TEAM WELD DELIVERS AGAIN!

RADEMACHER AND GARCIA FINISH THEIR TERMS

Weld County said farewell to two county

commissioners who completed their terms

in 2014. Douglas Rademacher, District 2, and

Commissioner William Garcia, At-Large, were

both elected in 2006 and then re-elected

in 2010.

Rademacher, who served as Chairman of the

Board in 2010 and 2014, represented not only

the residents in his district but also the

concerns of farmers and ranchers throughout

the county. His participation in and knowledge

of agricultural issues made him an invaluable asset to

our county. In fact, he was named Prairie Partner

of the Year by the National Grasslands Council

for 2013.

Garcia, who served as Chairman of the Board in

2009 and 2013, was instrumental in many projects

during his tenure including the much needed

improvements to the Spanish Colony subdivision.

The project, which was started in 2011 and

completed this past summer, included drainage and

road improvements to the historic neighborhood.

WELD COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

2014 SUMMARY L

EA

DIN

G W

IT

H R

ESP

ON

SIV

E,

IN

NO

VA

TIV

E A

ND

CO

ST

EF

FE

CT

IV

E S

ER

VIC

ES

Projects took center stage for Weld County in 2014: flood recovery projects, public safety

communications projects, public information outreach projects, and, most

importantly, public infrastructure projects. The economy in Weld County is strong. In fact,

in August it was announced that Weld

County’s assessed value became the second

highest in the state — behind Denver. Our

strong economy has allowed county

government to not only build a $140+

million fund balance, maintain our

debt-free status, and pay for projects in cash

but also to provide residents and businesses

with tangible savings on their property taxes

through our low mill levy — which will be

reduced again in 2015.

We want to assure the residents of this

county that the Board of County

Commissioners takes seriously our duty to

be good stewards of your tax dollars. We continue to save for future projects so they can be

purchased with cash — not tax increases, we continue to look for ways to improve

government without growing government, and we continue to focus on projects that will

benefit residents not only now but also for decades into the future.

We are proud of the accomplishments of 2014, and are already working hard on

projects for 2015. Connect with us on one of our communications platforms and receive

up-to-date information on how your county government is working for you.

Sincerely, The Weld County Board of Commissioners: Douglas Rademacher, Sean Conway,

William Garcia, Mike Freeman and Barbara Kirkmeyer

For the 20th consecutive year, real property

owners in Weld County received a reduction

in the mill levy from Weld County

government, which has resulted in a reduction

of $278 million dollars from Weld County tax

payers. Under the State Constitution, Weld

County Government is authorized to impose a

maximum mill levy of 22.038. For the past 20

years, however, the county has not imposed

that maximum amount which has resulted in county residents saving hundreds of millions of

dollars over the past two decades. For the

eighth consecutive year, the levy remained

under 17 mills. Following the budget approval

process for 2015, the Board agreed to further

reduced the mill levy by 1.004 mills, or an

additional $16 on a $200,000 home.

RESIDENTS CONTINUE TO SAVE DUE TO MILL LEVY

The new mill levy for 2015 will be 15.800 — one

of the lowest mill levies in the Front Range.

That, coupled with the fact that Weld County

does not impose a county sales tax makes Weld

County a economically smart place to live and

own a business.

REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS CENTER COMPLETE

The Weld County Board of Commissioners hosted an

open house celebration for the new Weld County

Regional Communications Center (WCRCC) in

February of 2014. The event, which was open to the

public, was held at the Center’s new location, 1551 N.

17th Ave. in Greeley. The new 10,316-square-foot

facility features state-of-the-art equipment and

technology, including Next Generation 9-1-1 capability,

WeatherTap HD future weather radar, and the Front

Range Communications Consortium (FRCC) Radio

System. The center cost approximately $4 million.

Page 2 2014 SUMMARY

BY COMPARISON: Mill Levies of Front Range Counties

Adams 26.815

Arapahoe 17.130

Boulder 25.120

Denver 33.119

Jefferson 24.346

Larimer 22.52

Weld 16.804 (15.800 in 2015)

AWARDS & HONORS Weld County takes great pride in the work we do each day.

The following awards and honors were presented to Weld County employees or

departments in 2014.

