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News from
Jefferson County
Want more news and information about Jefferson County? Subscribe to our monthly citizen newsletter that covers topics from all of the departments and divisions throughout Jeffco.
Simply click the link above or the icon below, enter the email address you'd like the newsletter to be sent to and then choose the "Jeffco eNewsletter" option. |
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Board Appointment
Dawn Smith was appointed to the Tri-County Workforce Investment Board. Dawn is currently the Executive Director for the Conifer Area Chamber of Commerce.
This board provides quality assurance and recommended policy guidance for Workforce Investment Act programs operated by the county. It is also responsible for identifying the region's workforce development needs and for the creation of a comprehensive strategy and policy framework to meet the workforce development needs of employers.
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Second Quarter LEA Report
 The commissioners learned the latest on activities in law enforcement when Sheriff Ted Mink presented the 2012 second quarter Law Enforcement Authority (LEA) report.
Vehicle trespass sprees. Summer is the season for a peak in vehicle trespasses. The precincts are putting forth effort looking for suspects. They contacted HOA's and are setting out message boards to notify the community. They are canvassing neighborhoods and using hand held FLIP Units, which account for extra patrol hours. The deputies' efforts resulted in one arrest of a suspect responsible for a garage burglary and vehicle trespass at Cactus Jack's. Lieutenants have brought to life the "Lock It or Lose It" campaign as a response.
Graffiti cleanup. June 23, 2012 inmate workers spent several hours cleaning up trails near Clear Creek. Numerous garbage bags were filled and graffiti was covered. The graffiti covered the concrete bridge supports and included letters and symbols up to 10 feet in height and more than 40 feet long.
For more information, please read the entire report.
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Helping With the Pledge
The Board of County Commissioners was joined by Cash and his mom, Paige Williamson. Two-year old Cash led the board and the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.
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Celebrating the Jeffco County 4-H Fair
 This year's Jefferson County 4-H Fair, "Growing Our Future," was Aug. 9-12. It highlighted the heritage of agriculture and rodeo within our community and how our youth are the leaders of tomorrow. Some of the events included horse and livestock shows, livestock sale and youth market, rodeo, carnival, and an "Evening with Horses."
To celebrate the fair, the BCC proclaimed Aug. 6-12 as Jeffco Fair Week. In attendance for the proclamation was Parks Director Tom Hoby, CSU Extension Director Jacki Paone and 4-H members.
The commissioners also revealed the winners of the annual fair poster contest. The contest is open to all youth from Kindergarten through 12th grade in the Jefferson County School District and throughout the 4-H program. The winning artwork is used for the fair's annual commemorative poster.
 First place winner was Austin Sorensen, a 9th grader who is home schooled and has been a 4-H member for six years. The second place winner was Sari Ennis. Sari is a 9th grader from Dakota Ridge High School in Littleton.
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County's Financial Statements Receive Highest Opinion from Auditor
Jefferson County has received an unqualified or "clean" opinion from its external auditor, Eide Bailly, on its financial statements.
"This is the highest and best opinion an auditor can give," said Eide Bailly's Kim Higgins, CPA, who presented the report to the commissioners.
"This shows the county's commitment to use tax revenues to the highest and best use while being completely transparent," said Commissioner Donald Rosier.
State law requires that the county prepare financial statements according to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and that they be audited by an independent CPA firm licensed to practice in Colorado.
The firm of Eide Bailly has been the county's external auditor for the last seven years. As in all previous years the county received an unqualified opinion on its 2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). The CAFR also contains other information including a wealth of historical trend data in its Statistical Section, which the auditors review for accuracy as well.
"I am proud of our dedicated staff, which is diligent and first-rate in preparing our financial statements," Commissioner John Odom.
"This is just another example of our excellent accounting staff. Congratulations to them and the county for this clean audit," said Commissioner Faye Griffin. "I am very proud of our employees."
Please visit the Accounting Division's website, www.jeffco.us/acct, to view the CAFR, and other financial reports in their entirety. |
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Settlement Reached in Utilities Overpayment
The BCC approved a settlement agreement with the city of Golden for $92,008.18, which will be paid to the county for utility bill overpayments.
After reviewing utility bills, Jeffco staff identified potential errors in billing for water and sewer service from the city to the Human Services building at 3500 Illinois Street. The errors were the result of a miscalculation of actual water usage due to a second water meter on the property that monitored water usage for irrigation only. The billing issues have been corrected.
The errors were brought to the attention of the city and after completing its investigation, Golden credited the county $14,347.42 for overpayment in 2011 and agreed to refund Jeffco an additional $77,660.76 for overpayments for 2008-2010. |
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Board Hears Continued Items
At the July 17 hearing, the BCC continued two land use cases and both were heard and voted on at the July 31 hearing.
The first item was the 8460 Ken Caryl Avenue Rezoning case. The applicants had submitted a request to amend the Planned Development (PD) zoning of their parcel to allow for neighborhood commercial uses including a doggie daycare. The parcel is located in the southwest quadrant of West Ken Caryl Avenue and Carr Street. After reviewing additional information on doggie daycare guidelines, the board voted 2-1 to approve the item with the conditions. If the space is used for a doggie daycare, then no more than 55 dogs will be allowed at one time on property, free hanging noise baffles and shrubs for sound mitigation must be used.
