Board of County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

All right. I'd like to call this business meeting to order. It is October 27th, 2026. My name is Matt Salka, County Commissioner, Chair. Commissioners, please introduce yourselves.

Elizabeth Silberg, Applied to County Commissioner. Marissa Porter-Norton, Applied to County Commissioner.

Great, thank you. Let's all please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

We move on to today's agenda. There are two main sections on our agenda. One is the consent agenda, and then the decision agenda. The consent agenda is designed to approve projects in a single motion that, while important, do not require board or staff discussion. Do either commissioners wish to remove anything from today's agenda? If not, I would entertain a motion.

No, Chair. Yeah, I have nothing to remove. Thank you, Chair.

Okay, neither do I. Then I would entertain a motion to approve today's agenda.

Commissioner Salka? Yeah. Chairman Salka. I move that we approve today's business agenda. It is 1001 on the 27th of October.

Okay, there's a motion to approve today's agenda. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Thank you. All right. Next here is any identification of potential perceived conflicts of interest. Do the Commissioners have any?

Neither do I. Thank you. All right. Next is approval of minutes. We have seven sets of minutes. I would like to have two motions here, one through six. All three county commissioners were in attendance. And the last one, number seven, Commissioner Philbrick was excused. I don't recall which one it was, but I do remember it was an item that you were at. And you weren't one to disclose that, if you will. All right. With that, I would entertain a motion to approve today's minutes one through six.

Chairman Salka. Yes. I move that we approve the minutes that are posted one through six as posted on the public agenda.

Great. There's a motion through one through six of all three county commissioners in attendance. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Next is a motion for item number seven for the minutes, and that's June 23, 2026. Commissioner Philbrick was out. I would entertain a motion. Commissioner Porter-Norton.

I move that we approve the minutes from June 23rd, 2026.

Thank you. There's a motion. All those in favor?

Thank you. Is that correct, right? I'm not giving you your motion or your vote. Okay. All right. We'll go on to the next item here, and that is open this up to public comment portion of the meeting. And I will hand this over to Sarah.

First, I will start in the room. Is there anyone in the room that would like to speak during public comments? All right. I saw your hands first, sir, and then we'll follow up with you, sir. Either way. Okay. All right. No, no, no, sir. Please, you're already close to the die.

And if you like... We typically do not comment during public comment, but if you would want to provide your contact information for Jeff, our interim manager, that's something that if you would like, we can have him follow up with you. Oh, yeah, that would be great. OK. Thank you. If you wanted to get some paper, if you can put that information on, Jeff, we'll have Jeff reach out to you. Sir, you're next, and then I will call online.

I'd be happy to follow up with you on this. No, no, no. What I would like to do is have a more constructive conversations together if you would like. I'd be more than happy to sit down with you on these items. And then we can actually have a back and forth, a good healthy back and forth together on these items. And instead of giving you these three, you know, you having these three minutes, we need more than just three minutes to have these conversations. I'd be glad we do that. If you could give your information to Jeff, if there's any items that you, of topics that you, which I wrote down on those items, but there's anything additiona

All right. Sarah, let's bring in the next one online. And if anyone else would like to talk during public comment, just I'll be bouncing back and forth.

Thank you, Mr. Wheeler. If you like, I can have our county manager reach out to you if you like.

All right. Anyone else in the room or anyone online?

Chairman Salco. Yes. It is not appropriate for commissioners to give public comment. I would like to note that in the part of the agenda today, when we are having more of our commissioner updates, I would like to give a thank you to our county attorney, Cheryl Rogers. Thank you. And so I'm not going to give that now, but if anybody is dropping off, you can listen later and hear my comments. We have a big agenda item today with her separation agreement, and I would like to not let this moment pass without a thank you, and just I'll leave it at that. So I just wanted to know, we have a lot of pe

All right. Thank you. Seeing nothing else, then I'm going to go ahead and close public comment portion of this meeting. We'll go on to our next stage here, and that is proclamations. We have two items here. First up is proclamation for November adoption month. Please come forward.

First, we'll have to go through the procedures here. Commissioners, do you have any questions?

Chairman Zalcoff. Yes. I will wait until we get through public comment. I have some comments. Thanks.

I'm interested, Katie, how many families have you worked with? How many children have you worked with in nine years?

Thank you. Thank you for everything you do.

With that then, I will go ahead and open up the public comment portion of this proclamation and hand it over to Sarah.

Thank you. Anyone in the room on this item? All right, seeing none, I'll go ahead and close the public comment portion of this. And commissioners, any comments? Or if not, then I will go on to the next step for a motion.

