WALSENBURG- The joint meeting of City, County, Town (CCT) was held Monday evening, to get an update on the switchover of emergency dispatch services from Mike Sheldon, the I.T. Director who is spearheading the physical re-wiring needed to change calls going from Walsenburg City Hall back to the Sheriff’s Department across the street.
The County took over management of emergency dispatch services on the first of February, and it has been a relatively smooth transition. Now Sheldon is getting the behind-the-scenes wiring done at City Hall, while Fayne Long is hooking wires up on the Sheriff’s Department side.
As he checks phone lines and re-routes cables, Sheldon is leaving behind what he calls “pig tails” on the lines which would enable the lines to quickly be rerouted back to City Hall at some future date for any future reason. He is hoping to have the Sheriff’s old phone system ready to go in place in City Hall sometime after Feb. 27. At one point in time, the phones in City Hall will be down for about an hour. One Feb. 28, a new system will be installed for dispatchers at the Sheriff’s Department. The phones will be down for an unknown length of time, but this will not affect 911 or other emergency calls, which are another system. These dates are tentative, Sheldon stresses.
In other CCT business, County Administrator John Galusha told those gathered that the waste transfer station project is moving along, with a six-inch waterline soon to be installed, when the building structure is delivered in late March. He feels the waste transfer station should be substantially completed by then.
La Veta Mayor Mickey Schmidt gave a brief report on his town’s status, saying in a nutshell; “ The whole town is pretty much a mess right now, but we’re on the uphill side.” He was referring to La Veta’s extensive re-piping project, which has torn up roads and shut off the town’s water at least twice so far.
Guest John Carlson told the CCT about steps the Historical Society is taking to try and preserve the old power plant west of Walsenburg, including having Huerfano join a five-county Tourism Board, to try and garner more historic preservation funds from the State.
