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| This year, the Department of Human Services (DHS) came together to bring Angel Tags for the underprivileged in our community. Mesa County employees had the opportunity to sponsor an adult, child, or a family this holiday season by providing them with gifts. Giving Trees were set up at the Central Services Building, Assessor's Office, DHS, and the Workforce Center. Pictured: DHS personnel (bottom row), Albin Escamilla and Amy Joy picked up gifts from the Assessor's Office on Monday, Dec. 16. Top row: Janell Hutton, Arna Hoffman, Tierney Page, Rose Liddiard, and Assessor Ken Brownlee. |
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| The Mesa County Clerk and Recorder's Office collected gifts from all of the offices located in the Central Services Building and the District Attorney's Office to be given to children and families in our community as part of DHS's Angel Tags program. Pictured: Chief Deputy Clerk Belinda Knisley and Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters. |
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| DHS personnel collected many gifts from around the county this year for the Angel Tags program. Thank you, DHS! |
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| The Board of Mesa County Commissioners conducted the last administrative hearing of 2019 on Monday, Dec. 16. See what they voted on at https://bit.ly/2Q4uAIH. |
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| Eric Farslow, an Information Technology (IT) Senior Support Specialist, runs videography to record and stream the public hearing for those who cannot attend in person. |
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| The Board of County Commissioners held a special meeting on Tuesday afternoon to adopt a resolution ordering the levy of property taxes against the valuation for assessment of all taxable property located in the county, and certifying such levies to the Mesa County Assessor and designated state agencies. View the details at https://bit.ly/36VVc5t. |
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| Ray Tenney, Deputy Chief Engineer for the Colorado River District, conducted a tour of the Kobe Pump Station in De Beque, Colo. which was hosted by the De Beque Town Administrator Care McInnis. The tour was attended by Mesa County Administrator Peter Baier. |
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| The De Beque pipeline project, also known as the Kobe project, feeds water pumped from the Colorado River to eight, 500-barrel tanks at a terminal northwest of De Beque. The water is used for industrial uses and irrigation, including use by the town of De Beque, which is accessed via a ditch. |
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| A view from the Kobe project in De Beque, Colo. |
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| Mesa County Commissioner Rose Pugliese spent most of Monday on a road tour of the Gateway area. She reports that the roads look good and Mesa County Road and Bridge is ready for winter! |
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| Palisade Plunge progress as of week 22: Crews have finished all the rock work down in the canyon out of Palisade, which amounted to about 830-feet of new trail. With the completion of this final rock work, all the trail in this area is completed up to about Mile Post (MP) 30.18. Crews still haven’t been able to make it up to higher elevations to complete more work. Site access and working conditions are still a challenge. Even when the weather is nice, the muddy soils are frozen in the morning and are hard to dig in. Later in the afternoon, frozen soils quickly turn back into mud, again making for poor trail building conditions. However, crews have not given up, and hope to get some more work done this coming week. |
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| As of this week, a total of about 10.62 miles of the Palisade Plunge Trail has been completed. Pictured: a naturally carved section of the trail. |
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| Mesa County Regional Transportation Planning Office (RTPO) had the newest Grand Valley Transit (GVT) bus parked outside the Fruita Community Center on Saturday, Dec. 14, during a portion of the Fruita Hometown Christmas event. During the event, 175 people walked through the bus for a tour. RTPO staff had info about GVT and Bustang on hand, along with free cookies from Charley's Cookies, a local non-profit. Pictured: RTPO staff in their fabulous ugly sweaters. From left to right: Andy Gingerich, Transit Coordinator, and his son Leo, Kathy Young Assistant to RTPO Director, Dana Brosig, RTPO Director, and Sarah Brooks, Mobility Manager. |
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| The newest addition to the GVT fleet at last Saturday's Fruita Hometown Christmas event. |
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| The inside of the bus was festively decorated for the holiday season! |
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| Andy Gingerich & Dana Brosig are all ready for the tours to start. |
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| The Treasurer’s office got to meet new additions to Christine Horner’s family. Meet Tawny Rae and Roo Bear Horner. |
