlight something Levon said about 988, which is available on call as well as by text to get some support so that you don't have to decide how to help. you can speak to a professional to help guide you through how to help. And I want to flag for our young people who, as was also cited, are facing a tremendous amount of stress these days for a variety of reasons, that iMatter Colorado is fully funded, and it is imattercolorado.org, or you just Google iMatter Colorado. It connects youth 18 and younger and 21 and younger. if they are on a special education services plan with a licensed therapist for up to six free counseling sessions. No insurance, no credit card, no legal status information required. Sessions are available in person or virtual by computer. They also have free movie ask questions and contact us and immediate support services for youth or for a parent of a youth so that if it's If you're in that moment, that person has the courage to ask for help, you're the one who is asked, please know there are professional support services and structures available. You don't have to know about it. You can just text 988 or go to imattercolorado.org if you're looking to support the youth, but 988 would direct you there as well. Taking care of each other can be a full-time job, and I really appreciate that despite the things going on in the world and actually here, we in Colorado and in Adams County are reinvesting in care for each other, suicide prevention, and this type of emergency response. Commissioner Hansen.

Thank you, Chair. Yes, I want to thank our Health Department and our Sheriff's Office and our District Attorney's Office for their words today and their leadership and their continued work in this area. As I have said before, and I'll... And there is a space and a place for everyone in Adams County. As Commissioner Pinter shared her experience, I think every family is about one or two degrees away of separation away from a family who's been impacted from a death by suicide. So I think leave on free word speaking to Hope and the Sheriff and District Attorney to mention, to talking about how important it is to talk about it and to call 988 and to know that your family or your neighbor or somebody you care about. So, as Sheriff said, if you want to help and do something and feel like you're making a difference, Just talk to somebody. Greet somebody. Check in with somebody. We all have the power within us to help strengthen our community. And we have help available if you need it. And it's not about if it's a strength or a weakness if you ask for help. It's just what you need. You need antibiotics when you have an illness. You need rest when you're sick. And sometimes we just need to take a break and check in and catch our breath. So I'm proud that Adams County is acknowledging this very important month, and I am proud to be in a community that wants to support our residents. Thank you.

And I'm going to conclude by just saying thank you for those who talked about their personal impacts with suicide. And as Commissioner Harkinson just said, I think we're only one or two degrees from knowing somebody or a family that's been impacted might, you know, committed suicide when I was a teenager. And he was the most beautiful soul I've ever met. It lingers, and that pain is always there with us, and it's something that we carry, but it's something that I want to, as Levon said, try to find help about, because we can do more. There's more resources now than there were, you know, 10, 20 years ago, and we're going to keep moving in that direction, and we're going to keep advocating for additional resources for to be here in Adams County to help those who need it. So thank you so much for everybody for sharing their stories, their experiences, and recognizing this really important work that's happening right now in Adams County. Alright, September is also National Preparedness Month, a reminder that while we can't predict when an emergency will happen, we can take steps to be ready. Preparedness can start with simple things, knowing how to receive critical information, making a plan with the people you love, and thinking ahead about what your family might need in an unexpected situation. It's also about looking out for our neighbors and building the connections that help communities weather challenges together. This month is an opportunity to take those small steps today, and that can make a meaningful difference when it matters most. Now I'm going to hand it over to Commissioner Pinter to read the Black Commission.

thank you chair this proclamation is for national preparedness month september 2026 whereas national preparedness month has been observed each september since 2004 to raise awareness about the importance of preparing for disaster and emergencies and whereas the adams county office of emergency management in conjunction with Adams County Strategic Partnership and Resilient Communities, works to educate and empower residents during National Preparedness Month to respond to all types of emergencies, including natural disasters and disruptions caused by these events, and whereas The Adams County 2026 National Preparedness Month campaign will promote increasing self-sufficiency during emergencies by community outreach events, targeted social media messaging, offering skill-building classes focused on personal emergency preparedness, planning, and or as Adams County Office of Emergency Management acknowledges, individual and community preparedness increases community resilience by mitigating the impacts of emergencies and disasters and their associated disruptions. Now, therefore, be it resolved, the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Adams, the State of Colorado proclaim September 26th as National Preparedness Month. And this proclamation is signed by Julie Duran-Malika, Kathy Hudson, Emma Pinter, Steve Adaricio, and Commissioner Lynn Baca.

Thank you, Commissioner Pinter. Thank you. Now, I'd like to invite Lauren from the Office of Emergency Management to speak. Lauren, I did want to mispronounce your last name. Thank you. I love it. Okay. Good morning. Thank you for having me here today. National Preparedness Month is a national observance originally established in 2004 by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to raise awareness about the importance of preparing for disasters and emergencies at all levels, from the individual to the government entities that support our communities. The Adams County Office of Emergency Management is proud to partner with our jurisdictional emergency management colleagues, some of whom are here today, as well as with the Office of Strategic Partnerships in the Resilient Communities this month for a countywide educational campaign designed to empower all Adams County residents to prepare not just for emergencies and disasters, but for the disruptions to daily life that come with them. This proclamation, with this proclamation, Adams County recognizes the critical importance of individual and community preparedness for overall community resilience and acknowledges that prepared communities are resilient communities. Thank you for having me today. Thank you so much for being here today, Lauren. Now I'd like to open it up to my fellow commissioners. Anyone want to make a comment? Commissioner Hansen.

Thank you, Lauren, for your comments. I just want to say I really appreciate folks who work in this area of disaster preparedness, emergency preparedness, because thinking about... bad things happening, I imagine, is a hard place to stay, but it's also a hopeful place of how are we going to make our communities more resilient, as you're saying. So I appreciate that work very much, because when emergencies happen, Average folks, but we don't know what to do. We need help. We need advice and direction from folks who work in that area to help us respond when things get out of control under whatever the circumstances may be. So thank you very much to everyone who works in that area to keep us all safe and give us a path forward when unexpected things come our way. Thank you.

