District 1 Fremont County Commissioner Mike Stiehl was elected as Chairman of the Board of Commissioners for 2009 as the commissioners conducted their annual organizational meeting Tuesday. District 3 Commissioner Ed Norden (pictured at right with his son Matt) was chosen as the 2009 Chairman Pro-Tem. The organizational meeting followed a brief swearing-in ceremony for Commissioners Stiehl and Norden who were both re-elected to second terms in office by voters in November.
Other annual organizational business Tuesday included:
- Reappointment of Brenda Jackson as County Attorney;
- Reappointment of Matt Koch as Fremont County Surveyor;
- Designation of the bulletin boards outside the office door and in the front lobby of the Commissioners' office for official public notices;
- Designation of the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at 9:30 a.m. for regular board meetings;
- Designation of the Canon City Daily Record and the Florence Citizen as the Official Newspapers;
- Designation of Sunflower Bank, Canon National Bank, ColoTrust, and Colorado Surplus Asset Fund as official depositories for county funds;
- Awarding of the annual stationery bid to Peak Printing which was the low bidder at $5,574.
The Commissioners Tuesday also approved a special review use permit for the new Immigrations and Custom Enforcement (ICE) building at the Fremont County Airport Industrial Park. JIOL L.L.C is the firm building the ICE facility which is scheduled to open in June to process illegal aliens. The facility will have four detention cells but immigration detainees cannot be kept in the cells for more than ten hours daily. The commissioners had fast tracked JIOL's permit application so that Tuesday's public hearing in front of the commissioners could be advertised prior to a review in front of the Fremont County Planning Commission.
The Commissioners appointed two new members to the Fremont County Tourism Council (FCTC). Larry Oddo of the Holy Cross Abbey Winery and Amy Colvin of the Royal Gorge Route Railroad were appointed to three year terms on FCTC to replace Ryan McCallister and Danny DeGeorge whose terms expired.
The Commissioners newly appointed Kit Jones and reappointed Dean Baird and Dave Thompson to the Fremont County Airport Advisory Board. All three were appointed to serve two year terms.
In other business Tuesday the Commissioners:
- Approved a formal resolution as part of the contract for a $200,000 Great Outdoors Colorado grant that will be used for bleachers, lighting, and restrooms near the outdoor arena at Pathfinder Regional Park;
- Approved a resolution establishing the office of County Manager;
- Approved a contract with the Department of Local Affairs for a $350,000 Gaming Impact grant announced last fall and targeted for various road improvements on Phantom Canyon, Red Canyon, and High Park roads enroute to the gaming town of Cripple Creek;
- Approved transfer of a special review use permit for an electric utility substation on Eight Mile Hill from Aquila to Black Hills Energy;
- Re-adopted the Fremont County Zoning Resolution dropping references to twenty-six different amendments and referring to it now as a single all inclusive document;
- Approved a final plat for Maple Leaf Estates subdivision which creates three lots on ten acres southeast of the corner of York and Windsor Avenues north of Canon City.