[0:04] Good afternoon. Good morning and welcome. Thank you so much for joining us today. Today is Tuesday, September 22nd, 26th. We are here today for the administrative matters meeting for the Lermary County Board of County Commissioners here in the hearing room on the first floor of the Lermary County Administrative Services Building.

[0:20] I call this mean to order and I ask that we, as our tradition, to stand as your able or

[0:26] enjoy as for the pledge of allegiance.

[0:27] Thank you.

[0:40] Thank you.

[0:48] Again, thank you so much.

[0:50] I'm Lairmer County Commissioner Joyce.

[0:52] I'm McDally.

[0:53] Chair of the Board of County Commissioners, and we welcome you to our meeting today.

[0:57] Joining me at the Diaz today is Commissioner Stevens and Commissioner Caffallis.

[1:01] Also, we have, joining us from the Clerk and Recorders Office, our clerk to the Board

[1:05] today, Deja O'Neill, Good morning, Deja, Deja,

[1:08] thanks for being here.

[1:09] We have our county manager, Lorenda Volker,

[1:11] morning, Lorenda, Tom Clayton from the Information Office.

[1:15] Good to see you, Tom, and Sarah Martin

[1:17] from the Commissioners Office, Sarah.

[1:18] Thank you for all that you do.

[1:20] And all those, and I'm also Melissa and Brenda.

[1:22] You guys are quite the team.

[1:24] So we appreciate you being here for this meeting.

[1:27] Childless, do all the things we do.

[1:29] We're going to start with public comment.

[1:31] I don't see him and signed up for public comment.

[1:34] But we'll go ahead and see if there's anybody in the audience who is not else engaged with the meeting.

[1:41] See if everyone wants to be here for public comment.

[1:43] I don't see anybody indicating that.

[1:45] Sarah did we have anybody online or either things that were submitted or anything like that.

[1:50] No commissioner.

[1:51] Okay.

[1:52] So we're going to go ahead and close public comment.

[1:55] And now we're going to move on to that portion of the meeting for approval of the minutes.

[2:01] Commissioners, did you have the item she wished to? Okay, so Commissioners,

[2:05] Stevens, I would ask you please to make that motion. Yes, Madam Chair, I

[2:08] moved to approve the minutes for the week of September 14th, 2026. Thank you so

[2:13] much. There's a motion on the table, any further deliberation, all those in favor? I.

[2:19] All right, moving on to the schedule, Sarah, if you went mind reading through that.

[2:25] This is the Commissioner's schedule for September 28th through October 3rd, 2026.

[2:31] On Monday, September 28th from 130 PM to 230 PM, there will be a work session with Leslie

[2:36] Ellis, Director of Community Planning, Infrastructure and Resources in the Commissioner's

[2:41] Conference Room on the second floor. From 2 PM to 3 PM, Commissioner Stevens may participate

[2:46] in the virtual Colorado County's Inc. Road and Bridge working group meeting. From 3 PM to 8 PM,

[2:52] there will be land use items with the development review team. It's a hybrid meeting,

[2:56] and person it will be in the hearing room on the first floor or virtually via Zoom.

[3:00] On Tuesday, September 29th, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. there will be an administrative matters meeting in the hearing room of the first floor.

[3:09] From 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. commissioner Shadak Bengnalli may participate in the virtual National Association of Counties, Environment, Energy and Land Use.

[3:17] Policy Steering Committee meeting.

[3:19] From 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. commissioner Catholic may attend the Mission Reconnect, Veteran and Service Member Coalition meeting at the hybrid meeting.

[3:26] In person, it will be in the Boyd Light Conference Room, or virtually via Zoom.

[3:32] From 1.30 pm to 3 pm, there will be administrative direction accounting management in this break-light conference room on the second floor.

[3:40] On Wednesday, September 30th, from 8 am to 5 pm, Commissioner Shedding Wake Nowly will attend the Colorado Opioid Abatement Conference in Frisco.

[3:51] From 9.30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Commissioner Catholic will attend the Black

[3:54] Colors and Solar Complex ribbon cutting ceremony in severance. From 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

[4:01] commissioners may participate in the virtual Colorado County's Inc Public Utilities Commission

[4:05] rulemaking update meeting. From 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. commissioners may attend the

[4:11] Lairmer and locked office of emergency management at the office of emergency management. Wait

[4:17] The Lairmore Unlocked Office of Emergency Management at 4872 in Deborah Drive in John's

[4:22] Town.

[4:24] On Thursday, October 1, from 8.30 a.m. to 12 p.m., Commissioner Stevens may participate

[4:29] in the virtual statewide transportation advisory committee meeting.

[4:34] From 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., Commissioner Stevens may participate in the virtual National Association

[4:39] of County's Transportation Policy Steering Committee meeting.

[4:43] From 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Commissioner Catholic may participate in the virtual protect Colorado's future coalition meeting.

[4:51] From 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Commissioner Catholic may attend the Colorado State University Veterinary Hospital and Education Complex Grand Opening Event.

[5:01] At 300 West Drake Road in Fort Collins. From 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Commissioner Suits may participate in the virtual US 34 coalition meeting.

[5:12] From 5 p.m. to 730 p.m. commissioners can follow us and

[5:15] shut it may now may attend the Fort Collins Human Relations Commission

[5:19] belonging mixer at the Fort Collins Senior Center at

[5:23] 1,200 rain tree drive and Fort Collins.

[5:28] From 6 p.m. to 730 p.m. commissioner can follow us may attend the

[5:31] 2026 General Election Community Kickoff event at the Lairmore County

[5:35] Administrative Services Building at 200 West Oak Street and Fort Collins.

[5:40] From 6pm to 8pm, Commissioner Stevens will attend the North Front Range Metropolitan Planning

[5:45] Organization Transportation Planning Council meeting.

[5:48] It's a hybrid meeting.

[5:50] In person, it will be at 2-2-2 report Avenue in Fort Collins or Virtually via Microsoft

[5:55] Teams.

[5:58] On Friday, October 2, 8pm to 9.30am, Commissioner Shaddenmeenali may participate in the virtual

[6:04] Forest Health Council Legislative Committee meeting.