The second case heard was the Kipling Commons item. The applicants had submitted a waiver request to the Director of Planning and Zoning on May 1 regarding park land dedicated requirements and related fees. The director denied the request and the applicants appealed to the BCC regarding the denial. After reviewing additional information regarding park land dedication regulations, the BCC voted 2-1 to uphold the denial of the waiver request. The parcel of land is located at the southeast corner of South Kipling Parkway and West Quincy Avenue. The applicants are proposing a multi-family development at this site but have not yet submitted a rezoning request. |
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Airport News
 The Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport continues making improvements and at the July 31 hearing, the BCC approved three items to keep the projects moving forward.
The BCC approved a contract with Brannan Sand and Gravel Company, LLC for $ 1 million and an expenditure of $196,535 to Jviation, Inc. The contract and expenditure are for services to rehabilitate the airport's terminal ramp and additional surface paving. The ramp is in need of the repairs due to its age and failure of the slurry seal, which was applied approximately 12 years ago. The county is only paying for 10 percent, and the remaining 90 percent will come from the state of Colorado.
The BCC also approved a purchase agreement with JP Colorado Land, LLLP for the land necessary to complete the Runway Safety Area Enhancement Project. The current Runway 11L Safety Area does not meet criteria and the intersection at Interlocken Loop and State Highway 128 needs to be relocated to the north and slightly to the west to accommodate the full 1,000 feet of required runway safety area. |
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Board Approves Tax Refund Incentive
The Board of County Commissioners approved a personal property tax refund incentive for Trimble Navigation Limited, which has expressed a desire to expand its business facility in Jefferson County.
The company, per state statute, is eligible to receive a 50 percent rebate from the county, for the first 10 years of operation provided that the company meets certain performance guarantees, including the expansion of its business by May 2013. In addition, it must also hire a certain number of additional employees and invest the amounts for personal property, capital, equipment and real property as set forth in its incentive questionnaire.
This rebate only applies to the county's taxable share and does not include any other taxing entities, such as the school district. |
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Budget Supplementals
 The BCC approved changes and made appropriations to the 2012 budget. These changes were due to unforeseen recent budget needs for the Human Services Department.
The increase in Full-Time (FTE) positions is for temporary or contract employees to be moved into full-time or grant funded positions (GFP). These will be budgeted into the 2013 county budget. The supplemental appropriations include:
- Four FTE positions for the Career and Family Support Services Division. One of these positions is for an accounting technician in the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program. The other three FTEs are for the Colorado Works Program with one being for a training coordinator, one for an office assistant and one for an eligibility specialist.
- Three FTEs for the Workforce Development Division. This will be appropriated from the Workforce Development Fund. The three positions are a customer service representative, an administrative assistant and a career specialist, all of which are 100 percent grant funded.
- Four GFPs for the Head Start Division and this will come from the Head Start Fund. This will assist with legal compliance by converting two contract employees to GFP as well as two long-term temporary employees to GFP.
- $26,075 for the salary of an existing Pretrial Case Manager Supervisor position. This will be appropriated from the General Fund. Human Services already has an unfilled FTE, but needs the funding to fill this supervisor position to allow for more direct oversight of staff.
For more information on the Jeffco budget, please visit www.jeffco.us/budget. |
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Roof Repairs Moving Forward
 Three of the county's buildings are in need of repairs to their roofs. At the July 31 hearing, the BCC approved the contracts to enable the county to move forward to making these necessary repairs.
The first contract is with D and D Roofing, Inc. for $189,974 for the replacement and repair of a major section of the roof at the newly acquired Parfet Building. The county purchased this building, located at 645 & 655 Parfet Street, in 2011, and is in the process of making repairs and renovations in order to prepare for the relocation of the Health Administration staff into the building.
The second contract is with Douglass Colony Group, Inc. for $209,400 to replace and repair the District Attorney's Building roof. This roof has exceeded its life expectancy and has experienced catastrophic failures due to the recent high winds.
The final contract is also with Douglass Colony Group Inc. and is for $1,092,100 to replace and repair the roof on the county's Administrative and Courts Building. This roof is 20 years old and has experienced a number of costly repairs over the past year, in addition to having exceeded the roofs useful life expectancy. Following an extensive condition assessment of the current roof it was apparent that nothing short of a complete replacement of the roof was in the best interest of the building. |
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Repairs to South Golden Road
 Major drainage way improvements are needed for the Lena Gulch crossing at South Golden Road. The BCC approved a contract with Ayres Associates, Inc. for $175,530 for final design and engineering services for this project.
The existing Lena Gulch box culvert cannot handle 100 year flows. The engineering consultant will provide for final design and determine the extent and nature of the improvements needed. These services will be completed in advance of the construction phase which will occur in 2013. |
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View BCC Meetings Online!
 Did you know Jefferson County records each County Commissioners Hearing for rebroadcast on its website? You can also find recordings of other county meetings, videos of events and Jeffco's video program, Jefferson County Insights. To learn more, visit the Jeffco Media-on-Demand site.
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