Craig Daily Press

Craig — At times, it’s been a struggle to keep child care services streamlined, Cmdr. Bill Leonard, of the Craig Police Department, said.

He said a new agreement be­­tween local and regional agencies could help that.

The Moffat County Drug Endangered Children Team — made up of 19 regional and national agencies — has worked together for the past three years, Leonard said.

The team includes government agencies, such as law enforcement and Moffat County Social Services, plus community welfare groups, such as Craig Mental Health Center and Advocates-Crisis Support Services.

The Moffat County Comm­ission signed a new memorandum of understanding regarding the team at its Tuesday meeting. The agreement establishes protocols for each agency in the event it can assist a child found being exposed to drug use, sales or any other kind of exposure.

Commission members said that although it’s been in the making for a while, they are glad to see the agencies come together in a defined way.

Social Services Director Marie Peer said the agreement will make a difference.

“It gives us a clearer notion of, when we’re working together, what we expect of each other,” Social Services Director Marie Peer said.

That hasn’t always been easy, Leonard said.

“Especially when it comes to drug-endangered children, there has been a lot of misconception about what agencies could do for these children,” Leonard said. “The idea behind the protocol agreement is so everyone knows what role they can play if they need to.”

For instance, Moffat County School District — a Drug Endangered Children Team member — can help a child’s learning environment if it’s aware of the child’s situation, Leonard said.

Any member of a team agency also will carry a quick checklist of other people to contact in the event of finding a child that needs services, Leonard said.

If the Police Department arrests a guardian for drug use in the home, the officers know who to contact at Social Services, who to contact at the Northwest Colorado Visiting Nurse Association for any medical attention or possibly a dentist at the Northwest Colorado Dental Association.

Every member of a team agency will have the same checklists, Leonard said.

Leonard plans to have each agency sign the agreement by about March 1, and then start training the agencies on the specific protocols.

Commission awards vehicle bids

The Commission awarded a $27,410 bid to Craig Ford for a new Moffat County Sheriff’s Office vehicle to replace a totaled patrol vehicle. Craig Ford’s was the low bid between it, Cook Chevrolet and Victory Motors.

The Commission also awarded a bid to Victory Motors for five new Sheriff’s Office vehicles to replace older ones in the current fleet. The total $107,060 award was not the lowest bid, but was the only bid that came in with appropriate vehicles, Undersheriff Charlene Abdella said.

Total awards for Sheriff’s Office vehicles came in “way under budget,” Abdella said.

Craig Ford, Cook Chevrolet and Victory Motors were the only bidders.

In addition, the Commission approved a $20,778 vehicle bid to Cook Chevrolet for county Building Inspector Pat Mosbey.

The bid was not the lowest, but it was the best-suited vehicle for the job, Mosbey and Moffat County Commissioner Tom Mathers said.

Compared to other bids returned by Victory Motors and Cook Chevrolet — which had the low bid at $17,425.97 — Cook’s vehicle was the only one with full four-wheel drive, a lifetime warranty on the drive train and it had better gas mileage.

Four-wheel drive is preferable, Mosbey said, because he goes off-road to inspect some buildings.

Commissioner Tom Gray, who voted against Cook’s award, said the county should make its bid project specifications as clear as possible in the future.

“I voted no because it wasn’t the low bid, and another vehicle that was the low bid fit the criteria we sent out for,” Gray said. “I don’t fault (Cook’s vehicle) is not the best vehicle for what Pat does, but the county needs to spec right for people to put their bids together.”

Collin Smith can be reached at 824-7031, ext. 209, or cesmith@craigdailypress.com