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| The Treasurer's office has puppy fever! Leah Hancock added a new member to her household! |
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| Mesa County Fairgrounds hosted an employee appreciation lunch this week for Parks and Facilities staff members. Pictured: Fairgrounds Technician, Dustin Larsen, Fairgrounds Event Coordinator Stacy Pinnt, Fairgrounds Manager Kyle Carstens, Fairgrounds Administrative Coordinator Linda Robinson, and Crew Manager Ryan Sears. |
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| Resource Management Operations Manager Jean Davis coordinated a holiday trivia game to get everyone in on the fun at the Facilities and Fairgrounds luncheon. |
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| The real Santa Claus made a surprise appearance at the Facilities and Fairgrounds employee luncheon. |
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| Santa asks Chris Trujillo if he has been naughty or nice, as Chris smiles before answering the question. |
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| Some of the creative treats provided by staff members as a token of appreciation of all the hard work done by employees this year. |
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| Stacy Pinnt, Jean Davis, and Linda Robinson put on a fun lunch for employees, thanks for all of your hard work, ladies! |
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| Mesa County Coroner Victor Yahn dresses as Buddy the Elf for his daughter's play. He made the perfect elf! |
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| Public Work's mischievous elf continued to make rounds and surprise staff. This week, the theme was, "let it snow!" Oh, Elfa! |
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| Did you know the Mesa County Sheriff's Office has volunteers who help victims of crime? Deputy Ralphie is learning all about our Victim Advocate Program from Mr. T-Rex today. Deputy Ralphie can't believe volunteers like Mr. T-Rex drop everything to help someone who has been victimized or just experienced a tragedy...even on Christmas! Learn more about these incredible volunteers and how you can volunteer at https://sheriff.mesacounty.us/…/victim-advocate-program-vap/. |
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| Deputy Ralphie is hanging out, ready to help in our Records division. Did you know so far this year Records has processed over 3,700 warrants, 2,100 conceal handgun permits and released over 5,100 records?! Wow! Learn more about the services Records provides at https://sheriff.mesacounty.us/div…/support-services/records/. |
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| Tuesday was Shop with a Cop Day! Who better to help pick out presents than the toy expert himself Deputy Ralphie! The Mesa County Sheriff's Office had a fun day helping kids pick out items to put under their Christmas trees. A huge thank you to the Grand Junction Police Department for organizing such a wonderful event! |
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| The Grand Junction Police Department with participation from the Mesa County Sheriff's Office, the Palisade Police Department, the Fruita Police Department, and the Fruita office of the Colorado State Patrol, undertook the 27th annual Shop with a Cop event. This event cannot happen without the kindness of local businesses and organizations, and the gift of time from countless volunteers. |
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| Mesa County Administrator Peter Baier visits the IT Department and is excited to find an office full of vintage Christmas toys. |
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| 'Tis the season to be jolly. Santa Claus makes a surprise visit to the Central Services Building. |
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| Santa Claus walks toward Conference Room 40 at the Central Services Building where the Engineering Department is gathered for a holiday luncheon. |
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| Surprise! Santa walks in while staff members enjoy a potluck lunch. |
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| Shawn Burd, the Right of Way Agent for Mesa County, hosted and organized the festivities and let staff know they are receiving a holiday gift from Santa. |
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| Project Manager Wesley Thomas was on Santa's nice list. |
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| Shawn Burd coordinated a White Elephant gift exchange for the Engineering Department. |
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| Project Manager Laura Page smiles big because she won the Grand Junction-Opoly board game! |
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| Senior Engineer Sean Yeates got a shark mouth skeleton as a White Elephant gift. |
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| If you haven't finished your holiday shopping, remember you can ride the GVT for free on Saturday, Dec. 21 to avoid driving and searching for parking. Happy holidays! |
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| Mesa County administrative offices will be closed Wednesday, Dec. 25, and Wednesday, Jan. 1, in observance of the Christmas and New Year holidays. For more information, visit http://blog.mesacounty.us/2019/12/county-offices-will-be-closed-for.html. |