Yes, thank you so much for your work, and thank you for trying to keep us prepared moving forward, whether it's a grass fire that we've had a couple times over this past summer, or severe weather moving forward, maybe even a potential blizzard if we're lucky, right? I don't know, let's hope that our families are well prepared. And thank you for the work you do in helping get out that word, get our folks educated so that we are ready to go when that emergency happens. Thanks so much for being here. So everybody, please stick around. We are almost done with this section. And we do want to do a group photo for each of these proclamations. So don't leave just yet, okay? Next up, we are pleased to announce and recognize our human services team for three recent accomplishments that reflect the incredible work dedication and impact of this department. This is pretty exciting. First, we'd like to celebrate Human Services for being recognized by the Colorado Department of Human Services and Governor Polis as the most improved large county for 2025 in improving performance measures across county based programs. The department achieved the highest CSAT score in more than 16 years, which is huge, reflecting meaningful improvements across programs and services. Congratulations to all of the teams, especially the Economic Mobility team, whose commitment to continuous improvement is helping Adams County residents receive the support and care that they deserve. We're also proud to recognize Megan Frey, who was named CASA Caseworker of the Year. For 25 years, Megan has been a fierce and compassionate advocate for children and families in Adams County. Their commitment to collaboration, fairness, and above all, the well-being of children represents the very best of public service. Congratulations, Megan, and thank you for the lasting difference you have made in the lives of so many children and families. And then last one. We want to recognize the incredible work happening in our Child, Adult, and Family Services Division. Their expertise in family finding, kidship navigation, and family meetings has been recognized beyond Adams County, even internationally. This month, the division will be hosting a delegation from Japan that is visiting Colorado to learn more about these programs as they work to build and expand kinship supports in their own communities. We're proud that Adams County Human Services has been invited to share this knowledge and experience. So now, I'd like to welcome up Katie McDougall, Director of Human Services, to talk a little bit more about these amazing recognitions.

Good morning, Commissioners. I'm Katie McDougall and I have the privilege of being the Human Services Director. Thank you for your time this morning and recognizing our team and for your continued support of the department and the work that we do. I want to take a moment today to recognize the work of our Human Services team. These accomplishments are more important and aren't simply just awards or recognition because of what they represent. They represent employees showing up every day for children, families, aging adults, veterans, and residents who often come to us during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. This has been an incredibly demanding period for Human Services. Our team members are navigating significant change, increasing complexity, evolving state and federal requirements, and tremendous expectations around performance. Yet through all of that, they continue to improve the quality of our work and remain focused on the people we serve. That commitment is reflected in Human Services being named Colorado's Most Improved Large County for 2025 by the Colorado Department of Human Services and Governor Fulis, as you mentioned. We improved our CSAT measures and achieved the highest CSAT score in the history of Human Services here in Adams County. Those improvements included application processing, redeterminations, timely responses to families, and other critical measures. I especially want to recognize our economic mobility staff. This improvement did not happen because someone simply asked people to work harder. It came from teams using data, examining our practice, identifying where we could do much better, and then doing the difficult day-to-day work required to improve our performance. At the same time, performance measures only tell us a part of the story. The data point most dear and dear to my heart is that 93 to 95% of our residents report that they feel respected and well cared for when they receive services from our team. Changing gears to an individual, an amazing individual, Megan Frey. Megan, if you could wave. Megan, in their recognition as the constant caseworker of the year, reminds us that the heart of this work is people. For 25 years, Megan has advocated for children with compassion, fairness, collaboration, and a wavering focus on their well-being. That is a kind of public service we want to recognize and preserve. She sets an example for us all. Megan cares deeply for the youth, children, and families they work with. They care for their colleagues as well. I personally have benefited from Megan's care and am extremely grateful when they offer a hug. Last, we are seeing that our expertise of our staff is recognized far beyond Adams County, as you mentioned. Our child, adult, and family services team work in family finding, kinship navigation, and family meetings, and this was identified as a strength. This is something worth pausing to appreciate. The practices our team members have built here in Adams County are not only helping our local families, they are being looked at as a model by professionals from another country. To our human services employees, we want you to hear what these recognitions collectively say about you. Your work matters. It can sometimes be difficult to see the impact when you are managing the next case, answering the next call, processing the next application, responding to another crisis, or working to improve another performance measure. But the impact of that work is enormous. And while we should always hold ourselves accountable for the places where we need to improve, accountability and recognition belong together. We can be clear about where we need to get better while also being incredibly proud of what we accomplish every day. So on behalf of the Human Services Leadership Team, I want to say thank you. Thank you for your resilience, professionalism, expertise, and the commitment to this community. These three recognitions belong to the individuals and teams being honored, but they also reflect something larger, the strength, talent, and dedication of the people who make up Adams County Human Services. Thank you.

What an amazing celebration of some incredible folks who are directly impacting our community. I do want to just highlight Director McDougall's statement by just saying this team has been through a lot over the past year and a half since we've been here. And, you know, to navigate the incredible changes that are taking place at the state and the federal level and to still be doing amazing work in this community is, I'm going to say, astounding. So thank you so much for your dedication to the people of Adams County. Thank you for continuing to show up and care and do the work that you love. I want to open it up to my fellow commissioners for any thoughts, comments, questions.

Commissioner Hudson. I want to echo what the chair just said. Thank you, Katie McDougall, to you and your team. You work in... hard spaces. It's very intimate working with families and children, people of all ages. And so we're very grateful. And you have received this recognition. I hope you know how much our board of commissioners appreciate the work that you do. We've been in many meetings with you. The goalposts are moving. The funding is fluctuating. The ground is shifting constantly under the feet of your whole department and our residents. And And so to see you recognized outside of the county is fabulous, but please know that we also, we see and appreciate the work that you're doing for all the residents across Adams County. Thank you to the whole team. Congratulations.

