Prowers County Board of Commissioners holds first meeting of 2026 January 13

The Board of Prowers County Commissioners met for the first meeting of the year on January 13, 2026.  At the morning work session, Tallie Harmon and Brent Bates with Prowers Economic Prosperity met with the commissioners to give a monthly update.  Ms. Harmon recently returned from maternity leave and said she’s excited to be back to work and start back on current projects.  She announced that this will be PEP’s third year of offering business enhancement grants.  These grants are for façade and other building improvements and are in the amount of $1,000.  The past two years, PEP has been able to fund 10 projects for each of those years.  Applications will accepted starting at the end of January.  The PEP annual banquet is usually held near the end of March, though no exact date has been set yet for this year’s event.  She said it will be decided soon and announcements made.  Ms. Harmon also said she was honored to have been nominated as the southeastern representative for the Economic Development Council of Colorado, which she has accepted.  She said she is very excited to attend her first meeting and work with a wonderful group of like-minded people which will further benefit Prowers County.  The PEP Business Spotlight has returned for this year.  January’s spotlight was on the Holly Theater. The selected businesses are featured on PEP’s Facebook page each month.  Bates said that PEP has decided to allocate a small amount of money each month to boost the Facebook posts and the result of doing so for the Holly Theater was achieving 20,000 views in less than 24 hours so they are excited to see how other businesses will fare utilizing this.  Bates also gave updates on the “Shovel Ready Program” which is moving to the next phase which will involve land development and getting it ready for businesses to purchase and build on.  He said there has been a lot of business interest in the program.

Jana Coen, County Clerk, told commissioners that the county is needing to advertise for a replacement member for the Bent Prowers Cemetery District Board, as they recently received a letter of resignation from a current member.  Bent County will also advertise and the two counties will corroborate about applicants.  Jacob Rogers, Big Timber Museum Curator, gave a semi-annual update about the museum.  He stated that there were 2,221 visits to the museum in 2025.  Several recent events were held, including a Zonta meeting, the 9/11 sculpture unveiling in September, the PCHS barbeque also in September, a visit from Cheraw elementary students in October, the 9/11 Tribute event in November, and a visit from the Pueblo Historical Society.  Upcoming is the “Rattlesnake Kate” presentation, participating in the Snow Goose Festival and more.  He said the Prowers County Genealogical Society has disbanded and will be donating several items to the museum.  When asked about storage, Rogers said they are looking into getting rolling shelving units.  Commissioner Cook asked Rogers if there was a separate copy of the museum’s extensive list of items and was told there currently was none one but that he will provide it to the commissioners to store off site.  Attending the meeting along with Rogers after he gave his presentation were Connie Jacobsen and Judy Turpin who wanted to talk to the commissioners about improving the outdoor area around the museum.  They presented the idea of moving some of the larger pieces of equipment on display and making them easier to identify to visitors.  A discussion was held concerning the fragility of some of the items as well as who would be moving them, etc.  The commissioners said they would have people look at the property and items to determine the feasibility of this.  Concerns were raised about potential damage and costs to move them.

Gary Harbert, Veterans Service Officer for the County, gave updated figures to the commissioners concerning the number of applications for benefits, phone calls,etc.  He has been very busy helping veterans and was thanked again by the commissioners for all of his hard work, as he provides a very valuable service to local veterans. An agreement has been tentatively reached with Baca County to allow Harbert to spend some time in Springfield and how they will compensate Prowers County for same.  Baca County does not have a dedicated VSO and is in need of his services.

Lastly, Anthony Letteer with Prowers Area Transit gave a presentation to commissioners about a proposed fare adjustment for bus service.  Rates have not been increased in more than 15 years and it is felt that with increased costs to the county that they need to be adjusted.  Several different ideas for same were presented and discussed, including increasing both local and countywide trips as well as offering a punch card which would offer discounts to frequent riders.  Also discussed was an idea that had been presented quite a while back which involve installing six permanent pickup structures with benches with four in Lamar and one each in Holly and Granada.  This would allow buses to operate on a fixed schedule, eliminating much of the need for riders to phone ahead for a ride.  It would also be more cost effective, as they could accommodate more riders on fewer buses at a time.  More discussion will be held in the near future about this, but all three commissioners thought it was a good idea to pursue.

By Barbara Crimond