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Second suspect in gun heist arrested Page A3

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MONTROSE

October 15, 2014

VOL 132, NO. 73 75 cents MONTROSE, CO 81401 www.montrosepress.com

Reading program surpasses 550,000 minutes

Gunman robs Delta store Businesses put on alert

By Nathan Meacham Daily Press Staff Writer

The Montrose County School Board recognized a couple passionate readers who excelled in the district’s summer reading program during a board meeting Tuesday evening.

The 2014 Summer Reading Program, which is a collaboration between the school district and the Montrose Library District, included nearly 500 total elementary, middle and high school students.

A few standouts received praise from the school board.

Kenadee Hadlock, a fourthgrader at Johnson Elementary, logged 11,000 reading minutes throughout the summer. She told the board her favorite books were from the Harry Potter series.

Trinity Bentler, an eighthgrader at Olathe Middle School, was also recognized for her improvement from the spring to the fall. Her I-Ready score, the district’s own assessment, increased 118 points and was the most among all the students who participated in the summer reading program.

Mindy Baumgardner, the school district’s communications and special projects coordinator, said Trinity exemplifies one of the program’s goals.

“One of the goals of summer reading is to stop the summer reading regression, so when they’re leaving in the spring and coming back to us, they have either maintained or have improved,” she said.

Daytona Sherriff, a fourthgrader at Northside Elementary, missed the board meeting but still was recognized for reaching 12,000 minutes on her reading log.

In total, more than 558,000 see READING, page A3

By Katharhynn Heidelberg Daily Press Senior Writer

Justin Joiner/Daily Press

Montrose County Sheriff Rick Dunlap addresses the dispatch center during a meeting Tuesday.

Sheriff defends fee increase

Push renewed for city-county meeting over dispatch

By Katharhynn Heidelberg Daily Press Senior Writer

Sheriff Rick Dunlap’s meeting Tuesday to explain rising dispatch center fees was met with partial understanding and partial contention — plus indications that a city-county meeting could be held at last.

Dunlap hosted a meeting for the public after the City of Montrose complained of being hit with hefty fee increases for its use of dispatch services, and the city attorney said the county had threatened to cut off dispatching for the city if a $20,000 bill wasn’t paid.

That contention is “ludicrous,” the sheriff said, reiterating that he would not cut off citizens from help.

“I never said — Steve, did I say that?” Dunlap asked,

confronting Steve Alcorn, the city attorney, after providing the history of the Montrose County Regional Dispatch Center, its staffing level and needs.

“I have never been so happy to be misinformed, now that we know you are not going to stop our services,” Alcorn replied from the audience.

The city is one of dozens of agencies for which the MCRDC dispatches. Depending on the contract and agency, fees are charged as a percentage of use, or as a flat fee.

The city cried foul over dramatic increases proposed for 2015. Although since revised to about $542,000, the city had been informed its fee would be close to $670,000 and began looking at ways to pare its budget — including, per Manager Bill Bell, possibly scaling back the drug task force.

The new figure, though pleasantly lower, prompted “frustration” because the city is trying to draft its budget

and cannot do that when expenditures fluctuate without notice.

“You make it hard for people to budget when you keeping doling things out,” Alcorn said.

The fees are rising along with the costs, Dunlap explained, and it’s not just the city that will feel the pinch. Had it been up to him, he added, the county would never have taken on a regional dispatch center.

“It costs a lot of money to operate that center,” Dunlap said.

Projected revenue for the center for 2015 is about $1.2 million, while total operating expenses are projected to be more than $1.6 million, County Finance Director Cindy Bennet explained. The net operating loss is projected at $403,598. The budget excludes capital costs.

The county assumes all liability for the dispatch center, pays the full freight of tower see SHERiff, page A4

Hospitality summit provides tools to refresh customer engagement

By Jason Wheeler Daily Press Staff Writer

Hospitality and guest services could be considered the most important area of business. And in order to improve the level of guest services of businesses on the Western Slope, the Western Colorado Hospitality Summit will be held Thursday, Oct. 23 and Friday, Oct. 24. Organized by the Western Business Alliance of Colorado and the Montrose Office of Business and Tourism, this will be the second annual summit.

Co-director Sue Hansen said last year’s summit came about because the organizers felt if Montrose and the Western Slope were going to continue to attract repeat visitors, there needed to be an opportunity to brush up and improve upon the level of guest services.

“One of the things we observed is that most people feel

they have to go to Denver or Salt Lake in order to get some kind of quality training,” Hansen said. “We wanted to be able to bring that level that had been unsurpassed before to Montrose.”

Hansen said holding the summit in Montrose would establish the city as an education hub, and take hospitality that is normally thought of as guest services at hotels and restaurants, and drill it down to offices, retail outlets and businesses where employees and staff could be hospitable to clientele.

Last year’s summit, Hansen said, drew about 170 people, which she felt was pretty good for the first event. She said the organizers contacted all the Chambers of Commerce on the Western Slope to help with mailing and spread the word. Hansen said this year she would like the attendance to double.

The conference, held at the Montrose Pavilion Event Center, located at 1800 Pavilion Dr., will have 12 sessions along with speakers in the morning. Hansen said Rob Joseph, director of the Office of Business and Tourism, will open Friday with a talk on helping to understand why it’s important to be guest-friendly from the perspective of the tourist industry. There will be speakers and breakout sessions throughout the day on various topics.

“Honestly, I think that we do a darn good job here in Montrose of our customer service overall, but everybody can learn something new,” Hansen said. “No matter how technologically advanced we get, it still comes down to friendly, open, I-can-get-youthat service.”

The opening keynote for the summit will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, following a

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reception that begins at 4:30 p.m. Jeff Havens, a comedian and regular on Fox News and NBC, will provide the keynote with a talk about customer service.

Hansen said Thursday’s opening reception, keynote address and book signing and networking opportunity are free and open to the public.

The Guest Services Certification Course on Thursday and the rest of the summit on Friday, beginning at 7:30 a.m., is only open to those who have registered.

Registration is $129 for an individual full summit pass, $40 for the Guest Services Certification Course and $149 for both. Registration can be completed online or at the door Thursday from noon to 5 p.m.

For more information, a full agenda or to register, visit www.westerncoloradohospitality.com.

A Delta store clerk faced a harrowing ordeal Monday night, when a masked man walked into the Grand Valley Convenience Store, pointed a handgun at her and demanded money.

The gun’s hammer was cocked, Delta Police Chief Robert Thomas said. “This guy, he means business. She (clerk) did what she was told to do and I totally encourage that, versus trying to fight. I discourage that,” he said. “... She was scared. Who wouldn’t be?”

The man reportedly aimed a silver colored revolver-type gun at the woman and forced her to hand over the cash, the amount of which hasn’t been disclosed. He then left the Main Street store on foot, fleeing south from the business; it wasn’t immediately known whether he had access to a vehicle.

The suspect is described as a white male, standing between 5-feet-7 and 5-feet-9, and having a slender build.

He was wearing a dark green, hooded sweatshirt with the hood over his head, and a dark mask that concealed his face.

“Something like this hasn’t happened in a long time in the City of Delta, since I’ve been here,” Thomas said.

Businesses are being alerted to take precautions, while residents are being asked to report anything they may know about the crime.

“To be proactive, we have contacted businesses within the city, telling them to be on the lookout; don’t leave large sums in their registers and, to avoid being seriously injured or killed, don’t fight with the suspect, just meet their demands and do as they say,” Thomas said.

“We don’t want anyone to be killed as the result of $10 in the cash register, for example.

Their life is more important than the money in the till.”

Cracking the case depends, at this point, upon the public coming forward, Thomas indicated.

“We just want to get any information that we can. The public is our eyes and ears.

Without their assistance, there’s not a whole lot we can do in this instance,” he said.

Anyone with information about the crime is urged to contact Detective Angie Hart at 970-874-7676; Crime Stoppers at 970-874-8810 or Delta County’s dispatch at 970-8742015. Crime Stoppers of Delta has offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to a conviction and Crime Stopper tipsters can remain anonymous.

If you think you have spotted the suspect, or know who the identity of the individual, do not approach or attempt to apprehend, but instead call authorities. For emergencies, call 911.

Today’s Weather Partly cloudy with highs near 76 leading to a generally clear night with lows around 44.

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MONTROSE DAILY PRESS

SHERIFF: Dunlap calls out critics; explains services, costs

FROM PAGE 1 maintenance, the sheriff ’s officer pays half of the benefits for dispatch staff and absorbs the maintenance of the Spillman law enforcement system.

The city accounts for 53 percent of the calls made to the center.

Every service call is tracked and assessed on a percentage-of-use basis. When the county receives an award from the Montrose Emergency Service Authority, there are credits back to user- agencies. For 2014, METSA provided $300,000, which saved the city a chunk of change, but, for 2015, so far, there is nothing from METSA and that’s creating a “substantial impact,” Bennet said.

The METSA board will likely take up the matter, said Dispatch Communications Director Susan Byrne, but a decision might not take place until next year.

“I’m not saying there is no hope, but that maybe the discussion is still open,” she said.

Dunlap called out Mayor Bob Nicholson for statements he made in a Sept. 25 Daily Press article about two county commissioners and Dunlap being unwilling to agree to a meeting on the dispatch fees.

