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Good morning and welcome to the regular Board of County commissioners meeting. Today is Tuesday,

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August 5th. We do begin each of our meetings with an invocation. This morning we have Pastor

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Raymond Pettit from Outside the Gates Worship. We invite you to stand and join us.

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In your own way, would you all bow and let's pray? Most gracious, precious, holy Father,

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we thank you for the ability to come into this house and to do the things that you

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have given us to. You told us to submit to the government, Father, and this is

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the process. I pray that you just watch over us this morning. Give us the ability to shine

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for your sake. Father, as we are going through this August season, Father, there are a lot

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of people that are weary, a lot of them that are worn. I pray that you just give them

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strength through this time as they now return their children to the schools. I pray that

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you just give our firefighters and our police officers, our sheriffs, and our

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state patrol officers. Give them an extra grace, Father. Let peace be upon each

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one of this of them as they are going through this process. And I pray, Father, that you

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would just give us the ability to be mindful of who you are and help us to speak for you

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in everything that we say and do. Let your presence be known unto us and let us do the

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will of the Father in each and every step that we go. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

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Mr. Barman, if you'd lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, please.

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Please join me in our Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United

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United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God,

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indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

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Item 3.

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Item number 3 is staff emergency items and I'm unaware of any staff emergency items today.

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Item 4.

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Item number 4 is changes, postponements and notice of the next meeting.

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I'm unaware of any changes or postponements to today's agenda and the next meeting

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will be Tuesday, August 26th at 9 o'clock a.m.

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Item 5.

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Item number 5 is the Consent Calendar including items 5A through 5S4.

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Is there anyone here who wishes to speak on an item on the Consent Calendar?

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Seeing none in the room and none online, I'll bring it up here for any comments or a motion.

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I move approval of the Consent Calendar.

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Second.

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Okay, that's been moved and seconded. Any additional comments?

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I will call the roll.

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Commissioner Weissong.

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Aye.

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Commissioner Nelson.

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Aye.

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Commissioner Applegate.

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Aye.

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Vice Chair Williams.

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Aye.

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And the Chair votes aye.

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That passes 5-0.

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Item 6.

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Item number 6 is the proclamation recognizing National Night Out 2025.

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Holly Williams, Vice Chair, Board of County Commissioners.

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I move the following proclamation recognizing National Night Out 2025.

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Whereas, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office in partnership with the National Association

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of Town Watch is supporting a positive, proactive nationwide crime, drug, and violence prevention

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program on August 5, 2025, entitled National Night Out.

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And whereas, National Night Out is a great opportunity for El Paso County to join forces

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with many other communities nationwide in advancing cooperative crime prevention efforts

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between police and the community. And whereas neighborhood watch groups play an essential

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role in assisting the El Paso County Sheriff's Office and its many law enforcement partners

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throughout the region in their efforts to prevent crime and prosecute criminals.

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And whereas all El Paso County residents can have a positive impact on our community

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through our participation in community crime prevention programs that are proven effective

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tools in reducing crime and violence and breaking the destructive stranglehold of substance abuse

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and illegal drug trafficking that endangers El Paso County residents and puts a strain

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on human services, criminal justice and public safety resources and whereas police community

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Partnerships and Neighborhood Safety and Awareness are the themes of the National Night Out program

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and the keys to maintaining safe, vibrant and attractive neighborhoods that are essential

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to the quality of life we enjoy in El Paso County.

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And whereas the El Paso County Sheriff's Office Community Affairs and Research Unit

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continuously strives to build and maintain relationships and partnerships with residents

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by providing opportunities for community members

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to learn about policing while law enforcement members

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learn about the policing needs of the community.

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And whereas neighborhood watch groups throughout El Paso County

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have planned events to come together and to enjoy food and community

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and to meet their neighbors and local law enforcement officers.

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And whereas working together we make communities safer,

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more caring places to live.

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Now, therefore, the Board of County Commissioners of El Paso County, Colorado, does hereby

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call upon all citizens of El Paso County to join the El Paso County Sheriff's Office

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and its law enforcement partners in supporting and participating in this unique nationwide

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crime, drug, and violence prevention program on August 5, 2025.

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Done this fifth day of August 2025 at Colorado Springs, Colorado.

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Colorado.

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The Board of County Commissioners of El Paso County, Colorado, Kerry Geithner Chair, Holly

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Williams Vice Chair, Corey Applegate Member, Lauren Nelson Member, Bill Weissang Member,

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and attested to by Steve Schleicher, County Clerk and Recorder.

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Is there a second?

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Second.

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Okay, that proclamation has been moved and seconded, and I believe we have a special

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I want to thank the board for your continued support of public safety, our efforts not

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just this proclamation, but every day.

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We absolutely feel loved and supported by this Board of County commissioners and it does

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not go unnoticed and is absolutely appreciated.

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Now, this week, the El Pasquean Sheriff's Office is proud to participate in National

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Night Out.

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It's a nationwide event dedicated to strengthening partnerships between law enforcement and the

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community we serve.

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It's an event we look forward to every year.

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It reflects what we strive to accomplish daily.

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Trust, collaboration, and a shared commitment to safer neighborhoods.

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Throughout this week, over 50 members of my office, including sworn deputies, professional

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staff, volunteers, including members of the Sheriff's Posse, will be attending 11 events

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across unincorporated El Paso County.

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From Monument to Midway, Balkan to Black Forest, Security Wide Field to Cimarron Hills, our

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teams will be out in the community engaging with families, business owners, and neighborhood

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to watch groups to work tirelessly to protect their neighborhoods. I want to

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sincerely thank this board for taking the time to formally recognize National

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Night Out and for honoring the citizens and community leaders who make these

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events possible. These events are only possible because of the community

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leaders and volunteers who host each event and welcome us into their

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neighborhoods and into their homes. You're on a wavering support since a

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clear message. Community engagement and public safety do go hand in hand. On behalf of the

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Apache Community Sheriff's Office, I thank you for standing with us and with the citizens

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that each of us have sworn to serve. We look forward to continuing this partnership into

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a successful week of meaningful connection across our home in the Pikes Peak region.

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Thank you.

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Thank you so much, Sheriff. Do we have any comments or questions for the Sheriff?

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Mr. Wysong.

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Again, is there please.

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Pass on to all the policy and your deputies that we appreciate all the hard work they do.

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Thank you. Absolutely.

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I would just ask, we have so many folks who are going to be participating in the night out tonight,

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but also we have folks who may not be able to make it for various different reasons.

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If there was one thing that you would tell community members, whether they're able to

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make it or not tonight, that they can do to help be vigilant and careful in their neighborhoods,

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and what would that one piece of advice be for residents?

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Yes, it's pretty easy.

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It's actually going to date me.

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Most people may not get this reference, but I grew up with the old saying, oh,

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You're as nosy as Kravitz.

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And Kravitz, I forget the TV show, was a nosy neighbor

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that was always peering out the curtains

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and she saw something, she would have a fit.

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Be a nosy neighbor.

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Nosey neighbor doesn't mean

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get into the business of your neighbors,

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but it means if you see a garage door open,

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if you see something that's peculiar

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out of the ordinary, say something,

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call your neighbor, establish those relationships

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with your neighbors before something happens.

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Share contact information.

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Me personally, I have left the garage door open

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and neighbors have called me.

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Hey, Joe, did you intend to leave your garage door open?

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Are you home?

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Oh, yes, I'm home.

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Thank you.

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Go and close it.

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So really be that Kravitz neighbor with good intentions.

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Be nosy.

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Be engaged.

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Have those relationships.

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Know your neighbors.

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They will help you as much as you help them.

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If something's out of the ordinary, call.

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Whether it's your neighbors or call law enforcement.

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Great, thank you.

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Other comments or questions from Mr. Amphibate?

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I just wanted to say thank you, Sheriff Wibble, for showing up this morning, and I'm glad

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we read his proclamation, and thank you to all the hard work your deputies and your departments

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are doing.

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So anyone from your under-sheriff down to the guy or gal that just started, so you

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guys are doing a great job.

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So thank you.

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We appreciate that.

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Vice-Chair Williams?

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Yeah, I'll claim credit for being a nosy neighbor.

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Actually, we do have one of the enjoyable things about the neighborhood I live in is

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we know almost everyone in the 64 units in our neighborhood.

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And it really makes a difference.

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We have a neighborhood phone directory.

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So my neighbor across the street who is an early riser unlike me usually gets up

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in the morning and goes to exercise and then comes back.

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And one day last summer, I noticed her garage door was open the whole entire day.

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So I was the nosy neighbor.

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I picked up the phone.

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I called her and I said, where are you?

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And she was on a two week vacation.

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She just left that morning.

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So it's always nice that we can trust each other to, you know, I said, I'm just going

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to go in, shut your garage door and walk out the front door and lock your front

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door.

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And that's what we did.

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And so we're able to keep kind of an eye on each other.

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and it really helps.

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We're not necessarily up in each other's business.

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We don't look into each other's windows,

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because we're quite close together.

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But it's really important to have neighbors,

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to know the neighbors on either side of you,

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to at least, you know, be friends with them.

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Because then if you do have an issue or a problem,

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then you can give them a call and say,

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hey, did you see something going on here?

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and that's it's very helpful it's nice that we all could have video doorbells if

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we would like but that doesn't if I'm out of town and get five Amazon packages

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or two or three which surprised me sometimes it's nice to know my neighbor

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will go and pick him up for me so it's I would just encourage you get to know

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your neighbors absolutely madam chair may I of course my takeaway from that

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Commissioner Williams is that you have the night watch and thank you for that.

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What I would recommend to neighbors if they see that garage door open and you

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made the phone call your neighbor was on the two weeks vacation call law

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enforcement that garage door open it'd be a box and they could have left it or

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somebody could be in there and I don't want neighbors going in and clearing a

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home and find some burglars in there and place themselves in harm so call

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law enforcement. We will go clear the home, then we'll secure the door, and we can give

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your neighbors the assurance, especially since they're on a vacation in this incident, the

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assurance that they can enjoy their vacation, their home is clear. They're not going to get

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back in their television gone and their privacy violated.

