TOWN OF DE BEQUE BOARD OF TRUSTEES PUBLIC MEETING MARCH 26, 2024 The regular meeting of the Board of Trustees was held on March 26, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. in the Community Center, 381 Minter Avenue, De Beque, Colorado. Present were the following: Mayor: Shanelle Hansen Trustees: Cindy Farris, Walter Wood, Sarah Hambrick, Judy Lake, Lisa Lippoldt, and Vernon Bruse Absent: None Staff Present: Town Manager Care' McInnis, Public Works Supervisor Sam Flores, and Town Clerk Lisa Rogers Also Present: Dawn Palmer, Kyle Cluff, Forest Matis, Annette Tanner, Arria and family, and Lucien and Marilyn Church CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 6:05 p.m. by Mayor Shanelle Hansen. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. ROLL CALL: Roll call was taken, and a quorum was present. PRESENTATION-AWARD FOR MURAL COMPETITION WINNER: Mayor Hansen presented Arria with $50.00 for winning the Mural Competition. Her drawing is painted on the Fire Station window. ADDITIONS, DELETIONS, OR CORRECTIONS TO THE AGENDA: None ITEMS FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATING IN CONFERENCE = NOT ON THE AGENDA: No public comments. BOARD COMMENTS: Trustee Hambrick stated she would like to revist the Famli Insurance. Trustee Farris stated that she was also unclear and would like to revisit also. Ms. McInnis will ask Attorney Michael Santo to attend. TOWN OF DE BEQUE BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETING MARCH 26, 2024 PAGE: 2 Motion: Trustee Farris motioned to revisit healthcare and FAMLI leave for staff. Trustee Hambrick seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0. TOWN MANAGER REPORT: The Candidate Forum was great. Attendance was a little disappointing, but Echo (Student Moderator) was great. She was very professional, and it was a good collaboration with the School District. The School District also provided letters of support for our sidewalks and for the Broadband Project. Municipal Judge interviews will be held on April 10th at 10:00 a.m. Ms. McInnis reached out to the current Board, and she also reached out to the candidates since there is an election next week to serve on the interview panel. Public Works interviews are scheduled for next week. There are a number of applicants. Staff held interviews for a temporary Administrative Assistant while Evelyn is out on maternity leave. Staff is likely to make the selection and offer tomorrow. The hope is to develop a relationship for future coverage to help with unexpected longer leaves. Ms. McInnis had a great question from a Trustee. She stated that she is trying to get into the habit of responding to all Trustees if one has an inquiry or request. She was asked when we will break ground on the water plant. The answer is that engineering was submitted on June 15, 2023, and it was supposed to take about 45 days to review. The Town has some unique aspects that require further vetting. The UV and small footprint are not the standardized preapproval. The State is also down to one representative on the Western Slope. With the exception of some One Source items, the next step is competitive bidding once we get approval. Ms. McInnis continues to attend AGNC Legislative meetings on behalf oft the Town of De Beque. The idea is that our lobbyists get local positions for local matters. Some apply to De Beque, and some do not. Some examples are forcing state mandates on parking or ADUs VS local control of what you want to do with regards to parking and ADUS and legislation regarding increased tax reporting on lodging taxes for De Beque not necessary and added cost. Other interesting topics are a new excise tax on firearms and tracking ammunition purchases when you use your credit card. The Town had its first layer of audit and will have another week May 20-24. Iti is an interesting process with random requests and verifications of processes and the like. Public Works Supervisor Sam Flores reported that the shoulder had been giving out on Roan Creek Road. He called Mesa County and alerted them of the danger for drivers. Mesa County came in and increased the shoulder width and created proper drainage. This will create a safer environment for drivers. Ms. McInnis stated that last month she had discussed the collaboration between local businesses and the Wild Horse Gravel Ride. She is trying to set up a zoom meeting with businesses that care to join. There will be a site visit on April 26h. TOWN OF DE BEQUE BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETING MARCH 26, 2024 PAGE 3 Ms. McInnis stated that there are currently two DOLA asks pending. The drainage admin grant request has been submitted. This week she will be submitting a grant request for a much-needed update to the comprehensive plan for De Beque. Ms. McInniss and Sam Flores had a site visit with Carlson Signs. The sign is