The sheriff pointed to a March 17 county commissioner meeting at which Nicholson asked for a meeting about unresolved issues; Dunlap at the time said he supported meeting to address the issues.

Nicholson apologized for not remembering the March meeting, but noted the commissioners have yet to set up a joint meeting. The city, he said, is “stuck.”

That the commissioners have yet to do so is “ridiculous,” Bell later said. The issue affects all citizens — and city

residents are also county residents — and is not partisan in nature, he said. Councilors just want to talk, not place blame, Bell said.

“Why can’t you sit down and have a meeting?’ resident Dee Laird asked, over county spokeswoman Katie Yergensen’s suggestion that he take his concerns to commissioners during their public comment time.

Commissioner Gary Ellis said there was an agreement to a meeting in 2012, which never occurred, and the moral obligation to have that meeting remains, though no promises can be made.

Commissioner David White interrupted to explain that he hadn’t been able to make the original meeting, prompting Ellis to say: “You never let me finish” and then indicated that he did not think a meeting involving himself and fellow Commissioner Ron Henderson would have been productive.

Dunlap had to call his meeting back to order.

He explained more than once during the night that he cannot schedule meetings on behalf of commissioners, but can only account for dispatch funding.

In response to Olathe Mayor (and commissioner candidate) Rob Smith’s questions, Dunlap said there had once been an advisory board whose purpose was to keep all of the user-agencies informed on fees and other issues — but the membership dwindled to the point that only county employees were attending.

There appears to be common ground for a resolution, resident Jim Haugsness said: What about use of the 2007 public safety sales tax to help reduce costs? The city had suggested it, he

▲

1 dead after truck crashes off Pueblo bridge PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) — Authorities say one person is dead after a truck ran off a bridge and into a creek in Pueblo.

The Pueblo Chieftain reports the driver hit a concrete embankment on the bridge at a high rate of speed Monday night, launching the truck about 150 feet before plunging into Fountain Creek.

Investigators say the 48-year-old driver, whose name has not been released, might have suffered from a medical condition and lost control of the vehicle.

Denver jury: Deputies used too much force in death DENVER (AP) — A federal jury on Tuesday found five Denver sheriff ’s deputies used excessive force against a homeless street preacher who died in the city’s downtown jail and awarded his family a record $4.65 million in damages, a verdict an attorney said should send a message to law enforcement everywhere.

Marvin Booker died in 2010 after deputies shocked him with a Taser while he was handcuffed, put him in a sleeper hold and lay on top of him, apparently in an effort to control him. His family’s attorneys said that was a zealous overreaction to the 56-year-old, who was frail and suffered a heart condition. The city had argued the deputies’ actions were in line with the department’s policies for subduing a combative inmate.

“He didn’t deserve what these five sheriffs did to him that night,” his brother, Spencer Booker, said, fighting tears after the verdict. “The jury spoke very, very, very clearly that they used excessive force against my brother. Your actions call for consequences.”

The three-week civil trial came amid calls for a federal investigation of the department over other high-profile abuse cases that prompted the sheriff ’s department to make sweeping reforms.

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said.

“We expect our elected officials to get together and work it out. What is the stumbling block?” he asked.

County commissioners and city councilors have to meet, but the purpose of Tuesday’s meeting wasn’t the sales tax, Dunlap said. By its ballot language, 70 percent of the 0.75 percent tax is to go to the sheriff ’s office; the rest goes to other public safety agencies, including rural health and the District Attorney’s Office, which is requesting a nearly 8 percent budgetary increase, Dunlap said.

“My budget is built around the 70 percent guarantee to the sheriff ’s office by the resolution.

My budget is more than the public safety sales tax brings in,” he said.

Nicholson said it appeared to him that the public safety sales tax fund money was being mingled with general fund money, making it hard to see what is being spent and where.

“It does appear to me we are supporting the general fund out of the public safety sales tax fund,” he said.

Dunlap said that is not the case. He also said: “I’m not trying to inflate the costs on anybody.”

The dissatisfaction isn’t with the dispatch center’s service, but that the city’s funding base has gone down while dispatching costs climbed from 5 percent of its budget to 13 percent, Nicholson said.

Despite the contention at times, officials indicated they would like for commissioners and councilors to meet.

“It all boils down to we’re all county residents,” Dunlap said, reiterating that he isn’t going to cut off critical services. “Give me a break. It’s not going to happen,” he said.

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Former Sheriff Gary Wilson resigned in July as the city agreed to pay $3.3 million to settle another federal jail-abuse lawsuit by a former inmate over a beating. It had been the largest payout in city history to settle a civil rights case.

The all-white, seven-member jury began deliberating Friday and delivered its verdict just before noon Tuesday.

Police arrest teen suspected in shooting in Center CENTER, Colo. (AP) — A 17-year-old boy has been arrested in a shooting in the farm town of Center in the San Luis Valley. The Valley Courier reports police believe Monday night’s shooting was an attempted murder. The suspect, who was arrested Tuesday afternoon, is a student at the farming community’s alternative school. His name has not been released. The person who was shot was flown out by an emergency helicopter. Students at schools in the town of about 2,200 people were kept inside Tuesday as police looked for the suspect.

Boy killed, 2 other people hurt in trailer fire BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A 2-year-old boy was killed and two other people were injured in a fire that destroyed a trailer in Boulder.

Details about the victims from Tuesday’s fire, all believed to be related, haven’t been released. But the Daily Camera says a neighbor reported hearing a woman screaming that her baby was trapped inside the home at the Boulder Meadows mobile home park.

Police spokeswoman Kim Kobel says flames from the fire reached about 30 feet into the air and damaged a neighboring trailer. Several neighbors said they tried to get into the trailer but were turned back by its intense heat. The Boulder County coroner’s office has not released the name of the boy who was killed.

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MONTROSE

February 5, 2015

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Group weighs oversight board for dispatch Sheriff eyes the models, structure of other regional centers

By Katharhynn Heidelberg Daily Press Senior Writer

Nate Wick/Daily Press

Fifth-grader Emmalee Machart from Johnson Elementary School thinks about the word ‘obfuscate’ before correctly spelling it and winning the Montrose County District Spelling Bee at Centennial Middle School on Wednesday.

Johnson Elementary fifthgrader wins district bee Oak Grove fifth-grader finishes second

By Alan Lewis Gerstenecker Daily Press News Editor

There is a new Queen Bee in Montrose County and she hives at Johnson Elementary School.

Emellee Machart, 10, a fifth-grader at Johnson Elementary won the Montrose County School District Spelling Bee on Wednesday night with the correct spelling of “obfuscate,” which means to cloud over, obscure.

For Emellee, the win marked a comeback, of sorts, as she misspelled maize, but Jonnie Trujillo misspelled dromedary, which is a single-humped or Arabian camel, in the fifth round.

In the sixth round, Jonnie misspelled epoch and Emellee correctly spelled marsupial. Scripp’s National Spelling Bee rules mandate that a champion must correctly spell a word beyond that of the second-place finisher, and that’s when Emellee correctly spelled obfuscate.

In the end, which turned out to be a battle of fifthgraders, Emellee outdueled Jonnie to win and eighthgrader Alex Morris of Centennial finished third at his home campus among family, friends and wordsmiths in the audience.

“Yeah, I’m pretty happy,” Emellee said. “My uncle promised me $50 if I got to the top 10, so this is pretty nice.”

Emellee, who finished second in the Johnson Elementary School Bee about a month ago, said she crammed extensively for the bee.

“I guess I studied about 40 hours,” said the daughter of Heidi Gillaspy.

And then, when it seems almost absolute that Emellee would choose a career in English or literature, she threw the audience a curve.

“I want to be a math teacher when I grow up,” she quipped. “Although, this will make a nice memory.”

The Sixth Annual Bee was sponsored by the Montrose County School District Quest Gifted and Talented Prosee johnson, page A8

Nate Wick/Daily Press

Fifth-grader Jonnie Trujillo from Oak Grove Elementary School contemplates the word dromedary in the final round of the Montrose County District Spelling Bee at Centennial Middle School on Wednesday.

A multiagency working group is floating the idea of an oversight board that could transition into a separate governmental authority for the Montrose Regional Dispatch Center.

The idea is preliminary at this point, as members of the Communication Center Working Group research how other dispatch centers operate and billing models, as well as review their given agency’s contracts for dispatch services.

“I think the group pretty much agreed that would be something long-term, a few years down the road,” Montrose County Commissioner David White said Wednesday, as to the possible transition. “In between now and arriving at that sort of arrangement, we would put together an advisory board for the dispatch center.”

The regional center is under the auspices of the Montrose County Sheriff ’s Office and the MCSO would retain control. The center dispatches for more than 30 agencies regionwide and bills according to use.

Last year, the City of Montrose — which accounts for the majority of dispatch center use — balked in the face of significantly higher use fees, in part because city residents pay into the public safety sales tax that benefits the MCSO and such agencies as the coroner’s office.

The controversy died down after both entities compromised, with Montrose County kicking in an additional subsidy for 2015.

Part of their agreement was the formation of the working group, which is to forge funding and other strategies.

The working group met last week to discuss individual agency contracts and the structure and authority of the pending oversight group, as well as other issues.

