[0:00] It's wrong, I think. >> Hopefully that's our official

[0:03] » This This one back here is closer, but and there's a lot of feedback there.

[0:07] » Yeah, there is. >> It's the volume of these speakers.

[0:12] » My computer actually says it's still 8:58.

[0:15] » Yeah, mine's >> We have a lot of official times.

[0:17] » Yeah, that one went to 9. >> Hey, Kevin, can you turn down all the

[0:21] speakers up here? >> Yeah, I'm trying to master the sound.

[0:24] » Thank you.

[0:27] » [clears throat and cough]

[0:31] » Probably whenever you're ready, Kevin. >> I'm ready.

[0:37] You guys flipped the switch. >> On air?

[0:39] » I flipped the wrong switch. My bad.

[0:43] » Hey, it wouldn't have happened. >> Good morning. I would like to call to

[0:48] order this meeting of your Fremont County Board of County Commissioners.

[0:51] This is a special meeting today with a single item of new business. I'm going

[0:55] to ask you all to please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance at this time.

[1:00] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[1:05] republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[1:11] justice for all. >> [clears throat]

[1:16] » Roll call, please. >> Commissioner Bell.

[1:18] » Present. >> Commissioner McFall.

[1:20] » Present. >> Commissioner Grantham. Here.

[1:22] » County Attorney Bellis. >> Present.

[1:23] » County Administrator Croci. >> Present.

[1:26] » Thank you, Mr. Clerk. We turn next to the approval of today's agenda. As I

[1:29] mentioned, this is a single item of business for today. This is the

[1:34] consideration of a resolution extending the local disaster declaration for the

[1:38] Aspen Acres Wildland Fire.

[1:45] » Somebody going to make a motion? >> Let's have a motion to approve today's

[1:48] agenda. >> Madam Chair, I'll move to approve

[1:50] today's agenda. >> Second.

[1:53] » All right, it has been moved and seconded to approve today's agenda.

[1:56] » Second reading. Oh, it's Are we just >> Let's do roll call.

[1:59] » Roll call, please. >> Commissioner Granthan.

[2:03] » I just about said here. I.

[2:05] » Commissioner McFall. >> I.

[2:07] » Commissioner Bell. >> I.

[2:08] » Motion carries. >> We have no consent agenda today. We have

[2:11] no need for a motion there, gentlemen. >> [laughter]

[2:15] » We're going to jump right into new business. We all know what we're here

[2:17] for today. This is all about the Aspen Acres Wildland fire that is currently

[2:21] burning at almost 100,000 acres due south and somewhat to the east of us

[2:26] here in Fremont County. Fortunately, this fire has not yet actually reached

[2:30] Fremont County, but it has gotten very close. It's too close for comfort. Um

[2:35] because of that, the evacuations were ordered Sunday evening by the incident

[2:40] management team. We have the special team here from Alaska as I'm sure you're

[2:43] all aware. We have no timeline yet for the return

[2:48] of all of those evacuees into the coal towns,

[2:51] uh but we are meeting multiple times daily with um

[2:56] folks from incident management, from emergency management, from all of our

[3:00] partner agencies, and keeping us up-to-date as we possibly can with

[3:05] what's going on for a fire that actually is not burning in Fremont County. So, we

[3:09] felt that we haven't had a lot of news to try to manage here in

[3:14] Fremont County simply because this fire does not belong to us. It is burning in

[3:18] Custer County. It is burning in Pueblo County. There's nothing we can add to

[3:22] the conversation other than now our own evacuations

[3:27] that would add to the conversation because the information does not belong

[3:30] to us. We simply can um

[3:34] spout the same things that everyone else is already talking about. We can repeat

[3:37] things, but we're not a big fan of um repeating over and over and over again

[3:42] the same information that you can get elsewhere. So, first thing I think this

[3:45] morning, we're going to turn to our Fremont County Attorney, Eric Bellis,

[3:50] for an explanation of this resolution number 15, which is extending the

[3:55] disaster declaration regarding the Aspen Acres wildland fire to midnight on July

[4:00] 29th of 2026. So, Eric, if you would like to explain what we're doing with

[4:04] this action today, that'd be great. >> Certainly. These resolutions that we do

[4:08] with respect to local disasters and the local disaster declaration is simply the

[4:12] first step necessary to enable us access to additional resources beyond those of

[4:20] Fremont County. When we declare a local disaster, whether it be by declaration

