Commissioners handle April business at Event Center

Throughout the month of April, the Phillips County Commissioners met for their regular business meetings at the Phillips County Event Center in the Biesemeier Room so those in attendance could practice social distancing due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Other county employees and residents who need to give reports or speak to the Board of County Commissioners log into the meeting via Zoom, a video conferencing tool.

During an early April meeting, Phillips County Fair Board President Kayla Kafka said the fair board has met to discuss possible contingency plans in the case COVID-19 protocols are still in place during fair, however, currently fair concert and carnival contracts are under legal review in anticipation for the July Fair slated for the 21-26.

This year’s fair is set to the theme, “Barn in the USA” and will feature a concert in the grandstands on Friday night with artist Sunny Ledfurd, whose music features rock and roll attitude and hip-hop swagger into modern country melodies. The fair board has also added a carnival that will be available for fair goers Wednesday through Saturday at the fairgrounds.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Phillips County Courthouse and Event Center doors were closed to the public from March 17 to April 26, however, the County was still listed as fully operational.

Upon re-opening, the Phillips County Clerk requested to extend the hours of operation for driver’s license from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday for two weeks only to help with the influx of community needs, which was approved by the Commissioners.

Also in early April, the Commissioners met with Landfill Manager Bill Andrews, who discussed accepting loads from the demolition of the school in Wray. Andrews said there could possibly be 15 loads per day, and the landfill may need additional help from the road and bridge department. At this point, the demolition is still open for bid.

The Landfill Manger also noted that he is selling cardboard for $65 a ton and he has sold two loads; last month it was $5 a ton.

At the same meeting, Commissioners met with Phillips County Sheriff Thom Elliott about the recent damage to three patrol cars during a high-speed chase through the County. Elliott said insurance will pay for the repairs minus a $1,500 deductible on the vehicles that were damaged. Gordon’s Repair Shop, in Paoli, will do the work, the Sheriff added, as that businesses bid was accepted by the insurance company.

Elliott said the County now has a new protocol in place in the event of any future pursuits.

Also in April, the three Commissioners approved paying invoices to Platinum Technology in the amount of $19,308 for the County Clerk’s Tyler Technology ERTB grant funds. The purchase includes servers and software.

In other business, the Commissioners:

• Agreed to sponsor a bilingual ad in the Holyoke Enterprise for $200 to announce siren testing as requested by Communications Director Kenny Gaskill;

• Set County-wide clean up days for June 3-4 noting that some COVID-19 conditions and restrictions may apply. Plans are to advertise those dates in local newspapers for two weeks;

• Approved a bid from John King of Tree King to remove trees from the Courthouse Square in the amount of $5,000 and at Homesteaders’ Park in the amount of $5,250;

• Granted a step increase for Road and Bridge employee Ed Glennemeier to Grade 19, Step 3;

• Approved an application from the East Phillips County Hospital District to renew the license to provide ambulance service in Phillips County along with 35 approved drivers;

• Approved a roadway occupancy agreement submitted by Viaero Fiber Networks, LLC for an underground construction of a telecommunications system north along County Road 37 from Sec 7, T7N, R44W then east along County Road 38 realigning with County Road 37 and continuing north to County Road 40 and then east to existing Viaero Wireless tower site at Sec 30, T9N, R44W;

• Approved a roadway occupancy agreement submitted by Viaero Fiber Optics Network, LLC for underground construction of a fiber optic system from the intersection of Colorado State Highway 385 east along County Road 20 to County Road 41 and then north to Colorado State Highway 6 across County Road 20 to sec 17, T7N, R44W.