Distinguished Budget Presentation Award,

Government Finance

Officers Association

(32nd Award)

Prairie Partner

of the Year, National

Grasslands Council

Award of Excellence for

a Special Project, National Association of

County Information Officers

Meritorious Award

for Best

Facebook Page, National Association of

County Information Officers

Recognition of

Excellence Finalist for Safety and Wellness

Program, Cigna Health

Investigator of the Year,

Colorado Welfare

Fraud Council

7 Everyday Hero honor for County

Senior Lunch Program,

KMGH 7

Award for Excellence in

Reporting, Government Finance

Officers Association

(33rd Award)

BOARD WORKS TO MAKE I-25 PRIORITY FOR REGION

While the formation of the North 1-25

Coalition occurred in 2013, tremendous

progress was made toward making the

corridor a regional priority in 2014. The

Coalition, which consists of members from

each of the communities along the I-25

corridor, met with then Congressman Cory

Gardner to discuss the need to include the

corridor in the 2014 reauthorization of the

Federal Transportation bill. In March, the group secured support from Congressman

Jared Polis, and in July, Commissioner Barbara

Kirkmeyer addressed House Transportation

and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster about

the need to focus on I-25. Commissioner Sean

Conway, through the county’s position in

the North Front Range Metropolitan

Planning Organization (NFRMPO), proposed the

15-member organization dedicate $13 million in

funding to improve the corridor which is vital for

the continued success of northern Colorado.

Unanimously, the group approved the proposal

and continued to keep focus on I-25 by later

targeting $5 million for specific projects along

the corridor.

Weld County Commissioners

and the Department of Public

W o r k s c e l e b r a t e d t h e

completion of the Española

Subdivision paving/road project

in June. The project originated

in 2011 when the county

first applied for a grant to

address drainage and pavement

issues for one of Weld County’s historic neighborhoods located at the southwest corner of 25th Avenue and O Street. In 2012, Weld County received a Community Development

Block Grant (CDBG) from the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) for $275,000 to be

used for road and drainage improvements in the subdivision. Weld County contributed

a local match of $470,188. Española Subdivision was started in 1924 by the

Great Western Sugar Company (platted in 1929) as a colony for its Hispanic laborers, commonly

referred to today as Spanish Colony. The project was a result of issues Weld

County Public Works Department experienced in maintaining the roads in the

neighborhood for a number of years; the project was an economical solution to the

problem of road maintenance and drainage issues.

FLOOD RECOVERY CONTINUES ACROSS COUNTY

The year began with an assistance request from

the City of Evans regarding two mobile home

parks destroyed by the 2013 flood. While

residents in the parks were able to return to

their damaged homes briefly to retrieve a few

belongings, the majority of the contents of their

homes remained, including trash, food left in

refrigerators, and household hazardous waste. In

addition to those items, the presence of mold,

and human sewage throughout the parks were also a huge concern for city and county officials.

A joint letter from the county and the city drew

attention from state officials and media which

helped remedy the problem.

Evans officials later thanked Weld County for

their assistance during the flood with a plaque

and a framed letter of gratitude for recovery

work in their community. Continuing in the

spirit of gratitude, Weld County officials formally

thanked seven other Colorado counties for their

assistance to Weld following the flood.

Project Worksheets identifying repair projects,

scope of work and estimated costs continued

to be submitted to FEMA for federal

assistance to restore to pre-incident conditions

for reimbursement. The county also worked

on several road repair projects with the

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Weld

County has requested $3,622,009.11 in

reimbursement from FEMA and $2,274,136.38

from FHWA. To date, the county has received

$2,794,076.66 from FEMA and $1,939,658.00

from FHWA to complete permanent repairs.

Debris removal was another continuing aspect

of flood recovery. While the county made

vouchers available to residents impacted by the

flood in 2013, a second round of debris-removal

vouchers were requested by residents in the

spring of 2014. Approximately 130 of these

vouchers were used bringing the total to

approximately 1,730 vouchers used for

flood-debris removal in the recovery process.

One debris removal project, however, required

a different solution. A Weld County resident

contacted the county Planning Department

requesting help with disposing of more than

1,000 tires left on his property from the flood.

County volunteers partnered with a local church

to remove the tires from the man’s property.

SPANISH COLONY SUBDIVISION PROJECT COMPLETED

Page 3 2014 SUMMARY

NEW ONLINE Weld County continued to increase its on-line presence

and created new platforms for sharing information with the public. Below is a recap of new

online tools created in 2014.

