Fremont County commissioners voted 3-0 Tuesday to temporarily lift two traffic and rail shipping conditions on a Parkdale quarry permit, allowing Martin Marietta Materials to move stockpiled aggregate by truck for the next two years while rail operations remain suspended.
The June 9 meeting of the Board of County Commissioners opened with Grant Adkisson of Canyon Cowboy Church delivering the invocation. All three commissioners — Chair Debbie Bell, Dwayne McFall, and Kevin Grantham — were present, along with County Attorney Eric Bellas, County Administrator Tony Carochi, and County Clerk and Recorder Justin Grantham.
The board approved a consent agenda that included the May 26 meeting minutes, $1,680,771.19 in bills, ratification of the chair’s signature on a Bureau of Land Management lease amendment extending the county airport land lease through June 15, 2027, approval of a DOLA local match grant application under the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All program, and Resolution No. 11, Series of 2026, formally granting the Special Review Use permit for the Legacy Metal Fabrication and Sales Facility in Penrose.
Phillip Courtney, land manager for Martin Marietta Materials, told commissioners the company has paused aggregate production at its Parkdale Pit on County Road 157 due to market conditions and has suspended rail shipments. The quarry still holds a substantial quantity of finished product the company wants to ship to construction job sites by truck over the next two years.
Existing Condition R of the permit limits truck traffic to 48 trips per day. Courtney asked commissioners to raise that ceiling to 240 trips per day — the equivalent of 120 trucks making round trips — capped at 30 trips per hour. He also asked them to remove Condition S, which requires that no less than 85 percent of material from the site be shipped by rail.
Commissioner McFall raised concerns about making the change permanent, noting that full production at the quarry would require a return to rail and that Highway 50 already carries heavy commercial traffic, compounding further when Interstate 70 closes and diverts trucks southward. He said he preferred a temporary amendment. Commissioner Bell agreed.
County Attorney Bellas outlined two structural options: suspend the conditions for a fixed period, or suspend them until and unless production resumes. The board settled on a two-year suspension of Condition S and a two-year modification to Condition R raising the daily truck limit to 240 trips at no more than 30 per hour, with Martin Marietta required to return to the board three months before the period expires.
Ed Norden, who said he served on the board when the original permit was approved, spoke in support of the motion but asked whether truck traffic would be predominantly eastbound on Highway 50. Courtney confirmed the vast majority would move east. A second speaker asked the board to require trucks to be tarped. Courtney said Martin Marietta already requires tarping of its haulers and believes state law independently mandates it. A third audience member asked for clarification on the trip count — Courtney and Planning and Zoning Director Dan Victoria confirmed that 120 trucks making two trips each equals 240 one-way trips, the figure in the motion. The board voted 3-0 to approve.
Budget and Finance Officer Shawn Sutton reported that retail sales tax collections through April are running ahead of both 2025 and budget. April collections totaled $807,524, up $7,353 from the prior year. Year-to-date collections stand at $3,019,586, which is $196,366 ahead of 2025 and $186,253 ahead of budget. Auto use tax collections for May totaled $155,209, up $38,610 from the prior year, though the year-to-date figure remains $3,544 behind 2025. Sutton noted that historically low snowpack and declining Arkansas River flows introduce uncertainty for the rest of the year. Commissioner Bell noted that Fremont County, unlike most Colorado municipalities and the state itself, does not charge sales tax on grocery store food purchases.
County Administrator Carochi reported that dust suppression operations are ongoing on Iron Mountain Road and County Road 26 in the west end of the county and are expected to wrap up within two weeks. He also reported that a guardrail on the Grandview Bridge damaged in a recent vehicle accident was being replaced the day of the meeting, with Grandview Road reduced to one lane with flaggers directing traffic.
Commissioner Grantham reported that the National Association of Counties newsletter featured a profile of Commissioner Bell recognizing her advocacy on behalf of rural Colorado counties. Commissioner McFall urged residents to take part in a passport booklet issued as part of Fremont County’s Colorado sesquicentennial celebration, directing participants to historical sites across the county where they can earn stamps and collect a commemorative challenge coin; the passports are available at FremontHistory.com. McFall also issued a fire and drought warning, noting the county is under a red flag warning, that stream and river levels are critically low, and that the Park Center water system faces potential restrictions. He urged residents to conserve water and avoid outdoor burning. Commissioner Bell reported attending a Colorado Counties Incorporated Summer Conference session in Keystone focused on mental health in rural agricultural communities, and said she hopes to identify ways Fremont County can better connect farmers and ranchers to available resources.
No citizens addressed the board on matters outside the agenda.
The board honored Linda Sand with a retirement resolution recognizing more than 26 years of county service — 24 in the Department of Human Services and two in the Public Health Department’s vital records section — before voting 3-0 to approve it. Commissioners voted unanimously to add Walter and Gloria Schepp to the Outstanding Civic Leaders of Fremont County plaque in the administration building lobby, recognizing the couple’s decades of philanthropy toward the PCC Fremont Campus nursing program, South Cañon trail access, and other community institutions. Ed Norden, Geri Collette, Richard Baker, and Dr. Shirley A. Squier spoke in support. The board also approved a one-year renewal of a secure transportation vehicle permit for Colorado Secure Transportation LLC for behavioral health transport, and appointed Paul Dohrmann to the Fremont County Board of Appeals as a full member, filling a vacancy created by the death of a board member. Dohrmann had served as an alternate; his term runs through August 1, 2029.
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