[4:25] or in this case resolution extending that 7-day declaration, um it does

[4:30] several things. It activates local memorandums of understanding to make

[4:35] resources available from neighboring counties and neighboring partners in the

[4:40] area. It also alerts the state and it makes additional resources available

[4:45] from the state. It also, in this case, makes resources available from the

[4:50] federal government. So, we have a number of those resources that you all can see

[4:55] anytime you pass by the Fremont County Airport and you see those large aircraft

[5:01] departing from the airport, the Black Hawk helicap- helicopters, the Chinook

[5:06] helicopter, those are federal assets. The red and white helicopters that you

[5:10] all are familiar with and have seen before and in fact are stationed at our

[5:14] airport, those are state resources. Uh this dis- disaster declaration makes all

[5:19] of those available and it just formalizes what we need to do to access

[5:23] those resources that obviously allow us to respond to disasters that exceed our

[5:29] local capacity to respond. The reason that we chose the date that

[5:33] we chose, July 29th, uh to extend this, that is the day after our next regularly

[5:40] scheduled Board of County Commissioners meeting. Um

[5:44] these wildfires tend to burn for a significant amount of time and whether

[5:48] this fire does or does not cross into Fremont County, I suspect we will be

[5:54] reevaluating the need to further extend this

[5:57] at our next regularly scheduled Board of County Commissioners meeting.

[6:02] » All right, thank you, sir. Any questions for Eric at this time?

[6:07] I would like to just note that our Governor, Jared Polis, also has declared

[6:11] the Aspen Acres fire a state disaster as well. And speaking of the ability to

[6:17] access resources, we asked our Department of Human Services Director,

[6:21] Tanya Sutton, to come in this morning and explain about some resources that

[6:26] are currently available to our citizens simply because of this disaster

[6:30] declaration. Good morning, Tanya. >> Good morning. Thank you so much for

[6:33] having me. >> Thanks for coming.

[6:35] » Um so, I thought that this was a great idea by

[6:40] Commissioner Bell to really explain what the Department of Human Services has

[6:45] been able to do because of this declaration. So, thank you again.

[6:48] I will jump into some specifics, but just want to really quickly start with

[6:53] just a huge thank you to this board because without issuing this,

[6:58] we wouldn't be able to do some of the things I'm going to speak about as well

[7:01] as County Attorney Bellis because not only did he help to solidify all of

[7:06] this and get all of this filed in the right ways, but I've seen him in

[7:10] different ways this past week and a half that I never did before, such as driving

[7:14] the Red Cross truck to us so that we could

[7:17] help get the shelter set up. So, huge thanks to everyone in this room as well

[7:21] as so many other county staff, my staff specifically,

[7:25] not only showing up with I think right now we have 11 staff just at DHS that

[7:29] have been evacuated, showing up to do what they are asked to do every single

[7:33] day, taking care of other people, but also volunteering in their time off. So,

[7:38] I am very honored to be part of this community. Just want to start with that.

[7:43] So, with this declaration being a um county declaration, we can now access a

[7:50] couple of different pots of funds we were not able to previously. One of them

[7:54] is for our adult financial population. So, those populations are specific to

[8:00] the aid and needy disabled, our adult population, um old age pension

[8:04] population. These funds can be accessed by those who have previously been

[8:10] approved for these grants. So, all of the eligibility would have had to be

[8:15] completed and approved prior to this disaster declaration.

[8:19] Um but now that that has happened for those individuals, if they're in need of

[8:22] things like food, shelter, clothing, transportation, personal care items, or

[8:27] medical care due to the disaster, um we can now access an additional

[8:32] $2,000 for each of those individuals. There is a process because that's what

[8:38] we do um in the government. We have processes. We have to make sure that we

[8:42] have all of the uh correct paperwork completed and our staff is ready and

[8:46] able to help with that. Um the state has already clicked all the right buttons in

[8:50] our system to be able to process these things, but we do still have to have

[8:54] paperwork and things like that. We are not going to ask individuals to bring us

[8:58] any verification of anything. If they have an address and we know that they're

[9:01] going to be in that evacuation area, we're going to do what we need to do to

[9:04] access these funds. The second pot is for our Colorado Works

[9:08] in um families. So, Colorado Works is what other people can consider TANF

[9:13] funds. Um to be able to be eligible for that um

[9:17] assistance, you have to have a family with at least one child or a child on

[9:22] the way, a pregnancy, um and a family income below $75,000 a year.

