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Wendy Finley is now the law in Oak Creek.

The Stagecoach resident was introduced to the Oak Creek Town Board during a Thursday night meeting as the new code enforcement officer.

Police consultant Eileen Rossi said she has been working with Finley for two days of initial training and that Finley will transition into the position within a week. Rossi also said Finley will begin taking calls through Routt County Communications dispatch after a couple of weeks of training.

"I'm a very easygoing person. I'm very fair, but I'm also firm," Finley said.

Finley said she has lived in Routt County for a little more than a year after moving from Falcon. Last year, Finley was the attendance secretary at Steamboat Springs High School, and she said she also is working at a sales position in Steamboat Springs.

Rossi said Finley will not be on call at all times and instead will work 30 hours per week. Emergency calls still will be routed to Routt County Sheriff's Office deputies, and any code violations reported during the time Finley is not working will be held until the next working day.

"We're not going to call her out for a dog at large or a barking dog or anything like that," Rossi said.

Police Commissioner Chuck Wisecup also reported that he, fellow police commissioner Dave Ege and Rossi met with Routt County Sheriff Gary Wall and two sergeants Aug. 4 to discuss continuing police coverage for major crimes in Oak Creek.

Wisecup said the long-term goal of the town still is a separate police department, but until that time, Oak Creek will continue to use coverage from the Sheriff's Office.

He said he was very pleased with the discussion and "at the end of the meeting, basically the recommendation was, we sit down and talk a little bit more."

The town and sheriff still must agree about how many hours per week deputies will patrol the town and how much the town will pay for the coverage.

"We didn't get down to brass tacks numbers," Wisecup said. He said that after discussing the issue and receiving the go-ahead from the Town Board, the police commissioners and Rossi will continue to work on the details with the Sheriff's Office.

In preparations for the ongoing discussions, Jackson County Undersheriff Scott Fischer told the board about his office's arrangement with the town of Walden. He said the town and the Sheriff's Office work together, with money from infractions committed in town going into the town coffers.

How offenses are ticketed in Oak Creek - either to the county or to the municipal court - remains a sticking point in the talks between the police commissioners and Wall.

Oak Creek has been without a police force since all officers, except for Rossi, resigned in late 2008. Rossi has been taking care of the evidence locker and dealing with small complaints since that time.

'Thumbs up' on town audit

The Town Board also got a "thumbs up" from auditor Tim Mayberry for the town's 2008 finances. Mayberry, from Johnson, Holscher & Company, of Centennial, said the town's major fault is continued loose internal controls because of the town's small staff.

The report states that because the town's staff is so small, it is "difficult to have full review of the accounting function on a day-to-day basis." Because of that, the Town Board acts as the secondary reviewer. The Town Board "therefore needs to ensure that they understand the accounting process adequately," the report states.

Mayberry told trustees that the general fund is looking healthy because of the influx of grant money.

The town ended 2008 with net assets of $5,840,130, an increase of nearly $1 million from the previous year. Of that increase, $848,868 came from grants that will go primarily to sewer and road repairs.

The town also ended 2008 with $309,469 in the general fund, an increase of $82,283 from the previous year.