The BOCC Page

This page is dedicated to Larimer County, its O&G regulations, the Board of County Commissioner (BOCC) public meetings, which are held each Tuesday morning at 9am in their office in the Larimer County Courthouse, at 200 Oak Street, Suite 2200, on the second floor at the big meeting room at the end of the hall.

Larimer County Commissioners

https://www.larimer.org/bocc

Becoming familiar with the three commissioners, and the role they play in the governing of the county, will be helpful if you plan to speak at their public meetings.

Recordings of past public BOCC meetings can be heard here: https://www.larimer.org/bocc/commissioners-meetings/internet-broadcasts-commissioners-meetings#/am/

See the History of Communication page for a log of messages between the Alliance and the BOCC

How to prepare to speak


  • As described above, the BOCC meetings are at the Larimer County Courthouse, where there lots of off street public parking, for free; just pull in, park where you want (but not in reserved spaces, and proceed to the first floor lobby, which faces south, towards the parking lot.

  • The morning of the meeting, arrive before 9am, go up to the second floor (via the stairs or elevator), and walk towards the public meeting room, (it's on the north side) sign the paper register in the office lobby to be put on the agenda during the meeting. Then wait in the nice lobby until the meeting starts. You'll probably see other members of the public, who are coming to speak about their own concerns to the Commissioners.

  • At 9am, everyone files into the BOCC meeting room and takes their seats (limited to about 25 or so), which are the chairs against the walls, while the commissioners and their staff take their seats at the tables, arranged in a rectangle.

  • Public comments are always first, from about 9:05am to however long it takes; so, you will not likely have to be there past 9:30am

  • If you bring paper handouts, you can give them to the three commissioners and the secretary (i.e. 4 copies) just before you begin to speak.

  • Individual comments are limited to 3 minutes, but if another person signs up to speak with you, that person can "donate" their minutes to you

  • There are no computer displays available for public use (so you cannot provide any digital media to accompany your presentation)

  • The meetings are recorded for audio, which are posted shortly after on the BOCC website (see the URL for those recordings above).


Tips on Public Participation: a tip sheet from the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment

Disclaimer: the list below is not a definitive record; that resides in the minutes of the BOCC meetings. If anyone attended other meetings when the Larimer Alliance was represented, please feel free to make contact and ask to have it added here.

Jan 14, 2020:

  • Six persons testified, two observed.

  • Josh Joshwick, former La Plata county commissioner, and a citizen expert on gas pipelines, testified about the need for local governments to regulate gas flowlines because there is a regulatory gap between what the COGCC regulates and state otherwise regulates, namely the gathering lines between gas well bores and main pipelines. He was the guest of Commissioner John Kefalas.

Oct 15, 2019:

  • Two persons spoke for the Alliance, and one person observed. This was the night after the second Public Forum, so comments were mostly about that.

Oct 8, 2019:

  • Six persons spoke for the LA, three who were from the Unitarian Church.

Oct 1, 2019:

  • Four persons representing the Larimer Alliance attended.

Sept 9, 2019:

  • At least three persons spoke, on various aspects of why the commissioners should put a moratorium on any new drilling.

  • Later in the meeting, the commissioners issued a formal response to the letter the the Larimer Alliance presented to the commissioners on Aug 20, 2019. The response was read by a woman on staff (public safety?), who denied the request for a moratorium. (The reasoning was unclear at the time, but the public recording will be reviewed when it is published, and added here.)

Sept 3, 2019:

Six persons spoke for the Larimer Alliance, and we owned the room for 20 minutes:

  • Speaker 1 led off with specific O&G flaring violations

  • Speaker 2 shared information about the Physicians for Social Responsibility compendium of peer-reviewed studies

  • Speaker 3 talked about the Halliburton Loophole which has exempted fracking from all federal environmental law since 2005

  • Speaker 4 told the Commissioners about her complaint with the COGCC

  • Speaker 5 shared a statement about a release of toxins following an explosion in Windsor on 12/22/17

  • Speaker 6 concluded by pointing out that the County was well within its authority to suspend access permits to new drilling sites