[9:27] Uh a little bit different than our adult financial, we can still access

[9:32] eligibility um through this process, but But it has to be those very specific

[9:36] needs that happened because of the disaster.

[9:40] These um additional funds are not an entitlement. So, if somebody is

[9:44] receiving aid to needy and disabled and um now they have been evacuated, that

[9:49] does not automatically mean they get an extra amount of money. What it does mean

[9:53] is our staff is going to really talk to them about what needs do you have? How

[9:56] can we help overcome those? Um and then potentially access these funds.

[10:01] One thing that I was surprised by, I appreciated um Attorney Bellis really

[10:06] indicating it opens up additional um resources. This does open up additional

[10:10] resources, however, it does not give us additional money. So, all of these funds

[10:14] still come up out of our local budget. Um that was something I was not aware of

[10:18] before we filed this with the state. That does not mean that we will not help

[10:22] our citizens. We'll do whatever we need to do to help those individuals in need.

[10:26] What it does mean is we may be asking questions that others may think we

[10:30] shouldn't. We're going to ask, "Where else can we find these, you know,

[10:33] resources? What else can we do to meet these needs?" Because we still have to

[10:36] be responsible stewards of you know, taxpayer dollars. Um so, I also just

[10:42] wanted to mention that this will be through August of 2026 at this point. We

[10:49] can file um potentially I I will be filing this extension with the state to

[10:53] see if that gives us more time. But, our staff only have 5 days to process these.

[10:57] So, once we hear of a need, we have 5 days to get it in the system um and for

[11:01] them to do all of the verification they have to do. Um our technicians have a

[11:06] lot of work um but they work very hard and they will do whatever is needed. So,

[11:12] if anybody in the community um fits in these specific areas and needs

[11:17] assistance, please just give us a call. Our direct line is 719-275-2318

[11:25] and our office is open from 7:30 until 5:00 every day, Monday through Friday.

[11:29] So, we're here to help um we're here to help just find resources, tap into

[11:33] funds, whatever we need to do. And if anybody knows of anything else that is

[11:37] missing, please let us know and we'll research that as well.

[11:41] » Tanya, thank you so much. That's a lot of information. Um, it's very helpful

[11:44] information. And please take back to your staff our our very deep thanks and

[11:49] gratitude for all the hard work that they're putting in. We have so many

[11:52] county people right now. This might be a good segue real quickly. We have so many

[11:56] county people who are digging really deep right now. Um, we have folks who

[12:00] have come in to volunteer their time while they're on paid vacation, um, to

[12:04] be staying home, but instead they're coming here and volunteering. We have

[12:07] people here in our buildings who have been evacuated and are still coming.

[12:11] They're here, they're working every single day, um, rather than staying in a

[12:14] hotel, in a B&B, at a friend's house, wherever they happen to be located right

[12:19] now. They're still coming to work and they're doing the job and, um, the

[12:22] volunteerism and the efforts that we've seen not only from county employees, but

[12:27] from others throughout Fremont County. So, I would just like to address real

[12:31] quickly, um, we put out a call early on for donations. And that call was

[12:37] answered so fast and so hard by so many people, we had to stop accepting

[12:42] donations because we no longer have place a place to, um, actually store

[12:46] those until we can get them to the appropriate recipients. And so, keep an

[12:51] eye out though, because we may be opening that back up again. And if we

[12:54] do, we will put out the list of items that are needed, as well as where, um,

[12:58] that you can take them in the locations and different things.

[13:01] » Great. So, okay. >> Yes, thank you for that. We were able to

[13:04] access some of those donations [clears throat] through emergency

[13:06] management yesterday to assist some of our families. So, um, we will continue

[13:11] to support through that as well. So, thank you again. Appreciate you having

[13:13] me. >> Thank you.

[13:15] I also would like to mention, um, the Red Cross shelter that's currently open

[13:19] at Pathfinder Park. We have so many others who are down there volunteering,

[13:23] donating their time, taking care of animals, taking care of people, taking

[13:26] care of meals, doing all of those different things. Um again, the

[13:30] community has just come together in a truly incredible way here. So, we do

[13:34] have someone from the public who showed up this morning and would like to speak.

[13:38] Pam Hardy, would you please come forward and tell us what's on your mind. If you

[13:41] want to turn on that microphone, push that button right there. Right in the

[13:45] front middle. Yes, you do. [laughter] We can't hear you if you don't turn that

[13:49] on. >> There you go.