Chairman Salka? Yes. This is, every year I get a little choked up when you all come in, as you know, and the reason is there are so many children and families in our society that need help. And sometimes it's easy for our society writ large to sort of look the other way or to act like those things don't exist. And you all are dealing on the front line every day with things that a lot of us couldn't deal with, frankly. And I appreciate it. And I say this every year, and it's no less impactful that you are literally changing lives. You are changing lives. You are helping our society be healthier

I just wanted to thank you. I asked you the number because I think that some people may not understand how many children are in need in our community. Foster families, my neighbors were foster families growing up. So seeing what it is that the joy that that can bring to a child and the opportunity for that child is absolutely incredible. I mean, it is a platitude to say that like, you know, it takes a village. Y'all's village is bigger. It's bigger. because it needs more. And we're not at all surprised that you're highlighted. You do incredible work. We're not at all surprised that your entire

Thank you all very much. We need always are looking for more families here in La Plata County So if it's anyone's interested to please reach out and go through that process I It's not about me. It's about these children and these families. I've raised a child from two years old He's now 22, and it was probably the most difficult job I've ever had I say that in a positive tone. So I have a lot of respect for these families that are coming up, stepping up to be able to assist with these children in need. And so I want to thank you very much and thank all the other families, especially our employ

All right, commissioners, I would entertain a motion. And then when we have that motion, you can read that in the record.

I move to approve in November as adoption month.

Great. Thank you. I'll take that motion. There's a motion to approve the proclamation for November adoption month. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Thank you. All right. Please read into record.

Thank you. All right. Next proclamation, both very important. This is proclamation of November 4th, 2026 as Operation Green Light for Veterans. Staff report, please.

Could you close that door for us, please? Thank you.

Great. Thank you very much, commissioners. Any questions?

Any questions, just comments later. No questions.

Same. So we'll wait on that. So we'll go on to the next step here and open this up for public comment. And I will hand this over to Sarah for this item.

Thank you. Anyone in the room? All right. Seeing none, I'll go ahead and close the public comment portion of this section for this proclamation. And commissioners, any comments? And after that, I would entertain a motion.

I just want to say that there are over 3,000 veterans in La Plata County, and I thank each and every one of them for their service. It was an honor. Anytime we're around veterans or veterans groups, it's an honor. And I'm always amazed. I always thank them for their service. And they sort of say that this universal answer they give of, you're welcome, and of course I would serve. And it just is always like, oh, wow, that's incredible given what all of them have been through as well as their families. So I am tremendously glad to be doing this. And thanks for you, Emily, too. This is a little e

Mine is a blanket. Thank you for all the veterans out there. I'm from a veteran. My father is a veteran. We got to serve pancakes at the veteran foreign wars the other morning. Really appreciate the opportunity. To be surrounded by people who want to give is an amazing opportunity. And yes, it is work, but it is as simple as turning on a light to remind them that we think about them every day. And for all of the people who are still deployed overseas, we think about you.

As well, this is not just for those who came through the finish line is for those who are actively fighting as well Thank you for everyone Thank you agree with both my fellow commissioners is something that my father had served for The majority of his life, 25 years, and it's something that I lived and breathed for a majority of my life, have huge respect for those who have served our country and those that are serving our country abroad. You know, like commissioners, we take in and we do a lot like serving pancakes. That's small stuff, but happy that we're able to engage with our veterans and

Chairman Salka, could we have it read into the record first? Is that okay? Yes. Okay. Yeah, that way we know what the public knows what we're voting on. We know what we're voting on, but that might be good.

Thank you very much. Commissioners, with that being read and in record, I would entertain a motion. Chairman Saldana. Yes.

I move that we approve and sign the proclamation for Operation Green Light for Veterans.

Thank you very much. There's a motion. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Thank you very much, Emily. All right. Next here, the consent agenda is designed to approve projects in a single motion that, while important, do not require board or staff discussion. Do I have a motion to approve today's consent agenda?

I move to approve today's consent agenda.

All right, thank you very much. Motion passes and I'll make comments at the end of the meeting with Commissioner Porter-Norton. All right, we'll go ahead and go on to the next item here and that is the decision agenda. We'll begin today's decision agenda. We have three items here. First up is consideration of a change of ownership for Rocky Mountain Liquors, LLC. Staff report, please. You all please just sit. No, please come forward. Yeah, yeah. It looks like you're here for two of them. So just please stay there, and then I'll call it.

Thank you very much. Commissioners, any questions? Seeing none. No questions for you. Thank you. All right. I'll go ahead. Sorry, I apologize here. If there's no, any questions for the applicants? Okay. Do you have anything that you'd like to say? I think, I think, It's looking, everything's looking good. So if you have anything, please, you may. And just, if you do, just say your name and then you have the floor. But if not, I'll be moving on just the next step here and that would be as public comment.

Thank you. All right. I will go ahead on to the next step here and open this up for public comment for these two items, which is decision agenda item number one and two.

Thank you, and there's there's nobody in the room for public comment so I will go ahead and close the public comment portion of this item for Decision agenda number one and two and then commissioners any follow-up question or comments If not, then I would entertain two separate motions.

I Just want to congratulate you and welcome to the world of liquor license management You have a great guide here with you Yes

Chairman Salka. Yes. Yes. I will do two separate motions and we'll vote on two separate motions, correct? I think you just said that. Staff recommends approval of DR 8177 report of changes application for David James Bell and Samantha Renee Bell to replace Alexis Neal's ownership interest of Rocky Mountain Liquors LLC with signature authority to the chair.

Thank you. There's a motion. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Thank you. Commissioners, I would entertain a motion for an agenda item number two, consideration of the renewal of a retail liquor store license for Rocky Mountain Liquors LLC.

