Board of County Commissioners Business Meeting - Regular Meeting

Good morning, everyone. I'd like to call the October 13th, 2026 business meeting of the Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners to order. In attendance today are acting county attorney John Christopherson and Cooney Saraceno, administrator to the board in the clerk and recorder's office. Also joining us to facilitate remote public participation is Michelle Halstead, director of the commissioner's office. Mr. Saraceno, will you please call the roll?

Here. And I'd like to note that Commissioner Warren Gulley is absent and excused and Commissioner Campbell is absent. Thank you very, very much, Mr. Saraceno. Commissioner Fields, would you mind leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

Thank you. Are there any changes to the agenda as presented? Great. Then I'd like a motion to adopt the agenda, please.

I'll make the motion to approve the agenda as presented.

Thank you. Second. It has been moved by Commissioner Baker and properly seconded by Commissioner Fields to adopt the agenda as presented. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The ayes have it and the motion is adopted. Next is our public comment period. You are invited to speak to the commissioners about any topic that's not on the agenda for general business. For those on the line who would like to get in the queue to speak, please press star three at this time. As a reminder, please only press star three once to get in the queue. If you press it multiple times, it will remove you from the

Thank you, Judge Sullivan. Patty McNernan? McKernan? Sorry.

I got it right the second time. You did. You absolutely did.

Thank you Thank you Thank you all for your comments as a reminder while the board doesn't oh Michelle is there anybody online? Questioners, thanks for checking. There's no one in the queue at this time. All right, that was Mr. Christofferson. Thank you for your comments. As a reminder, while the board does not respond to individual comments during this section of our agenda, please note that we do listen to these concerns and take note of the issues for resolution and follow-up, most importantly, as appropriate. Again, we encourage you to email us at commissioners at arapahogov.com if we weren

Madam Chair, I'll make the motion to approve the proclamation.

Thank you. It has been moved by Commissioner Baker and properly seconded by Commissioner Fields to approve the proclamation. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you very much. I would like to read the proclamation today. Whoops, sorry. I appreciate that. Whereas the digital age has transformed how Arapahoe County residents, businesses, and government entities operate, creating both opportunities and vulnerabilities in our technological systems. And whereas cyber threats continue to evolve, targeting individuals and organizations with ransomware, data breaches, identity theft, and oth

Yes, we are. Are there Commissioner comments on this proclamation? Yes, Commissioner Fields.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to... agree with the proclamation indicating that cyber security is everyone's responsibility. We all play a key role in making sure that we think twice before we click, that we strengthen our security passwords, those kinds of things. And I know that there's opportunities for people to be scammed and taken advantage of. when you're on the internet. So whatever we can do to make sure that as a county that we're always trying to do our best to protect and safeguard our information, then that's a good thing to do. I appreciate the work that IT staff does to ma

Thank you very, very much. I would like to say something. Um, First of all, for anybody out there who's thinking that our systems are not working like they're supposed to, I can't tell you how many websites that I think are perfectly benign that my computer will not let me get on. I'm like, wait, this, okay. So I am so comfortable with the professionalism of our IT department and those who are tasked with keeping us safe cyber-wise. So I want to say thank you to our director of IT, Phil Savino. And please, sir, would you like to say some words about cybersecurity, a world that most of us never

Thank you very much, Director Savino. Let's go take a picture.

We have 12 items on our consent agenda today. Does any commissioner wish to remove an item? Great. Then I will entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda, please.

Madam chair. I moved that we approve the consent agenda.

And I'd be happy to second. Thank you very much. It has been, um, The motion was made by Commissioner Fields and properly seconded by Commissioner Baker to approve the consent agenda. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion passes to approve the consent agenda. Okay, so we have two general business agenda items today. Our first item is the submission of our 2027 recommended budget. Our presenter is Jessica Savco, budget manager in finance, and our attorney of record is John Christopherson, our acting county attorney. Mr. Christopherson, could you please set the foundation?

Thank you very, very much, Mr. Christopherson. Ms. Savko, would you please provide the presentation?

Thank you, Ms. Savco. Commissioners, are there questions? Well, I have a comment. I just want to applaud you all for your work. This is a lot. And we know how well you do your job. So thank you so very, very much. Since we don't have questions up here, I'm going to open this item up for public comment. So please press star 3 to enter the queue if you're listening on the phone or come to the podium if you're here in person. Give us your name, your address, if you're comfortable for the record, and you'll have your three minutes for comments. For those in the room, the lights will count down whi

I just wanted to add my Congratulations and Thanks to all of the hard work that went into this the executive budget committee They are called in and asked to give a lot of their time towards this, but staff as well. A lot goes into giving them everything that they need as they meet with each department and each elected office to go over what their budget packages entail. And a lot of that can be fairly difficult. Tedious, I'll say, but I appreciate all of the attention that staff has given to this as well.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I, too, would like to recognize all the hard work that goes into this budget. I mean, you guys really have it down to the science and the rigor, and I think that's why there's not a lot of questions because all the details have been outlined in the booklet that we received. so congratulations on once again a job well done and i can read the motion if we're ready all right go ahead Madam Chair and members, I move to acknowledge the receipt of the 2027 recommended budget for Arapahoe County, the Arapahoe County Law Enforcement Authority, and the Arapahoe County Recreation

It has been moved by Commissioner Fields and properly seconded by Commissioner Baker. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion passes. Thank you very much. The ayes have it. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Savko. Thank you, Finance. And now, our last item is a vacation of easement in Sky Ranch Subdivision, case number VAC26-004. Our presenter is Ray Fields, Planner 2 in Public Works and Development, and our Attorney of Record is Matt Hader, Senior Assistant County Attorney. Mr. Hader, could you please set the foundation?

Thank you so much, sir. Ms. Fields, would you please provide the presentation?

All right. That was simple. Boy, oh boy. Are there any questions? Was that it? Okay. Thank you. Are there any questions for staff at this time, commissioners? There are no questions? I would now, do we have an applicant to say anything, or is it just you today? We don't have any questions. Well, all right. I'll now open this item up for public comment. Please press star three to enter the queue if you're listening on the phone or come to the podium if you are here in person. Michelle, is there anybody online? Hi, commissioners. There's no one in the queue at this time. Great. And Mr. Saraceno,

Madam Chair, I'm ready to take a motion if there are no questions. Thank you very much, Commissioner Baker. Give a motion, I should say. I'll just take it. In the case of VAC 26-004, Sky Ranch Subdivision Filing Number 7, Easement Vacation, I have reviewed the Board Summary Report, including all exhibits and attachments, and I have listened to the applicant's presentation. and any public comment as presented at the hearing. And based on the record before me, I hereby move to approve the application and to adopt the resolution in the record approving the easement vacation. Second.

It has been moved by Commissioner Baker and properly seconded by Commissioner Fields to approve. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The ayes have it. The motion is adopted. Thank you very, very much, Ms. Field. We appreciate you. All right. So we have no pulled consent agenda items, but let's go to commissioner comments. Does anybody have something that they need to talk about this week, remarks about work you're doing or issues of importance, remembrances or thank yous, anything? Great. Well, then, be there, no other business before this board. We are adjourned.