The Garfield Board of County Commissioners meeting on Monday lasted over seven hours, covering a wide range of topics from the Garfield County Library District to discretionary grants and land use permits. 

Public comments on the Garfield County Public Library District 

Monday’s meeting began with over an hour of public comments on an ongoing hot-button topic: the Garfield County Public Library District Board of Trustees. 

​​The terms of trustees Michelle Foster of Parachute, and Brit McLin, of New Castle are set to expire by the end of the year and the Rifle trustee position is currently vacant, sparking community concern about the appointment process.   

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Many community members wore red and appeared at Monday’s meeting in support of the community organization Protect Our GarCo Libraries. Public commenters called for county commissioners to reappoint library board trustees unless there is an issue with their performance instead of opening the positions for new applicants. 

Others urged county commissioners to pass an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the library board to formally establish the trustee appointment process. An IGA between Garfield County and the library district has been in the works since last year. 

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Other public commenters emphasized the need for age-restricted content in libraries and supported the reopening of trustee applications when each term expires. 

Last week, a special meeting between the board and commissioners, scheduled for Oct. 27, was canceled.

Regular work session 

County commissioners then moved on to the regular work session. 

Commissioners unanimously signed a letter addressed to U.S. Sens. John Hickenlooper and Michael Benett calling for the end of the federal government shutdown and fully reinstated government funding. Commissioners specifically cited issues with SNAP and WIC funding that threaten the food security of thousands of county residents.  

Commissioner Perry Will introduced a proclamation recognizing Operation Green Light for Veterans. Approved unanimously, the proclamation designates Garfield County as a Green Light for Veterans County and encourages residents to display green lights from Nov. 4–11 in support of veterans.

Glenwood Springs representatives, including Mayor Marco Dehm and Public Works Director Matt Langhorst, then presented county commissioners with an update to the South Bridge Project.  

Updates to the South Bridge Project’s current design include no tunnel under the Glenwood Springs Municipal Airport, a change in bridge type from concrete to a steel girder bridge, removal of a sidewalk in favor of one 10-foot path and retention of the signal at County Road 154 in Buffalo Valley. 

Commissioners then recommended John Stelzriede as the new appointee for the Investment Advisory Board Member. 

Consent agenda 

County commissioners unanimously approved 12 items on the consent agenda, which included bills, funding for Oct. 24 payroll and minutes for previous meetings on Oct. 6, 13 and 20. 

Two liquor license renewals were approved for No Name Bar and Grill and Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. A contract to Integrated 3R was approved for RTU Replacements for the Garfield County Coroner’s Office.

Several property issues were approved: a resolution for an amended final plat for a duplex lot split in Aspen Glen, a temporary land use change permit for storage and helicopter yards outside of Parachute, a limited impact land use change permit for storage near Carbondale and a resolution for the Sunlight Parkway PUD Preliminary Plan/Plat, a development of six two-family duplexes approved in April. 

Public hearing

There was one public hearing, in which county commissioners unanimously approved a fourth 2025 budget supplement presented by County Budget Manager Shari Neuroth. The budget supplement included a $1,125,651 increase of revenues and a $1,188,656 increase for supplemental expenditures. 

County manager update

During Monday’s county manager update, nine local nonprofits and organizations each requested $5,000 in discretionary grant funding: Roaring Fork Wildfire Collaborative, Western Slope Veterans Coalition, Mt Sopris Nordic Council/Springs Gulch XC Ski Trails, Garfield County Search and Rescue, Inc., Carbondale Community Access Radio, Community Health Services Aspen, Symphony in the Valley, Colorado River Valley Chamber of Commerce and New Ute Theater Society. Commissioners will announce which organizations will receive funding during the regular meeting on Nov. 10. 

Commissioners unanimously signed a letter of support for Garfield Clean Energy to receive an Impact Accelerator Grant through the Colorado Energy Office, which will help fund community programs. Ideally, Garfield Clean Energy can use the grant funds to begin more programs like ReEnergize Garfield County that directly benefit county residents, according to Director Morgan Hill. 

Next, county commissioners approved the 2025 Early Retirement Program, presented by Garfield County Interim Human Resources Director Diane Hayes. Intended to reduce county costs, the program is the same as the 2020 -21 retirement programs. 

Departments that are willing to give up a position for two years may be able to offer eligible employees an incentive to retire early. Administration employees who have worked for the county for 10 years or more and are 65 years of age or older may receive either $25,000 in cash or medical insurance coverage if they retire early. 

Commissioners then signed a resolution ratifying the county’s decision to opt out of House Bill 24-1173, which establishes a permitting system for electrical vehicle charging stations. 

The 2026 Garfield Board of County Commissioners meeting calendar was also approved. 

Executive session

The board adjourned to executive session at 12:27 p.m. to discuss an airport request for direction to negotiators, answer legal questions about a potential airport project and lease negotiations with Vantage Aviation, LLC, and to answer legal questions about the Glenwood Springs South Bridge project. 

The executive session ended a little after 1 p.m. and was reconvened just before 3 p.m.

Regular agenda

The meeting resumed a little after 1 p.m. with community development issues. 

Commissioners signed an acknowledgement of satisfaction for the requested release of a Letter of Credit held for the Halfmoon Village Subdivision Improvement Agreement. The Letter of Credit was established in 2023 when the Halfmoon Subdivision was approved and secured the installation of improvements, revegetation and reclamation security.

They also received an update on a substantial modification for a temporary youth hockey rink and summer training area approved in 2024 for Colorado Extreme. Commissioners then approved a land use change permit for a minor modification to relocate Colorado Extreme’s second rink in Rifle adjacent to the first in Carbondale and reduce its size from a full-size rink to a smaller skills rink. 

“I’m highly disappointed. One of the main reasons we really supported this was when you first came in here, it was with the business plan of doing it in Rifle and we said, ‘Hey, we’ll do whatever we can to accommodate you at the fairgrounds and not charge you a penny for it,'” Mike Samson told Colorado Extreme. “I would be honest with you, I’m really disappointed, but I’m not going to vote against it because of the good that it’s doing in Carbondale, but you’re gonna lose people from Parachute to Rifle to Silt. You’re going to lose a lot of kids.”

County commissioners then supported a correction to the Official County Zone District Map, rezoning 5052 and 5134 County Road 154 outside of Glenwood Springs to commercial limited use.   

County attorney and county manager updates 

Around 3:20 p.m., the meeting resumed after a second executive session with county attorney and county manager updates. 

County Attorney Heather Beattie updated commissioners on federal SNAP funding, stating that the Trump Administration, following court orders, will spend its contingency funding on SNAP. However, the funding will not be enough to carry the program through November and SNAP recipients will receive partial benefits. 

The board then discussed future special meeting dates, library board trustee interview dates and stated that advertisements for the three opening trustee positions will be placed by next week. County Manager Fred Jarman also mentioned that the county is considering unfreezing the veterans service officer position.