[13:51] » All right. Thank you. Thank you, commissioners, for allowing

[13:55] me to stand. Um I'm a homeowner in the Los Pinos subdivision south of Florence.

[14:02] And I'm here to represent some of the homeowners in Los Pinos.

[14:08] My husband and I attended the meeting in Pueblo

[14:13] Monday night that was put on by the Alaskan team for the firefighters. And

[14:18] then afterwards, we got to talk to some of the subject matter experts. So, we

[14:22] totally we understand the evacuation. You know,

[14:26] we respect it. You know, I'm I I'm not here to

[14:31] about you know, talk to be concerned about that. But, our concern is

[14:36] the evacuation. Um we had a mandatory evacuation Sunday

[14:42] night. And

[14:44] yesterday um we have a homeowners association and

[14:48] we email [clears throat] each other. Uh there's a few people that have decided

[14:53] to stay. They did not evacuate. And we've had a few vehicles come through,

[14:59] sit in front of each of the houses, taking I'm we're assuming taking

[15:04] pictures, looking for cameras, uh

[15:09] pickup truck. There was a pickup truck at different hours. Um I know in the

[15:14] Beulah Rye area, they've had a lot of looting when the houses were evacuated,

[15:20] there was a lot of looting. So, our concern is about that. We also have a

[15:25] neighbor um

[15:27] uh that has caused a lot of unrest in our

[15:31] community. And

[15:34] um our we've got some neighbors there that's

[15:37] been there 40 years. My husband and I, we've been there 35 years. And, you

[15:42] know, the ones that's been there a long time,

[15:44] we've got a real close knit. But, we've got one neighbor that's been causing a

[15:49] lot of problems. We've had to call the sheriff's office many times to come out.

[15:53] One week, I think the sheriff's office had to come out like seven times in in

[15:57] less than a week. And nothing's being done. She is still there.

[16:02] And we already know that she has done some destruction. So, here we're

[16:08] evacuated, but yet she's in there. Our concern is we've got the the fire we're

[16:14] concerned about. I totally understand how the fire could

[16:19] get to us. I have no questions about that. Our concern is the fire. Our

[16:23] concern is the neighbor that's there that could be causing damage.

[16:27] You know, free reign. And then, lastly, our concern is possible looting.

[16:34] And um I know a couple neighbors have been able to get in even as of

[16:39] yesterday. When we leave here, my husband and I,

[16:42] when we leave here, we are hoping to get in

[16:46] because I got cameras that I want to set up. If not, I will be contacting the

[16:50] sheriff. So, those are my concerns. So, it's not just the fire, it's

[16:56] you know, our lifelong possessions.

[17:00] » Okay, thank you so much for being here and speaking this morning.

[17:02] » Thank you. >> Is there anyone else who would like to

[17:04] rise and speak? >> [clears throat]

[17:08] » Okay. I The The first thing I would say um to you, Pam, is

[17:14] what an incredibly stressful time and how heartbreaking this is for everyone

[17:18] who has who has been involved. Um I have not been evacuated and I can only

[17:24] imagine the stress that you're under because as I just said a moment ago, we

[17:28] are dealing with a lot of those folks here in the county buildings as well.

[17:32] And so we are able to see I mean just the stress on faces and the lack of

[17:36] sleep um and the things that are going through your minds. And so

[17:41] I think it's incredible that you know your neighbors so well. Not everyone has

[17:45] that ability and that opportunity to actually be part of a neighborhood

[17:49] instead of just having people that you live next door to. So I think it's a

[17:53] wonderful thing that you're looking out for each other, that you're all helping

[17:56] take care of each other. I would encourage you to stay in touch with the

[18:00] sheriff's office um when when and if you see any of those things continuing to

[18:05] happen. So thank you for being here. Gentlemen.

[18:10] » I would just add on to that Madam Chair that

[18:13] the I know the sheriff's office is obviously very concerned about that and

[18:16] we're seeing the same information coming from Pueblo and Custer about the

[18:20] possibility of that happening. Um I'm not sure if there's any

[18:25] confirmed cases on that yet, but uh it's always a a

[18:30] a worry and a concern in these situations, right? And you've expressed

[18:34] that. Um but

[18:36] I would not [clears throat] to speak for the

[18:39] sheriff's office or the sheriff's department, but uh or the sheriff

[18:43] himself, but I know that they are doing their best to make sure they're on

[18:47] top of that and uh they certainly don't want that happening. Um I know they're

[18:53] stretched thin right now um

[18:55] managing, but uh I staying as Chair said, please stay in touch with them as

[19:01] much as you can and any of those other folks that are out

[19:04] there uh still that you know that uh feel free to take some pictures.

