Jefferson County officials said Aug. 5 they will move forward with a review of an Elk Creek Fire Protection District request to determine whether a proposed notice of unification with neighboring districts constitutes a material modification of the district's statement of purpose.

Kristen Sadowski of the county attorney's office described the request as "very short briefing to introduce the request that we received from Elk Creek Fire Protection District, to review their statement of purpose to determine if the notification proposed with Elk Creek with Inter Canyon and North Fork Fire Protection Districts constitutes a material modification of the statement of purpose." She explained that statements of purpose are the functional equivalent of service plans for districts organized before 1980 and that state statute defines a "material modification" as a change to the essential nature of services provided.

Sadowski said county policy and state statute require the same process used for service-plan amendments if a material modification is found: the amendment goes to the planning commission and then to the Board of County Commissioners for approval. She told commissioners the county will confer in executive session for legal advice on procedural matters and that, after that session, staff would seek direction and coordinate any hearing scheduling with Planning and Zoning, targeting the Aug. 26 business meeting for placement if the board wishes.

After executive session, commissioners instructed staff to place the Elk Creek statement-of-purpose review on a future public hearing agenda and to work with the county attorney's office to create the public-hearing process for the case.

The direction requests legal analysis of whether the proposed notification and unification change the district's essential services and, if so, to follow the statutory amendment route through Planning and Zoning and the BCC.

No final determination on the substance of Elk Creek's request was made Aug. 5; the board's action was to authorize staff to schedule the formal review process and to return with a complete record for public hearing.