Yesterday morning, in Part Seven, we shared some information about allegedly unauthorized, unbudgeted road paving projects completed or underway in Archuleta County this summer, and also, about alleged operational violations at the County-run landfill on Trujillo Road.
In the afternoon, Archuleta County sent out a press release on the same two unpleasant topics, written by their new Public Information Officer Ashley Springer. The information expands somewhat on what we reported in the Daily Post yesterday… and the tone is perhaps slightly different.
ARCHULETA COUNTY, COLORADO
P.O. Box 1507 / 398 Lewis Street / Pagosa Springs, Colorado 81147 Tel (970) 264-8300
Archuleta County is seeking a new Public Works Director to oversee several departments including Road & Bridge, Transportation, Weed & Pest, County Engineering, Solid Waste and Recycling. The discovery of improper oversight regarding the county landfill, lack of communication, improper budgeting for road projects and verbal commitments to spend funds not approved by county leadership, have opened this vital county position.
You can find more information about the job position on the Indeed.com website, here, including a full job description and a suggested salary of $85,738 to $119,725.
The job description mentions oversight of “fleet maintenance” which was not mentioned in yesterday’s press release.
The County press release continues:
On June 21 , 2023, pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Sites and Facilities Act, CRS §30-20-100.5, the Archuleta County Landfill received their annual inspection. Initially, the County received a Notice of Inspection marked with the result of ‘no violations observed’. The initial inspection form was then provided to County Manager Derek Woodman, at which time announcements were made and press releases written which included passing of the inspection for the first time in several years.
On July 10 , 2023, the county’s most recent Public Works Director received the full compliance advisory report from the Colorado Department of Health & Environment (CDPHE) Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division. The report included six deficiencies that were concealed from county leadership. After receiving a call from CDPHE on August 15 , 2023, regarding an upcoming meeting to fix the discrepancies contained in the landfill report, it became clear neither Woodman nor county leadership had ever been provided the full report from the most recent Public Works Director.
Following the discovery of this oversight and the failure to provide the results of CDHPE’s Compliance Advisory report to leadership, county staff have worked diligently to right all discrepancies and have corrected over half of them to date. Work includes the spraying of a thick breathable cover over loose trash, water pooling prevention, training of new personnel and required storage of written policies and procedures on-site at the facility. Despite the deficiencies, the landfill did pass 39 of the 45 functional categories.
For the past three months and unbeknownst to county leadership, a contractor has been working to repair damage to the landfill’s lining in cell 4A with no signed contract and likely on a handshake deal with the most recent Public Works Director. Once County leadership learned of this work without a proper contract, the project was stopped immediately. Work is set to resume with the same contractor once a proper contract has been approved and signed by the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC). Due to this discovery, the landfill is projected to be closed for up to two weeks while the proper materials are ordered and put in place. More details will be provided to the public as they are received.
The County solid waste department has faced numerous challenges over the past couple of decades, including staff turnover, violations of environmental regulations, and problems with recycling operations that have resulted in “recycling” not actually being recycled.
The biggest problem, however, seems to be that the landfill is going to reach capacity within the next few years, and the County has no location selected for a future landfill. Under state law, the County is not required to operate a landfill, and it’s entirely possible that a private land owner could open a private landfill operation in the future. Where exactly such an operation would be located is an open question.
Another possible problem is how a contractor could be working on a landfill project, “…for the past three months and unbeknownst to county leadership”.
The County press release continues:
In addition, several road projects will be impacted by recent findings. Pursuant to County Procurement Policy, Section 4.1.B.1, only the County Administrator or the Chair of the BoCC has the authority to sign a capital improvement contract for the County. In addition, pursuant to Section 4.1.B.2, only the County Administrator or the Chair of the BoCC has the authority to sign a service contract for the County if the total value exceeds $50,000. In practice, the County Administrator will sign a contract with a value of less than $50,000 and the BoCC will sign contracts with values in excess of $50,000.
Findings show the most recent Public Works Director made a total of three unauthorized verbal agreements with subcontractors without any such contract, bypassing the necessary contractual steps required by the County. This would have resulted in over-budgeted expenditures of nearly $1 million. Quick teamwork and research by Woodman, the Interim Public Works Director and the Road and Bridge department put a stop to all projects that would have caused the budget breach.
Unfortunately, this will result in the inability to finish several road projects. A project in the Woods neighborhood, which had already begun, will be completed in the coming days. However, additional scheduled work in both the Trails and Vista neighborhoods will receive additional materials and surface treatments to carry them through the winter months. Work in those areas will be completed next spring.
We will note that, while the Public Works Director oversees, and is responsible for the operations of, several County divisions, the County Manager oversees, and thus, is responsible for, the actions of the Public Works Director.
“Quick teamwork and research”, in this case, was applied only after the Road and Bridge Department had already engaged in $1 million worth of unauthorized paving projects. We might wonder about the word “quick”.
The County press release concludes:
The county thanks residents for their patience during these recent discoveries. More information will be released as it becomes available…
For more information, please contact the County Communications Specialist/PIO: Ashley Springer
970-264-8309
aspringer@archueltacounty.org