Yes. Thank you, Chairman Salka. I move that we approve the renewal of a retail liquor license for Rocky Mountain Liquors LLC with signature authority for the chair.

Great. Thank you. There's a motion. All those in favor?

Congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you so much. Happy you made it down. Yeah.

All right. Next here. Sorry, I had to hit refresh on my item here. All right, so next up is consideration of Resolution 2026-29 to extend the proclamation of the state of local disaster by Interim County Manager Jeff Hughes on October 24, 2026 due to widespread flooding in La Plata County. Staff report, please.

Just a few questions. Was anyone injured in our most recent flooding?

Wonderful. And the new channeling up in Vallesito, did that prove to hold steady?

I have a couple questions, Chairman Salka. First of all, I don't think I really have the words to thank our entire team. Rob, you, and from, I mean, if I start naming names, I'll leave people out, but our public information, our administration, finance, legal, Human services, law enforcement, the list goes on and on and on. So it's just impossible to really properly thank people. A couple questions. Do we anticipate, of course, we don't know what the future is going to hold with this rain coming in on top of rain, but do we anticipate any additional resources being needed to be brought in? And

Thank you. And yes, thank you to the road and bridge crews. Seeing those pictures, you know, on Facebook or in person, it's incredible what has happened to our county roads. And while it isn't exactly like what has happened to some of the other areas and our neighbors in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, it certainly is significant. And on that note, I know maybe when the current rains are gone and we see what happens, it would be good to have you come into BDT and just help us walk through again, what are we out money-wise? And I know that assessment has started, so we can start to make a reques

Great. Thank you very much. My questions were answered, so I appreciate that. So thank you. All right. Commissioners, I'd like to go on to the next step on this item here. If there's no further questions, then open this up to public comments. And I'll hand it over to Sarah for this item.

Thank you very much, Commissioner Medina. It's always a pleasure to see you every time we get together because we do have a great collaborative effort with Archuleta and La Plata County. And thank you for all your work and our collaboration that we do together throughout our year as County Commissioner every year. So thank you very much, Commissioner.

Chairman's welcome. Yes. I just want to say, in case you drop off, Commissioner Medina, that all of you are in our prayers and our thoughts. We know that you were hit very hard. And we know that you have, you know, a lot of destruction over there. And I think any other way we can help, please let us know. And we know your teams are working very hard and just putting good thoughts out there for all of you. Thank you.

I would like to double down on what Commissioner Porter Norton is saying. It's an important thing to remember that arbitrary lines drawn on a map do not mean that we are not in the same community. Our hearts are out to Archuleta and San Juan in New Mexico. This was an incredible amount of water where we live. And we, as Mr. Ferrino said, were not at the eye of that storm. I appreciate going so far out of your way, Commissioner Medina. in making sure that a single person was able to get to the other side of the road, literally. That was the difference between being able to go home to the family

Thank you very much, Commissioner. I'll go ahead and close the public comment portion of this section and we'll go on to the next section and commissioners I would entertain a motion for decision agenda item number three resolution of 2026-29

Easily done. Thank you, Ms. Adams. I move to approve and sign Resolution No. 2026-29 to extend the proclamation of the state of local emergency declared by our interim county manager on October 23, 2026. Thank you.

There's a motion with a correction of October 23. There's a motion. All those in favor?

Aye. Motion passes. Thank you very much. All right. Commissioners, next section here is any reports or any items. Commissioner Porter-Norton, you had stated something I have. I think I would like to, since as a chair, I get to pick. So, commissioners, if you're comfortable, I'd like to read one of my statements, one statement that I would have first. And then we can go from there. All right. I just wanted to just briefly just acknowledge that there may be some concerns raised during this agreement on today's consent agenda that we just had. First, I would understand why residents may have ques

I wanted to read something into the public record. Thank you for that. It was very well stated. Today is an important day for La Plata County, as Cheryl's work has spanned nearly three decades. Work that has shaped many, many, many good things for La Plata County residents, all under the banner of protection of the health, safety, and welfare of all. When I look at my time in office, now close to six years, every major accomplishment that I can take credit for as an elected official has Cheryl and her staff's passion for public service behind it. As the county attorney, her job has been to giv

Thank you Thank you very much. Commissioner Porter Norton. I wholeheartedly agree with you. Thank you.

I Agree with Commissioner Porter Norton and I my comments will stay a little bit tighter predominantly because you've already covered so many wonderful thoughts. I had the incredible opportunity to meet Cheryl Rogers before I was a county commissioner, long before I was a county commissioner in a more social setting. She is a delightful human being, and she is a thoughtful human being. She is a born and raised Durangatang. to be able to see a hometown girl do good and turn around and come back and provide so much service to the community that she is from means a lot. Not all of us get to go ho

Thank you very much, Commissioner Philbrook. Very passionate. Thank you. All right. Commissioners, any items that you would like to bring forth of just any updates? We do have more discussion time on what tomorrow.

I will save everything for tomorrow. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Jeff. Kathleen, any items? Great. Thank you. All right. With that being said, we have no more items here. I will call this business meeting adjourned. Thank you, everyone.