Prowers County Commissioners meeting November 12, 2024

At the morning work session, the commissioners received an update on PEP (Prowers Economic Prosperity) Director Cheryl Sanchez.  Ms. Sanchez thanked the commissioners for all they do for PEP.  When talking about goals for the department she said “I won’t be there and Tallie is ready to take the helm”, referring to her upcoming retirement with Tallie Harmon taking her place.  Ms. Harmon then spoke about goal setting and where they need to start and work on, with a focus on business expansion and retention.  PEP will be working on campaigns for businesses to join them and will continue the business and town tours they currently do.  Housing continues to be a need in the county and roundtable discussions have centered on construction and a feasibility study to determine what type of housing is most needed at this time (ie, senior housing, multi-family, etc).  She then spoke about the upcoming service project they are spearheading, which is a community clean-up of downtown prior to the upcoming holiday festivities.  This cleanup is scheduled for November 23 and volunteers are still needed starting at 10 am that date.

Next on the agenda was a discussion about the city and county’s ongoing comprehensive plans.  Representing the city at the meeting were Anne Marie Crampton, Lamar’s Community Development Director and Josh Olhava with Ayres, the city’s consulting firm.  The county was represented by Michelle Hiigel, Land Use Administrator; Don Wilson, Interim County Administrator and (present via Zoom) Miriam McGilvray with Logan Simpson, the county’s consulting firm.  The intent of the meeting was to get an overview of how the city’s plan and the county’s plan overlap in terms of land areas and goals.  Mr. Olhava did most of the speaking, talking about how impressed he’s been with the community and its sense of pride and how much he enjoys the people he’s dealt with here. Ms. McGilvray outlined the phases of the city’s comprehensive plan and timelines for each phase. Commissioners and city and county representatives at the meeting were provided with maps highlighting the priority areas and how some overlap city and county boundaries.  Discussed was future land use for both entities.  At the conclusion of the meeting, Chairman Ron Cook said that “there are lots of areas the city and council will need to work together on” and thanked everyone for attending, saying the commissioners are looking forward to having more conversations on the subject.

Brooke Matthew, CSU Extension SE Region and Prowers County extension agents Amber Comer, Michaela Mattes and Claudia Terrazas gave updates on the county’s agriculture and events for same, including this summer’s garden workshop in Granada that will hopefully be repeated next year.  Ms. Terrazas spoke of the ESL (English as Second Language) classes she has been conduction and says there are 30 Hispanic families participating at this time.  She says they are working with the Lamar Library hoping to have similar programs with them as well as a “Spanish Story Time”.  Also in the works for next spring is a Spanish class for first responders.  Ms. Comer, 4-H Youth Development director, talked about 4-H awards recently received and the upcoming Holiday Camp.  The 4-H Ambassador program has expanded to 22 members.

Scheduled for the afternoon meeting were consideration of approval of Sam Fief to the Opioid Region 19 Board for the county and approval of a final subdivision exemption plat map by Paula Brase and Brian G. and Beverly A. Wurst. Also considered for approval was a final subdivision exemption plat map for Living Hope Fellowship, Vik Kodavatikanti, President.  Issued was a special event liquor permit for the BPOE Elks Lodge for an event on November 23, 2024.  Lanie Meyers-Mireles, Department of Human Services Director, was authorized to execute a contract between the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing and Prowers County Department of Human Services in the amount of $176,583.21 for the purposes of updating performance-based targets and deliverables related to County Administration, Medical Assistance Eligibility and cooperation with other entities.  Ms. Meyers-Mireles was also authorized to execute Memorandums of Understanding regarding the Prowers County Hotline Connection Center and one between the county and The Cornerstone Resource Center for purposes of collaborative efforts between the agencies through the Improved Payments of Child Success Program.

The commissioners ended the meeting with an Executive Session for conferences with the attorney for specific legal advice including ongoing advice regarding the Coroner.

By Barbara Crimond