Weld County

YouTube Channel 24 subscribers

4,582 views

Spotlight Weld County Monthly shows featuring

Commissioners discussing

county-related issues

9 episodes

More than 1,100 views

Discover Weld

YouTube Channel 16 subscribers

2,796 views

Wonderful Weld 60-second videos highlights a

location in Weld County

7 episodes

631 views

Discover Weld Pinterest Photo gallery of

Weld County places

42 followers

16 Boards

198 pins

Weld County Public

Infrastructure Map Following the 2013 Flood, this

tool is designed to show which roads are maintained by

the county and which are

maintained by municipalities.

8,868 views

Restaurant Inspections Improvements made to this

web site aim to provide

information in a user-friendly

manner to assist the public in making decisions regarding

retail food sites. Launched

November 13.

372,963 page views for 2014 42,873 page views since

launch of new site Page views up 945% from

same period last year

11/13 –11/24

COUNTY EMBARKS ON ITS LARGEST ROAD PROJECT

massive project and why it is important not only

for the safety of the traveling public but also the

economic development of Weld County. The

Corridor project, which includes enhancements

to WCR 49 south from Highway 34 to Interstate

76, is expected to be completed by 2017.

Residents and travelers of WCR 49 alike are

encouraged to check the Public Works section

of the Weld County web site frequently for

updates on both projects.

The largest road

construction project

in county history was

formally kicked off

Friday, October 10,

with a groundbreaking

for the Weld County

Road 49 Parkway. The

3.5-mile project, which

will extend from WCR 49 north of US 34 to WCR 60.5, will include the

building of a new four-lane concrete road and

two new bridges, one over the Cache la Poudre

river and the other over the South Platte River.

The project is expected to be completed by

September of 2015.

Work on the Parkway Project preceded the

Weld County Road 49 Corridor Project

which also began in 2014. In the October

episode of Spotlight Weld County,

Commissioners William Garcia and Barbara

Kirkmeyer spoke about the corridor project,

which will be the largest road construction

project in the county’s 153 year history including why the county is undertaking this

2014 SUMMARY HWY 392 AND CR 23

INTERSECTION

IMPROVEMENTS

COMPLETED

In early September, Board members celebrated the completion of improvements to

the intersection of State Highway 392 and Weld County Road 23. The improvements included increasing the safety of

the intersection and reducing

traffic congestion.

The $3.8 million project was paid for through funds from the Colorado Department

of Transportation (CDOT), Weld County, the North Front Range MPO, Windsor

and Severance. Weld County applied for the STP-Metro funds from the NFRMPO

on behalf of the communities, but each agency contributed to

the project.

Weld County Road 23 was an

existing offset intersection and had numerous safety issues as well as a substantial accident

history. From 2005-2008, 17 traffic accidents occurred at the intersection of WCR 23 and

SH 392.

The improvements aim to

reduce the number of accidents by aligning the intersection of the roads, improving sight

distances on SH 392, adding new turn lanes and widening the

truck-turning radius.

INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION ON COUNTY NG PROGRAM

In August, Weld County Commissioners Barbara Kirkmeyer and

Sean Conway had the opportunity to share the county’s

knowledge about compressed natural gas (CNG) by leading a

tour for Noble Energy’s Government Relations Advisor in Israel,

Noa Binyamin, along with Sherrie Merrow, CNG Advisor/LNG

and CNG Development for Noble. After hearing about Noble’s

partnership with Weld County to provide CNG school buses to

Weld County School District RE-1, Binyamin said she wanted to

come visit Weld County to learn how she could implement a

similar project in Israel. Along with Weld County Public Works Director Jay McDonald and Engineering Supervisor/

Transportation Planner Elizabeth Relford, the Commissioners gave

Binyamin a tour of the county’s CNG stations, demonstrating how

they operate and safety precautions they take.

The following month, the Board helped Noble and RE-1 celebrate

the completion of the school district’s new CNG bus barn and

CNG fueling station. Weld County assisted the school district in

applying for the grant funding used to help pay for both the

station and the buses. The county also assisted the district by

writing the bid documents for the bus barn so that it met the

appropriate standards for CNG vehicles.

Connect with us!