Yeah, I just want to chime in and just say thank you. Everything that my colleague said, over 900 people work in human services, and you serve on average about 260,000 residents in Adams County alone, as well as anyone else who comes in asking for help. And it is a tremendous undertaking. And the impact is not lost on us that two-thirds of our population come to you for services for help with basic insurance, workforce readiness, child support collection, child abuse investigations. The list just goes on and on and on, from food access to generalized social work care. And you all do so many things. And I just need to echo what my colleague said. The guidance that you operate under from The federal government has shifted, it feels like every three months for the past year, and not in ways that better serve our community. So I want to thank you for keeping the hope and your persistence, and we take this very seriously. We'll continue to do our best to buffer as much of it as we can, but we also know that you are the front line of service delivery, and that's a lot to carry. So thank you to your teams, and I'm not surprised that you are getting national and international recognition, and it's much deserved. And please know we have a tremendous amount of gratitude.

Commissioner Horacio.

Yes, I just want to thank everyone who came out for all three of these. things that we're talking about today, whether it's suicide prevention or preparation, but also with our human services folks. You guys take on very difficult, very, very difficult things that most folks in the public cannot even imagine the things that you have to do. So thank you all very, very much for helping us remain human-focused. Thank you.

All right, so now is the long-awaited period of photos. So we're going to go ahead and get some photo recognitions. We are going to start with the Human Services team, and we're going to move to the National Preparedness Month, and then we're going to do the Suicide Prevention Month. Please, if you're in the audience and you'd like to come down for any of those photos, you are more than welcome. All right. Thank you, everybody, who joined us for those recognitions. It was great to see all the good news that we have, especially coming out of Human Services and the proclamations that we've had. We're going to move on now to our next section of our agenda, which is going to be public comment, starting with citizen communication. Erica, do we have anybody signed up for comment this morning? We do not. We do not. Okay. So, but we do have some folks who are interested. So, quick general instructions, comments related to land use. Please reserve those for the land use hearing. BOCC generally does not respond, but may ask staff to follow up with individuals. Each speaker has three minutes to speak, and speakers should state their name and address before they speak. So, who would like to be first up for public comment?

Since I was the closest, I thought I'd wave at you first and photobomb all of your photographs. So, my name is Christy Douglas. I live in Congress City at 10970 Unity Parkway. I'm changing up my comments just a little bit this morning because suicide prevention proclamation to family members who attempted suicide. Unfortunately, we're able to work through it. I learned how to a support system by going to the Colorado Brain Injury Alliance. So one of them suffered from a horrible accident, which resulted in traumatic brain injury. And the other was drug addiction from hanging out with a peer group that he wanted to belong to so badly and got caught up in that. So I just want to say thank you for making that recognition. The other one that I wasn't expecting to do was to recognize your fierce Commissioner Emma Pinter for speaking up at a recent Adams County Health Annual event that gathers all the nonprofits and the leaders from the health community to speak. I was so proud of you for speaking up for the people of Adams County and the people who were recognized this morning, who work so hard for what's true to life, and that's humanity. And I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for your fierceness and your boldness in doing the right thing always. So thank you. I've got one minute left. I want to speak on the Connor Wakeman ads that were graciously passed by you. giving the operators allowances to do what they do to profit. with total disregard for the people who have to suffer the consequences, who have to live with this for however long these people are fracking in their backyards. Literally, their backyards. I have been out there. I have been out there so many times. It breaks my heart to me. Had I known about this when it came before the public comment, when the people in the neighborhood were notified, I would have been here. I would have been here in support of those people. Because I can tell you, your decisions impact lives.

Christy, you are 20 seconds over.

I know. I'm over. I thank you for allowing me to speak that little bit extra one piece at a time. I'll be back. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Do we have anybody else who would like to provide public comment at this time? All right, I'm not seeing any takers. We're going to move on to Commissioner Communications, who would like to get us started.

Commissioner Victor.

Yeah, I just want to thank our health department for putting on a great annual meeting last week that was held at the Ranch Country Club. It can be really difficult to work across the full county and seeing all this representation of nonprofits who serve our community. In addition, attempting to invite the Region 8 Director on behalf of the Trump Administration for Health and Human Services. Her remarks caused a lot of concern in the room. And I was really proud of how the community supported each other, and yet our neighbors, like Armada, who had a little bit of Adams County, a lot of Jeffco, were chiming in with feedback for this Region 8 director. We appreciate the attempt at building collaboration in difficult times, and diplomacy requires that we talk to people who don't always agree with us. And I think it was really helpful to have a conversation so that nonprofits and community members were able to voice their concerns about some of these federal changes and the direct impacts that our neighbors are going to be feeling, including some of ourselves. I was particularly struck by some of the disabled individuals who were there to advocate for that are obsessed to health care in our system. And to speak out against a recertification when you are permanently disabled every six months is a full, transparent, and an administrative burden designed to push people with disabilities off care support. We're in some challenging times, and the way that we are going to move through is by all working together. And I want to compliment our health department in their annual meeting this past week in trying to pull everyone together.