White said he understood why agencies that contract with the MCSO for dispatch services want information.

“I would want to know what’s going on.

That’s where we’re looking at initially putting together an advisory board that would work with the sheriff. The issue of dispatch isn’t going to go away,” he said.

Sheriff Rick Dunlap could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

City Councilor Kathy Ellis suggested telling the full board of county commissioners in advance of establishing an oversight group or separate governmental authority.

Although the sheriff controls the dispatch and other functions of his agency, commissioners hold the pursestrings in that they approve the MCSO’s budget, she said.

“My concern is, is it going to be a moot point, that we go through the whole exercise of having everyone work together, form a plan and want to go forward,” she elaborated Wednesday. “The sheriff is totally in charge of his operation, but the commissioners control the budget. We could all be working together toward one goal, but the county commissioners could say .... ‘we’re not going to give you the money.’” see dispatch, page A3

Taking aim at a title

Montrose sends a dozen to top-notch archery shoot

By Katharhynn Heidelberg Daily Press Senior Writer

She’s a bit nervous; she’s a bit excited — and she’s ready.

Tammy Meineke is one of about a dozen members of Montrose Archery Xpress and the Black Canyon Archers headed to Las Vegas this weekend for the 2015 Vegas Shoot. Presented by the National Field Archery Association, the competition draws about 2,500 marksmen and women from around the globe, including Olympians and other champions.

“This is my first time shooting (at the competition). I’m pretty excited.

It makes me nervous, but I’ll just go try to have some fun,” Meineke said Wednesday, as she traveled to the tournament with her husband, Scott, who is also shooting.

“I went last year and just watched.

This year, I’m going to shoot. Everyone

said to try it out and see how it goes,” she said.

According to Heath McCombs of Montrose Archery Xpress, also Vegasbound are: John Boyer; state- and national-level champion Tim Strickland; Jesse McCombs; two-time state champion John Mousner; Michelle Mousner; Larry Phillips, a three-time state champ; Jason Burnell; state champion Randy Forsythe; Mary Ficklin, also a state champ; Chuck Ott and Kevin Lane, also a state champion.

The Black Canyon Archers have been hard at practice at Montrose Archery Xpress since November, in preparation for the tournament, Jesse McCombs said.

The Vegas Shoot can be viewed live at Archery TV on YouTube; it begins at 7 a.m. Friday and runs through Sunday. see news, page A3

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Inside the Daily Press Published for the Uncompahgre Valley and Michael Zeman of Montrose

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Local archers are set to compete in the Vegas Shoot 300 this weekend. From left, Jason Burnell, Scott Meineke, Tammy Meineke, Larry Phillips, John Mousner, Chuck Ott, John Boyer, Jesse McCombs, Mary Ficklin, Randy Forsythe and Tim Strickland.

Day 1: Share it Sunday Give $5 or even 5 hours to your favorite cause today. Visit guidestar. com for a list of nonprofits in Montrose.

A few passing clouds, otherwise generally sunny. High 59F. Winds light and variable.

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Montrose Daily Press

Local Avalanche mitigation with drones

Thursday, February 5, 2015

A3

s

Vail start-up moving to Telluride

By Stephen Elliott Telluride Daily Planet

Drones are all the rage these days.

They crash into the White House, they’re used for experimental cinematography, and now, a company about to plant roots in Telluride is planning to use drones to combat avalanche danger.

“Living in Vail for a couple of years, we lost a few friends to avalanche incidents,” said Brent Holbrook, co-founder of Mountain Drones. “We were wondering if there was any way we could use this new technology to address that danger.”

Mountain Drones is one of five companies participating in the 2015 Telluride Venture Accelerator cohort, which begins today with a kick-off celebration. Holbrook and fellow Mountain Drones co-founder Warren Linde have said they plan to make the move to Telluride more permanent than the five-month business development program run by TVA and the Telluride Foundation.

“We think that Telluride is a great environment for us both from a natural resources perspective but also a business resources perspective,” Linde said.

“It gives us access to the avalanche-prone terrain that we’re focused on and also the individuals that work in that landscape. It enables us to do further research and development.”

The people at Mountain Drones originally were focused on beacon searches for lost avalanche victims, but

Courtesy photo/Warren Linde

Mountain Drones’ prototype can retrieve snowpack information remotely and perform avalanche mitigation from a safer distance. The start-up will be in town this week for the start of the Telluride Venture Accelerator’s 2015 session and plans to move business operations here permanently. decided to focus on the source of the problem rather than the result.

“Instead of starting with the problem, why don’t we start at the beginning and make the problem not happen as much?” Holbrook asked.

Holbrook, Linde and the rest of the team began initial development of their drone technology at the end of 2013 and worked on it throughout 2014.

Though they aren’t revealing the specifics of their technology because they are still working on securing patents, they said they hope their drones can provide ski patrols and departments of transportation with timely and accurate snowpack information in

addition to a safer alternative to the expensive and dangerous avalanche mitigation work currently done mostly by helicopter and Howitzerlaunched explosives.

“With our technology we seek to keep department of transportation operators as well as ski patrol operators out of harm’s way and keep them out of situations where they could be exposing themselves to bodily harm or positioning themselves on a dangerous mountain face,” Linde said.

“We’re utilizing our technology to keep humans out of harm’s way.”

Linde said the Colorado Department of Transportation is responsible for 278 out of 522

known avalanche paths statewide and that road closures cost the economy around $1 million per hour in economic development, making state departments of transportation an important target customer for Mountain Drones.

“We’ve been in touch with multiple ski patrol operations and CDOT, and they’ve been very receptive. They’re all on our side and think it’s a great idea, a cost-effective and safer way to go about avalanche mitigation operations,” Holbrook said.

“Avalanche mitigation hasn’t changed much since ski resorts were really established in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s. We believe we have a safer and more effective way to do that.”

Avalanche country often overlaps with extreme weather conditions and high altitudes, creating a challenge for drone-based avalanche mitigation.

“Anyone can operate on a bluebird day,” Linde said. “A lot of our development efforts are focused on operations in high-wind and high-altitude environments.”

That’s another reason why Telluride is a good base for Mountain Drones.

“This is probably the toughest environment that you could fly one of the mechanisms in,” Holbrook said. “We’ve proven that it can be done with our initial prototype and the next prototype we’re looking to build even better.

“If we can fly in this environment, we can fly in any environment.”

This is the third cohort for TVA, with the first class of companies coming to Telluride in 2013 for business development work with mentors during the five-month program.

Linde and Holbrook said they are excited about the opportunity to work with TVA mentors and other members of the Telluride community moving forward.

“We are excited about the mentors that are a part of the TVA program,” Linde said. “There will be strong support on both the technical and business sides. We’ll have some mentors that are business-minded and some other mentors out there in the field mitigating avalanches as we speak.”

Published Feb. 1 in the Telluride Daily Planet.

Reprinted with permission.

dispatch: Separate governmental authority pondered

from page a1

The ultimate decision would fall to the sheriff, the working group’s meeting minutes indicate. Ellis did not say that the commissioners necessarily would refuse funding.

“It’s not like we’re unreasonable, because we’re not,” White said. “I understand everybody wants to know what is being done in the way of controlling costs, and balancing the needs, wants and desires of different agencies.”

Dunlap handed out copies of each agency’s contract for individual review and input by the appropriate authorities for each agency.

The only fair means of assessing service fees is by usage, but there are efficiencies that could be considered, White said. For instance, officers who need to speak with another officer in their agency

concerning non-emergency matters might try phone calls, rather than keying their radios and getting dispatch involved, as the latter constitutes a contact that is considered usage, he said.

“If we want to drive some efficiencies, these are some of the things that need to be asked,” White said.

“We’re in the early stages of this. We’re going to sit down and take in the comments and questions, what the different agencies like or dislike and try to make it so (Dunlap) can accommodate them. We want users to know that this is a service that they’re paying for, that they can have input and can, in fact, control their costs.”

Dunlap is reportedly researching other agencies, including Gunnison County and the Grand Junction Police Department, that have either a private contractor or a governing board for their dispatch

centers.

The GJPD has both a 911 board that is responsible for allocating 911 funds, and a communications center board.

“They deal with overseeing the communications center itself,” said GJPD Chief John Camper. “We have the board set up because we use a costshare model to fund the daily operations of the communications center.”

As is the case with the Montrose Regional Dispatch Center, the 24 agencies that use the GJPD center are charged based on call load. “Because they’ve got skin in the game, we have a board that tries to represent all of the agencies,” Camper said.

Communications center employees are police department employees. While some areas of the state have separated their centers into standalone authorities, there have only been discussions about doing so in Mesa County, Camper

said.

But because other agencies are paying into the dispatch center, “it’s only fair” that a board helps to oversee it, he added.

“They’re not making dayto-day operational decisions.

That’s left to the police department and supervisors in the communications center, but they are assisting with staffing decisions, major expenditures, how much of a fund balance we should carry and how best to allocate costs,” Camper said.

Funding dispatch centers is expensive and growing more so, which can especially burden smaller agencies — yet the contracts remain more cost-effective than it would be for an agency to operate its own center, he said.

The service-call model isn’t perfect, Camper said, and a subcommittee for his dispatch center is looking at other models, such as population and

equipment use.