[6:07] From 8.30 a.m. to 3. p.m. Commissioner Stevens may attend the Regional Air Quality Council Board meeting at the Longmont Museum at 400 Quail Road in Longmont.

[6:20] On Saturday, October 3, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. there will be common grounds with Commissioner Shadic McNally.

[6:27] topic and location will be announced prior to the meeting. From 11am to 4pm commissioner

[6:34] Shedding Wingnelly may attend the Northern Colorado Equality Pride event at Fort Collins

[6:39] Senior Center at 1200 rain-tree drive and Fort Collins. And from 5pm to 8pm commissioners

[6:46] Catholic students may attend the family center, La Familia's Fiesta Gala at Odell Brewing

[6:53] at 800 East Lincoln Avenue in Fort Collins.

[7:00] Thank you Sarah, appreciate all of that.

[7:02] Commissioner's yummy changes or additions.

[7:05] Commissioner, go follow us.

[7:08] Commissioner Stevens.

[7:11] Oh, just a couple of things.

[7:13] I think on September, Wednesday, September 30th,

[7:16] I will attend the Nico mid-sized county caucus meeting.

[7:20] That's online and it's from 1030 to 1130.

[7:23] I think they've just added that to my calendar.

[7:25] And then I'm going to try to stop by the Northern Colorado E.C.

[7:32] Okay,

[7:36] sir, I'm also going to be attending the NACOME size county caucus. I'm also

[7:58] there at that and then also I've didn't put on my calendar, but I probably should is the

[8:07] commissioners, the lot to Amelia, I'm going to the same event. And I'm wondering if we're

[8:14] taking a tour of the ranch with some others, Commissioner Steven Zayn will both be there

[8:19] on Monday, the 28th. I'm assuming she's still coming, but we're going to be doing, we should

[8:26] probably noticed that.

[8:28] So we're going to be there from about 10, 30, to 11, 30,

[8:34] at the ranch, meeting at Blue Arena to start.

[8:38] And we're going to be, Commissioner Seans,

[8:40] I will be doing a tour of the ranch together.

[8:43] OK.

[8:45] I think that's it.

[8:46] Thank you very much.

[8:50] So we'll move on now to the rest of the agenda

[8:55] And moving on to the consent agenda, which is the consent agenda consists of items of no

[9:01] perceived controversy and routine administrative actions such as abatements, e.g.

[9:07] Agreements, deeds, final plaats, liquor, license, resolutions and other matters previously

[9:10] reviewed by the Board of County Commissioners.

[9:13] Staff recommends approval of the consent agenda and a commissioner may request and not

[9:17] be pulled off.

[9:18] The agenda considers separately an item that are pulled off separately will be considered

[9:22] after the board takes action on the rest of the consent agenda. For those watching a line in person,

[9:29] just so you know I'm going to read this at a very high level if there are items you're in

[9:33] more interested in or meeting our details, you can go to Board of County Commission's website on

[9:37] learnware.gov and our packets and our agendas and emails and loop videos and meetings are all there

[9:45] and there's lots of information there. So if you'd like to learn more about any of these items,

[9:49] you can do that on the website.

[9:51] So for today, for the consent agenda, for Tuesday, September 20,

[9:55] second, 2020, six, and happy Equinox,

[9:57] but everyone, by the way, fall Equinox,

[10:01] we have several agreements.

[10:03] And these agreements are all related.

[10:05] I'm going to read through them very quickly.

[10:08] All of them are all about fire protection.

[10:12] And so we have the first, we have the SS Valley Fire Protection

[10:18] district, which is a cooperative agreement for WALFAR Resiliency Code Administration Enforcement.

[10:24] We also have number two, as we have the Level in Fire Rescue Authority, a cooperative

[10:28] agreement for the WALFAR Resiliency Code Administration Enforcement.

[10:32] We have the third one is the Allen's Park Fire Protection District, the Cooperative Agreement,

[10:37] for the WALFAR Resiliency Code Administration Administration Enforcement.

[10:41] And the last one is the Alliance Fire Protection District.

[10:43] They cooperative agreement for the wildfire resiliency code administration enforcement and this is all

[10:50] You know request for approval of a cooperative agreement that designate slurmer county as essential authority for plan review field inspections and enforcement

[10:57] Regarding adopted the statewide adopted wildfire resiliency code that the state passed few years ago, and we are

[11:04] Certainly in compliance and probably ahead of the game there, so thank you to all those who are involved with that

[11:09] important work

[11:11] for our county

[11:12] And we also have an appointment, which is the recommended youth appointment to the Environmental Science Advisory Board.

[11:18] We have one liquor license, the Licor license renewal, Legacy Pi, Company LLC, and this is for the Carral Cherry Company for Alliance Colorado.

[11:28] And that's for Baron Wine. And then we have one miscellaneous item, which is the 2027 through 2028 Lerimer County Legislative agenda, submitted by our Public Affairs Office and the Commissioners Office.

[11:39] And this is a legislative agenda for 2027 through 2028 and direct staff to finalize the document and publish in the fourth quarter of 2026.

[11:49] So, commissioners, is there any items you wish to pull from the consent agenda?

[11:55] If not, then I don't see any, so I will ask commissioner Kofolls to make that motion please.

[12:00] Thank you, Madam Chair. I move to approve the consent agenda for September 22, 2020.

[12:06] Thank you for the motion, all those in favor.

[12:09] All right.

[12:10] Okay.

[12:11] Thank you.

[12:12] I don't see any commissioners guessed today, but we do have.

[12:14] Thank you.

[12:15] Ms. White, we appreciate your work.

[12:17] Now we're going to move on.

[12:18] We have one discussion.

[12:19] I know which.

[12:21] As being a caregiver for my grandparents and my parents.

[12:25] This is really special in near dinner.

[12:27] My heart.

[12:27] Something I've been doing for 15 to 20 years.

[12:30] And so I really excited that we are.

[12:33] your proclamation today, Desiq dating September 2026 as caregiver appreciation month.