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I think you told me that last year, and I didn't remember it, so I will remember

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it this year.

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I'm looking forward to attending the Park Vista Neighborhood Watch tonight and thank you. I believe one of your officers is also planning to attend and help be there to listen to the, just the insight that that neighborhood and community has on being an unincorporated part of El Paso County right in the middle of the city.

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And so I'm looking forward to the meeting tonight and want to thank just all of the individuals, as you mentioned that are hosting these meetings across our county.

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I've been out in the community quite a bit over the last few weeks and seeing different neighborhoods with their signs out about tonight's meeting that's taking place and speaking with citizens and it's been just really enjoyable to have kind of a focal point for all of us to connect on.

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And so thank you for your office that are helping to sponsor this event and the importance

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of community and relationships and that it helps all of us to flourish that way.

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So thank you for coming this morning.

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You're welcome.

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Thank you.

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Is there anything else that you would like to add?

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I would like to share something with the good pastor here, people who are involved

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in community.

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and he comes here and he prays over the commission.

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But he's also one of my newly minted Aussie members

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and he's always shown his commitment.

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He's out on patrol, working the streets.

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He's at advance of community engagement.

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He was at the fair.

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He was at the rodeo, highly evolved citizen.

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So I just wanted to thank him personally.

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Thank you.

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Thanks.

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Okay, if there are no other comments, I believe.

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I don't think, is there anyone else from your office

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who'd like to speak on this item?

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I mean, we've got the sheriff.

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So, you know, that's a treat for us.

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Okay, so with that, I think we are ready to proceed

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with a vote and then we can do a brief recess

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to do a photograph if you have time for that.

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Okay, beginning with Commissioner Weissang.

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Hi.

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00:22:11,620 --> 00:22:12,120
Commissioner Nelson.

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00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:12,600
Hi.

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00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:13,700
Commissioner Applegate.

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00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:14,580
Hi.

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Vice Chair Williams.

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00:22:15,360 --> 00:22:20,640
I and the chair votes aye that passes five zero brief recess for photo call

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00:25:09,090 --> 00:25:17,030
this meeting back to order. We are on item seven item number seven is comments by elected officials and commissioner liaison reports.

248
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Okay, I know Mr. Borman was in the room but I do don't believe he has any comments and I don't think we have any countywide electives online.

249
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So, we will begin with Commissioner Wysong.

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00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:40,040
Last week was on vacation for most of the week visiting with my two sisters.

251
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But I was able to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday that was monumental impact

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up in Palmer Lake.

253
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It really is just an area for the local monument, Palmer Lake kids to get involved

254
00:26:00,260 --> 00:26:08,940
in different areas, computer, robotics, 3D printing, all kinds of neat things.

255
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So that was a joy to see that new area for them.

256
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It was about twice the footprint that they had before,

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which allows them to get a little bit more in upgraded equipment.

258
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Also able to go on a tour with public health to go visit a septic system.

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because I've got a lot of areas in my district that we've got issues that need to be addressed

260
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and this was the opportunity to learn a little bit more about that.

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And then on Friday, I have the opportunity to attend the tour of the Ruxton Power Plant

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on Friday with CSU, so that's my week.

263
00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:54,540
Thank you.

264
00:26:59,260 --> 00:27:05,960
This week I have a couple of onboarding orientations for the boards and committees that I am now

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going to be serving on.

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So I have a Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority and a Board of Health member orientation

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that I look forward to learning more about the work that's taking place.

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And I have to say the orientation onboarding sessions I've had so far from the county learning

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about the different departments and the work that's taking place has been exceptional and

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really helpful in getting me up to speed so that I can be value additive to the work

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already and prepping me and what's coming on our agenda.

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So just really enjoying the work.

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00:27:48,020 --> 00:27:48,780
Mr. Applegate.

274
00:27:49,340 --> 00:27:50,080
Thank you, Madam Chair.

275
00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:56,060
Friday, July 25th, I was able to attend the Warrior Games at Colorado College.

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That was actually kind of a neat thing.

277
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I watched a lot of sit-down volleyball, because some of the participants were actually disabled and had military injuries.

278
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And if I remember correctly, the teams, how they were comprised,

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it was you could have up to 30 veterans, but 40 had to be active duty for your team, for your branch or your service.

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Kind of a neat thing.

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I thought of it kind of similar to the Commander-in-Chief's trophy, like their games, because it's like everyone, you know, in that arena playing that game was willing to sacrifice for everybody watching all the spectators.

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Air Force definitely had the loudest fans, so Sunday, July 27th, I also saw, I was at an event for the Buffalo Soldiers, the 159th anniversary of the formation of that unit in the 1800s.

283
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and later on I flew out Wednesday July 30th to Nashville and I was at the

284
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Young Republicans Convention National Convention I was one of the delegates

285
00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:52,160
from the state of Colorado they wanted to get me on because I was an elected and

286
00:28:52,780 --> 00:28:57,180
it was so encouraging seeing about a thousand young people gathered together

287
00:28:57,180 --> 00:29:00,940
and these were anything from activists I met one kid he was a state senator in

288
00:29:00,940 --> 00:29:04,360
Vermont and then another guy who was running for state rep in Maryland and

289
00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:07,300
it was just amazing and I think the future is bright for conservatives in

290
00:29:07,300 --> 00:29:11,200
general and just the Republican Party as a whole. So, and shout out to Hayden

291
00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:14,380
Paschal for continuing his service. It'll be two more years. He'll be the

292
00:29:14,380 --> 00:29:18,180
chairman of the National Delegation for the YRs. Thank you.

293
00:29:20,580 --> 00:29:23,040
Vice-Chair Reims. Yes,

294
00:29:23,260 --> 00:29:29,880
good morning. It is great to be here. Had a very quiet week last week and did

295
00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:37,700
not have any events to speak of except for an event on Friday. So this

296
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This week, though, we do have on Thursday our statewide transportation advisory committee.

297
00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:50,480
I cannot imagine we'll receive any good news if the state legislature decides to meet at

298
00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:52,760
the end of August in a special session.

299
00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:59,220
So, I did ask, as a vice-chair of that committee, ask our state legislative.

300
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:17,840
A person on the committee at CDOT to go ahead and give us an update, because the governor was really good at the governor and the state, I should say we're very good at taking most of the money out of transportation this year. And it's been very frustrating for those of us who have to drive our roads.

301
00:30:18,820 --> 00:30:24,040
There's a Department of Public Works employee picnic, a national day of prayer, a city-wide

302
00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:31,920
prayer on Thursday night, and on Friday we're having a PPACG board meeting, and I'm going

303
00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:36,820
to try and go up to the Front Range District meeting in Broomfield with the Colorado County

304
00:30:36,820 --> 00:30:38,540
Commissioners if I can make it to that.

305
00:30:38,900 --> 00:30:44,080
And there's also a fire mitigation Black Forest Preparedness presentation on Friday

306
00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:44,400
evening.

307
00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:45,340
Thank you.

308
00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:53,500
And I will just add a couple of things. One, being the debate continues around the state

309
00:30:53,500 --> 00:30:58,460
budget in a potential special session. You know, we're looking at whether or not that

310
00:30:58,460 --> 00:31:06,360
happens in August. I will say that the politics have been a bit performative up at the state

311
00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:11,200
capital. It has been clear for the last several years. We've talked about the fact that there

312
00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:17,380
as a structural deficit in the state budget, and that's due to overspending one-time huge

313
00:31:17,380 --> 00:31:23,420
floods of money that came down from the federal government that were put into ongoing expenses

314
00:31:23,420 --> 00:31:28,340
and programs that cannot be sustained at this point and obviously created a lot of inflation

315
00:31:28,340 --> 00:31:37,100
and problems in our economy. So this has been a long time coming for the majority party,

316
00:31:37,100 --> 00:31:40,560
the Democrats in control to spend more wisely.

317
00:31:41,620 --> 00:31:45,460
And now we're seeing a pivot and trying to blame it all on the federal government.

318
00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:49,180
And this structural deficit, we've been talking about it for a year.

319
00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:56,100
So it's really disappointing to see our leaders, or lack thereof, looking for blame instead

320
00:31:56,100 --> 00:31:57,740
of working to fix the problem on this.

321
00:31:57,940 --> 00:32:01,700
And I think we're going to continue to watch it very closely because what tends

322
00:32:01,700 --> 00:32:05,160
to happen in these situations is the state government can't figure out how to make

323
00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:05,800
their budget work.

324
00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:11,020
So they decided to push down more requirements on counties and try to make local taxpayers

325
00:32:11,020 --> 00:32:14,260
foot the bell instead of working within their budget.

326
00:32:14,540 --> 00:32:18,460
And so I think we're going to be watching this very closely, but I think it's important

327
00:32:18,460 --> 00:32:19,480
that citizens know.

328
00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:24,040
There's no easy way out of this, and the state needs to take responsibility, and they

329
00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:26,180
need to take a hard look at priorities.

330
00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:28,980
Everything cannot be a priority.

