GARFIELD COUNTY, CO – Garfield County has announced the recipients of a combined $22,500 in third-quarter discretionary grants. Quarterly discretionary grants for local nonprofits or governmental organizations are capped at $5,000, with $120,000 allocated for 2019. Third-quarter awardees receiving $5,000 apiece include the Western Slope Veterans Coalition for operating expenses; Mount Sopris Historical Society for media displays to improve the customer’s experience at its Thompson House museum in Carbondale; and Colorado Mission of Mercy to purchase dental supplies for its mobile clinic that supplies cleanings, fillings, root canals and more. Receiving $2,500 each are the National Trials Sheepdog Trials for

GARFIELD COUNTY, CO – Garfield County and the town of Carbondale have agreed on an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) to annex property at Red Hill, develop parking and hiking and multi-use trails, and realign County Road 107. Under the IGA, the county is providing $428,000 toward the CR 107 realignment, which will be completed by Garfield County Road and Bridge. Carbondale purchased the property at the base of Red Hill, at the confluence of Highway 82 and County Road 133, for use as open space, trail connections, and parking lots. A portion of Colorado Department of transportation (CDOT) property at the

GARFIELD COUNTY, Colo. – Garfield County has awarded $23,000 in grants from its discretionary grant fund to local nonprofits. Organizations made presentations before the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) last week in requesting grant funds. Discretionary grant awards are capped at $5,000, and nonprofit organizations can apply for these funds quarterly. This year, $120,000 is allocated toward such requests through the county’s nonprofit discretionary fund. The first-quarter grant awards were presented to West Elk Trails for maintenance of Nordic ski and snowshoe trails near New Castle ($2,500); the Citizen Washington Focus trip, which is bringing eight local students to the

GARFIELD COUNTY, Colo. – Garfield County has granted easements to the city of Glenwood Springs for placement of trash facilities on county-owned property in the downtown area. The easements allow trash, recycling, and grease collection to be moved out of their existing locations in two downtown alleys, making them more pedestrian-friendly. Under the agreement, commercial trash, recycling, and grease-collection will be consolidated in two locations. One will be located in the parking lot at 716 Colorado Avenue. The other will be placed at the Cushman King lot downtown, off the alley spanning between the Grand Avenue Bridge and Cooper Avenue.

GARFIELD COUNTY, CO – Garfield County has announced $45,500 in grant awards for the second quarter of 2018. Out of the Discretionary Fund, the Garfield County Board of County Commissioners awarded $23,000 overall, including $5,000 to support the Rifle Rendezvous festival; $5,000 for the Glenwood Springs Summer of Music concert series; $5,000 for the New Ute Theatre Society for programming and marketing of community entertainment; $4,000 for Mount Sopris Historical Society toward the Coal Basin Monument, honoring locals who died in mining accidents in Coal Basin; $3,000 for the Glenwood Springs Youth Hockey Association to fund scholarships for youth to

GARFIELD COUNTY, CO – Garfield County is backing a YouthZone capital campaign to help the nonprofit youth diversion and advocacy program cover the cost of purchasing the former Glenwood Springs Library building, which it acquired in March. The Board of County Commissioners has approved a grant for $250,000, which must be matched by YouthZone. YouthZone, which has been in operation for 41 years, works with more than 1,000 youth annually in and around Garfield County. Its goal is to move into the new building, at 413 9th Street, by August. “This is an important human services organization that helps youth

GARFIELD COUNTY, CO – A single engine air tanker (SEAT) base crew will call a new office at the Rifle Garfield County Airport home for the next 10 years, after the Division of Fire Prevention & Control (DFPC) and Garfield County agreed to a lease this week. The DFPC has operated the SEAT base out of a mobile trailer at the airport that doesn’t adequately meet its needs. The county offered use of the old house on the airport property that previously housed the county airport administration in the 1980s and ’90s. “The trailer doesn’t stay very cool, and they’re

GARFIELD COUNTY, CO – Garfield County and the town of Carbondale have entered into an intergovernmental agreement (IGA), in which the former will pay for a sidewalk and trail along a stretch of Snowmass Drive, and the latter then will assume all future maintenance of the entire road. Snowmass Drive, some of which is currently a county road, will be annexed into the town of Carbondale following the joint project. In the exchange, Carbondale has also agreed to take over winter maintenance of White Hill Road, as well as a portion of Sopris Drive year-around. “They are going to take

GARFIELD COUNTY, CO – Garfield County is supporting a regional housing needs assessment with a $10,000 grant toward the study, which covers both the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys. The assessment, which is being coordinated by the Garfield County Housing Authority (GCHA), is focused on examining the extent of housing needs in the region. The assessment is being conducted by Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. (EPS) and RRC Associates, two Front Range consulting firms, and will take roughly eight months, according to Bill Lamont, a local resident and former city planner in Boulder. EPS and RRC were chosen following

