Dolores County Board of Health hires public health director, sets starting salary and reviews WIC intergovernmental agreements

The Dolores County Board of Health voted on March 16, 2026, to hire Julie Bridal as the county’s public health director and to set a starting salary of $47,250 (grade 7, step forward). Chair called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m., the board approved the agenda and the March 2 minutes, then moved to consider the hiring recommendation.

The chair moved to hire Bridal and a board member seconded; the board approved the appointment by voice vote. Immediately afterward the board set the incoming director’s starting pay at $47,250, citing a grade-7 step placement and existing step schedule discussions. The board discussed how step placement relates to experience, noted a typical step-1 starting point around $45,000 and step-10 roughly in the low $51,000 range, and said the county uses a $750 approximate increment between steps. Several speakers emphasized that experience and internal schedule adjustments would affect future increases.

Members also discussed intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) for program delivery. The chair reported that county staff have asked Montezuma County legal counsel to rework the existing IGA so Dolores County would be carved out of most provisions except a leasing/unionization service Montezuma has handled. Separately, staff described the county’s WIC (Women, Infants and Children) arrangement with La Plata County: La Plata provides mentoring and high‑risk-client support under a service order that includes a part‑time dietitian, periodic in‑person visits, quarterly communication and fiscal-compliance assistance.

Staff said the WIC arrangement was required by statute when the county previously lacked a qualified high‑risk WIC clinician, and warned the state has previously signaled it could centralize WIC operations if counties do not maintain capacity. Board members noted program improvements: audits recently returned at 100 percent and WIC caseloads have grown to about 75 clients from the twenties in earlier years. The board commended local staff, including Raquel, for outreach and appointment work.

The service order with La Plata County was described in detail during the meeting (monthly educator contact, virtual check‑ins, nutrition follow‑up and training cadence). Staff reported the service agreement expires next June and asked the incoming director to review renewal timing and report back. Members also flagged a $25,000 reduction in environmental health funding that will affect workload and meeting time for the director’s office; staff indicated travel and certain grant funds should cover related costs so county employees should not be out of pocket.

The board adjourned after closing remarks that local social‑service structure changes could push some functions toward regionalization, a development members said could bring future challenges for local control.