331
00:32:29,220 --> 00:32:34,380
We have to decide what the core important services are that we need to be providing

332
00:32:34,380 --> 00:32:40,220
to citizens and make the hard decisions to do that work. I'm not super optimistic for that

333
00:32:40,220 --> 00:32:46,180
based on the history of our state and the seeing what we're seeing with trying to kind of do an

334
00:32:46,180 --> 00:32:52,080
end run around the JBC, which is a very important part of that process, but we're going to keep

335
00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:58,640
a close eye on it. I also wanted to just point out as a member of the opioid council,

336
00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:06,580
I volunteered for a subcommittee that is working on an RFP specifically around a public information

337
00:33:06,580 --> 00:33:15,220
campaign trying to help the community understand the relationship between high-potent CTHC in

338
00:33:15,220 --> 00:33:23,880
particular and opioid use. It's a really important topic because we're seeing so many of our youth

339
00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:28,460
and other people think that there is really no consequence for marijuana use. Unfortunately,

340
00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:36,400
our state has, there have just been so many campaigns trying to normalize marijuana and

341
00:33:37,460 --> 00:33:41,880
not taking into account the very serious effects. But we actually know when there's

342
00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:47,760
lots of research that this is very much affecting our state effects mental health. So every

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00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:51,400
time you hear someone talking about how we are concerned about mental health, if

344
00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:55,820
they are not talking about what we need to do to educate people about the detriment of

345
00:33:56,700 --> 00:34:01,860
hypotency THC. That's a really big problem. So I volunteered on this subcommittee. We are hearing

346
00:34:01,860 --> 00:34:07,180
those proposals really optimistic that we are going to get something good going and we're

347
00:34:07,180 --> 00:34:12,140
going to start seeing in our community very soon this public education campaign so that we can

348
00:34:12,140 --> 00:34:19,840
make sure that our community is informed and hopefully that will put us in a better position

349
00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:24,140
then some of the other communities we've seen, we obviously do not want to see the kind of

350
00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:32,140
hard-hitting problems that we're seeing in other places like Denver.

351
00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:39,700
We want to get ahead of that and try to make sure that those issues are not plaguing Colorado

352
00:34:39,700 --> 00:34:43,540
Springs and El Paso County in the same way. So looking forward to continuing that work,

353
00:34:43,540 --> 00:34:55,040
Both last week and this week we, the subcommittee has met to work on that so with that I believe we are ready for item eight.

354
00:34:56,480 --> 00:35:00,500
Item number eight is community service organization reports and there are none.

355
00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:02,840
Item nine.

356
00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:06,580
Item number nine is public comment on items not scheduled on the agenda.

357
00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:12,200
And Madam Chair, I'm unaware of anyone signing in ahead of time to speak, but there is one person that would like to be called in today.

358
00:35:14,470 --> 00:35:14,950
Okay,

359
00:35:30,590 --> 00:35:37,230
Veronica Baker. Good morning. I'm encouraged that now the lawsuit has ended. We can move forward and focus on collaboration.

360
00:35:37,810 --> 00:35:43,990
I believe this creates an opportunity for all of us to build on a clear understanding of each other's concerns.

361
00:35:43,990 --> 00:35:50,370
Since the lawsuit was originally filed in early December 2024, much has changed.

362
00:35:51,070 --> 00:35:55,350
The community stepped up to fill the gap left by the abrupt closure of the Rock-Ribbon

363
00:35:55,350 --> 00:36:00,950
Library with the creation of Reading at the Rock, a volunteer-run library that demonstrates

364
00:36:00,950 --> 00:36:04,570
just how deeply people value access to these services.

365
00:36:05,410 --> 00:36:11,610
Meanwhile, a recent audit of the 2024 PPLD financial records revealed a moderately

366
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strong financial position, resulting in $16 to $18 million for the fund balance.

367
00:36:19,650 --> 00:36:24,790
This has not been designated to any capital funds and is available to help maintain our

368
00:36:24,790 --> 00:36:27,070
current libraries and grow future ones.

369
00:36:27,810 --> 00:36:32,790
Potential new sites in the northwest part of the city have also been identified, an

370
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encouraging sign that solutions are possible.

371
00:36:36,010 --> 00:36:40,650
We also welcome Commissioner Lauren Nelson, who now serves on the Joint Appointment

372
00:36:40,650 --> 00:36:46,070
Committee for the Pike Peak Library District. Her involvement brings a fresh voice and new

373
00:36:46,070 --> 00:36:52,650
perspective to the conversations ahead. Throughout this process, one outcome of the lawsuit has

374
00:36:52,650 --> 00:36:59,070
been a broader public awareness of the challenges facing our libraries. Many residents now understand

375
00:36:59,070 --> 00:37:05,410
the importance of careful analysis before closing any more library branches. In fact,

376
00:37:05,610 --> 00:37:09,450
we've heard from many community members who believe our libraries now

377
00:37:09,450 --> 00:37:15,710
may be in a stronger, more stable position than they were a year ago, thanks to our efforts.

378
00:37:16,490 --> 00:37:21,870
There is also renewed hope that library access may finally expand to underserved areas,

379
00:37:22,270 --> 00:37:25,710
including the much needed east side of Colorado Springs.

380
00:37:26,530 --> 00:37:32,230
We feel optimistic about the future and we look forward to continuing this work together.

381
00:37:32,930 --> 00:37:37,370
Now that the lawsuit is behind us, we understand that it had previously prevented

382
00:37:37,370 --> 00:37:39,490
to some of you from engaging in open dialogue.

383
00:37:40,230 --> 00:37:42,010
We believe that obstacle is gone

384
00:37:42,010 --> 00:37:45,370
and the channels of communication are open once more.

385
00:37:45,970 --> 00:37:47,170
We would welcome the chance

386
00:37:47,170 --> 00:37:49,130
to meet with each of you individually.

387
00:37:49,650 --> 00:37:52,370
As community members, we are eager to collaborate

388
00:37:52,770 --> 00:37:54,870
and we hope that you are willing to listen

389
00:37:54,870 --> 00:37:56,030
and work with us.

390
00:37:56,590 --> 00:37:58,870
As elected leaders, you have the power

391
00:37:58,870 --> 00:38:01,550
to build strong, lasting relationships

392
00:38:01,550 --> 00:38:02,610
with your constituents.

393
00:38:03,230 --> 00:38:05,190
Let's move forward together

394
00:38:05,190 --> 00:38:15,030
to mend fences, build bridges, and create a future where our libraries serve the needs of all residents across El Paso County. Thank you.

395
00:38:18,520 --> 00:38:22,140
Okay, do we have anyone else online who.

396
00:38:23,660 --> 00:38:27,900
Okay, thank you. And just one more call in the room. Is there anyone who wishes to speak during public comment?

397
00:38:30,230 --> 00:38:32,290
Okay, with that item 10.

398
00:38:33,490 --> 00:38:37,330
Item number 10 is the called up consent calendar and there are no items called up today.

399
00:38:38,090 --> 00:38:38,970
Item 11.

400
00:38:39,370 --> 00:38:55,290
Item number 11 is the hearing on the application by Mountain View Cafe and Catering Corporation doing business as Mountain View Cafe and Catering for a hotel and restaurant liquor license on the premises located at 11424 Black Forest Road El Paso County Commissioner District 1.

401
00:38:55,550 --> 00:39:03,970
Jackie already clerked to the board manager and Madam chair if I may this item does qualify for an abbreviated hearing and at that point I would defer to the county attorney.

402
00:39:03,970 --> 00:39:07,970
Thank you, Madam Chair. If I could ask the clerk a couple of quick questions.

403
00:39:08,290 --> 00:39:08,810
Please do.

404
00:39:09,210 --> 00:39:12,050
Madam Clerk, has the applicant fulfilled all state and local requirements?

405
00:39:12,630 --> 00:39:15,390
Yes, the applicant has fulfilled all state and local requirements.

406
00:39:15,890 --> 00:39:20,170
Does the neighborhood survey support the needs and desires of the local community for the requested license?

407
00:39:20,830 --> 00:39:27,330
The neighborhood survey does support the needs and desires of the local community and liquor pros is here to present those survey results.

408
00:39:27,770 --> 00:39:31,410
Has any opposition been voiced against the issuance of the requested license?

409
00:39:31,790 --> 00:39:33,390
There has been no opposition to date.

410
00:39:33,390 --> 00:39:37,870
Following on to that question, is there any party and interest present at today's board

411
00:39:37,870 --> 00:39:40,750
hearing to formally oppose the issuance of the requested license?

412
00:39:42,510 --> 00:39:43,670
Madam Chair, I see none.

413
00:39:44,330 --> 00:39:47,890
Madam Clerk, has the Sheriff's investigation revealed any criminal history relevant to

414
00:39:47,890 --> 00:39:49,130
the issuance of a liquor license?

415
00:39:49,450 --> 00:39:51,090
There was no relevant criminal history.

416
00:39:51,830 --> 00:39:55,210
Madam Chair, I believe this matter can go forward as an abbreviated hearing.

417
00:39:56,270 --> 00:40:03,950
Okay, and I believe we need a motion to utilize that abbreviated hearing. Is that correct?

418
00:40:05,050 --> 00:40:11,470
It's ma'am, that's correct. Okay, so I will bring that up here for a motion to hear this as an abbreviated hearing. So moved.

419
00:40:12,210 --> 00:40:19,950
Second. Okay, it's been moved and seconded. I'll call the roll. Commissioner Weissang. Hi. Commissioner Nelson. Hi. Commissioner Applegate. Hi.

420
00:40:19,950 --> 00:40:20,030
Okay.

421
00:40:20,170 --> 00:40:20,710
Vice Chair Williams?

422
00:40:21,070 --> 00:40:21,310
Aye.

423
00:40:21,510 --> 00:40:22,450
And the Chair votes aye.

424
00:40:22,550 --> 00:40:23,730
That passes 5-0.

425
00:40:24,070 --> 00:40:26,130
We will have an abbreviated hearing.

426
00:40:28,610 --> 00:40:28,990
Good morning.

427
00:40:29,270 --> 00:40:30,130
Damon Cassons.

428
00:40:30,250 --> 00:40:32,890
I represent the petitioner here and with me.

429
00:40:33,250 --> 00:40:34,970
And I will let them all introduce themselves.

430
00:40:35,270 --> 00:40:36,970
If you

431
00:40:40,680 --> 00:40:44,140
guys could please speak into those microphones so we can capture all of that

432
00:40:44,140 --> 00:40:44,580
for the record.

433
00:40:44,720 --> 00:40:45,540
I'd really appreciate it.

434
00:40:45,740 --> 00:40:46,180
Thank you.

435
00:40:46,880 --> 00:40:47,700
Bridget Edgill.

436
00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:50,040
Spring Goulds.

437
00:40:50,140 --> 00:40:50,780
Harold Johnson.

438
00:40:54,050 --> 00:40:54,370
Okay.

