During a regular meeting held by the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) on Tuesday, Aug. 5, the board unanimously approved a contract with AEC-West Consultants to assist the county with building inspections and plan reviews.
The matter was approved under the new business portion of the agenda, with commissioners John Ranson and Warren Brown voting in favor of approving the contract. Commissioner Veronica Medina exited the meeting prior to hearing the matter, citing a family emergency.
Earlier that day, Interim Development Director Owen O’Dell briefed the BoCC on the contract, explaining that with recent resignations in the planning and building departments, the county does not have enough staff to perform inspections and keep up with plan reviews.
County Manager Jack Harper also explained that the county reached out to a total of six entities and individuals, adding that AEC-West is “highly reputable.”
Harper noted that AEC-West recently provided services for Durango for a period of time.
“So, they’re very familiar with it,” he said, explaining that the company has inspectors based in Durango and Bayfield. “So, they’re close.”
O’Dell explained that AEC-West would be able to provide commercial and residential plan reviews, with 50 percent of fees collected going towards AEC-West and 50 percent staying with the county.
According to the contract, the rate for building inspections is $110 per hour, with a two-hour minimum.
“They’re also available for on-site or face-to-face meeting with county staff and builders and developers alike,” O’Dell said, noting that remote inspections may also be possible “for some aspects.”
O’Dell went on to explain that the review scope for AEC-West excludes deferred submittal for fire suppression systems, as those are typically reviewed by the fire district.
Harper also explained that he met with the county’s finance director, Chad Eaton, “and we have just under $67,000 left in salaries and other savings in the building and planning departments” for the remainder of this current fiscal year.
Medina asked if that $67,000 identified would be enough to cover the cost of working with AEC-West.
“It sounds like the cost is pretty high,” she added.
Harper explained that the county would be “good” for a few months, and that he anticipates posting the building official position and having it filled by the end of the year.
“We gotta have services,” he added.
In response to another question from Medina, Harper indicated that the county currently has only one other inspector who has been on the job for just three months and is not capable of performing all the required inspections and certain plan reviews.
O’Dell commented that AEC-West is willing to train the county’s inspector for “no additional cost.”
“That’s a positive,” Medina replied.
O’Dell also noted there is no up-front cost with entering into a contract with AEC-West as the contract will be on an as-needed basis.
Ranson asked if there was “anyone in town” who could perform these services for the county, with Harper explaining that he had been in contact with one individual who previously worked for the county and had “done the job several years ago.”
Medina also questioned why the county had not yet posted the building official position, with Harper explaining he hoped to have the position posted “within the next couple of months.”
In response to Medina asking why the plan was to wait that long to post the position, Harper commented, “Well, really, wanted to try to let things settle down and move out with a lot the builders and developers and to be able to get things, again, smoothed out before bringing somebody else on.”
Medina expressed that she’d like to have the job posted sooner rather than later, indicating, “These kinds of jobs can take a while to get applicants.”
She also commented that there are only funds to be able to pay a vendor to provide services for a couple months.
“I just, I think we should post the job sooner than later,” Medina added.
“In general, I’d have to agree with that,” Brown commented.
He explained that he does not want the county to be left with no one to perform these services, also noting the contract with AEC-West is a “good idea.”
Brown added that he’d like to see a “little bit of planning in the interim to start out the budget appropriately.”
Ranson also commented that he’d like to see more “planning of this,” encouraging the commissioners to “bring as many ideas as we can and get some input as to how we look at our building and planning division.”
Ranson mentioned the county has taken a step back, “and there’s no reason to go out there and jump into things.”
“I wanna get some input from the people who have been affected the most by what has transpired over the last several years,” Ranson added.
He mentioned that those affected should have input on the matter and what the county decides to do going forward.
“I have a problem with just running ahead ‘cause we need to run ahead; we need to do this right,” he said.
Medina questioned exactly what kind of input those affected might have, asking, if the consultant is “basically going off code, then I don’t understand what the input would be?”
Ranson replied that the county could receive input about “what offsets” are in the code, instead of “just going down the line, saying, ‘this is it, no matter what.’ They’re the ones that are most affected, and the ... people that are building homes here.”
Ranson added that he is seeing “a lot of time and expense” for builders and people “trying to pour their life savings into building a dream home here.”
He reiterated that he’d like to hear from builders in the community, noting they have “valuable input,” and that they deal with the codes more than the commissioners do.
“I was on the phone with six of ‘em last week — they had very valuable input and none of it’s extreme,” Ranson said, describing it as all “very reasonable.”
Ranson cautioned against the county jumping back into the situation “with no real plan.”
Medina then questioned what kind of backlog the planning and building departments are currently dealing with.
O’Dell mentioned that the problem will “probably exacerbate” over the coming weeks, but noted the departments are currently about a week behind.
Brown mentioned that, by using a consultant, “We can take care of business on the day-to-day” in order to keep the backlog to a minimum, and also provide the county with some time to reassess the situation as Ranson suggested.
Ranson commented that he is “reluctant,” fearing the county will just continue to “kick the can down the road more.”
He expressed that the county has a unique opportunity to reorganize its planning and building departments.
“I think this is a really good time to restructure and with some significant savings,” he added, indicating savings could be used for more roads, “where we really have some needs.”
O’Dell mentioned that there would be no time or financial commitment to AEC-West with entering into the contract as it is an “as-needed” contract.
During the regular meeting,O’Dell explained again the reasoning for presenting the contract, stating, “With the resignation of our building official, under the direction of the county manager, I’ve been tasked to try and find a third party to come help with the backlog.”
The county’s former building official, Tony Medved, submitted a letter of resignation on July 14.
O’Dell indicated that AEC-West was the only entity to get back to the county with a contract for services.
O’Dell also explained that he met with Eaton after the work session and explained the building department’s revenue in 2024 was $447,604 in permits, and that projected numbers indicate roughly a $73,000 loss for the county if it were to use AEC-West through the end of the year.
Ranson offered more comments before voting on the matter during the regular meeting, indicating he spoke with another builder during lunch that day who expressed that he needed this to move forward.
He went on to explain that the builder talked about a man living in the county who was “in line” to become the building official prior to Medved joining.
Ranson expressed that all seven builders he’s spoken with have suggested the county bring in “this type of person,” even if for the short-term.
“I think we need to listen to the people that are actually paying the fees and doing the business with the county and providing jobs,” he said.
He ended his comments by explaining that he would “change” his vote with it just being him and Brown present to vote on the matter.
Brown offered no additional comments outside of the work session, and the matter was then approved unanimously.
As of Wednesday, Aug. 13, the county had a total of five positions posted for the planning and building departments, which include chief building official, code enforcement officer, director of development, planner I and planning manager.
Community meeting
The BoCC will be holding a community meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 20, at 5 p.m. in the commissioners’ room at 398 Lewis St. for builders and developers to provide input on the county’s policies and regulations.
The meeting will also be broadcast via Zoom. For login information, visit https://www.archuletacounty.gov/archuleta-county-co-official-website/agendas-and-minutes/?mc_id=2924.
According to the county’s website, “The [BoCC] wants to hear from you, the builders and developers in Archuleta County. We are looking at potentially revamping policies, regulations, and rules, So, tell us the things you believe development services does well regarding planning, water quality, and building inspection, as well as areas that we can improve.”
clayton@pagosasun.com