[12:39] And this is submitted by Katie Heckman, the Deputy Division Manager from Human Services.

[12:45] And this proclamation, Desiq September 2026, as caregiver appreciation month in Lairmer County,

[12:51] honoring and appreciating the vital role of foster parents, kinship givers, and child

[12:59] where child welfare professionals in giving stable and supportive homes for youth and and thank you

[13:06] for that because these are all caregivers of all sorts from youth to older adults are really

[13:12] kind of the backbone of our communities is is really important taking care of those in our community

[13:16] that are vulnerable. So really want to welcome and thank you Katie for bringing this and I'll

[13:21] I'll turn it over to you. Thank you.

[13:24] Thank you. Good morning, commissioners. My name is Katie Heckman, Deputy Division Manager at the Department of Human Services and the Children's Family and Adult Protection Division.

[13:33] I am honored to be here today to present the Proclamation for caregiver appreciation month.

[13:39] Dad Paul wishes he could be here, but due to schedule conflicts with the state meeting and the ability to ensure we could have individuals with lived experience today.

[13:46] I am acting in his study.

[13:49] This year is a little different than in the past, and that we have made the decision to

[13:53] combine foster and kinship care proclamations into one, a unified caregiver proclamation.

[14:00] Celebrating the extraordinary efforts and support, the foster parents and kinship providers

[14:05] do to support children, placed out of their home through the court.

[14:10] Every day in Lairmer County, foster and kinship parents open their hearts and homes to children

[14:15] who are navigating change, fear, and loss.

[14:19] Fostering Kinship caregivers set up step-up during family crises to open their doors to provide

[14:25] safety to children they may or may not have ever met.

[14:30] The strength and compassion required to do this work cannot be overstated.

[14:34] It requires resilience to offer care and patience to children who are experiencing this

[14:40] loss, to guidance through trauma and to build a foundation where they can experience a safe

[14:45] and secure attachment.

[14:47] Larimer County is committed to ensuring

[14:49] every child in our care receives the highest quality

[14:52] temporary home possible.

[14:54] A place where they can be safe, heal, and grow.

[14:58] Our caregivers step forward to open.

[15:00] Open their hearts and homes without knowing what the timeline will be. Their often asked about the possibility of providing a forever home is needed while actively supporting the ultimate goal, holding space for parents to heal so that children can safely return home whenever possible.

[15:16] We are grateful for these dedicated caregivers. They give our children a safe place to land and a brighter path forward.

[15:23] On behalf of our team, we celebrate their commitment today, and respectfully request your approval and adoption of this proclamation.

[15:32] At this time, I would like to introduce some of us of Ann Cotin, the lead case worker and our foster care unit to speak with you,

[15:39] and then introduce the caregivers who are here today to share their experience.

[15:47] Good morning and welcome.

[15:48] Hi, good morning.

[15:50] My name is Melissa, I'm co-in.

[15:51] I'm a fostering kinship worker with Lamor County.

[15:55] And today we have three providers who are going to speak

[15:58] and about their experiences.

[16:00] We have Tamara Kums, who's a certified kinship provider.

[16:05] And Rachel Buel, who's also a kinship provider.

[16:09] And then we have Jennifer Hilt, who's a foster care parent.

[16:14] And I'm going to start by reading something on behalf

[16:17] as to Mara Kulms, if you want to come up tomorrow.

[16:21] Yeah, come on up. Yeah, try me.

[16:24] Okay,

[16:31] this was her invite to Mara.

[16:33] A little girl, engaged five, came to live with me in November of 2025.

[16:38] I'm December 5th, 2025. I took it to the doctor's suit to a low-grade fever

[16:42] and pain in her back. She was diagnosed with stage three cancer.

[16:48] I went straight into panic mode. The adjustment of fostering was one thing.

[16:52] but now carrying for a little girl with cancer and felt scary with so many unknowns.

[16:57] I had already made several financial cuts so that I could have her.

[17:02] As a single provider, I wasn't sure how it was going to manage.

[17:06] I did know that I would not give up on her. Not carrying for her was simply not an option.

[17:12] I reached out to my caseworkers and advised them of the diagnosis.

[17:17] My caseworker and Colorado has been amazing through the process.

[17:20] always remain in common and always having an answer for me and making resources available to me.

[17:26] I have an incredible support system between work, friends, and family, and I can guarantee I

[17:31] probably would not have made it through the last year without their support. The cancer treatments

[17:37] made it difficult to build a bond with her as she was physically and emotionally going through so much

[17:42] trauma, and that was the only one that should take out her frustration, confusion, and fear on.

[17:50] And to her, at that time, I was still a bit of a stranger.

[17:54] I spent quite a few days and nights and tears.

[17:57] But over time she began to trust me and depend on me,

[18:00] and I became the person she looked to to get through the heart days.

[18:04] I had to learn through this experience to let go of control.

[18:08] My dear routine was to fight her for me by doctors,

[18:10] which is challenging for me.

[18:13] After this experience, I will say one of the most important things to have

[18:16] if you're planning on being a cancer provider

[18:18] as a strong support system.

[18:21] I am blessed to have the people I have in my life.

[18:23] And I am blessed that I have parent in my life.

[18:26] She is an amazing, vibrant, intelligent,

[18:28] and beautiful little girl who is my hero.

[18:34] Rachel, you all, if you want to come up and share?

[18:46] Good morning.

[18:47] The 16 days from now will mark the two-year anniversary

[18:49] of a phone call that I received.

[18:51] I thought it was a play date request.

[18:53] So I was already thinking about

[18:54] some leaves and crunchy leaves on the trampoline for my six-year-old and her bestie.

[19:01] But what I heard on the phone was not what I expected. I heard a mother in crisis.

[19:07] She had nobody else to turn to. She asked if her six-year-old daughter and her eight-month-old son

[19:14] could come and live with us for a little while and our house was certainly not outfitted to be a family

[19:20] of sex and was not baby-proofed. And we had all the forgotten smell of pure green beans by

[19:27] this point. But these two children that we already deeply cared for needed us. They needed

[19:33] a yes. And when you're there, people regardless of blood, you say yes. And you figure out the rest.

