Photo: Reviewing the floor plans for the vacant Wyndham offices on Talisman Drive. Clockwise from left, County Clerk Kristy Archuleta, County Treasurer Elsa White, County Assessor Johanna Tully-Elliot, County Attorney Cathleen Giovanini, Commissioner Warren Brown, Commissioner Veronica Medina.
At Tuesday’s June 24 Archuleta Board of County Commissioners’ work session, County Sheriff Mike Le Roux briefed the commissioners about Stage One fire restrictions, which might be put in place, possibly in July, dependent upon various risk measurements.
Another work session discussion that morning also had a link to fire.
County Clerk Kristy Archuleta, County Treasurer Elsa White, and County Assessor Johanna Tully-Elliot unrolled a couple of floor plans to help facilitate a discussion about where, exactly, their departments will be housed for the coming months… or years.
All three of their departments, formerly located in the Old County Courthouse, suffered fire and smoke damage in the early morning hours of June 12, when an arsonist reportedly tossed an incendiary device through a courthouse window. Also affected were Human Resources, GIS, and Motor Vehicles.
The County offices have been operating out of temporary quarters since the incident, but County Clerk Kristy Archuleta has a tight deadline to establish her office in a secure location, so that she can legally meet the stringent security and public access requirements for the November 2025 election.
The Old Courthouse has been home to Archuleta County offices starting in 1928, but a previous Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) sold the building to Texas businessman Ronnie Urbanczyk in April 2022. Mr. Urbanczyk’s purchase offer included a $550,000 payment, five years of free rent for County departments, a 10% County ownership interest in a 40-acre property near Stevens Field and an offer to purchase a six-acre, County-owned property on Cloman Boulevard for $180,000.
Mr. Urbanczyk valued the ‘up to five years of free rent’ for the existing County offices, at $80,000.
The one-story west wing of the building previously served as the County Sheriff’s Office and the County Detention Center, but was abandoned in 2015 following a roof leak, which was then followed by claims, from then-Sheriff Rich Valdez, of air quality issues. Studies commissioned by the BOCC did not find evidence of poor air quality, but Sheriff Valdez nevertheless refused to return to the building, and began housing his staff in temporary quarters, and the jail inmates in La Plata County. Five years later, a new $20 million jail was constructed in Harman Park, and a nearby house was converted into a Sheriff’s Office.
Following the departure of the Sheriff, the west half of the building remained vacant until a propane company located its office there in 2024.
According to the conversation at Tuesday’s work session, Mr. Urbanczyk had offered to allow the County departments displaced by the June 12 fire to move into the mostly-vacant west wing of the Old Courthouse, under his ‘free rent’ arrangement.
Commissioner Warren Brown opened the Tuesday conversation by stating that he had scheduled a meeting with Mr. Urbanczyk for the following day, but he understood that the three elected officials had come up with a viable alternative to the west wing of the Old Courthouse.
And indeed, the alternative — some vacant Wyndham Resort offices at the corner of Talisman Drive and Village Drive — did sound viable.
Clerk & Recorder Kristy Archuleta introduced the idea as the officials rolled out a large floor plan of the building, with rooms outlined in various colors to indicate where departments could be accommodated.
“We have gone through and outlined how this would work for all of our departments that were affected by the fire, as far as where the Treasurer’s office would go, what space the Assessor would take, and Elections, Motor Vehicles, GIS and Human Resources.
Assessor Tully-Elliot:
“We realized we’re going to need storage, to keep our records. I have rolling cabinets that have to go somewhere… We feel like this flows really well for all of us, and keeps us all together in one building. It’s nice and open and easily accessible…”
As mentioned, the deadline for getting these County departments settled in a functional space is especially important to the County Clerk, who is responsible for running county elections — a task that is highly regulated by the state government. And to help clarify those regulations, the BOCC had invited the Colorado State Election Director Dr. Judd Choate to join the work session remotely, to explain some of the pertinent requirements.
Those election requirements related to, basically, two areas of concern.
1. Top notch security for the equipment, ballots and staff, including ’24/7/365′ video recording.
2. Access for people with disabilities.
I got the impression that some requirements might require (expensive?) building modifications, but those modifications will be required no matter what building the Clerk settles into.
And the work will need to be done quickly, because the election clock is already running, and certain tasks need to be completed by the end of July.
Commissioner Brown wanted to know if the Division of Elections has funding available for these types of emergency transitions, and Dr. Choate hinted that his department might be able to provide some financial assistance.
Commissioner Medina noted that the Wyndham organization is apparently willing to cut the County a break on the rent.
“They did send a price. And they said they want to be good neighbors, and that they simply want to cover their costs, exposure, wear and tear, etc. They could charge around $13,000 a month… but because they want to be a good neighbor, what they would charge would be $6,500 a month.
“I talked to our Finance Director, and he said that would be about $40,000 for the rest of this year, and that is something that we could cover.
“And then next year, we would budget it and have the departments that are in those offices include it in their budgets.”
Commissioner John Ranson quoted a monthly rent for the vacant Sears building, that was asking $9,500 a month.
“From a price standpoint, I think [the Wyndham building] is a screaming deal, compared to what larger spaces are renting for. Especially, decent quality…”