[19:10] » Absolutely. >> [laughter]

[19:12] » Yes. >> I thank [clears throat] you for your

[19:15] coming in today, though. >> Would you like to speak? Come on up to

[19:19] the microphone and if you would identify yourself, please.

[19:22] And then afterward, [clears throat] if you would fill out one of these slips

[19:26] from over there and turn it into the clerk.

[19:28] It's It's on already. Yes. >> My name is Laura Bratz. I live

[19:32] on Highway 67 in the evacuation zone. I was away on vacation July 1st to the

[19:40] 7th. The house was sort of evacuated by my daughter, but

[19:45] could not find medications. I need medication. Clearly. Is there any

[19:50] way to short I wasn't allowed to grab my own

[19:55] stuff. Is there any way that I can access

[19:59] » [cough] >> I have severe asthma and I'd like to

[20:02] know is there a short-term is there windows where I can we can be given

[20:07] couple hours a day to go back to the house

[20:11] » [cough] >> and get medication cuz I was not home

[20:14] when this happened. And my 27-year-old daughter did not have

[20:19] a clue where all this medication was. She grabbed her own medications and the

[20:24] cat, three cats, and our roommate.

[20:28] Plus we both lost we all lost our jobs right before this happened in March. So

[20:32] we have no jobs, but all my medications are and I can't afford to go buy it all.

[20:37] So I'm asking is there short-term emergency access to my house?

[20:42] There There's other people out on the land who are refu-

[20:46] who are refusing We We live on a multitude of land, so it's divided up to

[20:50] three sections. Some of the one one of the sections is staying occupied,

[20:55] but they can't bring it to me cuz they won't let them back in. So I don't know

[20:58] what to do, but I need medication. And I'm asking is there any chance for a

[21:02] couple of hours just to go get some stuff?

[21:05] » Okay. [laughter] Have you been in touch with the

[21:08] sheriff's department? >> They said no.

[21:10] » Yeah, I don't think that's right. I think for medication and stuff they're

[21:13] supposed to ask for >> them I might need this. I mean, my eyes

[21:16] are watering all the time. I can't breathe. I'm going to be in the hospital

[21:18] soon. People who don't have underlying medical conditions are having a hard

[21:23] time with the smoke. >> I know.

[21:24] » So, people who do have those those issues already, it it has to be so much

[21:29] worse. So, I'm just I'm I'm terribly sorry for what you're going through

[21:32] right now. We the three of us do not have the power to say yes. We will grant

[21:37] this. We do have the power to have that conversation with others. And so, we

[21:42] will have that conversation. We will see what we can do for for you and for folks

[21:47] like you who have a desperate need to get back in to retrieve something from

[21:51] your property. >> fill out the little paper that Brandon's

[21:54] got right there, leave your phone number and stuff so

[21:56] that they can contact you. >> live in Fremont County, but I've

[21:59] definitely been evacuated. >> Yeah, leave your information there so we

[22:01] can pass it on to the sheriff so they can get in touch with you.

[22:04] » Okay. >> Okay.

[22:04] » Thank you. >> Thank you.

[22:06] » All right. >> [cough and clears throat]

[22:08] » Okay. Dwayne?

[22:10] » Well, just a couple of things that I want to say. You You mentioned about

[22:13] evacuated staff. We have some in this building, some from Custer County and

[22:16] Fremont County. Um Pathfinder Park is Yeah, one of them is

[22:21] sitting next to me. Um Pathfinder Park is full. We have near

[22:26] 500 animals in there that have been evacuated from Custer and Fremont

[22:28] County. We've got a great bunch of uh volunteers helping with those animals.

[22:35] And then we've also had an overwhelming um

[22:40] display, whatever you want to call it, of animal food. We have so much animal

[22:43] We have more chicken feed out there than I think they'll ever feed in in a long

[22:47] time, but that's a great thing. Um so, I appreciate everyone's help with

[22:51] that. And animals I understand She mentioned cats a minute ago. I

[22:55] understand cats are hard to find a place to go to stay with cuz people won't let

[22:58] cats stay cuz they want it to cost you a fortune for cats for a deposit or

[23:02] whatever. So that makes it tough too, but they do

[23:04] have some out there in cages and um crates and um dogs as well, but

[23:09] there's every kind of animal out there I think you can think of.