[19:42] And the rest is what I wanted to draw attention to today. As you would expect, doctors appointments,

[19:47] dentists, appointments, academic tutoring, those sorts of things, but what I didn't expect

[19:53] was just how busy it is to be a child in foster care. Case for her visits, conversations

[20:00] with Guardian and Lidham, weekly costs of visits, scheduled family time with Mom, scheduled

[20:07] family time with Dad, which could be separate in a lot of cases or in some cases. On separate

[20:13] days. All of those things are very important. And it's important to keep in mind, though, that

[20:20] they're all being added to the calendar of a child. A child who already has a full-time

[20:27] job of being a child. Her schedule was at one point in first grade. It became too much

[20:36] for her and she broke down. There were just too many obligations to many adults who needed

[20:43] her five day a week schedule was completely full of one to three requirements.

[20:50] So that's when I realized that one of the most important jobs that I had was to protect

[20:54] some empty space in her calendar.

[20:57] And I make calls, I pulled strings, I pushed, I hounded, I finagled, I rearranged, I got creative

[21:04] so that I could get just one day for her.

[21:08] We throw around a phrase in child welfare a lot, the best interest of the child, it took me longer than I wish it had to realize that sometimes the best interest of the child is a Tuesday afternoon.

[21:21] Nothing to schedule, nothing to process, nobody coming over just a Tuesday afternoon, because childhood does not stop when adults are making important decisions about your life.

[21:32] And that's one of the things I just didn't understand about foster care until we were living it.

[21:38] So as we recognize Kinship caregivers today, that was something from our journey that I wanted to share.

[21:43] Because now when I think about caring for a child in foster care, I think about those important people and important supports and services.

[21:50] But I also think about the Tuesday afternoon, a backpack thrown on the floor and running outside to play with friends until dinner time.

[22:00] and a little girl who just gets to be a kid.

[22:04] Thank you.

[22:05] Thank you so much for sharing your story.

[22:13] And then we have Foster Care Provider Jennifer Hills.

[22:21] Welcome.

[22:24] Thank you.

[22:26] Hey, my name is Jennifer Hopes, and I've been Liesons Foster Parent and Lamer.

[22:30] County for a little over two and a half years. But I feel like I've lived to many lives in those two and a half years. I have learned, and do believe, one of the most important skills to value and cultivate as a foster parent is connection. Early on, you hear all of the time, parenting classes, connection before correction, connecting with the children and our cares obvious, but the connection between foster parents and families, where they've been appropriate, of course. Connection between caseworkers and GALs and casas and schools and all of the people coming together to

[22:59] around these kids and families for support.

[23:03] Looking at my journey towards choosing to become a foster parent,

[23:05] I can definitely connect the benefits from my past experiences

[23:08] with the betterment of myself as a foster parent.

[23:11] I have a somewhat unorthodox journey leading up to this point

[23:14] and I've dabbled in a few careers before settling,

[23:17] but I believe those experiences truly have helped me to be the best foster parent I can be.

[23:22] In college, I loved learning about psychology. I took as many

[23:26] site classes that I could have normal site, developmental, even cognitive neuroscience, but

[23:32] the one I found the most fascinating was called the psychology of at risk youth, and

[23:36] that planted the seed.

[23:39] I later worked as a paraprofessional in elementary and middle school, and that gave me insight

[23:45] into the education system, and the importance of advocacy in the creative ways you can encourage

[23:50] and cultivate a level of learning.

[23:51] And now that I've settled for the past few years into my current role as a builder for pediatric therapies,

[23:57] I'm able to see the immense benefit in connecting kids with services like occupational therapy,

[24:03] speech therapy, physical therapy, music and equine therapy, and that tremendous impact they can make on healing.

[24:09] It is also offered me the adequate of being surrounded every day by smart and caring people,

[24:14] always willing to help me brainstorm creative new strategies for managing and managing behaviors.

[24:20] When I first began fostering I was living with my sister and at the time seven year old nephew and we decided to get

[24:26] licensed together and start this crazy journey. Because of the close connection I have with my sisters, I've always

[24:32] felt a strong belief in the power of the sibling bond and importance of keeping siblings together. We chose to

[24:38] start out easing ourselves into this world by just offering respite care. That lasted about a month

[24:45] as a respite provider until before we had our first respite placement of weight court for siblings.

[24:54] That turned into an eight month long term placement where midway through my sister and if you moved.

[25:02] Looking back, I sometimes wonder how I did that to myself.

[25:06] But near this essay, when they returned home around Christmas, I was devastated and truly did not think I could continue to foster.

[25:13] But in February, I completed my research application and with a little time and a bit of therapy.

[25:18] I found myself saying yes to a placement of two boys a couple of months later.

[25:23] Oh, boy, those boys give me a run for my money. Let me tell you.

[25:27] I did not a lot from that placement. It's got very fast. One of them was a runner.

[25:32] And over time developed a really good relationship with their mom.

[25:35] When they were able to return home in December, I was genuinely so happy for their family.

[25:39] Don't get me wrong. It isn't all rainbows and butterflies navigating within the system. Sometimes there are holes in communication, frustratingly long promises, staff turnover, confusing procedures and muddy roles, but I love children and I love to help.

[25:52] So I continue to choose to foster and do my best in my role supporting families and loving and advocating fiercely for the children of my care.

[25:59] I genuinely choose to believe the best in people

[26:02] and know that healing is possible.

[26:04] I've seen it.

[26:05] I've witnessed beautiful relationships formed

[26:07] amid trauma and brokenness.

[26:09] The connections we make are so important

[26:10] and I am beyond grateful

[26:12] to be able to maintain relationships

[26:14] and have the opportunity to continue

[26:16] to offer support, encouragement,

[26:18] and love to my previous long-term placements

[26:20] and their families.

[26:22] As one of the greatest speakers of our time, Ted Lasso

[26:24] says, featureious, not judgmental.

