Public Notice – NOTICE OF PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD Title III – Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000

Board of County Commissioners 

County Commissioners:                                                      109 West Main, Room 260

Jim Candelaria                                                                              Cortez, CO 81321

Kent Lindsay                                                                                        (970) 565-8317

Gerald Koppenhafer                                                                        (970) 565-3420 Fax

County Administrator:                                                               

Travis Anderson

Public Notice

NOTICE OF PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD Title III – Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000

Notice is hereby given that Montezuma County has opened a forty-five (45) day period effective August 20, 2024 to accept written comment from the public on the application of payments received by the County pursuant to Title III of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination of Act of 2000, as reauthorized (the “SRS Act”).

Comment Period: Written comments will be accepted immediately through September 29, 2024 and can be mailed or hand-delivered to: Montezuma County 109 W Main St Room 260 Cortez, CO 81321

Comment Purpose: Montezuma County is eligible to receive $43,636.49 in revenues for 2024 under Title III of the SRS Act for application to certain statutorily defined purposes specified in Title III. These purposes are generally categorized as (1) activities under the Firewise Communities program; (2) reimbursement of costs for search and rescue and other emergency services on federal land within Montezuma County; and (3) development of a Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

Proposed Use: The County proposes to use the 2024 funds to purchase communication equipment such as radios, repeaters and chargers for response, recovery, mitigation and preparedness on incidents the Emergency Services department responds to on a regular basis on federal land within Montezuma County.  Montezuma County intends to apply the Title III funds to these expenditures and it is this application on which public comment is invited.

Additional Information: Information regarding Title III funds is available from the US Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service webpage discussing County Funds under the SRS Act.