The Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners plans to have weekly workshop meetings on Mondays beginning at 1:30 p.m.
The meetings are open to the public, and no decisions will be made. Because it is a work session, no public comment will be offered, officials said. Workshop agendas will be posted.
Commissioner Jim Candelaria said the workshops provide time for the board to work on day-to-day operations of the county and discuss governmental issues and planning.
He said the demands managing the pandemic required a lot of time and effort, and more meeting time was needed to prepare and work on other issues.
The additional meeting “gives us the time to be more proactive,” Candelaria said.
They also is a time to “become educated on topics,” such as new and pending legislation impacting the county, added Commissioner Joe Stevenson.
He said another purpose was to be “more prepared when questions come up” either from staff or the public, he said.
If an issue comes up that needs more evaluation and a vote of the commission, it will be slated for further consideration during regular commissioner meetings held every Tuesday.
A March 26 public notice about the new workshops states they will not be broadcast on YouTube. Regular commissioner meetings are broadcast live and archived on the county’s YouTube channel.
At the Monday workshop, commissioners Candelaria and Stevenson said they were open to broadcasting the workshop meetings, and the topic will be considered at the regular meeting Tuesday. Commissioner Kent Lindsay did not attend the workshop.
During the first workshop, the commissioners and county Administrator Shak Powers discussed administrative topics, a complaint about speed bumps on a private road and federal pandemic recovery funds.
Also, Stevenson discussed the application process for him to serve on a state committee providing input on wolf reintroduction, which was approved by voters in November. The committee is called the Wolf Reintroduction and Management in Colorado Stakeholder and Advisory Group.