[23:11] » Somebody said, "What is Noah's Ark?" >> Noah's Ark.

[23:13] » Yeah. That's kind of true, but it's it's our

[23:17] our um extension agent and the volunteers and our and Dwyane, the guy

[23:22] that runs Pathfinder Park for us and his helper Bree, they've done an excellent

[23:26] job of setting up in under the pavilion where those animals have room, but

[23:30] there's still room for some more cuz they come in there's a bunch came in

[23:32] even yesterday. So um I want to reach out to send this out to those guys,

[23:37] thank them, but also um we've talked about a lot of information here and

[23:41] there's a lot of it's overwhelming. There is an

[23:44] um emergency management hotline in Fremont

[23:47] County and the phone number is 719-276-7421.

[23:52] That number can be called for information um as to what's happening,

[23:57] the most current information they can give you um

[24:00] they won't know when evacuations will be lifted. I can repeat that number too if

[24:04] you need that. It's 719-276-7421.

[24:10] They won't have the time of when the evacuations are going to be lifted or

[24:13] anything like that, but they can tell you the current um status of everything.

[24:17] Um and that again is some of our staff and some other volunteer people that

[24:21] work for the OEM the emergency manager's office.

[24:25] Um so we appreciate all of those volunteers.

[24:28] Thank you, Madam Chair. >> All right, thank you.

[24:30] I think at this time we're probably prepared to move forward unless anyone

[24:34] has further comments. >> [clears throat]

[24:36] » Always. >> Okay.

[24:38] » [laughter] >> Commissioner Granthan.

[24:39] » have a question. >> Uh come up to the microphone, please.

[24:45] And we need you to identify yourself. >> I'm Mary Ann Komar. I live at literally

[24:49] at the end of CR 15. >> Okay. Hi, Mary.

[24:52] » Next door to Florence Mountain Park. You've met my partner. He done He like

[24:56] talked to you about the Bears. >> [laughter]

[24:59] » And um I'm concerned about um

[25:04] the what they were talking about online, DAC.

[25:08] It's something about passes for people to get back in, and

[25:12] is Fremont going to do that? >> Not at this point. At this point, those

[25:16] are only available for Custer and Pueblo County because of the

[25:20] fire that's went through and it's been cleared. It's given them an opportunity

[25:23] to go back in whenever it's safe. We don't have that in Fremont County

[25:27] because we actually don't have any fire in Fremont County. We're just waiting

[25:30] for them to either lift the evacuations, and God forbid fire ever get here, but

[25:34] » We're not waiting for fire, are we? >> Yeah, we don't Yeah, we don't want fire

[25:37] to cause that. We want fire to go away, but at this point there is not that for

[25:41] Fremont County because there's no It's not over, I guess is the way to say

[25:45] it. >> Okay.

[25:47] » And that's why they're available for Pueblo and Custer because some of those

[25:49] areas have been deemed safe. Yeah, the fire's already

[25:53] went through. Unfortunately. >> All right.

[25:56] » So, at this [clears throat] time there's not for Fremont County, and hopefully

[25:58] there won't be cuz that means we had fire. But eventually it'll just be

[26:01] lifted. I mean, that's what we're hoping.

[26:03] » Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that. All right. Thank you.

[26:06] » Thank you. >> Yes, sir.

[26:08] » Um just to again pile on. It's what I do.

[26:12] Um [clears throat] I appreciate all the volunteers and

[26:15] everybody that's been helping out at Pathfinder and our Red Cross and um

[26:21] just [clears throat] want to extend our thanks to all of those folks. Um yeah.

[26:26] The the Noah's Ark of Fremont County. Um it is quite the sight out there. Um

[26:33] but also very orderly and structured. >> [laughter]

[26:35] » And very uh very very nice out there, and we're we're fortunate we're lucky

[26:40] that we have uh such facility to to help our uh community. Uh I just wanted to

[26:47] um repeat what the chair said earlier about

[26:51] uh just our thanks for our community. How impressive it is watching

[26:56] folks come together. I was talking to our

[26:59] Mr. Kroll yesterday about we got so much an inundation of of supplies and

[27:07] donations [clears throat] that came in. He felt bad for having to tell people

[27:11] that we can't take anymore. I said, "Well, this is a good problem to

[27:15] have in Fremont County. Not every community has this [clears throat]

[27:18] that kind of a problem." And so, it's pretty awesome. I said, "I bet if for

[27:24] some reason our supplies run low, I bet we could turn that spigot back on pretty

[27:28] good good and quick." >> Very quickly as well.

