Weld County is now assisting the city of Evans and the town of Ault with oil and gas permitting through the county’s Oil and Gas Energy Department.

The county commissioners last month approved a new intergovernmental agreement with Ault and an updated agreement with Evans. In addition to processing oil and gas permit applications, the county will assist the municipalities with conducting hearings related to applications, including revocation and suspension hearings if necessary, and performing regulatory inspections of proposed surface sites.

The county’s agreements follow similar ones with the town of Severance approved in June 2025 and with the town of Keenesburg in 2023. In 2022, Evans became the first municipality to utilize the county’s Oil and Gas Energy Department, but the agreement previously required the city to reimburse the county for staff time and expenses.

Under the new agreement, the service will be provided to Evans and Ault for free, with the county recouping any expenses from fees already associated with the county’s oil and gas location assessments.

“As Evans was the first to use us in this way, naturally, there was a little bit of finding out what worked and what didn’t,” Oil and Gas Energy Director Brett Cavanagh said in a county news release. “This IGA eliminates the cost to them and shows a willingness to continually work with our municipalities to provide the best value to residents.”

Oil and Gas Energy Department staff will also review applications for compliance with floodplain regulations, review drainage reports for applications with well sites and issue grading permits for oil and gas sites for Ault. Like Evans, Keenesburg and Severance, Ault will have the final decision regarding whether a permit is approved within its boundary and will ensure a permit meets town codes and ordinances.

“It’s exciting to see our municipalities use our oil and gas energy department in this way,” Weld County Commissioner Chair Perry Buck said in the release. “It allows our experts in oil and gas permitting to do what they do every day — consider permits with regard to health, safety and welfare of the public and environment — and expand that skillset to our municipalities.”