The idea of a governing board of directors here appeared to have been well received, local working group members said.

“I didn’t hear anyone say ‘no,’” Montrose Police Chief Tom Chinn said. “We’re just trying to make it better. That’s what it’s all about.”

Ellis also saw positive developments from the meeting.

“There isn’t anybody, I think, that’s upset. All ideas are on the table,” she said.

“I think the sheriff, the undersheriff and David White were all very open to just about any idea that anyone had. I think that the changes we’re hoping to make will benefit everyone who lives in Montrose County,” Chinn concurred.

“I think it’s just going to take a while to work through this whole thing, a year or year and a half to get to where we ultimately want to be.”

Archery: Montrose experts celebrate sport’s soaring popularity from page a1 Montrose Archery Xpress plans to stream the event during its regular business hours, noon to 7 p.m.

“It gives people a chance to see the competition side of it. Archery’s not just about hunting,” said Jesse McCombs, who operates Montrose Archery Xpress with Heath. “It’s a world-tour shoot; you’ll get some Olympians there shooting.”

He added: “I’m going for the experience of it. Running the shop takes more of my time than I get to practice.”

The Vegas Shoot boasts a $30,000 purse for the top championship in the male freestyle division. The projected total payout of cash and prizes is $275,000, according to the National Association of Field Archery’s website.

The tournament is three days of “intense, noerror” competition, including the event’s traditional three-spot, 20-yard “Vegas Round.” This year, the Vegas Shoot also ushers in its new Young Adult Championship Division (freestyle and limited recurve), to allow the 15- to 17-year-old set to compete on the same arena as some of the world’s top archers.

A trade show is also on tap.

Tammy Meineke will be shooting with a draw weight of 42 pounds in the adult female freestyle division. She has been practicing along with Scott between three and four times a week since November, and took up archery more than a year ago, join-

ing her husband, who is a longtime archer.

“We got married, and he pulled me into it,” she said.

“It’s good,” Heath McCombs said of the Vegas Shoot. “Quite a few of these guys go every year. It’s just now they’re getting recognized.

The McCombses opened Montrose Archery Xpress two years ago, offering archery supplies, service from bow mechanics, shooting instructors and an indoor practice range that is open to anyone for a small fee, not just to archery club members. It is an authorized dealer for several makes of bows and strings.

The business is expanding its range in order to accommodate a few more shooters.

“The popularity of archery is getting so big that we need more room,” Jesse McCombs said.

“Definitely, we’re looking and trying to get more kids and families involved in it.”

More information about the Vegas Shoot is available at www.nfaausa.com.

Montrose Archery Xpress is located at 237 N. 4th St. and can be reached at 964-2341 or http://MAXArcher.webs.com.

Black Canyon Archers can be found on Facebook.

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Montrose Daily Press presses candidates with additional questions. Page A6

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DEEPER VIEW

City wants new dispatch center

Facility would be under board auspices, run as co-op

BY KATHARHYNN HEIDELBERG DAILY PRESS SENIOR WRITER

Areas of exact, or nearly exact, wording are highlighted on these superintendent application documents.

School deja vu Superintendent candidates use same wording in application documents

BY JUSTIN JOINER DAILY PRESS MANAGING EDITOR

Two Colorado candidates vying for the Montrose County School District superintendent position have more in common than their state of residence.

The cover letters and responses to a question about achievement submitted by Brent Curtice, and Todd Markley contain several sentences that use the exact same language.

The school board began its quest to seek a replacement for former superintendent Mark MacHale who resigned on April 3.

The board in June chose three finalists, Moffat County resident Curtice,

Markley, of Delta, and Wisconsin candidate Stephen Schiell, from a field of 12.

The two committees of eight community members will spend an hour with each candidate and provide the school board with input about the candidates.

Markley and Curtice said they used a template for the cover letter.

“Typically, there is always a template to follow so you are addressing the right things,”

Curtice said. “I don’t think it is an issue. I don’t, from my perspective.”

A former superintendent provided Markley’s template, he said, and he thought Curtice might have been given that same template.

“We were both administrators (for the same school district) at A6 the same time,” Markley said.

“I am assuming that is what he used. That is what I used.”

Find out where these candidates stand on unions and balancing the budget:

Montrose city officials did not mince words in addressing Olathe town trustees Thursday: They are pursuing a separate dispatching center and hoping for useragency buy-in.

The center would be set up with a board of directors, as a cooperative, with everyone having a vote and a say in fees, and the City of Montrose absorbing administrative and some start-up costs.

“We believe, with the history we’ve had with Montrose County, we’ve had absolutely no say in how operations of the dispatch center are done,” Montrose Police Chief Tom Chinn said during a work session with Olathe Mayor Rob Smith, Mayor Pro-tem Dolores Killen and Town Administrator Patty Gabriel.

“The bottom line with Montrose County is it is autocratic. It’s the county’s way, with little to no input from users,” Chinn said.

County commissioners were not aware of the meeting or proposal details.

Commissioner Ron Henderson said the city can do what it wants.

“It sounds like sour grapes. I’m sorry to hear that. They are welcome to form their own dispatch center,” he said.

The city has been reaching out to several entities that currently use the Montrose County Regional Dispatch Center, which is under the auspices of the sheriff.

Sheriff’s views The city and other user agencies last year balked at soaring dispatch fees, and Montrose County offered a one-time subsidy to offset it, but will not be continuing subsidies.

A separate group was established to work out a strategy for the future. Suggestions to establish a board of directors, similar to what agencies such as the Grand Junction

See CANDIDATES, page A3

See DISPATCH, page A3

Affordable Care Act ruling spares Colorado disruption

BY KEVIN SIMPSON THE DENVER POST

DENVER — Colorado continues to operate business as usual after the U.S. Supreme Court decision Thursday upheld certain federal subsidies offered by the Affordable Care Act, and the state exchange avoided disruption that likely would have accompanied a ruling against Obamacare.

Although insurance is regulated state by state, the economic dynamics cross state lines and would have been felt in Colorado, said Dick Cauchi, who tracks health care at the Denver-based National Conference of State Legislatures.

“Colorado along with others is dodging a bullet in the sense that there’s less concern, less disruption, especially for multi-state insurers that might have had their entire business model disrupted by a change in surrounding states,” Cauchi said. “There may well have been some kind of adverse economics or even ‘death spiral’ (for the ACA) had 36 states had a different approach to the subsidy.”

The King v. Burwell case challenged the subsidies offered to millions of enrollees in states

INDEX

CALENDAR . . . . . A2 OBITUARIES . . . . A4 OPINION . . . . . . . A5

“Coloradans would have been insulated from the worst impacts of an adverse ruling, but we definitely would have felt ripple effects. By establishing our own marketplace, we made that layer of protection for consumers.”

Adam Fox, Colorado Consumer Health Initiative that use the federal exchange, rather than a state-run model.

By interpreting the law to support those subsidies, the court’s decision aids an estimated 6.4 million people who would have been unable to afford premiums in the dozens of states that declined to set up their own exchanges.

Colorado offers policies through the state-run exchange, Connect for Health Colorado.

TV LISTINGS . . . . A7 COMICS . . . . . . . A8 OUTDOORS . . . . A10

Its federal subsidies were not in question.

State Sen. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, noted that the ruling also gives Colorado some flexibility as it addresses issues with its state exchange, whose expenses have far exceeded original estimates.

“As we try and figure out what to do with our state-run exchange, which is up but flailing — particularly financially — we now have one more option as we look at the future,” she said. She noted that some states have moved from staterun exchanges to the federal exchange.

Roberts, who chairs a legislative oversight committee that meets again next month, said she isn’t suggesting that’s the direction Colorado should pursue. But she added that it’s an alternative that merits consideration if the state exchange doesn’t improve.

“We don’t have a track record yet of the kind of success I think is needed,” she said. “But there is a lot of effort underway to try and fix those problems.”

Rep. Beth McCann, D-Denver and also a member of the oversight committee, said that while the court’s ruling expands the options that Colorado can pursue — especially once states can

SPORTS . . . . A11, 12 CLASSIFIEDS . . . B2-8

Reaction elsewhere:

Lloyd and Shawn Turner, who are farmers in Cisco, Ill., have subsidized health insurance through President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul program. The Supreme Court upheld nationwide tax subsidies in a 6-3 decision Thursday. The ruling came as a relief to Turner, who finished treatment last summer for uterine cancer and now sees her doctor for regular follow-up scans to make sure the cancer is gone. Turner endured three surgeries and chemotherapy, all covered by her new insurance. For a report on how the ruling affects states, see page A7. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman) seek waivers from provisions of the ACA in 2017 — she doesn’t see the state heading toward abandoning its exchange.

“We’re trying to strengthen

our state exchange and make sure it can be sustainable,” she said. “I think (the decision)

Published for the Uncompahgre Valley and Jack Schiltz of Montrose

See RULING, page A7

Local

Montrose Daily Press

The city’s proposal for a board-run dispatch center is based on a 13-dispatcher, three-console model, staffed 24/7, and serving agencies in Montrose, San Miguel and Ouray counties.

Startup costs are about $1.04 million, with a slight increase in the second year, to adjust for equipment warranties, Montrose Police Cmdr.

Keith Caddy explained.

