In its first action of 2026, the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) unanimously designated Commissioner Warren Brown to serve as the BoCC chair for 2026 during its meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 6.
The BoCC also unanimously designated Commissioner Veronica Medina to serve as the vice chair for 2026.
Before making a motion to designate Brown as the BoCC chair for 2026, Commissioner John Ranson commended his fellow commissioners for the work done over the past year.
Ranson noted that over the past year, the county has brought in a new county attorney and county manager, dealt with fire and flood events, and reshaped the county’s Building and Planning Department.
“We’ve been through a lot this year,” he said.
Meeting schedule
During the same meeting, the BoCC unanimously approved Resolution 2026-05, establishing a location for the posting of official county notices, setting meeting dates and establishing office hours for county offices.
County Manager Longinos Gonzales explained that the “standard will be to post online” for meeting notices, with the alternate posting location being at the county administration building located at 398 Lewis St.
According to the resolution, “Public notices will continue to be posted at the County Administration Building at 398 Lewis Street, Pagosa Springs, Colorado as a supplementary location; however, such postings are for convenience only and the official public notice posting shall be the link on the home page of the county website.”
The resolution notes that the BoCC may hold special or emergency meetings as adopted in resolution 2012-54.
The BoCC will hold regular meetings on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 1:30 p.m., with the exceptions of May 5, June 2, July 21, Nov. 3 and Dec. 1. Those meetings will be rescheduled at a later date.
“Unless otherwise noticed, all meetings will be held at 398 Lewis Street, Pagosa Springs, Colorado,” resolution 2026-05 notes.
Except for legal holidays, the county administration building will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; the assessor/clerk/treasurer building will be open Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.; the Public Works, CSU Extension and Department of Human Services buildings will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The Public Health Department building will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; the landfill at 9179 County Road 500 will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; the Pagosa transfer station will be open Tuesday through Saturday for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the Arboles transfer station will be open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Board and committee appointments
During the Jan. 6 meeting, the BoCC also unanimously approved board and committee appointments for 2026.
According to the agenda item, the BoCC “have appointments on various Boards and Committees for local and regional organizations. They may appoint other members of the community or staff in their place.”
Medina read off the various board and committee appointments, which included:
• Archuleta County Housing: Ranson, with Medina as an alternate.
• Archuleta Seniors Inc.: Ranson.
• Archuleta County Weed Advisory Board: Brown.
• Club 20: Medina.
• Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation: Brown, with Ranson as an alternate.
• County Fair Board: Medina.
• Housing Solutions for the Southwest: Ranson, with Medina as an alternate.
• Pagosa Springs Area Tourism Board: Ranson, with Brown as an alternate.
• Board of Health: Medina and Brown.
• Region 9 Economic Development District of Southwest Colorado: Medina.
• San Juan Headwaters Forest Health Partnership: Medina.
• San Juan, Dolores, San Miguel River Basin Roundtable: Medina.
• Southwest Council of Government: Medina.
• Southwest Opioid Response District: Ranson.
• Southwest Transportation Planning Region: Brown and Public Works Director Mike Torres, with Transportation Coordinator Andrew Mylroie as an alternate.
• Southwest Water Conservation Board: J.R. Ford.
• Pagosa Springs Urban Renewal Authority: Assessor Johanna Tully-Elliot.
clayton@pagosasun.com
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