[26:27] And, man, if there is one place that should exist in the benefit of a lot more curiosity and a little

[26:33] less judgment, it's a foster care system. Fortunately, I see people every day working hard to make the system

[26:39] better and doing their best to support foster parents, encourage and strengthen families and most importantly,

[26:45] care, champion, and connect with children here in Lairmore County. Thank you.

[26:50] Thank you.

[26:58] Good morning.

[26:59] Good morning, commissioners.

[27:01] Chan and Reef Deputy Director of Human Services.

[27:03] I'm humbled and honored to stand in front of you today with these amazing dedicated caregivers

[27:07] and the incredible team that walks alongside them.

[27:11] As we read this path to a Mason today, we officially honored the extraordinary heart of our community.

[27:16] Care givers who step up without hesitation to ensure our young people are safe, seen, and cared for.

[27:22] But this Proclamation may offer our heartfelt thanks to every caregiver renewing our pledge to stand beside you, support your journey, and provide you the partnership and resources you need to be successful.

[27:34] Thank you so much.

[27:35] Thank you so much.

[27:37] Appreciate y'all being here today.

[27:40] Once you and Katie both come up and we'll see you both being here and we'll read the Proclamation a minute.

[27:45] But first, I'll see if we're going to get questions first and we'll see if there's any questions

[27:52] for the commissioners.

[27:52] Start with Commissioner Capolis.

[27:56] I do not have any questions.

[27:59] Commissioner Stevens?

[28:00] Yeah.

[28:00] Thank you both for being here.

[28:02] One of the questions I have is how many, can you let folks know how many folks that we have

[28:07] that are either doing kinship care or foster care in our community?

[28:12] Just enough to be exact.

[28:14] Yeah.

[28:14] But the foster care number is a little hard to say because there's some, we have some

[28:23] birth certified foster parents that currently have placements, some that don't.

[28:28] But approximately between 30 and 40, and any given day foster care providers, and we, as

[28:35] far as the kinship numbers, I have been really proud to say that's been an effort in our

[28:42] for the last year, longer than last year, but some significant improvement in the last year

[28:48] in our efforts to place with Ken, and I think the last number that I heard was that we were

[28:54] creeping up towards 70% of kinships, placements being in Lairmer County, which is higher than

[29:00] we've been, and really getting near our goal of 8%. Great, thank you. That was my question,

[29:08] so we'll make your repeat it. So we're going to go ahead then and have commissioner Stevens read

[29:15] the proclamation and make the motion and then we'll make some comments before we vote on it.

[29:21] Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. This is a proclamation

[29:25] designating September 2026 as caregiver appreciation month. Whereas every child in Learmor County

[29:32] deserves a loving, stable and supportive home and our community flourishes when families,

[29:37] caregivers and local partners stand together to protect and nurture our youth.

[29:42] And whereas Kinship caregivers, including grandparents, relatives, and close family

[29:47] friends, alongside dedicated foster families, and by the extraordinary compassion by opening

[29:53] their hearts and homes to children in times of crisis and transition.

[29:58] And whereas in late 2020...

[30:00] May 5, the Lairmer County Department of Human Services, operationalized a division-wide teaming model, founded on the core belief that the child and family outcome is everyone's outcome.

[30:12] Uniting teams across the agency to support caregiver families early and keep children connected to their loved ones.

[30:19] And whereas Lairmer County's collaborative approach, prioritizes Kinship Care as an initial placement option from day one.

[30:27] Minimizing trauma and preserving essential family bonds, cultural heritage and community connections for children entering care.

[30:36] And whereas if Kinship Care is unavailable, Lairmer County's prioritization of Lairmer County foster homes

[30:43] to allow children to stay in their communities, schools, and connected to parents, minimizing

[30:49] changing of schools, friends, and routines. And whereas, though early intervention and proactive

[30:55] support grounded in relational care, through early intervention and proactive support grounded

[31:02] in relational care, Lairmer County has strengthened placements stability, successfully reducing

[31:07] placement move rates by 40 percent. And whereas a vast array of community organizations such

[31:14] as Summit Stone Health Partners, the Jacob Center, the Matthews House, Casa, Colorado State

[31:19] University, and others provide indispensable resources, advocacy, and guidance to empower caregivers

[31:26] and strengthen families. And whereas we honor the unwavering commitment of foster parents,

[31:32] relationship caregivers and child welfare professionals whose dedication ensures that every child

[31:38] receives the stability, love, and sense of belonging that they deserve. Now, therefore,

[31:44] be it resolved that the Board of County Commissioners of Lairmer County does here

[31:48] bribe per claim September 2026 as caregiver appreciation month, calling upon all residents to

[31:54] celebrate honor and support the remarkable caregivers who build a brighter, more resilient

[31:59] future for our community. And then I'll move to the motion. Thank you. I move to approve the

[32:06] Proclamation declaring September 2026 as caregiver appreciation month. Thank you, Commissioner

[32:11] Stevens. Would you like to go ahead and start with comments? Sure. Thank you, Madam Chair. Well,

[32:16] thank you, Shannon Kay, for being here. And thank you for tomorrow, Rachel and Jennifer, for sharing

[32:21] your stories. Really, just really grateful that we have such kind and giving people in our community

[32:26] think of back to children. Thank you for all the staff that are here to for the work that you do

[32:31] to support those families. Really is so important. Things like a scary cancer diagnosis or

[32:38] or not, you know, being familiar with an infant anymore. I mean those are very

[32:43] things that people can't necessarily always navigate on their own. And so having that support team

[32:48] available for people who are willing to open up their homes generously, open up their homes to take

[32:54] of little ones is just something I'm glad we're able to acknowledge and applaud and let

[33:01] our community know that we are a giving community and that we care about the kids in our

[33:07] community. So well done everyone, you know, encourage people to find out if you're interested

[33:12] in being a foster parent. It is a wonderful way to give back to our community and the children of

[33:20] community. So just really always grateful to have the opportunity to give thanks for this kind of work in our community. Thanks everyone.

[33:29] Thank you, Commissioner Stephens.

[33:30] Commissioner Cifos, would you like to make some comments?

[33:33] Yes. First of all, thank you to the folks that are here. Certainly the caregivers.