The city will provide the upfront costs and absorb the overhead, Bell said. The dispatch center could be housed in a cityowned building behind the police department

CANDIDATES from page A1

Both said the template accounts for the same wording on the cover letter. Neither could fully explain how they ended up with the exact same language in part of their responses to a question about student achievement, which was one of four questions posed to the candidates in the application documents.

“I didn’t use any templates for those questions,” Markley said.

Curtice said the only reason the answer to the question would be similar was because of his and Markley’s training together. “ … I wouldn’t say it was clerical or a mistake on either part.

I think we have been trained by some of the best and we did it together,” he said. “The research would then say you would use those lines as you speak. That is my thinking about it.”

Schiell’s cover letter and responses to the application questions did not contain any identical language to the other two finalists’ documents.

Leann Tobin, Montrose County School Board president, said in a voicemail left for the

to $39,000, while the city was faced with about $700,000, up from $325,000, it was said.

Smith questioned whether the proposal has factored in the possibility of default, and how that might affect other agencies. That is not addressed in the draft bylaws, but should be discussed, Chinn said, adding that he thinks the new dispatch would be morally obligated to continue service for citizens of a defaulting entity.

Gabriel noted the proposed costs assume participation by all agencies; if not all agencies — such as the sheriff ’s office — buy in, that would change the costs, she said.

“We would take the sheriff ’s office on Day One” if there was interest, Chinn said.

Stuck with it The participatory factor cuts both ways, though. Presently, the city of Montrose accounts for half or more of dispatch calls and user fees. Were it to drop out of the current center and go with a standalone, that would affect Montrose Regional Dispatch’s budget.

“Montrose County (commissioners) probably will not be signing on, but we’re going to be

Daily Press, she noticed the similar language.

“I went back and looked at their cover letters and they are very similar and exact in the same places,” she said.

But having similar language in a cover letter wasn’t much of an issue, as candidates are judged by much more than their letters, she said.

“I guess you can look at that as the cover letter or letter of interest as a formality, but we do go much deeper than that to look at their experience, their education, their background checks, all that kind of stuff and talk to lots and lots of references,” she said. “We don’t just pick them based on their cover letter.”

The Colorado Association of School Boards is helping the district with the superintendent search. Tobin referred the Daily Press to the association for questions about the duplicate language the candidates used in response to the student achievement question.

Mark DeVoti, with the Colorado Association of School Boards, was on vacation Thursday and unavailable.

Without his input, the office was unable to provide information

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County sheriff.

The sheriff is willing to consider a board of directors setup, since the board would absorb liability. In order to use the current dispatch building for that purpose, Montrose County, which owns the building, would have to agree.

Montrose County’s permission is not required for Dunlap to change the structure of dispatch/participate in a board of directors model, however.

The city indicated it will proceed with the cooperative/board of directors structure regardless.

Rick Dunlap, Montrose County sheriff

competing for dollars ... for valuable funds that the Montrose Emergency Telephone Service Authority says is already stretched thin,” Dunlap said.

Gabriel later asked what happens if the city and the Montrose Fire Protection District pull out of current operations.

“I would be stuck with it,” Dunlap said, referring to addressing the funding shortfall in such an event.

Funding issues led to the sheriff ’s second dispatch center at his West End substation being shuttered in 2012.

Dunlap also said he cannot control certain costs, such as administrative fees and the county’s decision to discontinue its subsidy.

He had hoped that stakeholders would come together with an open mind after the advisory

about whether candidates often provide cover letters and answers using the exact same language on some application documents.

Justin Joiner can be reached at 252-7035 or justinj@montrosepress.com.

Moving forward Dunlap said that out of fairness, he plans to meet with commissioners and explain what’s being considered before deciding.

No one has complaints about the actual service received via the current dispatch, it was said. If a standalone dispatch goes forward, again, it would be a co-op, not cityowned, Caddy stressed earlier.

“We’re not trying to take over the empire,” Chinn said.

But the city is prepared to move forward.

“I have my marching orders,” Chinn said. If there are no changes to the current arrangement, the city will proceed.

“We’re marching forward with a dispatch center.”

Reach Katharhynn Heidelberg at 252-7032 or katharhynnh@montrosepress.com.

group was formed last year. “That has not occurred. This is nothing more than politics at its finest,” Dunlap said.

Bell agreed, but blamed commissioners for the politicking. He said that although the city might pay the same fees under a standalone, board-governed dispatch center, the point is that it and other agencies would have a voice they currently lack.

“The commissioners have put the sheriff ’s office in a bad situation,” Bell alleged. “ … There’s no ability to work with that group.”

“I don’t have any gripe with them personally,” Henderson told the Daily Press. “That kind of attitude is really unfortunate.”

If Dunlap is agreeable, the city would move

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Staff Report

Ric Hawk, the former Olathe Police chief indicted on allegations that he used Olathe’s tax-exempt status to purchase ammunition and provide it to others for non-agency use, is set to appear in court in July.

Hawk, who was recently arrested in Mesa, Ariz., has been set for court at 11 a.m. July 13 in Montrose.

He was indicted in February on allegations of official misconduct and misuse of official information.

The indictment was sealed until he could be arrested, then extradition issues had to be addressed.

Hawk is free on bond.

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A Human Mediator Is there a time in the life of a Christian that he sins to the point that he cannot pray for himself, but instead has some righteous brother pray for him?

The answer can clearly be found in scripture: “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God and our Savior, who desires all men [mankind] to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” (1 Timothy 2:3-5). This scripture does not leave room for any other person to be a mediator between any Christian and God. The scriptures show that the church of the Lord is “the house of God,” (1 Timothy 3:15). If one is “in Christ” (Romans 6:3; Galatians 3:27-28) we are called by the apostle Peter “a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ,” (1 Peter 2:4-5).

Notice that we [those in Christ] are a “holy priesthood.” Christ is our High Priest (Hebrews 4:15). Each obedient disciple of Christ is a priest of God, and as such, we have access to God without the intervention of any other human being (1 Peter 2:9).

It is scriptural to ask others to pray for us (1 Thess. 5:25; 2 Thess. 3:1; Hebrews 13:18). Often a repentant believer in Christ needs to confess his sins and weaknesses to other brothers (James 5:16), and even to the whole church, so that they may pray for him. But when one repents, he can ask God to forgive him immediately. Our forgiveness is not contingent on someone else praying for us, for this would make that person a mediator through whom we must go in order to have access to God. Christ is the ONLY mediator. That means your brother in Christ, the preacher, the elders, and even the whole church cannot serve as a mediator. Your forgiveness is between you and God, with Christ as a mediator.

“If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” (1 John 1:8-9). John also wrote “And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous,” (1 John 2:1). Paul instructs us that we are to repent of our sins when he says “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it!”

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straight to a co-op model, Bell said at the meeting.

“If you take the political out of this … this is the best way to go. “You would be the hero for this,” Chinn told Dunlap.

Safety and service are his priorities, the sheriff said, while Smith said he was going to push for what is best for Olathe.

“Montrose County (commissioners) probably will not be signing on, but we’re going to be competing for dollars ... for valuable funds that the Montrose Emergency Telephone Service Authority says is already stretched thin.”

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The city of Montrose is pressing for a dispatch agency that would be run as a cooperative of member-agencies and controlled by a board of directors.

It is considering opening such a center early next year, and is now making the rounds to other agencies and entities that use dispatching services, with draft bylaws and projected setup and operational costs.

The city is also willing to have a dispatch center under the cooperative and board of directors structure at the current dispatch facility. The current facility is run by the Montrose

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Start-up costs

The rundown: City contacts other agencies, entities about new service

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Police Department have, were met with reluctance because Sheriff Rick Dunlap did not want to have liability for decisions made by a separate body.

But Dunlap on Thursday morning received a briefing from an Association of Public Communications Officials consultant, who made similar recommendations, in terms of dispatch structure.

Dunlap said he’s open, now, to considering a board of directors/cooperative arrangement, provided he is exempt from liability.

City Manager Bill Bell said that Dunlap doesn’t actually have to ask permission from the Montrose County commissioners; like commissioners, Dunlap is an elected official, not a county employee.

There are some budgetary strings, though, and the county owns the building where dispatch is currently located.

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from page A1

that could be used while the police station is upgraded or even expanded so that it could house dispatch.

The plan presented to Olathe officials also details staffing levels, equipment, replacement costs and use by agency.

Smith and Killen were also given copies of draft bylaws for a board of directors.

“We believe this model is a good model,” Chinn said. “Everyone will share in this equally, based on call load and CAD entries. We’re open to anything. This is worth your time to look at.”

The city would absorb administrative costs, much as it does for the Downtown Development Authority and other organizations, Bell said.

The county charges fees that account for about $200,000 a year, he said.

The county charges administrative fees to all its departments and programs, Henderson said.

“None of those things, such as dispatch, take care of themselves without having an organization in place to direct and account for moneys, policies and procedures. You’ve got to have a structure in place,” he said.

The city’s proposed arrangement will better allow entities to better plan their budgets, by possibly implementing an inflationary cap of 3 percent, instead of leaving entities to estimate what the tab is going to be in the next budget year, Bell said during the Olathe meeting.

“That has been difficult for all of us, including the sheriff ’s department,” Gabriel said.