[27:31] » And our community would respond. And so, we're good right now, I think, on

[27:36] supplies, but pay attention.

[27:40] You never know when that might need to be turned back on.

[27:43] And be ready to help some more. The only other thing I would add, Madam Chair,

[27:47] just because we're given the opportunity here this morning is

[27:51] for anybody that's paying attention, anybody that's watching this whether

[27:55] live or recording, please beware of false

[28:00] information. Um

[28:03] » [clears throat] >> the

[28:05] social media is fantastic for getting information out quickly

[28:11] to a lot of people. It's also

[28:17] a good way to spread false information quickly.

[28:22] And so, if somebody is saying something and it doesn't

[28:27] ring true, look to the actual sources that have the information that we need.

[28:33] The The Aspen Acres Fire 2026 if you're on Facebook, the hotline that

[28:41] we have, these are the sources. >> The sheriff's Facebook as well.

[28:45] » The sheriff's Facebook as well, who who is actually reposting some of those

[28:50] other sites that are credible. So, please pay attention to those credible

[28:55] sites like that and not any other self-proclaimed

[29:00] um

[29:03] veritable sources

[29:06] uh trustworthy sources. Um the sheriff's office um all three of

[29:10] the sheriff's offices, Pueblo, Custer, Fremont.

[29:14] Um just an example

[29:17] and I hesitate to even bring this up cuz I don't want to be adding to anything

[29:21] false, but I want to be very clear. The federal facilities in Florence are

[29:26] not evacuating. They are not going to be turning out prisoners onto the streets

[29:31] or anything ridiculous like that. Um uh just utterly ridiculous things being

[29:38] said on Facebook that are on their very face false.

[29:42] But, it's maddening for us that um our

[29:47] emergency manager, our sheriff's office, us, or anybody else is having to field

[29:53] questions about something that's utterly ridiculous because somebody decided that

[29:57] they were going to take their most uh

[30:01] uh weirdest thoughts in the back of their head and post them on Facebook

[30:05] that that we're going to be turning out El Chapo onto the street.

[30:09] That's simply not going to happen. Never going to happen. They don't need to

[30:13] evacuate. They're not going to evacuate. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[30:18] » [laughter] >> I would add to that um Commissioner

[30:20] Grantham, what that actually does is it takes

[30:23] these people's time away from what they should be doing. When they have to

[30:28] defend against all of those untruths and the accusations that are out there,

[30:34] every minute spent defending against that is another minute that they are not

[30:38] able to spend doing the job that they need to be out there doing. So,

[30:42] um good point. Thank you so much. >> So.

[30:44] » What about Nextdoor? >> Um

[30:47] » Same? >> Uh

[30:49] » All social media, same. >> Yeah, all social media. The question is

[30:52] what about Nextdoor as opposed to Facebook? So, it really is all social

[30:55] media. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, I am prepared for a motion if we have our

[31:00] second. >> Madam Chair.

[31:01] » Yes, please. >> Uh

[31:03] the I just want to note that this resolution is available on our website

[31:06] if anybody wants to read it in its entirety. It does explain um what the

[31:10] local disaster declaration does in this extension. With that, Madam Chair, I

[31:14] move to approve resolution number 15 series of 2026 extending the disaster

[31:18] declaration regarding Aspen Acres wildfire

[31:21] to midnight on July 29th, 2026. >> Second.

[31:25] » It has been moved and seconded to approve resolution number 15 series of

[31:29] 2026 extending the disaster declaration regarding Aspen Acres wildland fire to

[31:35] midnight on July 29th of 2026. Further discussion?

[31:41] All right, let's do roll call. >> Commissioner McFall.

[31:43] » Aye. Sorry, I got to do it again. My mic was

[31:46] off. Commissioner McFall. >> Aye.

[31:48] » Commissioner Gantt. >> Aye.

[31:49] » Commissioner Bell. >> Aye.

[31:51] » Commissioner Kairns. >> All right, we are have no further

[31:54] business to come before us. Uh thank you all so much for being here.

[31:58] Thanks for listening and paying attention online. We are adjourned.

[32:02] » I was just going to say

Fremont County Special BOCC Meeting 07-08-2026

Transcript