Craig Daily Press / A safe house?

Commission hears courthouse security issue

March 26, 2008

At its Tuesday meeting, the Moffat County Commission:

• Signed letter of support for the Moffat County School District’s grant request to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.

• Awarded a bid for magnesium chloride to control dust on roads to Mountain Desert Corp. for about 60 cents a gallon, which was the low bid.

The county plans to use about 500,000 gallons.

• Awarded a bid to Intermountain Machine and Fabrication for $54,000. The money will go toward four packer/rollers for the Road and Bridge Department.

• Approved a budget supplemental for March, which included requests from various county agencies to rollover money from last year and adjust line items, but did not take any money from contingency funds. County contingency remains at $200,000.

• Awarded a bid for cost allocation services to MGT of America for $4,460 a year for three years, totaling $13,380.

MGT will compare costs and benefits of county agencies.

MGT did not submit the low bid, but the Commission approved because the company offered to provide audit services for two years after the contract’s end.

• Moved to leave septic tank permit fees at $75, despite the state adding a $23 surcharge to permits last year. The extra charge began July 1, 2007, but Moffat County was not notified until recently, Building Inspector Pat Mosbey said.

The county likely will lose about $1,250 a year if septic tank permits continue at the same volume.

• Approved an addendum to a contract with Bruce Timberg, a local contractor, for an airport hangar at the Moffat County Regional Airport. Timberg will have until June 1 to complete the hangar or be subject to $100 a day fines dating back to April 1.

• Asked County Attorney Kathleen Taylor to research figures for cleanup at the Steamboat Springs Transit facility on E. Victory Way. The Commission found the city of Steamboat Springs in breach of contract regarding materials at the site, and moved to bill the city about $155,000 at its March 18 meeting.

Steamboat Springs — For Michael O’Hara, renovating security at the Moffat County Courthouse is not a new need.

O’Hara, 14th Judicial District chief judge, told the Moffat County Commission at its Tuesday meeting that he has been concerned about safety at that building for a while.

“The need is real now,” he said. “The need is really yesterday.”

Now, the county might have state tools to make headway on his proposals for dedicated security personnel and metal detectors.

O’Hara, along with other judges from around the state, recently went to the Colorado Legislature and lobbied for a state-sponsored courthouse security grant, which was passed into law in 2007.

Out of 19 Colorado counties considered “category III” — which have the same rural composition — Moffat County is the only one without entry-level screening and full-time security personnel to not apply for the grant.

Should Moffat County apply for the grant, it would be considered a priority, said Steve Steadman, Colorado Court Administrator’s Office court security specialist.

Of the four priority qualifications, Moffat County fulfills two, in that the county population and per capita income are below the state median, he said.

Commission members said they recognized O’Hara’s concerns and would like to move forward cooperatively.

The next court security grant cycle is in July. There has not been a cycle timeline established, yet, Steadman said.

The Commission also is pursuing a Colorado Department of Local Affairs grant to finance a feasibility study addressing whether the courthouse could be moved to the Public Safety Center.

Bonnie Roesink, district attorney for the 14th Judicial District, told the Commission she supported that project.

Currently, the courthouse does have certain measures officials said were better kept unknown. Law enforcement always has been very cooperative, too, they said.

O’Hara recognized some community members may be wary of heightened security procedures at the courthouse.

“Some people may think it’s wrong to pass through metal detectors,” O’Hara said. “I do believe, and I think you do believe, that keeping people safe is one of our highest priorities.”

To do that, there has to be a measure to keep weapons out of the courthouse, O’Hara said.

“The only way I know to do that is to have people go through metal detectors and have a law enforcement presence there,” he added.

Evan Herman, 14th Judicial District Administrator, works in Routt and Grand counties as well as Moffat.

Courthouses in the other two counties have had entry-level screening and Sheriff’s Office deputies for several years, he said, adding “absolutely” Moffat County should have the same measures.

According to experts, Herman said, entry-level screening, such as metal detectors, should be the first issue addressed.

“Once weapons are in the building, it doesn’t matter how many police officers you have,” Herman said.

Rural areas are not immune from this kind of violence, Herman said.

“Unfortunately, these types of incidents happen everywhere,” he said. “I wish we lived in a world where we didn’t need this stuff, but the fact of the matter is, we don’t.

“The intent is to make it safe for everybody. Nothing else.”