Olathe’s dispatch fees shot up from $14,000

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See ad on page 2 for meeting details!

Trial opens in claim of job loss over pregnancy

BY KATHARHYNN HEIDELBERG DAILY PRESS SENIOR WRITER

Montrose County Sheriff Rick Dunlap discusses a rough draft of a budget during a meeting Tuesday. (Photos by Justin Joiner/ Daily Press)

An idea for dispatch fees Sheriff airs proposal at well-attended, heated meeting

BY KATHARHYNN HEIDELBERG DAILY PRESS SENIOR WRITER

The Montrose Regional Dispatch Center could switch to a percent fee for users, with or without a flat base fee for all agencies, Montrose County Sheriff Rick Dunlap said Tuesday.

Inside: He said he will also conControtinue paying versy over half the bensecond efits for disdispatch patchers out facility of the shercontinues: iff ’s budget — and that plans A3 to hire three more full-time equivalents for the center are off the table, despite the need.

Dunlap presented the information to the working group that formed late last year in response to useragencies’ concerns with fees.

The meeting drew heavy attendance — as well as heated back-and-forth between Dunlap, Montrose Police Chief Tom Chinn, Montrose County Commissioner Glen Davis and members of the audience, particularly when the separate issue of a possible second dispatch center arose. (See related.)

“We have reached a point at which decisions

Montrose Police Chief Tom Chinn speaks during the meeting Tuesday. have to be made,” Dunlap told the advisory group, on which members of several user-agencies sit, along with County Manger Ken Norris and City Manager Bill Bell.

Dunlap provided numbers for 2016, as well as clarity — the numbers are a draft budget, “not set in concrete.”

The draft numbers for operational costs under a percent of use model show the City of Montrose/Montrose Police Department with

fees of $539,284, not the $700,000-plus the city had understood was coming its way. The draft also factored in a base fee of $4,000 for all users, which would put the city’s fees at $543,284.

The initial information presented close to the start of advisory group meetings was never intended as the final fee for 2016, Dunlap said. “That is not true.”

Dunlap said he’s made all the cost reductions that lie within his control, but there are costs that do not,

such as county internal service fees that apply to all county departments.

The draft contemplates every user being a percentage user, which will also lower percentage of use. For the few agencies whose call numbers are so low that they don’t rate an actual percent, there will be a flat fee.

Additional factors that could affect the numbers include money from the See DISPATCH, page A5

Trial is under way in U.S. District Court, which will determine whether Montrose County discriminated in 2013 against a pregnant employee, who subsequently miscarried.

Stephanie Barnett, former internal services director, was let go in 2013, in what the county characterized as a reorganization in light of budget constraints, but what Barnett alleges was because of her pregnancy.

She is seeking back pay, compensatory damages, attorneys’ fees and costs.

Trial began Monday in Grand Junction and is expected to last four days; the Daily Press plans to report on the verdict.

Barnett informed county management in February or March of 2013 that she was expecting. She requested part-time hours (and part-time pay) during her pregnancy, but was dismissed on March 15 of that year “without any discussion or coordination,” per court documents.

She suffered a miscarriage on March 22, 2013.

The crux of Barnett’s claim is that her termination was driven by her sex and her pregnancy and therefore violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. She also contends that her termination was in violation of the state’s Anti-Discrimination Act. Montrose County’s defense is that Barnett was terminated for reasons unrelated to her pregnancy or sex. The county acted in accordance with the law, and without intent to harm Barnett, according to a final pretrial order in the case. The county’s policies and procedures also prohibit illegal discrimination.

Any damages or injuries Barnett experienced were the result of either her actions or that of third parties that the Montrose County commissioners did not control.

All parties agreed to certain facts, including that Barnett was a permanent, full-time employee and did not submit a letter of resignation.

Other stipulations, per the pre-trial order of July 7, included an agreement that former county manager Rick Eckert didn’t discuss eliminating the Internal Services Division with former Commissioner Gary Ellis prior to March 16, 2013.

Eckert, who himself resigned in 2014, could be called to testify; otherwise, his deposition will be used.

Ellis, Commissioners Ron Henderson and David White, former human resources director Chad Huffman and other county employees could be called to testify. Jon Waschbusch, current Government Affairs director for the county, is also on the list and is to testify concerning the reorganization of the Internal Affairs department.

Settlement discussions did not bear fruit and are not expected to, per the order, which states: “It appears from the discussion by all counsel that there is no possibility of settlement.”

A verdict could be handed down by Friday.

Reach Katharhynn Heidelberg at 252-7032 or katharhynnh@montrosepress.com.

Local dentist gives back with free children’s fest

BY KATIE LANGFORD DAILY PRESS STAFF WRITER

When dentist Joe Stucky heard of a colleague who sponsored an annual outdoor children’s festival, he immediately began thinking about how to create an event like it in Montrose.

Over the past eight weeks, Stucky and his staff have planned SmilePalooza, a free event focused

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CALENDAR . . . . . A2 OBITUARIES . . . . A4 TV LISTINGS . . . . A7

on bringing families together to play outside.

“It’s going to be a blast, and I want everybody to feel welcome,” Stucky said. “This is not just for my patients.

Montrose and Western Colorado have been so good to us, and I want them to be a part of the event and feel welcome.”

Saturday’s three-hour festival will feature games, costumed characters

OPINION . . . . A8, 9 CLASSIFIEDS A11-13 COMICS . . . . . . A10

including Captain America to Elsa, bounce houses, a magician, snacks and more.

Lee Edwards is Stucky’s office manager, and she’s spent the past eight weeks trying to incorporate good dental health into a fun afternoon. In the end, she said, it mostly ended up focused on fun.

“I’d say it’s about 90 percent a carnival atmosphere,” Edwards said. “We

NATION. . . . . . . A15 BUSINESS . . . . . A16 SPORTS . . . . A17, 18

Jeri Omernik 970-249-2381

1544 Oxbow Dr Suite 202 Montrose, CO 81401

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970-240-3114

164 Colorado Ave. Suite B Montrose, CO 81401

See DENTIST, page A5

Published for the Uncompahgre Valley and Bert Wilson of Montrose

The markeT changes. are you prepared?

Financial Advisor

are giving out goodie bags with fluoride toothpaste, toothbrushes and toys, because we don’t have fluoride in the water anymore so brushing with the right toothpaste is really important.”

Edwards said by encouraging children to have good dental hygiene practices at an early age, parents can avoid the stigma that develops from

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DISPATCH from page A1

Montrose Emergency Telephone Service Authority, which collects a surcharge on phones to fund emergency phone services. For now, Dunlap has budgeted in zero.

The base charge of $4,000 will raise all users’ fees by that amount, Dunlap said, but repeatedly also said the amount was up for discussion, as is the decision to charge it at all.

The base charge will hurt smaller agencies, said Paul Gottlieb, who represents Olathe Fire Protection District on the advisory group. If $4,000 is applied, OFPD will see its rates rise from $6,000 to $10,000.

“I think it’s going to be a problem. At this time, $4,000 is too high,” Gottlieb said.

The figure was intended as a starting point, Dunlap said. The group could decide together what the base charge should be, or whether to charge one. He was also open to Gottlieb’s

DENTIST from page 1

unpleasant dental visits later in life.

“I’m hoping that we see lots of families having lots of fun outside.

Kids are so tuned in to the indoors, the computer or TV, so to be outside and have lots of fun with mom or dad ... to me, that’s the best. Those are my best memories,” she

suggestion to start small and phase in the fee, so that agencies could better plan for it.

The base fee could go toward capital funding, such as equipment updates, though the amount raised is unlikely to be enough, Dunlap said in response to questions from citizen Roger Brown.

Resident Doug Bean asked why equipment costs simply weren’t being amortized and passed on to users.

“There’s no free lunch,” he said, after Dunlap indicated that might not sit well with the agencies.

Montrose Fire Protection District Chief Tad Rowan said later during the meeting that he appreciated learning that Dunlap will hold off on hiring more dispatchers and will continue funding half of their benefits from his budget.

Yet, he said, he was prior to Tuesday “absolutely” under the impression that the first set of numbers received had not been a draft; that fees really were taking a tall hike and that

Dunlap was discontinuing funding of dispatcher benefits.

That understanding had informed his subsequent decisions, Rowan said.

“I appreciate what you say, but it’s just a Bandaid for the problem,” one that just patches the issue over for a year, he said.

While Dunlap at the start of the meeting lamented lack of input and the lack, so far, of a response to a draft agreement sent out last week, Rowan said the draft agreement gives the county control over who is on the advisory committee.

“We have nothing contractually that gives us the ability to plan for our budgets,” Rowan said.

The problem is the lack of certainty in years to come and the lack of stability, he indicated.

Advisory members received suggestions to continue looking at the $4,000 proposed flat fee and the contract.

Reach Katharhynn Heidelberg at 252-7032 or katharhynnh@montrosepress.com.

said.

Stucky said he plans to make SmilePalooza an annual event for the community to enjoy.

“When you’re raising children, you’re so busy going in your own direction, there’s so many things taking your time and your energy and focus that there’s not a lot left to give back,” he said. “Now my wife and I are empty-nesters, and now we have some time

and energy and focus. We can look around and see what needs to be done, where can we contribute more than we have in the past.”

