by Ruth Stodghill
LAS ANIMAS — The spring Colorado legislative session may have ended, but at the June 18 meeting of the Las Animas County Board of Commissioners it was clear that local elected officials have been hard at work lobbying for interest and developments that will directly impact southern Colorado.
Commissioner Luiz Lopez shared that on June 5 he met with various representatives and administrators from the City of Raton to discuss the Front Range Passenger Rail project and how to coordinate efforts on the New Mexico side of the pass. “They do have a line from Albuquerque to Santa Fe now,” said Lopez, who noted that Colorado’s Front Range Passenger Rail project could provide connectivity for a corridor across both states.
Lopez also stated that the South Central Council of Governments (SCCOG) met on June 13 to discuss a white paper in opposition to recent state recommendations to combine the South Central and Southeastern Transportation Planning Regions (TPRs) as this could negatively impact funding for transportation projects in southern Colorado.
Commissioner Tony Haas said that on June 6 he filled in for Lopez at a transportation meeting which focused on issues such as how to make travel safer, the recent spike in transportation-related fatalities in Colorado, the poor condition of interstates, and the need to increase transportation options while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and road congestion.
Also on June 6, Haas attended a Farm Inheritance Tax Board meeting, where he spoke with State Representative Ty Winter about the need to provide incentives to keep those raised on farms and ranches within the agriculture industry. “In the farming and ranching industry, our kids that we raise went through the school of hard knocks,” said Haas. “They have learned to do everything. You cannot teach experience. There’s got to be a way to incentivize those farmers’ and ranchers’ kids to keep them on the ranch and farm.”
The discussion inspired Winter to do the footwork to draft and introduce a bill providing such an incentive. “There’s a plethora of legislators in the Senate and the House who want to co-sign this bill because they see the value of keeping those young men and women who were born and raised on that ranch there on the ranch,” said Haas.
Commissioner Felix Lopez spoke about a June 12 Southeast Colorado Opioid Region 19 (SECOR) press release announcing the 2024 funding allocation and introducing a new universal website about resources available to combat the opioid epidemic in the nine counties comprising SECOR Region 19, including Las Animas county.
SECOR received $1.4 million in the first year for projects related to education, prevention, criminal justice, rehabilitation, treatment, and harm reduction. Lopez, who is Vice-Chair of Region 19, said, “This area per capita is probably one of the most impacted communities.”
Over the next 18 years, Colorado is set to receive an anticipated total of $467 million in its settlement with pharmaceutical companies linked to the current opioid epidemic.
Swazo recognized
In recognition of a career spent at Trinidad State College helping students achieve excellence in the classroom and on the field, the commissioners passed a resolution honoring TSC softball coach Steve Swazo.
“I just want to say thank you and congratulations, Coach, for the many years of service,” said Commissioner Felix Lopez. “I think education goes beyond what the textbook expresses. I have seen this coach build character, discipline, and strong human beings.”
The resolution honored Swazo for the 18 years he has coached the TSC women’s softball team, during which he helped the Lady Trojans earn an impressive 514 wins, was twice named a regional Coach of the Year, and coached the team to four Region 9 titles.
“I grew up here, and when I came back about twenty years ago, I had the opportunity to get the position at the college,” said Swazo. “I love what I do every day. I never worked a single day in my life. To me, the ultimate paycheck is to stay in contact with former players, see that they’ve become great individuals in their own society.”
In other business
During public comment, the board heard an update from Zac Bartholomew regarding a planned solar facility 8.6 miles east of the town of Aguilar to be constructed by Elk Run Solar, LLC, a subsidiary of Cypress Creek Renewable, a project approved by the board last summer.
The board also approved the following items:
• Consideration of an invitation for bid for installation of sliding glass doors at several county buildings – This item was tabled at a previous board meeting to secure additional information regarding the bids submitted. The board voted to reject the two bids received and put the project back out to bid.
• Liquor License Renewal for Weston Canary LLC Permit Extension for Elk Run Solar – The project was approved in July of 2023, but had not yet come online. According to Bartholomew, supply chain issues impacted the project’s ability to get underway on schedule. “The project is 95% complete from the development aspect,” said Bartholomew, with the construction phase set to get underway in 2026 due to transmission line upgrades.
• Appointment of Darren Kolakowski to the E-911 Board of Directors
• A resolution recognizing Kaylee Armijo as doing business as The Santa Fe Tavern
• A diesel fuel bid
The board of commissioners met in Executive Session under C.R.S. 24-6-402(4)(b) to confer with the County Attorney for legal advice on specific legal questions including the Starkville School, annexation, the airport lease, and county buildings.