Commission considers in-house weed-control crew and to list Durango property with no reserve

Commissioners discussed bringing weed-control spraying in-house by refurbishing county equipment and hiring a seasonal applicator for roughly three months, while also reviewing the viability of state matching funds tied to mill levies.

Rod and other commissioners said the county owns a sprayer, pickup and related equipment and could hire a part-time seasonal worker to spray noxious weeds. "If we could take and set the sprayer up like use the old sheriff's pickup... and then just leave it in there as a unit that just go spray and then hire a part-time guy," Rod said, arguing the plan could be done within current internal monies for a limited season.

Commissioners noted the state offers matching funds for a weed-control officer but that accessing those funds typically requires a local mill levy commitment that could total tens of thousands of dollars. The meeting referenced a three-mill local levy example and an $80,000 estimate; participants said the up-front tax commitment might make the state-matching option infeasible for the county at present. Officials said the county would research grant options and the specific statutory requirements and bring details back to a future meeting.

On property disposition, staff recommended listing the Durango parcel for public auction with no reserve; commissioners agreed to put the Durango property on the auction with zero reserve and to consider the top bidders at a later meeting, allowing for a sealed-deadline process and a chance for the top bidders to raise their offers at the subsequent commission meeting.

Other administrative items included an employee manual update (payroll wording) and a reminder that monthly calls-for-service were 219 in March and 254 in April; Amberly said she would include the statistics in future packets.