CREEDE— The Mineral County Board of Commissioners would like to invite the public to an open house/meeting on Wednesday, April 25 at the Mineral County Courthouse to view the plans for the Mineral County Courthouse renovation/expansion. The meeting will begin at 5 p.m., with a short presentation at 5:30 p.m. with plenty of time to ask questions before it ends at 7 p.m.  There will be light refreshments and beverages.
Mineral County is the fortunate recipient of two large grants that will cover the bulk of the cost for the project. In December Commissioners Scott Lamb and Ramona Weber and Administrator Janelle Kukuk traveled to Denver to present a grant request of $695,000 to the Underfunded Courthouse Facilities Commission.  
The commission was established in 2014 with the goal to provide supplemental grant funds to counties in need of financial assistance for courthouse facility projects. Colorado statute (13-1-301, C.R.S.) states that the fund is to provide funding for courthouse facility projects in the counties with the most limited financial resources.
Specifically, counties must meet at least two of the following four pieces of criteria to be eligible to apply for and receive grants: counties in which the total population is below the state median; counties in which the per capita income is below the state median; counties in which the property tax revenues are below the state median; or counties in which the county population below the federal poverty line is above the state median. Counties that meet all four pieces of criteria are deemed to be the highest priority counties. The commission works with the state demographer at the Department of Local Affairs to obtain this data and publishes the list of eligible counties for each grant round.
Word was received right before the holidays that Mineral County was awarded $845,000, $150,000 more than requested. This grant money will be used for the new construction that will primarily house the courts.
Then in March 2018 Commissioners Lamb and Jesse Albright and Administrator Kukuk again traveled to Denver to present a grant request to the Department of Local Affairs for $1,000,000. The grant request was specifically for funding from the Energy/Mineral Impact Fund. The purpose of the Energy/Mineral Impact Fund Program is to assist political subdivisions that are socially and/or economically impacted by the development, processing, or energy conversion of minerals and mineral fuels.
Word was received on April 2 that the county was awarded $900,000. The two grants totaling $1,745,000 will cover nearly 85 percent of the total budgeted cost of construction/renovation $2,070,000.  
“We are very excited to have received this funding,” Commissioner Lamb said, “now we can get to work.” Construction is slated to begin in early July and take 12-15 months to complete.  
During the renovation the Mineral County Sheriff’s office will be working out of the Forest Service building on 3rd and Main in Creede and the rest of the county offices (treasurer, clerk, assessor, commissioners and administration) will be relocating to the Bulldog Mine Office owned by Rio Grande Silver.
“We are committed to making the relocation during construction work for everyone,” Administrator Kukuk assures. “Please come to the meeting on the 25th with your thoughts, concerns and questions.  We are proud of this project and are anxious to show it off.”CREEDE— The Mineral County Board of Commissioners would like to invite the public to an open house/meeting on Wednesday, April 25 at the Mineral County Courthouse to view the plans for the Mineral County Courthouse renovation/expansion. The meeting will begin at 5 p.m., with a short presentation at 5:30 p.m. with plenty of time to ask questions before it ends at 7 p.m.  There will be light refreshments and beverages.
Mineral County is the fortunate recipient of two large grants that will cover the bulk of the cost for the project. In December Commissioners Scott Lamb and Ramona Weber and Administrator Janelle Kukuk traveled to Denver to present a grant request of $695,000 to the Underfunded Courthouse Facilities Commission.  
The commission was established in 2014 with the goal to provide supplemental grant funds to counties in need of financial assistance for courthouse facility projects. Colorado statute (13-1-301, C.R.S.) states that the fund is to provide funding for courthouse facility projects in the counties with the most limited financial resources.
Specifically, counties must meet at least two of the following four pieces of criteria to be eligible to apply for and receive grants: counties in which the total population is below the state median; counties in which the per capita income is below the state median; counties in which the property tax revenues are below the state median; or counties in which the county population below the federal poverty line is above the state median. Counties that meet all four pieces of criteria are deemed to be the highest priority counties. The commission works with the state demographer at the Department of Local Affairs to obtain this data and publishes the list of eligible counties for each grant round.
Word was received right before the holidays that Mineral County was awarded $845,000, $150,000 more than requested. This grant money will be used for the new construction that will primarily house the courts.
Then in March 2018 Commissioners Lamb and Jesse Albright and Administrator Kukuk again traveled to Denver to present a grant request to the Department of Local Affairs for $1,000,000. The grant request was specifically for funding from the Energy/Mineral Impact Fund. The purpose of the Energy/Mineral Impact Fund Program is to assist political subdivisions that are socially and/or economically impacted by the development, processing, or energy conversion of minerals and mineral fuels.
Word was received on April 2 that the county was awarded $900,000. The two grants totaling $1,745,000 will cover nearly 85 percent of the total budgeted cost of construction/renovation $2,070,000.  
“We are very excited to have received this funding,” Commissioner Lamb said, “now we can get to work.” Construction is slated to begin in early July and take 12-15 months to complete.  
During the renovation the Mineral County Sheriff’s office will be working out of the Forest Service building on 3rd and Main in Creede and the rest of the county offices (treasurer, clerk, assessor, commissioners and administration) will be relocating to the Bulldog Mine Office owned by Rio Grande Silver.
“We are committed to making the relocation during construction work for everyone,” Administrator Kukuk assures. “Please come to the meeting on the 25th with your thoughts, concerns and questions.  We are proud of this project and are anxious to show it off.”