Thank you, Chair. Good morning, everyone. It's been a busy couple of weeks. It feels that way. Anyway, I will tell you, and I know I speak often on our budget process of presentations, and I just want to flag that from the last days of August through the first week of September, the board heard 23 and a half hours of budget presentations from departments all across our county. And I want to thank them for their work, everyone who worked on putting their presentations together of course our budget finance team in particular who were there for all of them to help answer questions that we had and I just flagged this it's an ongoing process we have diminishing resources and no degree no diminishment in needs in fact seeing an increase in needs across the county Some of the things that Commissioner Pinter highlighted, where we're seeing people having increased burdens to remain, to continue receiving benefits for which they qualify, is just one drop in the bucket of concern that we have moving forward as a county. And we have some difficult decisions ahead of us, and we, together with our staff, who are the subject matter experts in their areas, we look to them for their guidance, and the board will make the best decisions possible. And we'll continue moving forward with that. You'll be hearing more about those presentations. They'll become some of those as we move towards finalizing the budget. It will be presented here in our public hearings in, is it September or October? Staff may pick. It's going to be more in October. Okay, so you can watch for those, and we can also announce those dates so that if you want to hear those conversations. So I just want to thank everybody who's participating in that work. We had... As you heard, even though the work our human services team does is hard, we want to celebrate those awards and acknowledge those because there are good things happening every day. We had a couple of good events. I joined at the Riverdale Animal Shelter over the last week where we celebrated the solar panels, which we've installed on there, which are going to greatly decrease our carbon footprint and generate lots of power. And Umbrella Shelter, which is a busy, overflowing place, 365 days a year. They do incredible work there, and we have a lot of volunteers who help keep that place running. We also celebrated some beautiful art installations. I want to thank our Parks and Arts and Cultural Department. for their work there to celebrate, making sure that our art is culturally relevant, easily accessible. You don't have to go to the animal shelter. You can just drive there to walk past it to enjoy some of that. That was the great thing to celebrate. I also want to thank the members of the Thornton City Council who came out for a tour. I thank Stephanie and Angel for a wonderful tour. The shelter sort of sells itself when you get to see kittens and puppies. It's a big space, and the work that goes on there is even more immense and really has far-reaching impacts, not just for animals, but for the people and the families in our county. And so we're just really, I'm really proud and grateful for all the work that goes on there. Yesterday was Labor Day, so it was a holiday for many folks. Just a reminder that weekends and the eight-hour workday are brought to you by our friends in the labor movement and our unions who fight continually for fair wages, benefits, and safe working conditions that benefit a lot of workers across our country. It's a great thing to celebrate, and I think the work does continue to make sure that folks are being paid well and fairly and working in safe environments. So happy belated Labor Day. And I want to flag, I hope the commissioner... that our chair will bring this up that she was on a panel at a co-set event recently that's our colorado solar storage association um she represented adams county there were five panelists from across different counties talking not just about solar panel installations but energy production and generation across the region and this is a topic and i thank you to to Christy Douglas for speaking, sharing her concerns about energy production in Adams County and being part of that conversation. Water and power are always top of mind because we are a growing county, and water is... Some people describe it as a finite resource. It's definitely, it's liquid gold. As we know, water is life, and that is, so water supply and clean water and access to clean water is always top of mind as we talk about anything, any development that comes into our county, and also making sure that we have energy and working towards transitioning. We as a county want to have all of our buildings be carbon neutral by 2030. The solar panels at the Riverdale Animal Shelter are one piece of that. So, so geothermal power development happening at Riverdale Animal Shelter and out at CAPS because we take it very seriously. clean air and clean water in my opinion are right and we will endeavor to work towards that and clean energy and renewable energy or alternative energy there are a lot of names out there for it we are in a transition time and I'm proud to be working on that transition and I believe in that transition and I think our staff does too and the steps that Adams County is taking towards that make me very proud and And we will continue to work to maintain a healthy atmosphere and environment for all of our residents here in Evans County. Thank you.

Commissioner D'Aricio.

Yeah, I just want to thank everyone who came out today. Also, I was unable to make it to the event that I will have a I appreciate the work of the Health Department to bring those folks together. And I do think that as we proceed over the next couple of years, we're going to continue to find some challenges as local governments right now are facing across the board from our actions at both the federal and the state level. trying to find some reconciliation and go back to focusing on the humans, as I've said. I appreciate that. Because we're going to continue to see more challenges in funding. The big nonprofits, the big government, the big corporations, all of them are not going to be able to trickle down the resources that we stewards of and unfortunately that just means that we're going through a challenging time and it's budget season and we have probably over what 40 million dollars of assets and we won't be able to afford to do and so it's a real challenge to be in government no matter matter where you are. And so I ask for a little bit of grace as we work with each other, not just up by here, but out there in the community, because the people that choose to work for Adams County are folks who focus on serving people. And you don't do it for the money. You don't do it for all the glory. You do it because it's their own thing. And I just know that we're going to have continually more challenges looking forward. I just remember we're all working hard to try to help certain folks who have