SmilePalooza is from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. July 18 at Rotary Park. For more information, visit www. montrosefamilydentist. com or call 249-1898.

Katie Langford can be reached at 252-7038 or at katiel@montrosepress. com.

Craft achieves Pluto flyby, calls home and, after a day of both jubilation and tension, allowed the New Horizons team to finally celebrate in full force.

The unprecedented encounter was the last stop on NASA’s grand tour of our solar system’s planets over the past half-century. New Horizons’ journey began 9½ years ago.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft got humanity’s first up-close look at Pluto on Tuesday, sending word of its triumph across 3 billion miles to scientists waiting breathlessly back home.

Confirmation of mission success came 13 hours after the actual flyby

stronger together with our communities BLACK CANYON FOR MENTAL HEALTH

BOYS & GIRLS CLUB

Purchased airtime on a local television station and shot a commercial that ran continuously for three months.

Partners

Delta, Ouray and Montrose

Facilitated a class called “Healthy Choices” and “Too Good for Drugs and Healthy Choices” for elementary and middle school students. The students were also offered drug awareness activities.

Focused on keeping not only members (youth), but also their families drug-free.

The Center for Mental Health applied for and received

$415,772

DOPEW E E DGANJA

HERBG R A SS

MCSD AfterSchool Programs

MARYJANEB U D

Marijuana is referred to by many different The names Black such as: Canyon Boys and Girls Club

REEFERPOT

SMOKE

Probation, established a computer room for juveniles and purchased a “Parent Guide to Change” to involve parents in juvenile’s positive change.

7th Judicial $8 MILLION District

in marijuana tax revenue dollars to use for the prevention to fund youth education and and early drug intervention of prevention marijuana use and efforts abuse by high risk youth.

Those dollars were re-granted to youth-serving The organizations.

Used their grant funds to provide

Montrose Youth Council

Purchased a new scoreboard for the community baseball field. The scoreboard has the slogan, “Drugs: You use, you lose.” It is estimated that within a given week, between

Where did the word “marijuana” come from?

Montrose scholarships to Recreation under-privileged children and District high-risk teens so that they Montrose could participate Regional in all of the Rec District’s Library summer activities.

District Through their efforts,

800 -1,000

youth, coaches, and families will see this message.

The name “MARIJUANA” is from an unknow MexicanSpanish etymology.

they reached

47,525

youth and adults.

Purchased books, DVDs, and CDs recommended by staff after extensive research regarding substance abuse and prevention and then compiled a brochure of titles to distribute to service providers.

XNLV218875

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

A5

DAILY

MONTROSE PRESS

MONTROSEPRESS.COM

75 CENTS • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

GETTING LOOSE

XNLV224384

Olathe High School teams begin fall-season practice. Page A15

Attend Montrose County Health & Human Services’ training regarding the Colorado Cottage Foods Act. See ad on page 2 for additional info!

City proceeds with 2nd dispatch DAILY PRESS SENIOR WRITER

Contract negotiations with sheriff founder

Months of back-and-forth debate between the City and County of Montrose over how the Montrose Regional Dispatch Center will operate and what fees will be charged might be summed up with the question: “Can this marriage be saved?”

The answer, per a Tuesday letter provided to the Daily Press, appears to be “no.”

In the letter, City Attorney Stephen Alcorn thanks Sheriff Rick Dunlap for his efforts in attempting to reach “an acceptable compromise”

over dispatch, but says that the city is moving ahead with establishing a second dispatch center, per its July resolution to that effect.

The city simultaneously kept up contract negotiations with the sheriff, in hopes of reaching an agreement under which it would continue as a Montrose Regional Dispatch user.

Concerned with rising costs and a perceived lack of input, city and other users pushed for an autonomous board

BY KATHARHYNN HEIDELBERG

of directors setup; Dunlap’s counter offer was an advisory board with say in the budget and other practices.

“I would say we were close, but there was obviously some dissension on council,” Mayor David Romero said Tuesday.

The snag, he said, was language pertaining to the removal, if necessary, of the dispatch center’s director.

Romero stressed that there is no issue with the current director and there’s no attempt to have her removed.

“That’s not the issue. The issue is if, in the future, there is a director who is not meeting standards … the board, by supermajority, would want to have the ability to say it was time for that person to go,” Romero said.

“I’m not in the least bit surprised,” Dunlap said Tuesday.

“I fully expected it. It was obvious from the start this was the direction the city wanted to go. I feel that we have bent over backwards to try to come up with an agreement

everyone can live with, an agreement that was fair and equitable.”

Romero said Dunlap did not want to give a board authority over a county employee.

“There’s definitely valid points on that. I think that’s kind of where things ended hanging up,” Romero said.

The contract offered by the city and about 16 other useragencies said a director could be removed by a supermajority of the board; Dunlap’s revision said a supermajority could “recommend” removal, See DISPATCH. page A5

Hope, help take flight Library

wants levy increase

Board hopes to restore services, prevent cutbacks

BY KATIE LANGFORD DAILY PRESS STAFF WRITER

From left, Mark Palm, Richard Kombo, Lovelynne Dombuai and Bryan Yeager stand on one of the floats of the new airplane for Samaritan Aviation. The new plane will allow the ministry to provide increased medical support for remote areas of Papua, New Guinea. (Katie Langford/Daily Press)

Montrose-based Samaritan Aviation expands service

BY KATIE LANGFORD DAILY PRESS STAFF WRITER

More than 7,000 miles away, on a river that winds through lush jungle, is a connection to Montrose.

Mark Palm is the president of Samaritan Aviation, a nonprofit mission that flies a float plane in and out of the jungle of Papua New Guinea. Palm co-founded Samaritan Aviation with college friend and Montrose resident Gary Bustin after they visited Papua New Guinea in 1994.

This week Palm is in Montrose, getting an at-cost engine overhaul from Western Skyways for a

second float plane.

Samaritan operates the only float plane in Papua New Guinea, and it meets a tangible need. In the East Sepik Province, there are more than 500,000 people and one hospital. What’s more, 220,000 of those people live in along the Sepik River and are a three to five day canoe trip from emergency medical help. By plane, the hospital is 45 minutes away.

“So far we’ve saved 400 lives, delivered 100,000 pounds of medical supplies and we’re really directly impacting the infant mortality rate,” Palm said. “About 60 percent of the lives that we save are mothers and babies. We

do anything from snake bites, wounds from tribal wars, tuberculosis and malaria. This airplane offers access and hope, and it’s really a life-link to people.”

On top of emergency medical care, Samaritan Aviation delivers medical supplies to 37 outposts along the river, responds to disaster relief and works with community development programs.

A second airplane has been needed since day one, Palm said, but there wasn’t enough funding.

“The last time we had a maintenance issue on our plane, I had to turn down 18 calls for life flights,” See SAMARITAN, page A5

Montrose Regional Library District Board of Trustees will request a mill levy increase in the next election in a bid to restore the library to full service level and save it from further cuts.

The board is asking for an increase of .8 mills, costing the “median homeowner $9.88 per year and the average business around $95 per year,” according to a statement.

The library has had a 21 percent decrease in revenue in recent years because of decreased property values, and has used reserve funds soften the blow of budget cuts.

Without an increase in funding, “the Library District will run out of reserves in 2018. So the Board of Trustees has decided to ask you, the public, what you want to do about this.”

Cuts could include staff, a full day of service, $30,000 from the materials budget and possibly eliminating all adult programs. Reference and children’s desks couldn’t be staffed full-time and Bookmobile stops would be reduced.

“We have more than 35 requests for new (Bookmobile) stops, and we’re actually cutting stops instead of adding right now,” director Paul Paladino said. “Those things are important, because we really want to expand our early literacy program. I think that’s one of the most effective things that we do. The more we can get out and get books into the hands of kids, the more effect we can have on the community.”

If the mill levy passes, the library will see a variety of improvements to service, such as being open seven days per week, an increased materials budget, more Bookmobile stops and preventative maintenance that is currently being deferred.

The Naturita Community Library could also return to full staffing and increased programs.

Read the full story about the future of the library in the Outlook section of the Daily Press on Aug. 22.

FBO files federal complaint against county

BY KATHARHYNN HEIDELBERG DAILY PRESS SENIOR WRITER

Montrose County violated federal grant assurances and minimum standards at Montrose Regional Airport, according to a complaint filed

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CALENDAR . . . . . A2 WEATHER . . . . . . A3 STATE . . . . . . . . . A3

late last week with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Jet Center Partners operates Black Canyon Jet Center at the airport as a fixed-base operator (FBO), which serves general aviation, primarily through fuel sales.

OBITUARIES . . . . A4 OPINION . . . . . . . A6 COMICS . . . . . . . A7

The county after a contested process last year awarded a second FBO contract to Majestic Skies LLC, and in February, assigned the Majestic lease to the newly formed MTJ FBO Partners.

The partnership is composed

CLASSIFIEDS . . A8-10 NATION. . . . . . . A11 TV LISTINGS . . . A11

WORLD . . . . . . . A13 BUSINESS . . . . . A14 SPORTS . . . . A15, 16

College or retirement? Find out how to aFFord both.