GARFIELD COUNTY, Colo. – Two local small business engines received support from the Garfield County Commissioners, with a combined $35,000 investment toward regional economic development and job creation. The Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC), was granted $10,000 toward its efforts in Garfield County. The SBCD links information and resources from federal, state, and local governments with the private sector and local education system. The organization provides consulting and training services to local small businesses and entrepreneurs, and provides feasibility analyses, business plan development, and access to capital. In 2017, the group’s two active regional consultants helped create 12 jobs and

trails GARFIELD COUNTY, CO – Garfield County approved up to a $30,000 allocation to the town of New Castle from its Conservation Trust Fund toward the engineering of a proposed trail segment from South Canyon to Canyon Creek. Those funds are slated for 2018, and are dependent on the award of two state planning grants. New Castle is preparing two planning grant applications toward the design of a segment of the Lower Valley (LoVa) Trail along Interstate 70. If awarded, Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) would grant up to $75,000 and the Colorado Parks and Wildlife State Recreational Trails Program would

GARFIELD COUNTY, Colo. – Garfield County announced its third-quarter discretionary grant awards on Monday. All told, $33,750 was awarded to local nonprofits and governmental organizations out of the $41,150 requested from applicants. From the discretionary fund, Garfield County 4-H received $5,000 to participate in the state’s National Shooting Sports Competition, and the Garfield County 4-H Council was awarded $2,250 to attend the National 4-H Western Round-Up and to compete in a national parliamentary procedure contest. The Rifle Area Chamber of Commerce received $5,000 toward its annual Hometown Holiday event; the Glenwood Springs Downtown market was awarded $3,500 for holiday events

GARFIELD COUNTY, CO – Garfield County staff is gearing up for moving into a brand new Rifle Administration Building during the month of May. The building, located just west of, and sharing a parking lot with, the Garfield County Health and Human Services Building, is set to open for the public by mid-May, and will present professional work space for nearly a dozen departments and offices. The address of the new building is 195 West 14th Street, Building D, Rifle, CO, 81650. The building’s construction began in August of 2015, and its swift ten month completion comes in at the

GARFIELD COUNTY, CO – Garfield County has selected three candidates to interview for the open Garfield County Manager position, and will host a reception for the candidates to meet the community on Friday, November 20. The finalists are: Kevin Batchelder, acting county manager and deputy county manager, Garfield County Joseph Kerby, county manager, La Plata County, Colorado Tim Boyde, director of administrative services/chief clerk, Centre County, Pennsylvania Kevin Batchelder has more than 26 years of local government administration experience, and was hired as the Garfield County Deputy County Manager in April, 2014. He previously served as the town manager for

GARFIELD COUNTY, Colo. – Governor John Hickenlooper will visit Garfield County Wednesday to conduct a ribbon-cutting for the new Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control Center of Excellence for Advanced Technology Aerial Firefighting. He will also sign bills into law on a tour of numerous locations for bill signings across Colorado. The governor will speak at an event at the Rifle Garfield County Airport beginning at 9:30 a.m., after his arrival Wednesday morning. The airport is located at 0375 County Road 352, Building 2060, in Rifle. Hickenlooper had announced a decision March 18 to locate the Center of Excellence

GARFIELD COUNTY, CO – Garfield County Manager Andrew Gorgey was elected chairman of the board of directors of the Association of Colorado County Administrators (ACCA) on December 3, 2013, at the winter meeting of Colorado Counties, Inc. (CCI), in Colorado Springs. He will serve a two-year term. “I am excited to build on the good work of those who have come before me,” said Gorgey. “I want to improve education and professional development opportunities at our bi-annual conferences and to help support the districts in their meetings.” Affiliated with CCI, ACCA is the nonprofit professional association for county managers and

Glenwood Springs, CO – Voters in the April 2 Glenwood Springs municipal election will consider a ballot question to allow the Glenwood Springs City Council to release the city-held portion of two municipal lots. They are currently used for downtown parking at the corner of 7th Street and Colorado Avenue, and adjoin parking lots owned by Garfield County. Voters in Glenwood Springs need to give approval in order for the city to sell or convey its interests, at the regular municipal election, April 2, 2013, conducted by mail ballot. The ballot question is as follows: CITY OF GLENWOOD SPRINGS BALLOT

GARFIELD COUNTY, CO – The Garfield County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) has signed a formal agreement with Colorado State University (CSU) to provide substantial funding for an academic study to collect data on air emissions surrounding well pad activities in Garfield County. The BOCC committed $1 million towards the $1.77 million study from its Oil and Gas Mitigation Fund. The balance of study funding will come from gifts to CSU, including from oil and gas companies. The air emissions study will be conducted over a three-year period beginning in the fall of 2012, and concluding in the fall of

