Larimer County commissioners approve consent agenda, adopt updated emergency operations and recovery plans

The Larimer County Board of County Commissioners on March 11 approved the consent agenda and adopted updates to the county’s comprehensive emergency management plan, including revisions to the emergency operations plan and the recovery plan.

Commissioner John Kefalas moved to approve the resolution adopting the updates to the comprehensive emergency management plan; the motion passed unanimously. The board also approved the meeting minutes for the week of Feb. 24, 2025, and passed a broad consent agenda that included agreements, grants, appointments and several resolutions.

Emergency management director Lori Hodges told commissioners the comprehensive emergency management plan is organized as multiple base plans and annexes and said the two documents before the board — the emergency operations plan (response) and the recovery plan — were revised “because we learned some lessons from recent disasters, the Alexander Mountain fire being the most recent.” Hodges said the updates emphasize processes that apply across hazards, such as resource management, public information management and policy direction for elected officials. “We look at our history because history tells us kinda what we might have in the future,” she said.

Hodges said binders with the full plan would be provided to the commissioners after signatures and that a public-facing video explaining emergency operations center activities was completed and will be shared with the board for review. She also noted that the county’s hazard mitigation plan — a separate five-year plan that FEMA approves and that enables pre- and post-disaster FEMA funding — is scheduled for renewal and will return to the board next year.

County manager Lorinda Volker and commissioners praised Emergency Management staff for the revisions. Volker said the revised plan uses lifeline-based language (energy, communications, transportation, hazardous materials) to make the plan more understandable and practical for elected officials and partners during incidents.

The consent agenda approved on March 11 included the following notable items (details provided at the county website and recorded in the meeting packet):

- Fifteen petitions for abatement or refund of taxes (information online). - A Fort Collins fiber use license agreement through Dec. 30, 2029, with an approximate total value of $245,000. - An amendment (No. 5) to a state contract between the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing and the Larimer County Office on Aging: $121,000 for state fiscal year 2025 and approximately $270,900 total across state fiscal years (as stated in the meeting). - Amendment No. 7 to an agreement for services related to self-service vehicle registration kiosks for the clerk’s office (effective Oct. 20; open-ended; dollar amount not applicable). - An intergovernmental agreement documenting Larimer County’s planned purchase of conservation easements in the Livermore priority area: approximately $8,900,000 from Larimer County, $3,000,000 from the city of Fort Collins and about $2,700,000 in grants. - An intergovernmental agreement to convey a 10.2-acre Trilby tank property to the Fort Collins-Loveland Water District for about $890,000. - A requested one-year extension (to March 17 next year) for United Water to use county easements on the Fisher Lateral while constructing a permanent pipeline (five-year agreement originally commenced in 2020). - A U.S. Forest Service Community Wildfire Defense Grant award to the county’s Office of Emergency Management for the Red Feather Lakes wildfire defense project: $9,696,438 with no county match required; Colorado State University is the pass-through entity. - Multiple appointments to county boards and commissions (behavioral health committees, public improvement districts, library district, and more) with specified term end dates. - Liquor license transfers and renewals (six items) and four miscellaneous administrative items. - Four resolutions, including adoption of manufactured housing park preservation (MHPP) zoning in the county land use code; disposition of Lot 2B, Trilby tank quick-claim deed; findings approving the Cerro Resort Cabin administrative review and appeals; and acceptance of a State Criminal Alien Assistance Program award for the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office: $89,000 (U.S. Department of Justice).

On procedural votes, the board recorded unanimous approval for the minutes, the consent agenda, and the emergency plan resolution (three commissioners voting in favor). Hodges said the sheriff signs off on the base plans along with the board, because the sheriff’s office is a primary partner in emergency responses.

Commissioners asked about lessons learned and public-facing materials. Hodges summarized that the updates focused on cross-cutting processes (resource management, public information, policy direction) and on ensuring the right partner agencies are present in the Emergency Operations Center during incidents. She said annexes — for sheltering, evacuation and reentry, emergency alerts, and other procedures — are part of the larger plan and have been signed by emergency management leadership.

The board’s motion to adopt the plan included the signed resolution and a letter of promulgation; Hodges said the county will post the public plans online (continuity of government plan is protected) and distribute the signed binders to the commissioners.