439
00:40:54,570 --> 00:40:56,570
Well, good morning and thank you for being here.

440
00:40:57,510 --> 00:41:07,490
Typically, we ask for just your brief introduction of, you know, of your establishment.

441
00:41:07,990 --> 00:41:11,070
Then we also like to hear about the survey.

442
00:41:11,650 --> 00:41:14,210
And then we'll take questions from commissioners.

443
00:41:15,730 --> 00:41:20,490
So, Mountain View Cafe and Catering Bridget and I are co-owners.

444
00:41:21,310 --> 00:41:25,110
We have been in the restaurant business for a long time and have been best friends

445
00:41:25,110 --> 00:41:30,190
for a long time so we've really dreamed of having our own restaurant. Black Forest the community has

446
00:41:30,190 --> 00:41:37,110
been incredible to us. We are a breakfast and lunch cafe open from 7 a.m. to 2 30 p.m. We have an

447
00:41:37,110 --> 00:41:40,950
amazing loyal team that supports us and we're in our fourth year of business.

448
00:41:44,890 --> 00:41:46,310
Okay that suffices

449
00:41:46,310 --> 00:41:50,750
for now we'll just see if anyone has any questions but if we want to hear the survey

450
00:41:50,750 --> 00:41:56,250
information if there's anything else you want to add. Again Carol Johnson for liquor pros

451
00:41:56,250 --> 00:41:58,830
First, I'll say we are a neutral petitioning company.

452
00:41:59,050 --> 00:42:00,490
We do not guarantee results.

453
00:42:01,810 --> 00:42:08,530
We comply with the rules with the begging and landlord situation, and that was submitted

454
00:42:08,530 --> 00:42:09,830
to the clerk yesterday.

455
00:42:11,070 --> 00:42:14,870
We had two petitioners who did this.

456
00:42:15,170 --> 00:42:21,470
The business is on Thursday, July 17th, and the residents on Saturday, July 19th.

457
00:42:21,470 --> 00:42:27,590
We made 22 attempts at businesses on 148 at residence for a total of 170.

458
00:42:28,210 --> 00:42:32,370
From that, we obtained a total of 57 signatures.

459
00:42:33,310 --> 00:42:38,510
There were 10 businesses, all 10 signed in support.

460
00:42:39,230 --> 00:42:46,490
There were 47 residential signatures, 45 were in support, one was on opposition and

461
00:42:46,490 --> 00:42:47,870
one had no opinion.

462
00:42:48,410 --> 00:42:52,910
The one in opposition was concerned because they had little kids.

463
00:42:53,590 --> 00:42:59,310
There were six who declined to participate, three not interested, two not assigned petitions

464
00:42:59,310 --> 00:43:01,210
or surveys, and one too busy.

465
00:43:01,710 --> 00:43:05,650
And there were six who were not qualified to sign, three of those were businesses that

466
00:43:05,650 --> 00:43:11,170
did not have an owner or manager available, two were under 21, and one was a non-resident.

467
00:43:11,170 --> 00:43:17,630
The one reason that was given an opposition may be considered an eval or redevelopment,

468
00:43:17,850 --> 00:43:24,130
because I've speculated this with the needs and desires, in which case this would end up

469
00:43:24,130 --> 00:43:27,110
being 55 in support for 100 percent.

470
00:43:27,610 --> 00:43:29,010
And I would answer any questions.

471
00:43:32,490 --> 00:43:33,030
Okay.

472
00:43:33,510 --> 00:43:34,530
Commissioner, any questions?

473
00:43:36,250 --> 00:43:40,930
So did you say, is it your intention to expand into the evening hours as well,

474
00:43:41,090 --> 00:43:42,490
or just continue with breakfast?

475
00:43:42,490 --> 00:43:47,630
So we currently do one dinner evening a month, six months out of the year.

476
00:43:47,990 --> 00:43:52,530
We do have some evening events booked for like rehearsal dinners,

477
00:43:52,730 --> 00:43:54,370
birthday parties, things like that.

478
00:43:54,650 --> 00:43:57,430
So we would only be open for those amounts of time.

479
00:43:57,830 --> 00:43:59,490
Okay. Thank you.

480
00:44:01,680 --> 00:44:03,480
Any additional questions?

481
00:44:05,300 --> 00:44:07,040
Okay. Anything that you'd like to add?

482
00:44:09,220 --> 00:44:11,280
I think we're okay. Thank you so much.

483
00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:15,020
Okay, then I will bring it up here for discussion or emotion.

484
00:44:16,460 --> 00:44:28,180
I would move approval since this is in my district of the application by Mountain View Cafe and catering Corp DBA Mountain View Cafe and catering for a hotel and restaurant liquor license on the premises.

485
00:44:29,520 --> 00:44:30,120
Second.

486
00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:37,040
Okay, that has been moved and seconded and I'll just one last opportunity if anyone has any comments.

487
00:44:38,940 --> 00:44:41,020
Okay, we'll go ahead and call the roll.

488
00:44:41,380 --> 00:44:42,020
Christopher Weissang.

489
00:44:42,320 --> 00:44:42,500
Hi.

490
00:44:42,780 --> 00:44:43,260
Christopher Nelson.

491
00:44:43,700 --> 00:44:43,840
Hi.

492
00:44:44,200 --> 00:44:44,880
Christopher Applegate.

493
00:44:45,460 --> 00:44:45,720
Hi.

494
00:44:45,940 --> 00:44:46,440
Vice Chair Williams.

495
00:44:46,880 --> 00:44:47,100
Hi.

496
00:44:47,380 --> 00:44:48,140
And the chair votes aye.

497
00:44:48,220 --> 00:44:49,120
That passes 5-0.

498
00:44:49,560 --> 00:44:49,640
Congratulations.

499
00:44:51,180 --> 00:44:52,480
Thank you all very much.

500
00:44:52,640 --> 00:44:53,240
Have a great day.

501
00:44:57,500 --> 00:44:58,180
Item 12.

502
00:44:58,180 --> 00:44:59,960
I had a

503
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:04,800
Item number 12 is the hearing on the application by Bogies and Bruce Golf, LLC, doing business

504
00:45:04,800 --> 00:45:10,560
as Bogie and Bruce Golf for a Tavern liquor license on the premises located at 11716, Bent

505
00:45:10,560 --> 00:45:15,340
Grass Market View, El Paso County, Commissioner District 2, Jackie Alred, clerk to the board

506
00:45:15,340 --> 00:45:19,540
manager. And Madam Chair, again, this item does qualify for an abbreviated hearing,

507
00:45:19,540 --> 00:45:21,400
and I will just defer to the county attorney.

508
00:45:22,700 --> 00:45:25,020
Thank you. Madam Chair, if I could ask a couple of questions.

509
00:45:25,300 --> 00:45:25,680
Please do.

510
00:45:25,980 --> 00:45:28,800
Thank you. Has the applicant fulfilled all state and local requirements?

511
00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:31,720
Yes, all state and local requirements have been fulfilled.

512
00:45:32,260 --> 00:45:35,760
Does the neighborhood survey support the needs and desires of the local community for the

513
00:45:35,760 --> 00:45:36,600
requested license?

514
00:45:37,160 --> 00:45:41,080
Yes, the neighborhood survey supports the needs and desires, and again, liquor pros

515
00:45:41,080 --> 00:45:42,640
is here to present the survey results.

516
00:45:43,160 --> 00:45:46,860
Has any opposition been voiced against the issuance of the requested license?

517
00:45:47,280 --> 00:45:49,160
No opposition has been received to date.

518
00:45:49,920 --> 00:45:53,660
Is there any party in interest present at today's board hearing to formally oppose

519
00:45:53,660 --> 00:45:55,360
the issuance of the requested license?

520
00:45:57,440 --> 00:45:58,060
Seeing none.

521
00:45:58,620 --> 00:46:02,120
has the Sheriff's investigation revealed criminal history relevant to the

522
00:46:02,120 --> 00:46:06,520
issuance of the liquor license. There was no relevant criminal history. Madam

523
00:46:06,520 --> 00:46:11,060
Chair, it's my opinion that this matter can move forward as an abbreviated

524
00:46:11,060 --> 00:46:11,320
hearing.

525
00:46:13,510 --> 00:46:16,890
Okay. Do we have a motion to move forward with an abbreviated hearing?

526
00:46:17,270 --> 00:46:22,890
So moved. Second. Okay, that's been moved and seconded. I'll call the roll.

527
00:46:23,030 --> 00:46:28,790
Commissioner Weissang. Hi. Mr. Nelson. Hi. Mr. Applegate. Hi. Vice

528
00:46:28,790 --> 00:46:29,130
Mr. Williams.

529
00:46:29,430 --> 00:46:29,650
Aye.

530
00:46:29,970 --> 00:46:30,830
And the chair votes aye.

531
00:46:30,910 --> 00:46:31,810
That passes 5-0.

532
00:46:31,990 --> 00:46:34,310
We will proceed with the abbreviated hearing.

533
00:46:34,850 --> 00:46:35,670
Good morning.

534
00:46:36,010 --> 00:46:41,510
If you would, just as the previous abbreviated hearing, introduce yourselves and then we'll

535
00:46:41,510 --> 00:46:42,730
hear about the survey results.

536
00:46:43,350 --> 00:46:43,810
Good morning.

537
00:46:43,970 --> 00:46:44,730
I'm Johnny Elanese.

538
00:46:45,870 --> 00:46:47,450
Carol Johnson for LikrPros.

539
00:46:49,780 --> 00:46:52,020
If you'd like to just tell us a bit about your establishment, please.

540
00:46:52,540 --> 00:46:52,720
Sure.

541
00:46:52,980 --> 00:46:53,460
Good morning.

542
00:46:54,680 --> 00:47:01,360
So, live out in Falcon and want it to open up a four bay golf simulator with a bar.

543
00:47:02,620 --> 00:47:05,540
So, yeah, I just want to bring some type of entertainment out to the Falcon area,

544
00:47:05,700 --> 00:47:08,860
eastern Colorado Springs, and hopefully, I can get this going.