Thank you so much. So I'm going to wrap up with just a couple added comments. I know that a lot has already been said. But, yes, we finished our budget presentations last week, which is going to be really important as we move forward to talk about how do we manage all the county's needs on less money. And so that... Those are going to be some really hard conversations moving forward. But most importantly is how do we as a county navigate the federal changes that are going to be coming down the line? So last Wednesday, I would like to highlight we did have a great study session presentation from our federal lobbyists. So go and check it out. It's on our YouTube channel. that really talked about the uncertainty around Head Start. So Adams County is one of the few counties in Colorado that operates Head Start. And there's going to be some changes that could significantly impact us. So we're watching that closely. We're engaging as we can to try and figure out how do we manage and keep our program moving forward in a productive way. We also had some really negative news about the cost share expectation for SNAP that will hit the county in October of 27. So this is going to be a $15 million cost share that has never been asked of the county before. And that's on top of administration changes that are also taking place this year. So to say that it was shocking is another statement. That's a lot of money that's going to be hitting the county. But I think what the message is moving forward is how do we continue to engage with our federal delegation? How do we work with our federal lobbyists to make sure that the people of Adams County are taken care of, that their stories are being told, and that we find the best solutions we can moving forward. So these are significant impacts to the county. We have a lot of balls in the air, as you might imagine, and this is really the one that keeps me up at night. We talked about the animal shelter celebration. Thanks, Kathy, for covering those. Two things I want to highlight. One, the water tower. If you haven't gone to walk up and see the water tower, please go. It is totally worth it. I've seen that. mural on the water tower for many months now. That was the first time I walked up close to it and it was breathtaking. So it is such a huge community asset. So please take the time to go and just study that beautiful mural. And then also the solar panel which will help us reduce 20% of the shelter's electricity moving forward. Again, Adams County is dedicated to renewable resources. We're looking at ways that we can use less energy. How do we incorporate new technologies across the county? to decrease our burden. So we have more projects coming forward, so stay tuned. And we're really excited about highlighting those when they happen. And then, of course, yes, I was on the panel for the Colorado Solar Storage Association. It wasn't, and it ended up being an energy conversation. And frankly, it was fantastic to see the perspectives that we have from across the counties. So we have more rural counties and we have also urban counties. And so our take on energy is very different from some of our neighbors and friends. But, you know, I think what was most exciting about that is just being able to highlight the great work that Adams County is doing, the road that we are on, and the continued work we advocate as the five of us moving forward to bring more renewable energy into Adams County. We are definitely a leader in this space, so Missouri prompts Adam to be up. with that payroll. Finally, I just wanted to highlight, it did testify before the Colorado PUC last Tuesday, maybe the Tuesday before, on the Excel large load tariff proposal. There is another opportunity to testify in October, although I don't have that date in front of me, so happy to... post that some other time. I forgot the time of day. I'm sorry. Sometime in October, October 24th, if I recall. But this is a really important piece of the puzzle when it comes to the data center conversation and what is important to counties, what's important to the people of Adams County. And so very excited to be able to testify for that. proposal is great. I think it needs to go further. We're going to see how that works out in the end. And along with legislation that we're going to definitely see in this next session, Adams County is always going to be actively engaged in this space as we continue to work on our regulations. So that is everything. That was a lot this morning. It's been, we had to catch up on a lot of our activities. So I'm going to move on to our consent calendar and I'm open to a motion when my team is

Move to approve the consent calendar.

I'll second. My screen is not working, so we could pause for technical assistance. Or are we voting? Yay! Or are we not? Thank you for your help. Are we voting again?

Yes, let's move on to the voice vote. Commissioner Henson. Yes. Commissioner Villalba. Yes. Commissioner Horacio. Commissioner Venter. Yes. All right. Thank you so much. We're going to move on to new business. So County Manager, who is on vacation, but we have a great stand-in. It looks like we have one resolution for him. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Deputy County Manager, you have holiday filling in for County Manager Dion Schroeder this morning. There's one item under the County Manager's communication resolution, approving an agreement between Adams County and the Village Exchange Center for the external administration of the Adams County Community Fund, number 2026759. Deputy County Manager Alicia Reese is available to provide additional context and answer any questions the board may have.

Good morning, commissioners. Very happy to be here on behalf of our SPARC team. Before you is a resolution to approve an agreement with Village Exchange Center, or VDC, to serve as the external administrator, builder, and operator of the Adams County Community Fund. As you all saw, Amanda Blaurock, CEO of Village Exchange Center, is also present today to assist with any questions you all may have. The Adams County Community Fund is intended to create a long-term, sustainable mechanism for attracting and coordinating philanthropic, corporate, foundation, and other external investment into Adams County in support of our communities and identified priorities. The Community Fund will include two funding pathways, a Strategic Impact Fund, which will support identified community and county priority needs, and a community relief fund to provide a flexible framework to respond to emerging and urgent community needs, including circumstances like natural disasters. This past spring, the county conducted a competitive process to identify an organization with the experience and infrastructure necessary to establish, administer, and grow the community fund. Village Exchange Center was selected through that process. BEC is making the upfront organizational investment necessary to build and launch the community fund. The county is not paying BEC directly for those startup services. Instead, BEC may recover up to $67,750 of its documented startup investment in the future as the fund grows and philanthropic or other eligible non-county resources become available. The fund's evidence structure outlines clear roles and accountability. The Board of County Commissioners will provide strategic direction for the fund, including establishing overarching county funding priorities and appointing members of the Community Fund Advisory Council. The Advisory Council will provide community philanthropic and subject matter expertise and will make funding and investment decisions within the framework and priorities established by the Board. The CDC will be responsible for building and operating the fund, which includes fund development, administration, implementation, compliance, and reporting. They will also maintain an impact dashboard detailing funds raised, grants awarded, and outcomes achieved on a quarterly basis. Next, you'll see us back in a more in-depth study session on September 23rd to discuss the fund's strategic priorities, governance structure, advisory council, and other elements necessary to fully establish and launch the community fund. Therefore, staff recommends approval of the resolution and agreement with Village Exchange Center, and Amanda and I are here to answer any questions you may have.

All right, thank you, Alicia, for that presentation. Questions, comments from the board?

Yeah, I just wanted to, you know, just say thank you. I think this is really important. As you heard in our previous comments in response to the public commentary and in response to some of the budgetary updates we received last week, it is more important than ever that we have everyone on board in contributing to you know, special activities in Adams County that improve our community safety and well-being. A government cannot meet every community need alone. And so this is a huge opportunity to invite others in to participation in meeting needs that fit with their strategic priorities, fit with their belief of community ecosystems. I just really like that this community fund is going to facilitate additional resources going directly to Adams County residents and not to replace existing nonprofits, help corporate partners or individual donors find ways to contribute and find ways to invest. So I really love that for the first time we're going to have one place for community investment for those people, companies, and philanthropic organizations to focus those efforts. I'm really glad Village Exchange Center is stepping up. Amanda Blaurock and her team have been partners in deploying resources to their organization and other nonprofits and community for a long, long time. And we are excited to see someone who has such an impeccable record of Treasury audits from the U.S. government, which is no small feat, as well as our own fiscal standards. So I really appreciate both the fiscal responsibility and the community effort.

