Craig Daily Press

Craig — Like other motorists on the road, Monday’s snowstorm prevented Moffat County Com­missioner Tom Gray from driving home.

“I had to drive north to my house, but they closed County Road 13,” Gray said.

The inconvenience was not an issue, he added.

A severe snowstorm hit late Monday afternoon that saw winds up to 31 miles per hour and dropped temperatures 19 degrees in 30 minutes. Moffat County law enforcement closed all county roads as a precaution to dangerous driving conditions.

County officials are proud of the work done by several agencies during the storm, they said.

The Craig Regional Com­munication Center, run out of the Moffat County Public Safety Center to serve eight regional counties, received 882 phone calls from 4:30 p.m. Monday to midnight Tuesday, Regional Manager Verlaine Harris said.

The majority of those were weather-related, she said.

The combined efforts of local and state law enforcement, along with other emergency service agencies, municipal and county Road and Bridge departments and the Colorado Department of Transportation, “fell into place rather quickly,” Moffat County Sheriff Tim Jantz said.

“The professionalism and the outstanding level of work of the people working in dispatch and the people on the roads was phenomenal,” Jantz said. “Calls were handled in as timely a manner as humanly and weatherly possible.”

Gray was similarly pleased with operations.

“I think everybody involved stepped up and handled everything very well,” Gray said.

That includes the general public, Jantz added. He and other law enforcement agencies received reports of residents helping other cars out of the snow and offering other support.

“These people need to be commended,” Jantz said.

All this despite a vacancy in the county emergency management coordinator position.

Moffat County has been without an emergency management coordinator since November 2007, when Larry Dalton took a job with the Sheriff’s Office, Gray said.

Dalton’s departure came close to the holidays, and the Commission decided to look at the issue Jan. 1, he added.

A candidate was considered but declined the position recently.

Commissioner Saed Tayyara serves that capacity in the interim, Gray said.

The position is responsible for coordinating agencies and bringing in needed resources from outside the area, such as more personnel and provisions, cots or food, for example.

The position also would handle the county’s emergency management plan, a compendium of scenarios and resources, which needs updating, Gray said.

In this case, though, Monday’s storm was not a situation where that position would be needed for much, Jantz said.

“It wasn’t a protracted situation, and getting additional resources wasn’t really necessary,” the sheriff said.

The Commission takes the task of hiring an emergency management coordinator seriously, he said.

“We need to move on this,” Gray said.

The Commission plans to attend a workshop with representatives from law enforcement, Craig Fire/Rescue and emergency medical services as soon as possible to discuss qualifications and specifics about the position, Gray said. The Commission wants to include emergency service agencies because their personnel will be working closest with the coordinator, Gray said.