[33:45] foster parents, kinship caregivers, appreciate you being brave and vulnerable to sharing

[33:53] your personal stories. To team effort as I always say, and also many thanks to the folks

[34:03] who work in this profession child welfare trial protection, I understand it's not an easy

[34:08] profession, lots of things to consider, but I think we do a great job here in

[34:16] Lairmore County.

[34:20] I think one of the most fundamental important responsibilities of the

[34:23] county is to make sure that the children are well and it's really not rocket science to

[34:29] know that a child growing up in a safe, loving, nurturing environment as much greater

[34:41] chances of being successful and moving forward in their lives.

[34:45] So I think the Kenji of Care folks and foster parents, the child welfare professionals,

[34:52] we do a great job to make sure that more and more kids, especially children that are at risk,

[34:59] have that kind of setting to grow up in and have the potential greater potential to live

[35:05] out their lives in a meaningful, fulfilling way.

[35:09] So thank you all very much, glad we're doing the proclamation, you deserve all sorts of appreciation

[35:17] and prizes and more money to praise the kids and it's also heartening when I think at least

[35:25] one person shared maybe a couple of folks that after a period of time, I mean the goal is to

[35:33] you and my family that makes sense and that's possible and I think often it is and I think

[35:39] it helps that it's a team effort. I've shared in the past that my wife's sisters in

[35:49] loveland was a foster parent for some a child who was quite abused very young and they were

[35:58] together for until that young person aged out, so it was over 10 years, and we still have

[36:06] a relationship with that young woman who has a family and trying to make a goal of life,

[36:13] so I think what you all do is really, really wonderful and important, and thank you very

[36:17] much.

[36:19] Thank you.

[36:20] Thank you.

[36:23] First, Shannon, listen, Katie, thank you for organizing all this today to bring all these

[36:30] wonderful folks and your wonderful staff for this recognition of the work that you do, and

[36:38] then to organize and bring some amazing folks, especially someone quoting Ted Lasso, that's

[36:44] pretty cool, that would just appreciate all the work you do.

[36:50] And I think, you know, looking, thinking about this, and I have some friends who are

[36:56] leadership providers in another part of the state.

[37:01] And it does make a huge difference in the lives of the children for sure, but you know,

[37:08] everyone around it, it's impactful.

[37:10] And I feel like, when you talk about the teaming and operationalizing the teaming, it's

[37:17] and how you brought these two together in one proclamation, it just really is focused on

[37:23] that core belief.

[37:24] And I know it says in a proclamation,

[37:26] but I just want to emphasize that, again,

[37:28] that the core believed it.

[37:30] Child and family outcome is everyone's outcome. And I know that you all recognize that all care, both of

[37:37] these kinship care of foster care, both forms of care, really transform trauma into trust.

[37:47] Uncertainty

[37:47] into nurturing environments and improving that safety is not just providing a safe place, physical

[37:54] place, but really a promise that no one's going to, there are a lot of people care about you

[37:59] won't give up on you for the children. So, and so important.

[38:04] And I just, this is such an impactful

[38:08] proclamation, and I want to thank Tamara and Rachel and Jennifer for sharing their stories.

[38:15] And especially, you know, Tamara, I just, I'm glad you had some read your story in that you came and stood.

[38:23] And we can send you lots of love and care, because I can't imagine how scary that all has been.

[38:29] to do what deal with cancer and especially with a child who just probably doesn't understand what

[38:35] the heck's going on. And you provided a rock of foundation and love and support. And that speaks

[38:42] volumes to who you are and I just wanted to say thank you. And to Rachel, taking in your child's

[38:51] And the brother, I mean, just wonderful loving family to bring in, and not an extra layer of familiarity and someone knowing that, you know, that being that just as volumes is speaking of how that probably helped that those two children have a much easier transition, because they had somewhere familiar and safe that they are new and so that's pretty cool.

[39:17] And Jennifer just, you know, I think about, and I'm not sure who said I talked about Karen

[39:25] connection, but, yeah, being curious and trying to be open and thinking about, you know,

[39:31] especially not being judgmental, we're all walking through this life and we don't know at any

[39:34] time at any time day where so when it was that we look at the street, smile at them and you don't know

[39:40] how bad their day is.

[39:45] It's meaningful today, so Karen can actually every day with everybody.

[39:49] even stranger is so important.

[39:54] So well, thank you so much for bringing these wonderful people

[39:57] today and just really impactful.

[40:00] So we appreciate all that you're doing and the hard work.

[40:06] But it's really about love, caring, connection,

[40:08] and I just want to say thanks.

[40:11] So our promotion on the table.

[40:14] But first I'm going to ask Lorenda to add any extra comment

[40:18] She'd like to make. Thank you.

[40:20] I just want to say thank you.

[40:22] Caregivers are a special kind of people.

[40:25] And we got to meet you today, and thank you for coming.

[40:29] It's vulnerable to tell your story.

[40:31] It's sort of microphone, and it feels uncomfortable, and it's so important.

[40:35] And to the staff who support them, thank you.

[40:38] This work could not be done without you, and it is not easy work.

[40:42] Being a caregiver or being a support staff.

[40:44] So you are a great team, great team together.

[40:47] Shannon or Katie, if people want it to be inspired by this and sign up to become a certified foster caregiver, how might they do that?

[40:55] They could go on our website and we are actually really trying to increase our outreach and recruitment.

[41:02] So if they wouldn't go on our website and inquire, Melissa Van Coen would actually get back to them and give them some information.

[41:09] And we would love to have as many foster parents as are interested.

[41:13] Wonderful.

[41:14] Thank you.

[41:17] Thank you and forgive my emotional thing, but just talk about wrenching my heart into something

[41:22] I appreciate it. Thank you to staff and to

[41:25] To tomorrow Rachel and Jenin for we appreciate all of that and we're gonna pop. We're gonna make this vote and we're gonna pause and take a photo with a

[41:32] Proclamation, so we will start

[41:35] Just by taking this vote and

[41:38] There's motion on the table all those in favor. I

[41:41] All right passes three zero for those of you online. We're gonna take a brief moment to take this photo on number

[41:46] be returning momentarily. Thank you.

