Logan County to proclaim May Mental Health Month, light courthouse green

Logan County’s May 5 commissioners packet tied courthouse symbolism to the county’s summer workload, pairing a Mental Health Month proclamation with fair bids, a fireworks permit for North Sterling Reservoir and a federal canal agreement that could reach far beyond Sterling.

The fair items were the clearest sign of how much local government is already leaning into the season. Commissioners were asked to approve a slate of Logan County Fair bids, including parking attendant services from Fleming Class of 2027 at two dollars per car, as well as grandstand and Mitchek Event Center restroom cleaning, grandstand and Event Center cleanup, gate keepers, portable restrooms and trash disposal. The parking work is slated for the south parking lot during the fair’s high-traffic days, and the fair board has said it is still accepting bid proposals for 2026 after limited applications in past years forced it to open more categories. The fair runs July 23 through August 2, with a PRCA rodeo set for July 30 and 31 and a Night Show scheduled for August 1.

Mental health also moved into the public square. The packet included a proclamation recognizing May as Mental Health Month in Logan County, and the agenda said the Logan County Courthouse exterior lights would be green for much of the month. Mental Health Month has been observed every May since Mental Health America founded it in 1949, and the group’s Light Up Green campaign asks buildings nationwide to turn green in support. National Alliance on Mental Illness has centered its 2026 theme on speaking up against stigma and building community connections, while Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration says it is responsible for helping ensure access to quality mental health and substance use services for residents across the state, including rural communities.

The county also took up a fireworks request that carries obvious safety and scheduling weight. A permit application submitted by Debbie Klindt on behalf of the Sterling Boat Club called for a fireworks display at North Sterling Reservoir on July 3, with July 5 as the rain date. Commissioners approved a similar Sterling Boat Club fireworks permit at the reservoir for July 5, 2025, underscoring that the show has become an established part of the local summer calendar.

Beyond the county’s own events, the packet included a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District Regulatory Division, tied to Logan County’s role as a cooperating agency on permit application NOW-2023-00518-WEH for the Perkins County Canal project. The proposal would divert South Platte River water near Ovid, Colorado, and return it near Roscoe, Nebraska, with river-gated and canal-gated structures plus two dams and storage reservoirs with approximate capacities of 17,000 acre-feet and 77,000 acre-feet. The Corps set an April 6 comment deadline on the permit application, and a February 24 commissioners work session had already placed the canal project on the agenda.

From a green courthouse to fair staffing, reservoir fireworks and a regional water permit, the packet showed county government shaping the season long before the first gate opens.