Preowned cars for sale on the lot at Victory Motors in early March. (Max O’Neill / Craig Press)
As many businesses and industries across the country struggled to find a way through an economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic, car dealerships experienced some of those same hardships, especially three local dealerships in Victory Motors, Cook Chevrolet, and Cook Ford.
According to tax returns from the city of Craig, in a city sales tax analysis, it was determined that the three local dealerships had a 1% decrease in vehicle sales and service from 2019 to 2020, for a total loss of $2,376. The dealerships also saw a decrease of $14,588 from 2018 to 2020. There was however a 13% increase in vehicle parts sales from 2019 to 2020. The dealerships saw an increase of $30,249 in 2020.
Moffat County plans to seek $200,000 in state grant funding to help with the cost of initial designs for the new courthouse, Moffat County Director of Development Services Roy Tipton said Feb. 16 to county commissioners.
Tipton said the Colorado Department of Local Affairs is only accepting Energy and Mineral Impact Assistance Fund Tier 1 grant applications at this time, so the county needs to submit an application to keep the project moving forward.
In the official grant application, the county stated that this next phase of the courthouse project updates the drawings of the courthouse to match them up with estimated budget and available funds from the new bonds the county is obtaining. This next phase will complete design and engineering, which includes mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and technology to generate bidding documents.
A national grant could bring more agricultural education opportunities to Moffat County.
The Colorado First Conservation District in Moffat County plans on pursuing a Urban Agriculture Grant through the National Association of Conservation Districts in the coming weeks. According to Moffat County’s Kacey Green, the district could request up to $50,000 through the Urban Agriculture Grant
The organization hopes to provide more educational opportunities next to the current USDA building on Commerce Street just south of Victory Motors through an orchard, cover crops, and more in an outdoor classroom open to anyone.
The grant application is due Monday, Feb. 15. The district hopes to hear a decision by March 15.
The Craig Police Department will receive four new patrol vehicles and a new records management software in the coming months following two bid approvals for the equipment by councilors Tuesday night.
Councilors unanimously approved a $125,873 bid to Victory Motors for four new four-door, four-wheel drive short-bed pickups for the patrol division, and unanimously approved a roughly $37,014 bid to EForce for a new records management software. In total, the two bids came out to about $162,887..
According to Craig Police Chief Jerry DeLong, the four new trucks will replace four vehicles over 10 years old within the patrol division.
Craig Police Capt. Bill Leonard stated that the patrol vehicles usually have to be replaced every decade, or 90-100,000 miles.