It takes a village

After the financials were read and approved during the Encampment Town Council meeting on March 11, the floor was opened to guests attending the meeting.

Josh Saier and Crystal Gillen of the Sierra Madre Muzzleloaders made a request for use of the Encampment Museum grounds for the Rendezvous and the Marion Baker Invitational as well as a request for a $500 donation. A motion was passed to allow the use of the Museum grounds and donation with many thanks all around for a great event.

Schelby Merrill was the next to speak. Little Wonders Child Care Center in Saratoga has been looking for a director or buyer to take over the business. No one has come forward. The closing date of June 1st is coming up quickly.

A new Facebook group, Valley Village Childcare, was organized to address the issue of childcare in the Valley. Merrill stated that the group decided to become a 501(c)(3), tax-exempt, charitable organization in order to create a sustainable option for child care in the Valley. By becoming a 501(c)(3), Valley Village Childcare will be able to apply for grants and receive private donation money. It is their hope that, once they are established as a 501(c)(3), they will be able to take Little Wonders Child Care Center over.

In the meantime, Platte Valley Legacy Foundation is helping the group. They are currently trying to establish a board and their hope is to be able to purchase the building within the next 60 days.

Greg Salisbury, mayor, asked if there was any child care available in Encampment. Merrill said that there is currently none. She went on to say, “we have to crawl before we can walk.” The Little Wonders Child Care building has already been brought up to code. Bringing a building to code requires a significant amount of money. Valley Village Childcare intends to use that building to get started and eventually expand to other communities in the Valley.

Jon Nelson, North Fork Engineering, was present to provide a tentative schedule for the dredging project. According to Nelson, they are expecting documentation to be ready around May 4. Ads will start to run May 6 and 13. Pre-bid will be May 22. Nelson noted that they are trying to get phase 1 and dredging on the same time line. Bid openings around June 3 with notice of award on June 11. Contracts will be due back by July 19.

Notice to proceed for both approvals will be around July 13 with working times being July 13 through September 4.

They are allowing four weeks for dredging, notice to proceed will be September 7 with work times September 7 through October 2. Dates could change if anything unforeseen happens.

Nelson indicated that the expected cash flow for design fees will be approximately $50,000. This amount would include fees for GeoTech and surveys.

Clerk/Treasurer Doreen Harvey asked the Town Council to approve a few needed adjustments to the Town’s bookkeeping.

Harvey said, “We’re working through a draft response from the department of audit, one of their concerns is how we track grants.”

The grant expense line is not being utilized for items such as payroll and electricity as it is important to keep them separate in order to correctly calculated liability. Harvey indicated that she just needed to make a memo on the lines where grant money has been applied.

She said, “I spoke with the Department of Audit who advised me I could go in and make those changes. I’m not changing the over all payment but would probably be best if I asked the council I make some changes in that program. I’m just trying to make it clearer and better.”

The Town Council approved the adjustments along with a request to transfer money from the Specific Purpose Tax fund in order to be able to pay engineering invoices.

The next meeting for the Encampment Town Council will be at 7 p.m on Thursday, April 9.