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New sheriff’s annex grand opening set for Monday

John Colson
Post Independent staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado

RIFLE, Colorado – County officials will be killing two birds with one stone on July 12, in a manner of speaking, when the board of county commissioners holds its regular meeting at the new sheriff’s annex building near the county airport.

On one hand, the BOCC has committed itself to meeting in remote parts of the county once a month, and the meeting at the annex fulfills that commitment for the western portion of the county.

The meeting is to begin at 8 a.m. and continue until approximately 3:45 p.m., according to the agenda.



Secondly, July 12 is scheduled for the “grand opening” of the new annex, which was recently completed at a cost of approximately $3.2 million, according to Sheriff Lou Vallario.

The annex is located at 106 County Road 333-A in Rifle, just south of the Garfield County Regional Airport off Airport Road/County Road 352.



The open House will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will offer tours of the facility. A ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at 4 p.m. in front of the complex with Sheriff Vallario and other local officials present; cake will be served in the foyer following the ceremony.

Monday will be the first day the annex will be fully operational as an extension of the sheriff’s office. It will provide the same administrative services available at the Glenwood office, “in terms of concealed weapons permits, fingerprinting, processing civil paperwork, records requests, sex offender registration and VIN inspections,” stated the department’s press release.

In addition, deputies will use the annex as a base of operations for covering the western half of the county, and a portion of the facility will be used by detectives for office space, evidence storage and interview rooms.

The main difference between the annex and the original facility in Glenwood Springs is that all jail operations and related services (i.e. visitation, bond, etc.) will remain at the Garfield County Jail.

The main annex building is a 16,800 square-foot steel frame and glass structure built “to exceed sustainability and energy efficiency code requirements by incorporating high reflectivity/efficiency glass, R-50 roof insulation and white (reflective) roofing material, solar thermal heating for hot water and increased interior daylight design to reduce electrical demand,” according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.

The new annex was built to provide improved access to the department’s services for citizens living in the western part of the county.

According to the sheriff’s office, the original bid on the building was for $2.6 million.

But a $600,000 grant from the state’s Department of Local Affairs allowed an expansion of the building’s footprint and the inclusion of additional high-tech equipment for such functions as computer forensics and Internet investigations.

jcolson@postindependent.com


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