Moffat County plans to seek $200,000 in state grant funding to help with the cost of initial designs for the new courthouse, Moffat County Director of Development Services Roy Tipton said Feb. 16 to county commissioners.

Tipton said the Colorado Department of Local Affairs is only accepting Energy and Mineral Impact Assistance Fund Tier 1 grant applications at this time, so the county needs to submit an application to keep the project moving forward.

In the official grant application, the county stated that this next phase of the courthouse project updates the drawings of the courthouse to match them up with estimated budget and available funds from the new bonds the county is obtaining. This next phase will complete design and engineering, which includes mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and technology to generate bidding documents.

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“This will help us get to bid-ready documents,” Tipton said. Tipton added that he’s had conversations with DOLA and believes that they will award Moffat County the entire $200,000 for the grant.

Commissioners approve bids for purchase of new Sheriff’s Office vehicles

Moffat County commissioners approved a bid for two new SUVs and a new truck for the Sheriff’s Office during their Feb. 16 meeting.

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Tipton said the county received two bids back — one from Victory Motors and one from Cook Ford — for the two new SUVs for the sheriff’s office.

Moffat County Sheriff KC Hume said that the sheriff’s office typically replaces vehicles between 100,000 to 125,000 miles, or when it becomes difficult to maintain the vehicle from a financial standpoint.

The sheriff’s office covers all of Moffat County, which is 4,751 square miles. County coverage 97 miles west to east, and 70 miles north to south, marking the second-largest geographical county in Colorado, which puts significant wear and tear on the patrol vehicles.

With replacement vehicles needed, Tipton recommended commissioners approve the bid to Cook Ford for two new Ford Expeditions for the Sheriff’s Office. According to the official bid paperwork, the Sheriff’s Office is trading in a 2008 Dodge Durango and a 2016 Dodge Ram 1500 for a combined $18,000 in trade-in credit.

The price of the new Expeditions are $39,985 each, bringing the total before trade-in to $79,970. With trade-in, the total is $61,970 for the two new SUVs for the Sheriff’s Office.

Commissioner Tony Bohrer made a motion to award the bid to Cook Ford for the two new SUVs. Commissioners unanimously approved the bid for Cook Ford.

Tipton said the purchase of the two Expeditions were budgeted items, and once the purchase is complete and outfitting of the vehicle is done, the county will still be more than $5,000 under budget for the line item.

Following approval of the bid for the two new SUVs, Tipton then recommended commissioners approve a bid for a new truck for the Sheriff’s Office to Victory Motors.

According to Tipton, the county asked for one half-ton crew cab truck with a special service package for the Sheriff’s Office. Again, Cook Ford and Victory Motors submitted bids for the truck.

Victory Motors came in with the lowest bid at $15,346 on a new 2021 Ram 1500, counting a $16,000 trade-in credit for a 2016 Ram 1500 with 141,073 miles on it.

Commissioner Melody Villard made a motion to approve the bid to Victory Motors. The bid approval passed unanimously.

jcarney@craigdailypress.com