I just want to say, yes, I'm very excited to support this resolution. This is a great step for Adams County, not a unique step. Many jurisdictions have community funds structured exactly the same way, but to do all of the things that Commissioner Pinter outlined, it gives us as a community more flexibility to get funds and support where it's needed outside of our formal government structure, but it's a very important step for deploying much-needed resources and i'm very excited to support our partnership with the village exchange center and i'm looking forward to a to a robust robust future and community in our community fund thank you

no i'm looking forward to this it's uh you know we've been trying different ways over the years to how to leverage relationships and strategic partnerships in the community folks want to participate and i hope this is something that we can figure out and make it happen and i'm optimistic about the work from our staff as well as our new partner loads exchange and i look forward to seeing us see if we can take advantage of the potential multiplier effect of what happens when we multiply.

And finally, I'll just say there's a lot of people who are interested in investing in Adams County. If it's your local Facebook group that is asking for donations for the animal shelter, I mean, there's just so much work happening throughout the county that people want to be part of, and this gives them the opportunity to do so. And so I think that this is going to be a new chapter for Adams County, i.e., I very much appreciate the previous board and board members who've championed this effort for a very long time. I think that this is going to be pretty exciting to see how we move forward. So looking forward to the study session presentation and looking forward to furthering our relationship with them. All right. Open for a motion.

Yeah, I'm happy to move to approve the resolution, approve the agreement between Adams County Village Exchange Center to provide external administration on the Adams County Community Fund.

Second.

All right, so we have a motion and a second, and that motion carries. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right, now I'm going to be moving on to our county attorney for the first reading of Ordinance Number 19.

Good morning, Commissioners. This is a new ordinance proposed for Adams County, and it is Ordinance Number 19, an ordinance to provide temporary emergency general assistance to individuals experiencing poverty in Adams County. There is a statutory authorization in Colorado for counties to have these funds. It would be funded by general fund, and so the commissioners would make a determination each year in terms of budget, how much is actually allocated to this fund, but this ordinance would create the framework to allow the General Assistance Fund to be created in Adams County. Just to provide a little basic information, the way the ordinance is set up is in order to be eligible for general assistance, the requested assistance must be reasonably expected to resolve, stabilize, or substantially mitigate the immediate emergency that created the need for assistance. So this is not a long-term support system. This really is intended to address emergency needs. As set forth in the ordinance, the general assistance benefits could include rental assistance, utilities assistance, transportation, medical and dental expenses, food, and other assistance designed to deal with an isolated emergency crisis as deemed appropriate by the county manager or designee. And then set forth in the ordinance is that your county manager establishes a program to accept applications and distribute funds accordingly.

All right, thank you for that overview. For our first reading of ordinances, we do offer a public comment period. Then the BMCC can ask questions or comments. Our action can either be amend the ordinance, vote to bring it back, or vote not to bring it back for second reading, or do nothing and then we move forward to second reading anyway. So is there anybody open to, or is there anybody here to provide public comment on the first reading of this ordinance at this time? I cannot see anybody that I needed to ask. All right. Questions, comments from the board? I'm happy to make the motion, but I'm also happy to, like, pause for questions, comments.

I do not need a motion.

Oh, I apologize. You guys are going to start the action. I knew that. I don't have to come back. But if you have amendments, or if you'd like to think about not to bring them back, you can also do that.

Thank you, and thank you to the county attorney for that explanation. I just, I look at this as if we pass this ordinance at second reading, this gives Adams County another tool in our toolbox to respond to emergencies. It is not intended to be, as was stated, a long-term support of of our families or any person in Adams County who needs ongoing services, that would still be covered by our Human Services Department and the many programs that they assist folks in connecting with as needed. But it is something that in unforeseen circumstances that could allow us to help sustain folks through an emergency to help them get stabilized. And then, of course, as I said, we have multiple departments, health department and our human services department and our SPARC team, all working in our community to help folks through crises and connect them with resources. So I think this is, I am happy to support this and look forward to the second reading.

Thank you for reminding me of procedure that you had literally just read out loud. So I take the feedback well. Thank you. I think my excitement is that we have been wrestling with how to do this as a body for about the past year. And it's really helpful to see this come forward in this formation. And, you know, I think it's also auspicious to have it come forward on National Preparedness Month because we were just reading that proclamation. Unfortunately, crises of all variety have been rolling over our county for the past many years. Some natural, some created by the president in Washington, D.C., and we are attempting to respond as quickly as possible, as strategically as we are allowed to, and this just gives us one more avenue for consideration when we are providing that kind of emergency and temporary response. So I appreciate it, and I appreciate the work, and I know we don't have anyone here to provide comment, but I think this will give us more flexibility moving forward.

all right thank you so much yes i agree i'm happy to support this ordinance to moving on to second reading um and for all of the reasons that you guys have clearly stated so uh at this time i'm not hearing any uh amendments to the ordinance so we can move on to second reading I do have more for you. It looks like executive sessions are coming up.

I do, and I should have stated, I just want to state for the record, that our next steps for the ordinance is that our first publication is intended to begin on September 17th. We'll be back here for second reading on September 29th. Then we publish again on October 8th. And as set forth in the ordinance, it will become effective December 1st, assuming it is passed. All right, and then we do have a couple executive sessions today. The first pursuant to Colorado Revised Statute 246-402-4B and E for the purpose of receiving legal advice and instructing negotiators regarding Altitude X proposal. So moved?

Second.

All right. That motion passes. All right.

