One day before being officially sworn in as the new
district attorney, Joe Olt on Monday requested a cost-of-living raise from
the county commission.
"I think you’ll find that my different approach
and hard work will be worth it," Olt told the commission, noting that
he could not request the increase once in office because of laws
prohibiting elected officials from doing so.
Olt suggested that he receive a 4.5 percent salary
increase beginning in 2002, the same amount county employees will see
beginning this month.
The district attorney is paid $67,500 in salary per
year, an amount covered mostly by the state, with the balance picked up by
Montezuma and Dolores counties.
But the increase, amounting to $3,200 per year, will
not likely happen, the commission said.
"If we do it for him, then we would have to for
every elected official in the county," said Commissioner Gene Story.
Olt emphasized that he was not
"brow-beating," but felt his hard work in the future would
warrant the increase.
He said the transition from outgoing DA Mike Green’s
administration to his is going smoothly. A youth court for juvenile
offenders is in the works, Olt said, and he is also working on hiring a
new deputy DA.
Olt said he would be prosecuting criminals under a
"vertical system," where one person in the DA’s office handles
the case from beginning to end.
He promised to work with the commissioners regarding
criminal issues in the county, and encouraged them to "come and see
me in my office often. I want you and the press to know what is going on
in the DA’s office."
In other action the commission:
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Learned that within 60 days the county’s gravel
crusher will be moving from the Tozer Pit in McElmo Canyon to the
Hindmarsh Pit located at the end of Road W, above Dolores.
Administrator Tom Weaver reported that chip-seal material will be
mined and crushed from the Hindmarsh Pit for one year in order to
build up a reserve there. Once crushing ceases after one year, the
material will be hauled away as needed over the next several years.
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Learned from assistant federal-lands coordinator
Carla Harper that the Forest Service is providing substantial funds
for forest-fire prevention techniques involving tree-thinning,
prescribed burns, training, equipment and public safety. The
commission said that an assessment of which forested areas were at
most risk was needed before priorities were set.
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Communities on Granath Mesa and near Jackson Lake
were described as areas in potential danger because of their proximity
to thickly forested areas ripe for wildfire. All six fire districts in
the county were to be involved with deciding what was needed most.
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Received a packet of complaints from neighbors
downwind of a hot-asphalt plant off of County L near the Cortez
Industrial Park. The neighbors expressed concern about pollution being
emitted from the plant’s smokestacks. The commission noted that the
plant was there before the subdivision and was hence grandfathered in.
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The commissioners said operators of the plant need
to be aware of conditions that can contribute to increased pollution
problems, such as cold days where temperature inversion creates a haze
effect. The possible need for installing environmental scrubbers on
the smokestacks was also mentioned.
"Teenagers without goals for the future are more
likely to become pregnant, so that is where the focus needs to be,
whether it be setting goals for college or leaving the area for
jobs," she said.
