15 Nov 2022
Dissolution of San Juan Basin Public Health district approved by La Plata County
Dissolution of San Juan Basin Public Health district via a joint resolution was approved by La Plata County Board of Commissioners at their November 15, 2022 meeting.
Specifically, the La Plata County and Archuleta County Boards voted the dissolution of SJBPH to occur on December 31, 2023.
When La Plata County creates its new health department, they will begin by funding it with $750,000 dollars, said County Commissioner Marsha Porter Norton.
Reasons given by the County Manager Chuck Stevens and County Commissioner Porter Norton for the dissolution were disagreements between La Plata County and Archuleta County about how the health district should be operating.
County Commissioner Clyde Church was cheerleading for the process, giving the whole board a proverbial pat on the back.
The commissioners meeting was mostly unattended by the public.
No public participant at the meeting gave feedback of any kind, much less anything critical to say.
Aside from the 33 online attendees in the Zoom portion of the hearing, I was the only member of the public attending the meeting in person.
Also in the audience was Lianne Jollon, and a member of the SJBPH board.
County Attorney Sheryl Rogers talked about the assets of SJBPH, and what might happen to them.
Equally important, Rogers mentioned that all of the employees of San Juan Basin Public Health that wanted to transition to employment at the new county health department would need to apply for a job.
It has yet to be determined what they fate of San Juan Basin Public Health’s facilities in La Plata County and Archuleta County would be. Rogers said that it could be determined at a later date.
2022-11-15 Board of County Commissioners - Full Agenda-6098Adam Howell is a writer who believes in free press and the importance of the constitution. He can be reached by clicking on this link to the contact page.
