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Montezuma County officials urge state to lead on new wildland-urban interface rules, warn of local capacity and cost implications
Summary
County attorney and commissioners discussed imminent state wildland-urban interface rulemaking, saying the rules (finalized July 1 in draft form) could require local implementation functions the county does not now perform and would create staffing and cost pressures.
Montezuma County officials on June 17 discussed a draft set of state wildland-urban interface rules and urged the state to take the lead on implementation, citing limited local staff capacity and potential costs to the county.
County Attorney Tarnowski reported the draft rules are close to finalization, with an effective rulemaking date of July 1. The rules envision counties implementing enforcement and processing for new construction in the wildland-urban interface; staff noted the county currently does not operate a building-code inspection program. "One of the difficulties for our county is we don't do any building code, you know, process within the county now," the attorney said, adding that staff believe "probably two full‑time employees would be needed to do this kind of work," which would be a substantial cost to Montezuma County.
Commissioners argued the state should provide training and take responsibility for rule implementation where funding is not provided. Commissioner Lindsey said local fire departments and the Division of Fire Prevention and Control lack capacity to absorb new responsibilities. "I would say let the state come down and do the training," Lindsey said. He and other commissioners emphasized mitigation measures homeowners can take, and warned the cost of structural "hardening" can be significant for property owners.
Tarnowski also described related intergovernmental participation: landfill manager Mel Jarman received a seat on a methane-rulemaking steering committee, and the county is participating in a coalition of counties working on unfunded mandates. The attorney said the coalition aims to approach the state legislature and the governor to seek changes to how mandates are implemented and funded.
No formal board action was taken at this meeting on the wildland-urban interface rules; commissioners agreed to invite state representatives or subject-matter staff to a workshop or educational session to review draft rules and implications for local implementation before deciding whether to petition the state to assume implementation responsibilities.