545
00:47:09,720 --> 00:47:10,080
Great.

546
00:47:11,700 --> 00:47:12,020
Okay.

547
00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:18,900
Once again, I will say that we, LiquorLockPros is a neutral petitioning company.

548
00:47:19,080 --> 00:47:20,540
We do not guarantee results.

549
00:47:21,540 --> 00:47:24,880
These, this petition was done on four days.

550
00:47:25,020 --> 00:47:30,020
We kept getting rained out, so the residents were done on Wednesday and Thursday, Friday

551
00:47:30,020 --> 00:47:35,800
and Sunday, July 16th through the 20th, and the businesses were done on Thursday to 17th.

552
00:47:36,380 --> 00:47:43,700
We made 21 attempts at businesses and 634 residents for a total of 655 attempts.

553
00:47:43,700 --> 00:47:54,620
From that, we obtained a total of 110 signatures, 50, excuse me, 12 signatures for businesses,

554
00:47:54,860 --> 00:47:58,140
6 in support, 0 in opposition, 6 with no opinion.

555
00:47:58,760 --> 00:48:05,740
There were 98 from residents, 91 in support, 4 in opposition, and 3, no opinion.

556
00:48:07,120 --> 00:48:13,200
The reasons for opposition, 2, gave no reason, and 2 felt there were enough or too many

557
00:48:13,200 --> 00:48:19,600
already. There were 50 who declined to participate, 20 not interested, 16 do not sign petitions

558
00:48:19,600 --> 00:48:26,900
or surveys, 14 too busy. There were 12 not qualified, 7 were non-residents, 4 was under

559
00:48:26,900 --> 00:48:33,060
21, and there was one owner or manager not available. So I do believe that this does

560
00:48:33,060 --> 00:48:38,960
show the needs and desires of the neighborhood are welcoming to this new liquor license,

561
00:48:39,380 --> 00:48:41,740
and I once again would answer any questions you might have.

562
00:48:43,600 --> 00:48:46,280
Okay. Are there any questions from commissioners?

563
00:48:47,740 --> 00:48:51,580
So you said it's a golf simulator? Is the business you're running?

564
00:48:52,000 --> 00:49:03,520
Oh, yes, sir. I'm just going to have four simulators or four bays each have a one simulator and it's where it basically, I'm not sure if you've been to an ex-golf or train wreck similar to that.

565
00:49:03,660 --> 00:49:09,720
Right, yeah. Okay. Very cool. And that's a commercial district, right? Because I Googled it just now and it came up with like an empty lot.

566
00:49:09,720 --> 00:49:11,980
And I was like, well, surely they built something there.

567
00:49:11,980 --> 00:49:13,020
So it's a brand new build.

568
00:49:13,500 --> 00:49:13,900
Oh, OK.

569
00:49:13,900 --> 00:49:14,920
Now they're working on the permits.

570
00:49:15,980 --> 00:49:19,280
We are hopefully in the process of getting built out here

571
00:49:19,280 --> 00:49:20,280
in the next few weeks.

572
00:49:20,920 --> 00:49:24,020
And with the opening day, hopefully sometime in October,

573
00:49:24,520 --> 00:49:25,360
late September, October.

574
00:49:25,860 --> 00:49:26,840
We lost no one in our state.

575
00:49:26,920 --> 00:49:28,580
So that'll help me when I get a craving.

576
00:49:28,780 --> 00:49:29,580
I got a golf in December.

577
00:49:29,820 --> 00:49:31,440
You know, it's a busy day.

578
00:49:32,000 --> 00:49:32,180
Thank you.

579
00:49:34,340 --> 00:49:35,760
Any additional questions?

580
00:49:37,460 --> 00:49:50,160
And so a bit unorthodox, but since this is in my district, if it's okay with the board, I would move approval of this Tavern liquor license for bogeys and brews golf.

581
00:49:50,780 --> 00:49:51,300
Second.

582
00:49:52,380 --> 00:49:57,600
Okay, that has been moved and seconded. And I will call the roll. Commissioner Weissang.

583
00:49:57,920 --> 00:49:58,340
Aye.

584
00:49:58,800 --> 00:49:59,360
Mr. Nelson.

585
00:49:59,760 --> 00:49:59,880
Aye.

586
00:50:00,280 --> 00:50:00,960
Mr. Applegate.

587
00:50:01,160 --> 00:50:01,360
Aye.

588
00:50:02,080 --> 00:50:02,700
Mr. Williams.

589
00:50:02,980 --> 00:50:03,220
Aye.

590
00:50:03,220 --> 00:50:15,800
Hi, and the chair votes I that passes five zero. Thank you so much. I've been wondering what's going to go in over there as I live in Falcon. So I really appreciate knowing that. Thank you for your diligence and congratulations. Look forward to seeing your business open.

591
00:50:16,240 --> 00:50:16,380
Thank you.

592
00:50:19,610 --> 00:50:20,950
Okay. Item 13.

593
00:50:22,550 --> 00:50:31,930
Item number 13 is department and committee reports non action items 13 a quarterly budget report quarter to 2025. Niki Simmons chief financial officer.

594
00:50:31,930 --> 00:50:32,970
Do

595
00:50:38,700 --> 00:50:40,600
we have Ms. Simmons in the building?

596
00:50:49,320 --> 00:50:49,960
Ms. Simmons?

597
00:50:51,420 --> 00:50:52,620
We're ready for you.

598
00:51:11,540 --> 00:51:14,760
Good morning, commissioners. Nikki Simmons, Chief Financial Officer.

599
00:51:15,460 --> 00:51:22,060
I'm here this morning to present to you the June 2025 budget performance report.

600
00:51:22,640 --> 00:51:27,360
So this will reflect activity through the month of June compared to our 2025 budget.

601
00:51:27,360 --> 00:51:35,540
But the only caveat there is we're always one month in arrears in sales tax, and so

602
00:51:35,540 --> 00:51:40,320
this sales tax is only through May because that is the most recent sales tax we've collected

603
00:51:40,320 --> 00:51:41,400
at the time of this report.

604
00:51:41,740 --> 00:51:44,960
We'll receive June sales tax sometime next week.

605
00:51:47,300 --> 00:51:53,580
So I wanted to start off this presentation with just a general discussion of the economic

606
00:51:53,580 --> 00:51:55,820
conditions that we're seeing across our state.

607
00:51:55,820 --> 00:52:03,480
and really, you know, the sales tax activity, seeing a lot of news reports about different

608
00:52:03,480 --> 00:52:08,500
cities and counties having to do budget cuts for the rest of the year, we're getting media

609
00:52:08,500 --> 00:52:14,020
inquiries on our revenue collections and where we are compared to budget, and we have

610
00:52:14,020 --> 00:52:17,720
referred them to watch this meeting and this presentation.

611
00:52:17,720 --> 00:52:29,160
That being said, while El Paso County is seeing the same delta in sales taxes as different

612
00:52:29,160 --> 00:52:34,240
municipalities within our jurisdiction, we are close to our budget in that area.

613
00:52:34,600 --> 00:52:41,280
You'll see on this line right here, we are shy of our budget through June of about $941,000

614
00:52:41,280 --> 00:52:42,200
in sales tax.

615
00:52:42,200 --> 00:52:49,460
When you think of that, we have about $170 million a year sales tax budget for our 1%

616
00:52:49,460 --> 00:52:56,380
unrestricted tax. So we are very close to that overall budget. That being said, the entire

617
00:52:56,380 --> 00:53:02,620
Delta shows up in the general fund because when we get sales tax, we send it to four

618
00:53:02,620 --> 00:53:11,800
funds. We send it to the Human Services Fund, the Road and Bridge Fund, and the

619
00:53:11,800 --> 00:53:15,500
And any delta, any variance shows up in the general fund.

620
00:53:15,600 --> 00:53:21,840
So when you're seeing 96.91 percent of budget, that's because the general fund receives the

621
00:53:21,840 --> 00:53:24,820
entire variance and the other funds are at 100 percent.

622
00:53:25,220 --> 00:53:31,420
So this $941,000 variance to budget is the entire variance to budget for all sales tax

623
00:53:31,420 --> 00:53:32,520
across all funds.

624
00:53:33,520 --> 00:53:35,460
And so very close to our budget.

625
00:53:35,940 --> 00:53:39,240
And then we have other compensating revenues that are over budget.

626
00:53:39,240 --> 00:53:45,600
And so overall year to date through June, we're actually exceeding our revenue forecast by $4.3 million.

627
00:53:46,340 --> 00:53:53,140
So I wanted to put that in context because we are getting questions about how we're addressing any revenue shortfalls.

628
00:53:53,260 --> 00:54:03,860
And at this point, we're not seeing those revenue shortfalls because our budgeted numbers were closer to expectations than we've seen across other areas.

629
00:54:04,480 --> 00:54:08,200
And so I wanted to call that out while I gave this presentation.

630
00:54:08,200 --> 00:54:11,020
Our budget's in a very stable spot.

631
00:54:11,600 --> 00:54:17,260
We're not growing as quickly as we have in sales tax revenues in our past history.

632
00:54:18,060 --> 00:54:24,120
But when we put this budget together in 2024 for 2025, the commissioners who were here

633
00:54:24,120 --> 00:54:33,820
then will remember we did a very intentional job of budgeting for what we called a recession-resistant

634
00:54:33,820 --> 00:54:34,200
budget.

635
00:54:34,320 --> 00:54:35,300
And I'm not saying we're in a recession.

636
00:54:35,420 --> 00:54:36,040
I'm not an economist.

637
00:54:36,040 --> 00:54:50,200
but we didn't expect a large growth in some of these areas, and so we wanted to make sure that what we were planning for was able to withstand any economic uncertainty for several years.

638
00:54:50,640 --> 00:54:58,760
And so we made sure that we were conservatively forecasting our revenues. So I wanted to point that out before I got into the rest of the presentation.

639
00:54:59,860 --> 00:55:10,180
So property taxes we are seeing kind of our general we usually be able to collect about 99.5% of our overall property taxes. And then the remaining portion goes to tax lien sales.

