For the first time the Fremont County Board of Commissioners will have a set of guidelines for conducting hearings and establishing penalties for liquor license violators in Fremont County. The Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution at their November 13th meeting putting into place the authority the county will exercise over liquor license violations. County Attorney Brenda Jackson said that in the past Boards of Commissioners have never brought a liquor licensee in to face a violation and penalty hearing because for the most part many of the bars were operated within municipal boundaries. Jackson said with more bars now showing up in areas of county jurisdiction it raises the question of how the Board of Commissioners will handle any liquor code violations. The hearing procedures and penalties mirror in large part how the cities of Cañon City and Florence enforce the Colorado Liquor Code.
The Commissioners finalized action on an amendment to the county’s subdivision regulations that had been tabled following a public hearing on October 9th. The amendment dealt with providing developers an option of submitting a sketch plan for a project as a preliminary way to determine the viability of a project before investing a large amount of money in a full scale engineered plan. The Commissioners said they wanted to spend more time in reviewing the proposed language and try to simplify some of the sketch plan requirements. The Commissioners said they did not believe the changes demanded another public hearing and voted to approve the amendment.
The Commissioners also voted at their November 13th meeting to make a change in county auditors for the first in more than 20 years. The Commissioners in September sought proposals from auditing firms sending letters of inquiry to seven auditing firms which perform audits for neighboring counties in southern Colorado. In the end Fremont County received three proposals all covering three year audit periods of 2012, 2013, and 2014. The Commissioners decided to change auditors selecting John Cutler and Associates of Denver at a three year quoted proposal of $56,000. Commission Chairman Debbie Bell said given Fremont County’s tight budget it only made sense to select the lowest cost proposal which ended up being more than $21,000 lower than the price quoted by the current auditors.
In other business the Board of Commissioners:
- Appointed Duane Cozadd of Cañon City to fill a vacancy on the county’s Airport Advisory Committee. Cozadd replaces Dean Baird who did not seek reappointment. Cozadd currently works for Doss Aviation at the Pueblo Airport and has over 30 years of experience in the aerospace industry;
- Approved a resolution to fund 2013 dues for membership in the Southern Colorado Economic Development District;
- Reappointed Mike Welch and Jim Javernick to another three year term on the county Board of Zoning Adjustment;
- Approved a resolution formally dissolving the North Canon Sewer Improvement District since the project has been completed and the area is now officially annexed into the Fremont Sanitation District;
- Changed several meeting dates due to holiday and Colorado Counties' Conference schedules including the November 27th Board of Commissioners meeting moved to November 26th at 9:30 a.m., and the November 27th Board of Health and Human Services meetings moved to November 26th at 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. respectively. The December 25th Board of Commissioners meeting was moved to December 24th at 9:30 a.m. and the December 25th Board of Health and Human Services board meetings moved to December 31st at 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. respectively.