[41:56] Thank you all for your patience as though we returned from

[41:59] doing our population designated September 226. It's caregiver appreciation month and this is for

[42:06] honoring the vital role of foster parents, caregivers and child welfare professionals that just

[42:12] tirelessly and lovingly provide stable support of homes for youth and there's just just amazing

[42:18] working to being done just it's just amazing what we just learned. So we're moving on the agenda.

[42:24] We have a county manager update. Lorinda, I know you've been busy lots of budget things as well.

[42:29] I'll turn it over to you. Lots of budget things. Thank you. So those were a very time

[42:33] consuming the past week as we've been for the weeks before. And you know, I regularly meet with

[42:38] leaders across the region. This past week I met with us just part-town manager Travis Machaylic

[42:43] and see a extension for our arranged regional director,

[42:48] Kerry Rollins.

[42:48] I also met internally with our coroner, Stephen Hanks,

[42:51] and our sheriff, John Fein.

[42:53] Thank you for the time.

[42:54] Everyone's been.

[42:55] It's really important to collaborate and coordinate.

[42:58] Commissioner Kofollas and I had the opportunity

[43:01] to hear a client speak at the Community Corrections

[43:04] Advisory Board this past week.

[43:06] What a moving experience and a real testament to the work

[43:10] that our staff does to support people, meet the where they are and give them the kind of

[43:15] support that they need regardless of where they come from or how hard life they have been

[43:20] before. And then finally, you know, I'm on the Board of Directors for the Association of Colorado

[43:26] County Administrators. We had a board meeting last week. I am in charge of the education program

[43:31] for the year and so we did some planning around that about how we can better support our commissioners

[43:37] and our staff. That's it. Thank you. Thank you, Lorenda. I appreciate you if I have questions for Lorenda.

[43:44] All right, we'll go on to Commissioner reports. We'll start with Commissioner Kofollis.

[43:49] Once again, I will yield my time. Commissioner Stevens.

[43:54] Yeah, just a couple things for me. So first on Tuesday evening, last week, I went up to Wellington to

[44:04] their work session with our MPO, Metropolitan Planning Organization, Executive Director, Elizabeth

[44:11] Relford. Wellington is very interested in joining the North Front Range Metropolitan Planning

[44:17] Organization, which is an organization that does regional planning between Weld and

[44:24] Lairmer County. Right now, there are a member of the upper front range transportation

[44:29] planning region and they don't feel like they have a lot in common or common needs with the

[44:36] communities that are in the upper front range TPR which include which includes Morgan County

[44:42] and rural areas of Weld and Lairmer County. They would like to be with their

[44:50] peer cities where they have commute patterns like Fort Collins. They're very interested and

[44:57] or urbanized transportation.

[45:00] Including multimodal and potentially transit. And so they really feel like being in an urbanized areas where they belong, clearly, a third largest community in Lairmer County.

[45:12] So Elizabeth and I discussed sort of what it looks like to join the North front range MPL and leave the upper front range TPR.

[45:21] They were not included in that urbanized area during the last census, which is how that would normally happen.

[45:28] And they don't want to wait till the next census.

[45:31] We feel like it might be a good time for them to make that move.

[45:35] So that requires them being sort of released from the upper front range TPR and accepted into the North

[45:42] front range MPO.

[45:44] So both those entities need to agree, the members and those entities need to agree to that

[45:49] move.

[45:50] And then there needs to be support from the governor.

[45:53] So that that will be an ongoing conversation as we look at the possibility of that happening,

[45:58] but like I said, it would help them to be part of that regional transportation planning,

[46:07] that they desire. Their commute patterns support this. They are also part of their

[46:13] community is in the non-attainment area for ground level ozone. And so there are numerous reasons

[46:21] why this move makes sense so we will look to see if we can get support from the member communities

[46:27] and go from there but I think they really appreciated the presentation and learning more about

[46:32] what it means to be in an MPO, what an MPO does and how they can be active members in the MPO.

[46:37] So it was a great discussion that we had. Then on Thursday I did receive notice that I received

[46:42] the Robe Dell Fellowship so that is a national fellowship for local and state leaders

[46:50] to read and discuss texts that are essential to our democracy.

[46:55] So, really excited to get to work on that.

[46:57] I appreciate a fellowship that includes reading.

[47:01] And then finally, on Thursday evening, celebrated without reach for Collins,

[47:07] they have been doing work in our community for 10 years.

[47:11] For the folks who don't know about reach for Collins,

[47:17] In the downtown area and near the main public library, they give resources to people experiencing homelessness.

[47:25] They do things as simple as maybe helping them write a letter to a loved one,

[47:29] but they do things as big as reunification and finding people housing.

[47:34] And so they're sort of the eyes and ears on the ground.

[47:37] If business owners need help with maybe behaviors that are not illegal, but certainly

[47:44] are concerning, reach for columns as they are to help those business owners sort of deal

[47:50] with that.

[47:51] So really happy to celebrate with them, to raise some dollars with them and to celebrate

[47:57] the work which I think is pretty unique to a lot of communities.

[48:01] They don't really necessarily have sort of a street outreach program.

[48:05] This program was based on a program that when I was sitting for Collins, we looked into a program that was being done in Burlington, Vermont.

[48:13] But I think that street outreach for Collins has really taken that model and just expanded it in new ways.

[48:20] And so they're again happy to celebrate with them. And that's all for me. Thank you.

[48:24] Thank you, Commissioner Stephens and congratulations on your fellowship.

[48:28] So I'll start back with, September 15th, I attended the Fort Collins Latinee Hispanic Heritage

[48:35] Month's Reception and Proclamation, which was well attended and I actually handed out

[48:41] our population to the one in board members who's working on their setting up a museum.

[48:47] I think it says statewide museum and they were there to share and they're going to actually

[48:51] at our proclamation into the museum as a local,

[48:55] as an example, a local proclamation work.

[48:58] And so, really excited about that.

[49:00] Then I went to the lovelin, proclamation was,

[49:02] and lovelin city council, which

[49:04] do does our proclamations now before their meetings

[49:07] and outside on the steps.