640
00:55:10,620 --> 00:55:18,800
We work closely with our Treasurer's Office over time to collect those. And so this was an expected differential sales and use tax.

641
00:55:20,020 --> 00:55:23,280
I've already talked to you a little bit and I will be back I think the end of this month

642
00:55:23,280 --> 00:55:27,380
of the first week of September with that June sales tax report with more information about

643
00:55:27,380 --> 00:55:34,120
what industries and what areas are seeing the growth but at this point we are growing

644
00:55:34,120 --> 00:55:39,480
over 2024 numbers just it's not a high growth rate it's less than 1% at this point.

645
00:55:40,960 --> 00:55:44,880
So then another place we're seeing different like the kind of compensating revenues is

646
00:55:44,880 --> 00:55:49,180
the clerk and recorder's office, specifically the recording department, is seeing higher

647
00:55:49,180 --> 00:55:54,640
activity than budgeted for. And that happens when interest rates even lower just a little

648
00:55:54,640 --> 00:55:59,740
bit from what they've been for a year or so, then we start to see people refinancing their

649
00:55:59,740 --> 00:56:07,420
mortgages, refiling those tax or those recording fees. And then we are closely monitoring

650
00:56:07,420 --> 00:56:11,400
that because a new law went into effect July 1 at the clerk and recorder's office

651
00:56:11,400 --> 00:56:16,860
where it changed the recording fees completely and went to a flat fee per document versus

652
00:56:16,860 --> 00:56:17,940
a per page fee.

653
00:56:19,100 --> 00:56:24,400
The clerk has let us know that he anticipates that those fees will actually be higher than

654
00:56:24,400 --> 00:56:28,200
budgeted for, but at this time we're just closely monitoring that.

655
00:56:29,060 --> 00:56:33,400
And then the largest thing that we see that's kind of compensating for other revenue decreases

656
00:56:33,400 --> 00:56:35,000
is the interest on investments.

657
00:56:36,520 --> 00:56:42,320
We conservatively budgeted for that amount as we anticipated that interest rates would drop this year.

658
00:56:42,860 --> 00:56:47,380
And so therefore we didn't want to overestimate our interest revenue estimates.

659
00:56:47,800 --> 00:56:51,660
At this point we're exceeding those for the year by about $2.3 million.

660
00:56:52,080 --> 00:56:56,320
So overall revenues are exceeding budget by $4.3 million.

661
00:56:58,220 --> 00:57:00,460
Then on the expenditures for the general fund,

662
00:57:00,460 --> 00:57:09,920
And we have right about $10 million of other operating expenditures that are the variants.

663
00:57:10,620 --> 00:57:13,100
But most of those are projects in process.

664
00:57:13,320 --> 00:57:19,100
We have some large projects that we're working on such as the ERP replacement in the IT department,

665
00:57:20,080 --> 00:57:24,400
certain facility things that we're working on, and so a lot of those fit within there.

666
00:57:24,920 --> 00:57:27,600
And so at this point we feel like we're trending on budget.

667
00:57:27,600 --> 00:57:30,300
all the funding is allocated to specific projects.

668
00:57:32,060 --> 00:57:33,880
Road and bridge fund revenues,

669
00:57:35,900 --> 00:57:39,240
the highway, so actually let me back up the sales tax.

670
00:57:39,380 --> 00:57:43,240
I just wanted to point out this is again where you'll see a zero variance in sales tax because

671
00:57:43,240 --> 00:57:46,680
we send exactly the sales tax that the fund is supposed to get and that general fund

672
00:57:46,680 --> 00:57:51,400
tax sees the delta of what's expected versus what we actually received.

673
00:57:51,840 --> 00:57:54,500
And so that's why that's always a zero.

674
00:57:54,500 --> 00:58:03,020
Highway user tax is the one place we're really seeing increased revenues from that fund that

675
00:58:03,020 --> 00:58:07,580
comes from the state. That is allocated to La Pasa County on an allocation of different

676
00:58:07,580 --> 00:58:15,080
road miles based on paid and rural roads and what tier county you are. That is estimated

677
00:58:15,080 --> 00:58:21,580
by the state every year. And those estimates seemed like they were a little low in comparison

678
00:58:21,580 --> 00:58:26,000
into what's actually happening because there's new fees and taxes that are going into this

679
00:58:26,000 --> 00:58:30,660
fund that are collected at the state level. And so I think the state is still getting an idea

680
00:58:30,660 --> 00:58:37,900
of how much is going to come into that fund after the new law with the new rates and post COVID

681
00:58:37,900 --> 00:58:42,840
with full travel, things like that. These are collected partially through clerk and

682
00:58:42,840 --> 00:58:47,640
recorder's offices with car registrations, gasoline tax that's collected at the state

683
00:58:47,640 --> 00:58:48,580
level of things like that.

684
00:58:49,480 --> 00:58:56,160
And then overall, for expenditures for Rotem Bridge, trending very, very close to budget.

685
00:58:56,840 --> 00:59:03,480
Our DPW is doing a great job at getting the functions done that they are entrusted to do.

686
00:59:04,040 --> 00:59:07,200
And their personnel budget is trending close to budget.

687
00:59:07,400 --> 00:59:11,780
So happy to say that they have the staff out there doing the jobs.

688
00:59:12,780 --> 00:59:13,620
Human services.

689
00:59:14,340 --> 00:59:19,640
This is a little bit of a timing difference, no concerns on that fund at this time.

690
00:59:20,400 --> 00:59:26,280
We will receive final state closeout in August and we'll update the board further when we

691
00:59:26,280 --> 00:59:27,520
receive those closeout dollars.

692
00:59:27,900 --> 00:59:34,400
We do know a couple of our allocations were spent further than the allocations we had

693
00:59:34,400 --> 00:59:40,620
specifically in TANF, but we did have TANF reserves at the state level to cover those.

694
00:59:40,620 --> 00:59:51,460
And then we are sorry, I said TANF reserves in Seattle, I meant the local TANF reserves that the state allows us to hold, which is 40% of our overall allocation.

695
00:59:52,240 --> 00:59:58,480
And so at this point, we don't expect to have to use any county only dollars to cover those over allocations.

696
00:59:58,600 --> 00:59:59,960
But again, we'll give a full brief.

697
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:05,960
When we get the final close at some time, we're hoping in August, late August or early September.

698
01:00:07,320 --> 01:00:10,380
Capital Improvement Fund had no activity during the month of June.

699
01:00:11,740 --> 01:00:23,060
Workers comp and risk side of self-insurance. We are currently under budget and expenditure,

700
01:00:23,200 --> 01:00:28,880
so positive variance of 280,000. I will remind the board though that we just approved

701
01:00:30,000 --> 01:00:34,960
a settlement that was planned for last during this month, and so this variance will look

702
01:00:34,960 --> 01:00:36,860
a little bit different the next time you see this report.

703
01:00:38,300 --> 01:00:43,360
Our self-insurance for the health side, we're training a little higher on revenues, but

704
01:00:43,360 --> 01:00:45,780
also that very similar amount on expenditures.

705
01:00:46,660 --> 01:00:51,700
One thing I was informed of is that we're expecting a stop-loss reimbursement in our

706
01:00:51,700 --> 01:00:55,580
health insurance, which will cover a significant portion of this variance.

707
01:00:55,580 --> 01:01:00,420
So at this point, we're not concerned, this fund's trending kind of right on target.

708
01:01:02,310 --> 01:01:08,030
And then general fund restricted, I'll point out the public safety sales and use tax sitting

709
01:01:08,030 --> 01:01:10,510
at 98.8 percent of budget.

710
01:01:11,110 --> 01:01:19,250
And then on the expenditure side, the one thing I'll point out is the American Rescue

711
01:01:19,250 --> 01:01:19,850
Plan Act.

712
01:01:19,990 --> 01:01:24,490
We started the year with $35.5 million of the fund remaining.

713
01:01:24,490 --> 01:01:27,370
We have expended $6.5 million of that.

714
01:01:27,550 --> 01:01:31,510
A large portion of that are the water and wastewater grants that we were able to give

715
01:01:31,510 --> 01:01:36,510
out to jurisdictions in our area, and they are starting to spend those funds down.

716
01:01:36,750 --> 01:01:40,390
And so we're starting to see expenditures in that area and closely working with every

717
01:01:40,390 --> 01:01:42,110
grantee to get those funds spent.

718
01:01:44,110 --> 01:01:49,210
Conservation Trust Fund continues to bring in increased revenues,

719
01:01:49,210 --> 01:01:53,590
And then the funds that we budgeted for are being spent as planned.

720
01:01:55,610 --> 01:02:00,590
Your school's trust fund had no activity during the month, well, no expenditures.

721
01:02:00,890 --> 01:02:01,830
That's all you'll see for the year.

722
01:02:02,290 --> 01:02:06,330
And then we'll continue to bring in revenue throughout the year as we work in the planning

723
01:02:06,330 --> 01:02:06,710
department.

724
01:02:06,890 --> 01:02:11,590
And then those funds get sent out once a year in April of every year.

725
01:02:12,490 --> 01:02:17,250
Your household hazardous waste fund, you can see, has positive revenue variances

726
01:02:17,250 --> 01:02:24,230
in every category, and then it's trending at about 90% of their expenditure budget.

727
01:02:25,010 --> 01:02:31,730
We've been working with our community resources director in planning of how to have some more

728
01:02:31,730 --> 01:02:38,570
events related to expending these funds, such as like the recycling events that we

729
01:02:38,570 --> 01:02:41,410
run to assist citizens with recycling hazardous waste.

730
01:02:42,510 --> 01:02:46,050
And your local improvement district, which is Falcon Vista,

731
01:02:48,110 --> 01:02:50,710
we continue, we have one

732
01:02:50,710 --> 01:02:54,310
more payment, we'll pay principal and interest payment later this year on that.

