Chaffee County will take on Envision grants, approve vendor agreements to continue projects

Chaffee County commissioners voted March 18 to accept a letter of understanding with the Chaffee County Community Foundation (CCCF) that begins a transition of grant-funded projects previously hosted under Envision Chaffee County to the county as fiscal agent, and authorized staff to negotiate service agreements with multiple implementation partners.

County staff said the transfer would allow the county to assume administrative responsibility for individual grants and programs starting April 1 and to negotiate contracts with the contractors and vendors already performing the work. "The recommendation is that we would engage with those as individual programs, projects, and contractors," a county staff presenter said during the meeting.

Why it matters: The change shifts fiscal-host responsibilities from a community foundation to the county for several long-running projects (trails planning, regional partnership work, stream restoration and associated field work). County leaders said the move is intended to preserve continuity in work that Envision helped start and to give the county direct control of grant…