And then the second executive session would be pursuant to Colorado Revised Statute 246-402-4A for the purpose of discussing potential acquisition of property.

So moved. Second.

All right, the motion passes. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right, so now we're going to move into our late news hearing. We are going to take a quick five-minute break so folks can get set up, and we will be back shortly. So it looks like we got the team back together. So we can get started with our lay news hearing. I just want to go through our steps. So we always start with a staff presentation. Then we get questions from the BOCC. Then we invite the applicant to come and present questions again from the BOCC. We do have a public comment period. And then wrap up with commissioner discussion and a motion. Let's get started.

Okay.

Good morning.

My name is David Daboski. I'm here to present to you with the United Water District East 132nd Avenue. The vacation request is taking place along East 132nd Avenue and Dome Street. So the request before you is a request to vacate the portion of East 132nd Avenue bound to the west by Brighton Boulevard and to the east by Nome Street. In the background, the applicant is 70 Ranch Holdings LLC, who is also the property owner to the south of the proposed right-of-way vacation. And the property to the south is used for open water storage. And the proposed right-of-way should be vacated. successful will be split between the two adjacent property owners to the north and the south, and then this other property owner, the applicant, and intends to use the portion of banking as a service and maintenance area for the open floor storage. So this is occurring in between Brighton Road and Nome Street, as you can see on the left image. And to the south, it is, this separate request is north of East 126th Avenue. north and west of E470, and then west of I85. And then on the image on the right, you can see a closer view of this subject for Quest and Brighton Boulevard, for Brighton Road, sorry, and then Nome Street. The current zoning for this area is Agriculture 3 with A1 across the street. And then the future land use of this area as residential, low, and mixed-use commercial Looking at the proposal right-of-way, it's important that we evaluate that the, on the images here, that the, if you take a look on the north and south, we can see the adjacent properties. And then looking west and east, you can see the, most of the right-of-way in question And when reviewing a roadway vacation, it's important that we look over the criteria. So the right-of-way vacation request must comply with the development standards in the original conditions of approval. The request may not create nonconforming plots or increase any nonconformity. The request must be consistent with the purpose and intent of the subdivision regulations. There shall not be a detriment to public health, safety, and welfare. The request shall not leave any adjoining land without access to establish a public road. Again, if the roadway is a state or federal highway, the vacation has been approved by the State Transportation Commission. So, when evaluating this proposed vacation, we can see that this is an image of the most recent plan to show the area of the proposed vacation. We can see that the request is compliant with the development standards and consistent with the intent of the subdivision. regulations. No non-conforming lots are being created. This request will not create a detriment to the public good. All adjoining lots maintain access and this is not a state or federal highway. Our development standards require that notifications be sent to only the property owners and occupants adjacent to the requested right-of-way. And so this is just the applicant and the northern property. And so no public comment was received, and there were no referral agencies concerned with the request. So this case went to a planning commission and it was recommended approval via the consent. And so with that, staff is going to recommend approval based on The fact that the request complies with the development standards is consistent with the intent of the subject of the regulations. It does not create a non-performing lot. It is not a non-good detriment to the public good. All the joining lots maintain access, and this is not a state or federal highway. And so, again, staff will recommend approval of the subject request, VAC 2024-3, with six findings in fact and two conditions. and then the recommended conditions. And I think that concludes my presentation. Thank you. I'm available for questions.

All right. Thank you so much for that presentation. Questions or comments from Commissioner Hansen?

Thank you, Chair. Could you please go back to the, like, the aerial map that shows the road? I'm not sure which slide it was. I'm sorry. I assume it went down. Yeah. So does the road map Does 132nd Avenue actually, does it connect to Gnome Street? Does it connect Brighton Road to Gnome Street currently?

That's not a problem. I don't know if that could be an act of the government. Yes, it does.

132nd turns into Gnome Street when it goes over the east side. And do we, as Adams County, do staff have any concern over that loss of connectivity? Well, we don't.

No, the street is actually owned by the 47840, so it's not a county road. Okay.

They were asked to participate in the process and chose not to in the vacation process. I'm sorry, I couldn't understand that. They were asked if they wanted to be part of the vacation process and chose not to. This usually went E473. E473. So we're not worried about any loss of east-west connectivity in that area impacting residents? No. And then, so what happens? So I see there's a portion of that that appears is what's going to be vacated. What happens to the part that's not under the red dashed line? What happens to that? It's a long studio, and I assume you're talking about the curve to the east.

Yes, exactly. It still is owned by E-470, and it's that property. They can use it as they see fit in the future. So that section of 132nd Avenue, that section is owned by... Right at the curve of the... that becomes known-as-known-street service.

So even so before, it actually connects with what says known-as-known-street. That becomes known-as-known-street. Okay. And then what is the access, because it mentions that the property, most of the people who own these parcels do not lose access to the, so what are their access points? It's just Brighton Road and Nome Street, or what other access, road access do they have to that? I'm sorry, what?

Nome Street really doesn't go anywhere in the South. Okay. It's an unused four-shore roadway. So the two property owners would have access to Brighton Road.

Okay.

And they have all the access easement over the, what is now the right-of-way, but after it gets vacated, there'll be an easement there that they can use for access. Okay. And then, so that is an existing roadway. I mean, it's asphalt, I'm assuming. I think it's on a dirt road, actually. It's what? A dirt road. It's a dirt road. Okay. So if we vacate this... today, then any maintenance of that strip, if the property owners use it to access their parcels, that becomes their responsibility. Yes. Okay. And we would have no responsibility for maintenance or anything that happens. Because it becomes private property. Yes. Okay. I think those are all my questions right now. Thank you very much.

Any other questions? I have a quick question. When we do these types of, um... vacations, do we do any type of analysis on who else might use this road? Is it open to the public for others to use this?