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Financial Advisor

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164 Colorado Ave. Suite B Montrose, CO 81401

of Majestic and Telluride Venture Partners, LLC, the latter of which purchased 1 Creative Place.

That property was formerly the site of JetAway Aviation, which had unsuccessfully competed with Jet

Center Partners for the first FBO contract and filed multiple, largely unsuccessful lawsuits, including an antitrust suit, when it did not win the contract.

See FBO, page A5

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DISPATCH

“I think we’ve passed the point of no return. We have a fairly tight deadline to order the necessary equipment,” Alcorn said.

The letter indicates that the city, per its understanding, has 18 months to arrange for alternate dispatch services, in lieu of a contract with the sheriff. (Dunlap said the transition time is one year.)

Alcorn said he spoke with Undersheriff Adam Murdie on Tuesday about how to phase out of the existing dispatch relationship and kick off the new one without disruption of service.

“I think the time for politics have passed. Now we have the law enforcement officers working closely together to make the transition of the dispatch,” Alcorn said.

Commissioners only approve the sheriff ’s budget and dispatch is part of the budget. They do not control dispatch, Commissioner David White said.

“This is not unexpected. Again, it’s command and control. The city would like to control their own dispatch if they can’t control the sheriff ’s,” White said.

“I think they’ve been telling us all along what they are going to do. It is their choice. The taxpayers are going to be the losers by duplicating services in the name of who controls the dispatch center. My prediction is that in the next two or three years, they’ll be back. I don’t see this as being viable for the long term.”

He lamented the failed negotiations.

“The sad thing is, the sheriff agreed to an advisory board. They got everything they wanted other than, at the end of the day, the sheriff would still make a decision when a decision had to be made … if they couldn’t come to a consensus,” White said.

“To me, it’s a shame that it’s going to affect the citizens, not only financially,” Dunlap said. “And I’m still concerned about the public safety issues that are involved in this.”

The city performed its due diligence by trying to work things out with the sheriff, Romero said.

“It’s not the best idea in the world to have two dispatch centers, but we don’t want to have to keep coming back to the table year after year.”

The city’s dispatch fees

county “waived compliance” with its minimum from page A1 standards by allowing the second FBO to operThe county rejected ate from a hangar that JetAway’s bid in 2005, lacks the required miniin part because it was mum door height. located on airport-adjaPer the complaint, the cent property that was county also erred by apsubject to a through-thefence agreement frowned proving the MTJ FBO agreement in February upon by the FAA, and without initiating anlease restrictions barother request for proposring fuel sales. als process, as had been The county in done before Majestic February brought the Skies was awarded a sec1 Creative Place propond FBO contract. erty onto the airport The complaint alleges via a ground lease as a cause of action that with Telluride Venture Montrose County violatPartners. ed the federal grant asJet Center Partners alsurances that bind pubready sought an injunclic airports through the tion that would have financial inducements halted work on MTJ it provided to MTJ FBO; FBO Partners’ facilthat the county’s “dispaity, but that injunction rate application” of airwas denied. Jet Center port minimum standards Partners’ breach of conis itself a violation of tract claim was allowed federal grant assurances, to proceed in Montrose as is the county’s failure District Court, however. to follow its own request The latest filing, a Part for proposals process.

16 complaint with the The Part 16 complaint FAA, claims that the also contends that the county offered financial county’s fee and rental incentives for a second agreements with MTJ FBO on encumbered, FBO undermine the airoff-airport property preport’s financial sustainviously deemed unsuitability, as well as the able for such operations. county’s control of the These included a lower airport. charge, per square foot, Further, the county alfor leased land, accordlegedly reversed posiing to the complaint, tion with respect to the and $5 million in credits former JetAway site, against rent for infrathereby violating federal structure improvements. grant assurances that This credit sparked a separate lawsuit by a pri- govern public airports.

The county also envate citizen, who alleges gaged in a leaseback the county violated the strategy that encumstate constitution with bers off-airport land, but respect to multiple fiscal not improvements on it, year debt that requires thereby jeopardizing its voter approval. This suit own control of the airis pending. port and in violation of The county failed to grant assurances, per the follow its minimum filing. standards by investigat“In its eagerness to ing “the experience and reputation” of those who entice a second FBO to an airport that does would be operating the second FBO, according to not have enough aviaWelcomeAd_2015_Fenton 8/10/15 11:59 AM Page 1 tion traffic to justify the JCP’s complaint, and the

investment, or for reasons undisclosed to the public, the respondent has provided improper and unjustified financial incentives to MTJ (FBO) and created a tilted playing filed in contravention of its grant assurance obligations,” the complaint reads.

The document refers to Part 16 complaints JetAway previously filed, against which the county successfully defended, in part by relying on the airport’s minimum standards.

“Just as the (FAA) director previously approved the respondent’s (county’s) refusal to engage in the precise acts at issue here, it must now hold the respondent accountable for its baseless change of course in violation of its grant assurance obligations,” JCP’s complaint states.

The commissioners and the aviation director “have an agenda,” JCP principal Kevin Egan said in an email. “It’s imperative we take appropriate steps to protect our sizable investment at the Montrose airport,” Egan said.

Montrose County Commissioner David White said he hasn’t seen the complaint, so he cannot comment on it directly, but he accused JCP of going to great lengths “trying to preserve a monopoly.”

“They knew that once the FBO was privatized in 2005, that the potential was always there that competition could, in fact, be in the cards.

They chose not to accept that reality,” White said.

Reach Katharhynn Heidelberg at 252-7032 or katharhynnh@montrosepress.com.

from page A1

per Romero.

“They can’t seem to grasp that an outside board that has nothing to do with the county can’t terminate a county employee,” Dunlap said.

“They can recommend termination, but they don’t have authority to terminate any Montrose County employee. That’s absolutely ludicrous.”

The city’s proposal for a second dispatch center would involve an autonomous board made up of user-agencies and is not intended as a “city” dispatch center. But the city was up against a tight deadline for ordering equipment.

“We’ve really tried hard. We’ve been in a mad dash for the last month,” Romero said. “We’ve been going back and forth with contracts, but it’s gotten to the point that we had the deadline. We had to order equipment by today (Tuesday).”

The hope had been for a contract agreement that the Montrose County Commissioners would have been approved, but the matter never reached commissioners for consideration.

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are a significant part of its budget, which is prepared in the last quarter of the current year for the coming year; council needs to know what to expect, he said.

The Montrose Fire Protection District was among the user-agencies that participated in contract negotiations with the city and sheriff; it had also favored an autonomous board.

But the MFPD hasn’t decided whether to continue with the sheriff or to sign up with the second dispatch, Chief Tad Rowan said. He will present both options to his board in September.

“From our perspective, we have a clear decision to make as to whether we choose to participate with the county’s proposed structure or the structure

SAMARITAN from page A1

Palm said. “It’s hard to be the only kind of that aircraft, because if you have an issue and you’re landing it places no one else can get to, it’s very hard for someone to come and help.”

Before, it could take up to two weeks for a needed piece of equipment to arrive in Papua New Guinea.

With a second plane, the charity can also expand services into flying teachers, textbooks and school supplies to remote areas.

Palm works closely with Richard Kombo, the deputy administrator for the East Sepik Province.

With Kombo’s help, Samaritan Aviation is 50

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

of the proposed dispatch center,” Rowan said.

“It seems as though we do have commitments from lots of different agencies, but of course, just like with any due process, they do have to run these ideas through their boards and the boards need to vote on whether they will come to our camp or the county dispatch camp,” Romero said.

“It’s definitely like an onion. You pull away a layer and there’s more complexity.”

The city aims to have the second dispatch established by January.

It could be located at the current Montrose Police Department building, which is undergoing roof repairs, or in a nearby building the city purchased.

percent funded through the government of Papua New Guinea.

“It has a very big impact in saving lives,” Kombo said. “It’s going to places in which we don’t have any road networks or stability, that’s why it’s so important for us.”

Palm, his wife and three children live in Wewak in the East Sepik Province, but they’re back in the U.S. to pick up the new plane and tour the country to raise awareness and funds for their ministry.

Bryan Yeager is the director of administration for Samaritan Aviation, and he was the lead pastor at Grace Community Church in Montrose for 12 years. Samaritan Aviation is a Christian

A5

The plan is to use city reserves to purchase equipment outright, using that money “basically as a loan” and repaying it, with interest, Romero said.

“It’s not coming out of taxpayers’ pocketbooks and it’s not a tax increase by any means. We’ll be paying it back with some interest added to it.”

The city manager and others are attending a dispatch academy this week, Romero said.

“We feel very confident about this, that this will be not only good for city residents, but for whoever else wants to join in, that we’ll be running a quality dispatch center,” he said.

Reach Katharhynn Heidelberg at 252-7032 or katharhynnh@montrosepress.com.

charity, and Yeager said that’s very evident in day-to-day operations.

“I think a lot of the world no longer associates Christianity with compassion, and I think that’s a terrible loss,” Yeager said.

“For me, every time we fly in and pick somebody up, that’s an act of compassion, and I think it’s the best way to show God’s love.

That’s why I can really get behind this.”

Samaritan Aviation offers its services at no cost to patients, and it is 50 percent funded through donations. For more information, visit www.samaviation.com.

Katie Langford can be reached at 252-7038 or at katiel@montrosepress. com.