[49:09] And so, I was able to give that proclamation heart and soul

[49:13] of lovelin and attend that.

[49:16] and it was great the sea council of loveland was very happy that I attended and was present.

[49:27] I had some coffee with the superintendent who were school district to have some discussions

[49:33] on Wednesday about some of the things that they're coming forward and so that was really

[49:39] interesting to hear. I'm sure we're going to hear from them. I didn't care any details or anything

[49:43] about what's coming forward, but just they wanted to have just a chance to just kind

[49:48] of give us some background on the process.

[49:51] And so I learned a lot about their process.

[49:54] And then on the 17th, it was the last part day, first we also had, I met with the Carl

[50:04] for Self Council as a chair legislative committee, met with representative and speaker

[50:09] of the House on Drew Basin-Ecker, and T is actually going to take up one of our four self-council priorities, and I'm really excited about that, and so I appreciate him, and our new legislative coordinator for the Department of Natural Resources for the State, and that was a great conversation.

[50:27] And then I had my common grounds at the Kain Coffee, and I'll court and I actually had quite a few people come and even from the DeHose Valley and there's lots of conversations that we had.

[50:38] And I wanted to share that I EVX had come and wrote Miller

[50:43] and they had received a $1 million grant from the Foundation

[50:46] and they are going to be looking for a larger building

[50:49] and a renovated or doing something

[50:51] in the Justice Park and expanding the already fantastic work

[50:54] that they're doing.

[50:55] And so very excited for EVX and what they do

[50:57] for the community up there in Estus.

[50:59] They're doing great work and I just want to congratulate

[51:02] Ruth and everyone else really excited for that.

[51:05] And then we had a visit SS Park Board meeting

[51:07] on the vice chair of that board and we had a presentation about lots of things that are happening

[51:18] and about some of the work from the tourism summit, which had 150 people, but I was able

[51:25] to go last week because I see here for the proclamation and things, but they had quite a few

[51:29] people in my video message and other things as well received and it was a great summit and so

[51:34] great to hear about that. I'm very excited. I got my first glow in the dark dark sky stickers from

[51:41] Visit us with Park. I got here where I'm going to put it very cool. New stickers in the dark sky

[51:48] initiative is progressing and then I showed our choices video from our gun safety work and also

[51:59] some other information from the county and that was well received and then we say goodbye to

[52:03] the, he's been there for a few, about three or four years, Mike, who was the CFO of the

[52:09] Visitors Park, he's retiring and moving on and so now we have, forgot his name, but a person

[52:17] who's local and he is actually going to be a phenomenal addition, I believe. So it was very

[52:24] excited to have that, but I wasn't able to stay for the going away party because I came down

[52:28] to turn it the limer on.

[52:30] Locked at Longview. It was really well attended. I wanted to thank Dr. Brooks for her. Well, wonderful, warm welcome, and Amy

[52:38] Martinist, director of behavioral health and a fantastic overview. And it was really well done. And so I stayed for

[52:49] more than half of it. And it was great just to see and hear about all the questions people had. It was

[52:53] packed. And I just really grateful for that opportunity to be there and experience that with other folks.

[53:00] I was, I had my Colorado Legislative Committee and we had an update from the group that has been

[53:05] working together called, while if our Watershed's Initiative for Resilient Colorado, which has

[53:12] a lot of folks, lots of communities that I work on with Forself Council, DNR, and keystone policy

[53:21] group, lots of folks. And it was a great conversation and we're working on getting our bills,

[53:26] I'm meeting with some other legislators this week, and then we're already working on 2020 legislative

[53:29] priorities. Then we was in the CCI steering community meetings. We presented our three legislative proposals

[53:37] to and ask for straw polls for all three and it was a long meeting. There's lots of policy

[53:41] talk and policy statements and it was a long meeting but a very healthy and robust conversation.

[53:47] So, grateful for the time that people gave. I went to the climate meet-up in Adora Park for the

[53:54] Northern Carl 360 movement and shared a lot about our climate smart program and talking about

[54:01] we have a new climate smart climate sustainability manager and I hope they all get a chance to meet them

[54:09] state center Kathy Kipp spoke as well and I spoke and we was able to share a lot about the county

[54:14] what we're doing related climate and then I went that evening to fight the stigma with Dr.

[54:21] And others, it's the fourth year and it was at Albert Goddard number.

[54:26] Oh, Lori, the music was phenomenal. It was so good.

[54:29] And there was just packed house, packed outside inside.

[54:33] And it was the fundraiser and working on just trying to lower and

[54:37] fight the Sigma for behavioral health issues.

[54:39] And I understand that it's been asked to be expanded across state of Colorado.

[54:44] And some big music names are now interested in maybe being a part of that.

[54:48] I'm really excited to see where that goes and thanks to Dr.

[54:52] Dube and Angelie Dube and all their family and everyone and all the other co-founders who were

[54:57] doing some great work.

[54:58] It was great to see lots of folks and it was wide range of younger and older folks.

[55:05] And then yesterday I did go to the National Active and Retired Federal Employees, luncheon and

[55:12] presented about our community engagement process for data centers and shared some of our survey

[55:17] results, and also shared about some of the other

[55:20] validations and things that I'm

[55:21] recalling is looking at, and that was really

[55:22] well received, and I wanted to just share that because

[55:26] it's a group that gets it about federal,

[55:30] state, and local policy, and I appreciate their

[55:33] willingness to ask really good questions, and to

[55:36] engage that. And so that was, I wanted to share how

[55:38] productive, and that was, I know, a lot of people are

[55:41] asking staff to be presentations, but there's

[55:44] not enough time, staff doesn't have time to run all

[55:46] so I was glad to do that for them. So the last one I wanted to share because I thought that was

[55:51] relevant and important to share for the public and looking at the clock at 958. There is no

[55:59] legal matters or executive sessions on our agenda. Nothing on our agenda so we at 958 are

[56:06] adjourned. I hope you have a wonderful day and in great week and thank you again for joining us.

Larimer County Administrative Matters Meeting 9/22/26

Transcript