733
01:02:55,090 --> 01:03:02,550
Those revenues continue to trend lower than expected and so we're working closely with

734
01:03:02,550 --> 01:03:05,390
the Treasurer's Office to plan a forecast for that fund.

735
01:03:07,070 --> 01:03:10,330
Are there any questions or comments from me on this budget report?

736
01:03:14,660 --> 01:03:18,240
Can you go back to the first slide? Yeah, that one.

737
01:03:21,420 --> 01:03:23,800
On that sales and use tax collections,

738
01:03:25,500 --> 01:03:31,800
you said that those buckets where those dollars go are fully funded. Can you name them again?

739
01:03:32,140 --> 01:03:34,420
Yep. Okay. So I'll show you them because it makes

740
01:03:34,420 --> 01:03:38,480
more sense in my head if I see them on paper. So we have an overall sales and use tax

741
01:03:38,480 --> 01:03:43,660
budget that we then allocate to the general fund unrestricted, the road and bridge fund,

742
01:03:44,660 --> 01:03:49,640
the capital improvement fund, and the human services fund, and self-insurance fund.

743
01:03:50,560 --> 01:03:55,100
So you'll see, so that's the primary sales, the primary unrestricted tax that we allocate

744
01:03:55,100 --> 01:03:57,940
to different funds to be able to fund those funds.

745
01:03:59,550 --> 01:04:06,320
And so you'll see on each slide for each fund that receives those sales tax lines.

746
01:04:06,420 --> 01:04:08,060
So here it is in road and bridge fund.

747
01:04:08,060 --> 01:04:12,720
And so through this point of the year, we had budgeted to send them $3.541 million.

748
01:04:13,260 --> 01:04:14,900
So that's exactly what they got.

749
01:04:16,280 --> 01:04:17,660
Same thing with human services.

750
01:04:17,900 --> 01:04:20,480
Through this point this year, we'd budgeted to send them $12 million.

751
01:04:21,020 --> 01:04:23,900
So they've received exactly $12 million of that sales tax.

752
01:04:24,420 --> 01:04:25,980
Same thing with Capital Improvement Fund.

753
01:04:26,780 --> 01:04:28,880
And you'll see the risk fund.

754
01:04:30,320 --> 01:04:36,480
It's in two spots because it's sales tax, but it's one number when we look at

755
01:04:36,480 --> 01:04:37,020
our budget side.

756
01:04:37,020 --> 01:04:45,420
So then all of those together will add up to the overall sales and use tax unrestricted budget.

757
01:04:46,120 --> 01:04:52,280
So when we receive our 1% sales and use tax, that's how we allocate it out to those funds.

758
01:04:52,680 --> 01:05:00,060
So because there is revenue higher than expected in other places,

759
01:05:00,060 --> 01:05:07,840
is, do we need to eventually true up those budgets and those specific buckets or do we

760
01:05:07,840 --> 01:05:08,920
just know we're covered?

761
01:05:09,340 --> 01:05:09,440
Yep.

762
01:05:09,740 --> 01:05:13,260
So the way that we handle that is once we allocate that sales tax to those funds, we

763
01:05:13,260 --> 01:05:15,320
can't pull it back to General Fund.

764
01:05:15,700 --> 01:05:22,480
But the opposite happens in a year where we exceed the forecast, then General Fund receives

765
01:05:22,480 --> 01:05:23,060
the extra.

766
01:05:23,060 --> 01:05:30,580
And then what we do is we use that information to help for planning for next year.

767
01:05:30,740 --> 01:05:36,140
So for example, in the self-insurance fund, if this, actually that's not a great example,

768
01:05:36,640 --> 01:05:42,700
in the road and bridge fund, if we budgeted to send them a certain amount of sales tax

769
01:05:42,700 --> 01:05:47,400
so that they could afford the budget that you all set for them, and then they receive

770
01:05:47,400 --> 01:05:52,100
higher specific ownership taxes and higher highway user taxes, then for the next

771
01:05:52,100 --> 01:05:56,600
year's budget, that money will be sitting in fund balance. So then I'll be able to send them

772
01:05:56,600 --> 01:06:01,340
less sales tax next year to be able to, they can then use their fund balance instead of

773
01:06:01,340 --> 01:06:07,140
needing sales tax to afford their budget. Okay. Then I had another question about

774
01:06:07,700 --> 01:06:12,220
just seeing the percentages are so high for the other taxes and the miscellaneous revenue.

775
01:06:12,380 --> 01:06:19,100
Can you give me a couple examples of what those are? Yeah, so miscellaneous revenues can be

776
01:06:19,100 --> 01:06:25,320
scrap metal recycling sometimes if we rent out an office for something and so we

777
01:06:25,320 --> 01:06:28,740
don't a lot of times really budget for many of those because there's such a

778
01:06:28,740 --> 01:06:33,040
tiny part of our budget so if they come in they're kind of extra and then other

779
01:06:33,040 --> 01:06:39,000
taxes is payments and lieu of taxes as well as so payment lieu of taxes is

780
01:06:39,000 --> 01:06:41,980
money that we receive from the federal government and lieu of them paying

781
01:06:41,980 --> 01:06:46,700
taxes on forest land. We don't get any taxes for military bases but we do get

782
01:06:46,700 --> 01:06:48,420
taxes for national forests.

783
01:06:52,020 --> 01:06:55,020
And that's really designed as a federal program to help like

784
01:06:55,020 --> 01:06:59,040
the counties that are almost all national forests but have a lot of tourists that come

785
01:06:59,040 --> 01:07:02,340
in. They need something to help. And if they're not getting some sort of taxes, they

786
01:07:02,340 --> 01:07:08,940
can't provide services. It's a very small part of our budget. And also, this might

787
01:07:08,940 --> 01:07:14,680
just be a timing issue where we receive the pilt a little bit earlier than we have

788
01:07:14,680 --> 01:07:19,240
in the past, things like that. So I'm not sure those will come in at 317% of budget,

789
01:07:19,660 --> 01:07:22,900
but they're a very, very small part of our budget and I'm not. But I can get you more

790
01:07:22,900 --> 01:07:27,140
information if you're more interested in what the details of the others are. I can

791
01:07:27,140 --> 01:07:28,680
have a staff get that for you.

792
01:07:28,860 --> 01:07:33,460
No, I was just curious of what some examples might be that was contributing to those

793
01:07:33,460 --> 01:07:39,760
funds. I think that's all my questions for now. I really want to nerd out on this,

794
01:07:39,860 --> 01:07:43,560
but I'm going to not hold everyone else hostage. So I'll connect with you later

795
01:07:43,560 --> 01:07:48,420
and just to dig into the numbers more so and continue to learn about the county's budget.

796
01:07:48,780 --> 01:07:59,100
Absolutely. Okay, additional questions or comments? All right. I just want to say thank you. I think

797
01:07:59,100 --> 01:08:03,440
this is a good opportunity. I appreciate your kind of preface there at the beginning that we have

798
01:08:03,440 --> 01:08:08,520
had people and media reaching out asking about our budget. It seems like everywhere I have gone

799
01:08:08,520 --> 01:08:12,900
I've had those same questions. How are things looking at the county? We're here,

800
01:08:12,900 --> 01:08:17,300
they're not great at the city, we know they're not good at the state, and I think you are

801
01:08:17,300 --> 01:08:24,020
very humble when you introduce this and why it is that we are in what I think is a very

802
01:08:24,020 --> 01:08:30,560
good place, and that is because you and the team have done a fantastic job of, even

803
01:08:30,560 --> 01:08:36,120
though your crystal ball does not work, of conservatively budgeting and thinking

804
01:08:36,120 --> 01:08:42,080
through what could happen in the economy, and that makes all the difference when you're

805
01:08:42,080 --> 01:08:46,220
not overestimating and just thinking we're going to continue to see growth forever.

806
01:08:47,280 --> 01:08:53,480
And so I think I'm incredibly grateful to the work that you have done and our county administrator

807
01:08:53,480 --> 01:09:00,600
has done to make sure that we are in this position where as we see around us a lot of

808
01:09:00,600 --> 01:09:05,820
concern we feel very good about where we are and that doesn't mean things will always

809
01:09:05,820 --> 01:09:14,740
remain perfect, but when you have very competent folks who are doing this work on behalf and

810
01:09:14,740 --> 01:09:19,260
with the direction of this board, I think it just shows how important actual governance

811
01:09:19,260 --> 01:09:25,660
is and making sure that we are doing everything we can to be responsible to taxpayers. So

812
01:09:26,320 --> 01:09:31,360
I just want to say thank you. I hope that maybe some of that media does get their

813
01:09:31,360 --> 01:09:35,820
questions answered on this. And then I just want to point out, too, one of the things that

814
01:09:35,820 --> 01:09:42,740
we are not doing that we have seen lots of folks do is pulling out of reserves for ongoing

815
01:09:42,740 --> 01:09:49,560
expenses. And that is just something that continues to shock me when I see governments

816
01:09:49,560 --> 01:09:54,400
doing that. We know that it's a recipe for disaster. We see that when the state received

817
01:09:54,400 --> 01:09:58,540
all of these one-time federal funds and then tried to put them into places that

818
01:09:58,540 --> 01:10:04,320
were ongoing programs and the same thing at the city. You know, we discussed that when

819
01:10:04,320 --> 01:10:07,880
that happened that that was something that gave a lot of concern. So I think these things

820
01:10:07,880 --> 01:10:15,260
were very much forecasted by many of us as we watched what happened and knew that if

821
01:10:15,260 --> 01:10:18,900
we didn't assume that there would continue to be growth. So really grateful for the

822
01:10:18,900 --> 01:10:24,300
work that is done here by staff and for the governance of this board to have that

823
01:10:24,300 --> 01:10:30,700
foresight and grateful that we are now in a position where we are not as concerned as

824
01:10:30,700 --> 01:10:32,720
many of those around us. So thank you.

825
01:10:33,480 --> 01:10:34,080
Thank you, Commissioner.

826
01:10:34,520 --> 01:10:35,280
Commissioner Wysong.