Garfield County Commissioners voted today to resume the search for a county manager. The commissioners’ vote directed county staff to work with the county’s contracted search firm to finalize the schedule for relisting the position, and set up interviews for qualified applicants who will fit within the county’s goals and objectives. On April 2, the commissioners decided unanimously not to extend an offer to any of the five finalists they and the other Garfield County elected officials had interviewed. “We have waited a sufficient amount of time for the applicant pool to settle,” said Acting County Manager Andrew Gorgey. “Most

Glenwood Springs, CO – Garfield County Commissioners voted today to resume the search for a county manager. The commissioners’ vote directed county staff to work with the county’s contracted search firm to finalize the schedule for relisting the position, and set up interviews for qualified applicants who will fit within the county’s goals and objectives. On April 2, the commissioners decided unanimously not to extend an offer to any of the five finalists they and the other Garfield County elected officials had interviewed. “We have waited a sufficient amount of time for the applicant pool to settle,” said Acting County

Garfield County is supporting summer conservation corps trail work for young adults, after the commissioners approved doubling the number of conservation corps teams this year. The county approved purchase of services agreements with two regional organizations to provide summer employment opportunities for fourteen young people. The commissioners unanimously allocated $160,000 for agreements to improve trails and campgrounds on forest service lands, and weed management and habitat restoration on county lands. Mandatory leadership training for RMYC crew leaders begins Monday, May 14, at the organization’s headquarters in Steamboat Springs, CO. These summer opportunities are currently available through the Western Colorado Conservation

Garfield County Commissioners voted unanimously to keep looking for a new county manager and to pass on the five finalists interviewed last week. The board decided to take a break for several months before re-enlisting its executive search firm. In the meantime, the commissioners requested Acting County Manager Andrew Gorgey continue operating county administration and present an operations plan for the county for the next six months. The plan will give consideration to operation of the County Attorney’s Office as well. Gorgey is the Garfield County Attorney. “We had five candidates, all qualified in one way or another, and all

Garfield County Commissioners voted unanimously to keep looking for a new county manager and to pass on the five finalists interviewed last week. The board decided to take a break for several months before re-enlisting its executive search firm. In the meantime, the commissioners requested Acting County Manager Andrew Gorgey continue operating county administration and present an operations plan for the county for the next six months. The plan will give consideration to operation of the County Attorney’s Office as well. Gorgey is the Garfield County Attorney. “We had five candidates – all qualified in one way or another, and

The Garfield County Board of County Commissioners announced the names of five finalists for the County Manager position at a special meeting of the board this morning: Richard Bellis, Deputy County Manager, County Planning Director, Taos County, NM Lynda Boswell, International Local Government Consultant, QED LLC, and Mercy Corps International, Leavenworth, KS Thomas Stewart, Former County Manager, Lincoln County, NM Ronald Teck, Intergovernmental Operations Officer, El Paso County, CO, former Colorado State Senator and Mesa County Assessor James Wilson, Interim Director of Finance, City of Altus, OK The County will conduct a series of interviews on March 29 and 30.

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, CO – The Garfield County Board of County Commissioners announced the names of five finalists for the county manager position at a special meeting of the board this morning: Richard Bellis, Deputy County Manager, County Planning Director, Taos County, NM Lynda Boswell, International Local Government Consultant, QED LLC, and Mercy Corps International, Leavenworth, KS Thomas Stewart, Former County Manager, Lincoln County, NM Ronald Teck, Intergovernmental Operations Officer, El Paso County, CO, former Colorado State Senator and Mesa County Assessor James Wilson, Interim Director of Finance, City of Altus, OK The county will conduct a series of interviews on

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, CO – Garfield County took its next steps in reorganization of county government today through reduction of its work force, specifically the elimination of two upper-level management positions, the Assistant County Manager and the Director of Administrative Services. No further position elimination is planned in any county department, and existing staff will absorb the essential functions from the positions eliminated. Affected employees have been offered severance packages. “The other commissioners and I are completely committed to the Citizens of Garfield County,” said John Martin, Chair of the Board of County Commissioners, “and that includes making difficult choices.” “We

Positions eliminated, others restructured. GLENWOOD SPRINGS, CO – Garfield County took its next steps in reorganization of county government today through reduction of its work force, specifically the elimination of two upper-level management positions, the assistant county manager and the director of administrative services. No further position elimination is planned in any county department, and existing staff will absorb the essential functions from the positions eliminated. Affected employees have been offered severance packages. “The other commissioners and I are completely committed to the citizens of Garfield County,” said John Martin, chair of the Board of County Commissioners, “and that includes

Garfield County hosts a follow-up meeting to Governor John Hickenlooper’s Bottom-Up Economic Development Plan meeting held in Craig, Colorado in March. This follow-up meeting will be used to develop top priorities for Garfield County in regards to economic development. The meeting will be held at the Glenwood Springs Community Center on Tuesday, April 5, from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

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