At the moment, it is, but it doesn't go anywhere.

So it's not even properly used here. So it wasn't reviewed. We did a review of who would use that road and who would use it, but it's just for this vacation.

Okay. But it doesn't really get them anywhere, so why would they use it? Exactly.

Thank you, Chair. And so I'm assuming, or as I'm curious, in your conversations with E470, if they chose not to participate in this vacation process, they, and you said Nome Street itself, actually. So Nome Street, whether it's labeled there, does that go anywhere or is that dead end? Okay, so we're not anticipating any future claims or interest from E470 to somehow have this roadway in any way reactivate as a public? No, if they wanted to. You know, like I said, they own the land. The portion that they own, right. They could do something with it, but they were made aware of this process, and they chose not to be. So they know that there's potential that we would vacate this roadway? land and that then they would no longer have and then they would have no access to that unless they were going to they'd be dealing with the property owners and not with Adams County. Yes.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

Commissioner Ariasio.

Commissioner Hanson just described as, like, are they aware of that they're pretty much giving up a potential use in the future when they say that we don't want to participate? My understanding is they are aware of this process. The consequences would be they choose not to be involved in it. Because there's a difference between not participating and understanding the consequences of not participating away from some sort of right or some sort of future opportunity is something that is pretty important. Me, the Cortez Runway Supervisor, I personally reached out to E478 in contact with, they want to participate in this transaction or this vacation of the runway, particularly the current portion. They specifically told me that they were not interested because they acquired that property with funds they didn't really want to lose there. at their money at this point. So they would refuse to be part of a participant in this vacation and hop onto their roadway. I do have that in email. I'm having trouble understanding. I'm so sorry. You said that they acquired which property? The current portion that Mr. Evans discussed. And then maybe they're not vacating that part. They're going to retain that. OK, so that, OK, all right. two parts that they decided they are not going to vacate the portion that they want to retain. Yes. Are they aware that the portion they want to retain will not be accessible? Yes. The other vacate? Yes. Okay. That's what I want to make sure. I assume that if that's accurate, and I do believe it, and nothing would give me the reason it wouldn't be, that they would know that they could come in today if there was a concern about it. Yes. All right. Thank you so much. You're welcome.

No, no, no. I just want to highlight that they are looking at different maps than we are. They have different priorities than we do. So whatever their rationale is, the bottom line is that they have chosen not to participate and are aware of the vacation. Right? But we don't have to understand. No, no, it's not. I have one more question. Yeah. We don't have to understand their rationale to know that they have different priorities.

Yeah. And I think people are just confirming that.

We haven't tried it.

Yeah.

And I think my question, too, is for the county attorneys and their team. Is that email sufficient documentation? Yes, the e-mail serves us, but these days e-mails are akin to a letter, so. Okay, we have that. So you're comfortable with that? Yes, I'm comfortable, thank you. Thank you very much. I'm sorry, Sally Nagin from the county attorney's office. I'm sorry.

Thank you for your answer, Sally. Thank you, Sally. Okay, any other questions or comments for Seth? All right, so we are going to move on to our applicant presentation. Do we have any takers? There we go.

My name is Andrew Damiano, L15 Cherryvale, England, Colorado. We don't have a presentation. David did a wonderful job of presenting our case. I'm happy to answer any questions or add any links, in particular to the E-470 loop. That is actually one of their exits off of A470 and connecting to 85. So that portion of that curve isn't used anymore. They just purchased it while they were building that baby turn. If you bring up that area one more time. That tire, it's kind of hard to see it. Can I use it? Oh, perfect. Look at that. I love technology. So off of E470, you come around, you move off E470 like this, you come around, and it gets you on to 85 here. So that little curve there is no longer used. It was just a portion of the curve. purchase when they buy. No one uses it. It's actually what it's become is a dumping ground. This is a trash dump. People come in, they turn in, they dump all their trash right in about this area. It's actually a huge expense for the county because the county then has to go and clean it up. We'd like to minimize that as much as possible. We'd like to eliminate it. We do have a plan for if this is approved today for a temporary road closure and then a more permanent one down the line just to make sure that no one else can get out there and dump anything. So again, I'm happy to answer any other questions.

All right. Any other questions for the applicant? Yes. Okay, Commissioner Hudson. Thank you.

So, because I've only, I can only see a portion of the property, I just want to make sure that you're comfortable with the access that this, you know, that you'll have, that there's sufficient access for your needs.

Correct.

Because it becomes your property.

Yes. As you pointed out earlier, water is gold. We are at the water business. This is our storage bucket. This is one of our storage buckets. We have access off Brighton Road into our pumping facility, which is right here. And we also have an access point here as well. So our access is fine. We did work out an easement agreement. The easement agreement is already signed with the northern property owner. So we all, both of us, feel very comfortable with where we are with applicants.

Okay.

Thank you very much. Sure. All right. Any other additional questions or comments from the applicant? Okay. Not seeing any, thank you so much. Sure. We're going to move on to public comment. Is there anybody who is here today to provide public comment on this specific case? I'm not seeing anybody jump to their feet, so we're going to close public comment and move on to commissioner discussion and a motion.

Thank you, Chair. I actually have my questions have been answered sufficiently. Thank you, everybody. And I... do not have an issue of moving, making a motion to approve the EC 2024-3 United Water District East 132nd Avenue vacation. I don't know if there's any more discussion.

No, I don't think there's any more discussion, but I don't have a screen. Hold on. Let me refresh here. Let me try to catch up with you. Oh, here comes help. Oh, here I go. Okay. All right. Thank you. All right, then that motion passes. Thank you so much for your work on this. I really appreciate it. Thanks, everybody. That's the last thing on our agenda. So we will be adjourning at 11.07. Thanks.