827
01:10:37,470 --> 01:10:45,390
Again, thanks, Nikki. Do you know how we compare to other counties in the state at mid-year?

828
01:10:46,230 --> 01:10:48,410
Have you been just talking with people?

829
01:10:49,230 --> 01:10:54,350
You know, I don't want to speak for any other counties. I do talk to several CFOs

830
01:10:54,350 --> 01:10:55,230
across the state.

831
01:10:57,330 --> 01:11:01,830
I think that my opinion is that we're in a little bit better spot than many of the counties.

832
01:11:02,070 --> 01:11:06,790
I'm hearing other counties, specifically the large counties, are looking at hiring freezes,

833
01:11:07,970 --> 01:11:12,950
revenue shortfalls, things like that, and we're not in that situation right now.

834
01:11:13,050 --> 01:11:15,630
So that kind of anecdotally, I would say, that we're doing better.

835
01:11:16,070 --> 01:11:18,910
I think our increased percentages are very similar.

836
01:11:19,070 --> 01:11:21,750
We're all seeing similar trends in our sales tax.

837
01:11:21,750 --> 01:11:26,670
It's just going to be how we compared to the budget and the planning for that.

838
01:11:26,870 --> 01:11:33,190
One thing that we have done as a county is making sure that we stay within a very conservative

839
01:11:33,650 --> 01:11:34,110
growth.

840
01:11:34,930 --> 01:11:38,910
I have heard from our county administers since the day he started, the last thing

841
01:11:38,910 --> 01:11:43,810
he ever wants to do is walk somebody out the door because we don't have enough money

842
01:11:43,810 --> 01:11:44,370
to pay them.

843
01:11:45,510 --> 01:11:50,010
We have been very, very conservative in not only our revenue forecast, but also

844
01:11:50,010 --> 01:11:55,590
Also making sure that we are not increasing the number of FTEs, those ongoing expenditures,

845
01:11:56,250 --> 01:11:59,530
making sure that we have a stable revenue base before we would ever do that.

846
01:11:59,730 --> 01:12:04,570
And so making sure that we're focusing on contracting things like that, things that

847
01:12:04,570 --> 01:12:08,470
can be lowered if we have a shortfall in revenue.

848
01:12:08,890 --> 01:12:13,990
And so we're, I think we're in a better spot than many of the front-range counties.

849
01:12:13,990 --> 01:12:24,550
Thank you. And I think to concur with Chair Geithner, it's due to good solid planning.

850
01:12:25,370 --> 01:12:32,330
Maybe with your recommendation for the media to watch this hearing, they'll go out and

851
01:12:32,330 --> 01:12:38,650
ask some of those other counties to see how well they're doing. And I think we've got

852
01:12:38,650 --> 01:12:49,390
a very great story to tell, and unfortunately, it doesn't get told very often or very well,

853
01:12:49,730 --> 01:12:50,670
but thank you.

854
01:12:51,130 --> 01:12:51,470
Thank you.

855
01:12:55,060 --> 01:13:03,220
I just can't help but say when we limit government growth, as I know is a goal of many of those

856
01:13:03,220 --> 01:13:06,940
that are sitting up here today, this is why we do it.

857
01:13:06,940 --> 01:13:12,120
When we say it's not because, you know, we don't want to give everyone everything that

858
01:13:12,120 --> 01:13:12,580
they desire.

859
01:13:12,700 --> 01:13:14,060
That would be great if we could all do that.

860
01:13:14,080 --> 01:13:19,600
But the reality is that government can't do that or we end up in a very bad position.

861
01:13:19,900 --> 01:13:25,240
So it's not compassionate or caring to our citizens to overspend and overgrow because

862
01:13:25,240 --> 01:13:28,480
we end up in situations that we're seeing in the state and others where something

863
01:13:28,480 --> 01:13:30,340
has to get cut and it's very frustrating.

864
01:13:30,580 --> 01:13:34,020
So taking that conservative approach and saying we're not going to grow government

865
01:13:34,020 --> 01:13:38,360
at a rapid rate until, you know, we know that we have needs

866
01:13:38,360 --> 01:13:40,540
and we know that that revenue is there with that growth

867
01:13:41,180 --> 01:13:45,780
is just a very good approach.

868
01:13:45,920 --> 01:13:47,460
And this is an indication of that,

869
01:13:47,620 --> 01:13:49,720
not to belabor that point,

870
01:13:50,040 --> 01:13:53,520
but, and it's not to pat ourselves on the back so much,

871
01:13:53,560 --> 01:13:56,100
it's just, you know, I want citizens to understand

872
01:13:56,100 --> 01:13:59,120
why we do what we do here at the county

873
01:13:59,120 --> 01:14:00,740
and that it's really all about them.

874
01:14:01,160 --> 01:14:02,760
So every time we say we wanna limit,

875
01:14:02,760 --> 01:14:07,260
We want to limit what we do. We want to keep that. It's really about preserving

876
01:14:07,980 --> 01:14:15,700
what we are able to do and providing quality service without those disruptions. So I think Commissioner Applegate also has a comment.

877
01:14:16,820 --> 01:14:24,020
Thank you for doing our finances. Thank you for being on top of everything, Nikki. Oh, happy birthday by the way. Thank you. Yeah, I hope your 29th was great.

878
01:14:24,020 --> 01:14:45,060
It was. It's amazing. They're a 15th year in a row. Vice-presidents, everyone's had really fantastic comments and thank you for all you and your staff do. I did want to say at the end of the day too, we have a fantastic group of employees who work very hard every single day for the county and they're very committed to their jobs.

879
01:14:45,060 --> 01:14:52,620
so thank you to our amazing number of employees. We have these days around 26 or 2700 I think,

880
01:14:52,720 --> 01:14:53,800
so we appreciate them.

881
01:14:56,210 --> 01:14:58,950
Okay, any additional comments or questions?

882
01:15:00,000 --> 01:15:02,060
Seeing none, thank you. Thank you.

883
01:15:05,610 --> 01:15:32,370
Item 14. Item number 14 is the addendum and there are no addendums today. Item 15. Item number 15 is the executive session, 15a, executive session pursuant to CRS 2464024B and E for the purpose of one conference with the county attorney's office for the purpose of receiving legal advice on specific legal questions regarding the federal budget and county obligations and authority and

884
01:15:32,370 --> 01:15:35,890
and administering benefits through the El Paso County Department of Human Services,

885
01:15:36,250 --> 01:15:41,010
and two, determining positions relative to matters subject to negotiations, developing

886
01:15:41,010 --> 01:15:46,550
strategy for negotiations, and instructing negotiators regarding El Paso County Department

887
01:15:46,550 --> 01:15:50,890
of Human Services administrative and financial obligations in relation to these benefits

888
01:15:50,890 --> 01:15:51,390
programs.

889
01:15:51,890 --> 01:15:56,750
Stacy Quiddick, Executive Director, Department of Human Services, and Dori Lindman, Senior

890
01:15:56,750 --> 01:16:15,270
county attorney. And then 15b, executive session pursuant to CRS 2464024b for the purpose of receiving legal advice on the county's liquor licensing regulations and procedures, Kenneth Hodges, county attorney, and Terry Sample, senior assistant county attorney.

891
01:16:15,270 --> 01:16:25,530
attorney and last 15C, executive session pursuant to CRS 2464024B and E. The county

892
01:16:25,530 --> 01:16:29,770
attorney's office is requesting executive session regarding the following matters pertaining

893
01:16:29,770 --> 01:16:39,330
to Marshall versus Dix case number 2101971GPGSTV, one conference with the county attorney's

894
01:16:39,330 --> 01:16:43,370
office for the purposes of receiving legal advice on specific legal questions related

895
01:16:43,370 --> 01:16:48,010
to the above-referenced litigation matter, and two, determining positions relative to matters

896
01:16:48,010 --> 01:16:53,030
that may be subject to negotiations, developing strategy for negotiations, and instructing

897
01:16:53,970 --> 01:16:58,370
negotiators related to the above-referenced litigation matter. Kenneth Hodges, county attorney,

898
01:16:58,610 --> 01:17:00,650
and Nathan Whitney, senior assistant county attorney.

899
01:17:02,350 --> 01:17:07,570
I move we go into executive sessions for the purpose as stated on the record.

900
01:17:08,650 --> 01:17:13,950
Second. Okay, that has been moved and seconded. I'll call the roll. Commissioner Weissang.

901
01:17:14,750 --> 01:17:23,290
Aye. Mr. Nelson. Aye. Mr. Applegate. Aye. Vice Chair Williams. Aye. And the chair votes aye. That passes 5-0. We are in executive session.

902
05:50:10,420 --> 05:50:15,940
Mr. Noon, we are returning from executive session. Do I have a motion to come out of executive

903
05:50:15,940 --> 05:50:16,280
session?

904
05:50:16,720 --> 05:50:17,400
So moved.

905
05:50:19,980 --> 05:50:20,320
Second.

906
05:50:20,900 --> 05:50:24,300
Okay, that has been moved and seconded. I'll call the roll. Mr. Weissang?

907
05:50:24,720 --> 05:50:25,160
Aye.

908
05:50:25,640 --> 05:50:26,120
Mr. Nelson?

909
05:50:26,500 --> 05:50:26,720
Aye.

910
05:50:27,540 --> 05:50:28,220
Vice Chair Williams?

911
05:50:28,480 --> 05:50:28,700
Aye.

912
05:50:29,020 --> 05:50:32,740
And the Chair votes aye. That passes 4-0 and we have a statement from our attorney.

913
05:50:33,340 --> 05:50:38,280
Thank you, Madam Chair. The Board is exiting executive session at which legal advice was

914
05:50:38,280 --> 05:50:44,320
given and instruction was given to negotiators on items 15a and c and legal advice was provided

915
05:50:44,320 --> 05:50:49,820
to the board on item 15b. The board made no formal decisions at any of the executive

916
05:50:49,820 --> 05:50:50,260
sessions.

917
05:50:51,400 --> 05:50:54,760
Okay, for that we've come to the end of our agenda. This meeting is adjourned.