complete; Carlson is just waiting on brackets. Hopefully, the sign will be up within a month. The Country Store, Thriftique, Reckless Roadhouse, Jet Boat, and Roan Creek Bikes should all have their grant-funded signage up within the next week or SO. This funding comes from OEDIT and requires the support of DOLA. Ms. McInnis stated that ifthree members of of staff take a three-hour online course presented by the Rural Opportunity Office, (OEDIT), which is beneficial to us and the entire community that the Town could get additional funding to pay for business signs for the Wild Horse Inn. The Duttons got on it right away. Planner Matt Farrar approved it the same weekend. Thank you to the Board for allowing us to support these businesses. There is a new Western Slope representative at OEDIT, and it is important to stay connected with all of these agencies. Ms. McInnis will be having lunch with the new representative on April Sth. Ms. McInnis stated that she and Katherine had gone to Manitou Springs the day after the last Board meeting to seek DOLA funding for the Broadband project. There were forty-four applicants. Ms. McInnis stated that she learned late last week that the Town was awarded the full ask of$464,435. The plan is to utilize funding through Mesa County ARPA and seek the USDA grant for even more funding ifthe Board approves the consent agenda item. CONSENT AGENDA: a. Approval of Minutes: February 27, 2024. b. Bills and Expenditures: February 2024. C. Discussion and action regarding Resolution 2024-09: A resolution authorizing the Town to apply for a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture to fund improvements to broadband infrastructure. Discussion Before Motioning on the Consent Agenda: Mayor Hansen asked if anyone had any questions or comments on the Consent Agenda items. There were none. Motion: Trustee Hambrick motioned to approve all items on the consent agenda. Trustee Farris seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0. REGULAR AGENDA: NEW BUSINESS: Remaining bills and expenditures: Expenditures related to the Country Store TOWN OF DE BEQUE BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETING MARCH 26, 2024 PAGE 4 Motion: Trustee Lippoldt motioned to approve expenditures related to the Country Store. Trustee Hambrick seconded the motion. Motion carried 6-0. Fire District "Sewer and Amendments": Fire Chief Matis stated that the purpose ofl his request was to talk about the Annexation agreement from May of 2015. It is regarding the sewer bore under the interstate and the communication surrounding it. Ms. McInnis requested for a letter of support regarding the sewer bore back in June 2022. Chiefl Matis stated that he had some questions surrounding the request and what obligations that would create for the fire district. In response, Ms. McInnis provided Chief Matis another copy ofthe 2015 annexation agreement. When the fire district moved out to 4580 I-70 Frontage Road they entered into an annexation agreement with the Town that required them to hook to the sanitary sewer system when within 400 feet. Chief Matis argued that they had hooked to a private line in the Town of De Beque system. ChiefMatis has stated that he is trying to be transparent about the matter. ChiefMatis indicated that the role of the Fire District was for EMS and Fires, not sewer repairs and maintenance. He stated that the attorney, David McConaughy had told him that the grant for the sewer bore was contingent on the Fire District hooking onto the sewer system. Chief Matis stated that he has looked at the grant which was provided by Ms. McInnis and that is not the case. Chief Matis thanked the Board for not including the Fire District in the application for grant funding. Chief Matis indicated the Fire District did not budget for this. He did state that Ms. McInnis stated there was money left over in the grant that could perhaps be redirected to help the Fire District defray the cost with a 50% match. He stated that the Fire District Board did not agree with that. Chief Matis also brought up that the attorney had mentioned that the agreement was signed by Chief Matis who was the Mayor of De Beque at the time. Chief Matis stated that it was irrelevant as it is on record that any agreement with the Fire District, Chief Matis abstained from voting. He stated that he had no say in any ofit when he was mayor. Chief Matis stated that any liability for repairing the private line is significantly less than the cost of hooking on to Town in a new place. He indicated that the costs of maintenance and repair oft the private line were not relevant to the Town as they were the responsibility ofthe Fire District. He also stated it makes no sense to move forward with hooking on before Pine West hooks on and there are no approved plans yet for where Pine West would hook on. Chief Matis also stated that if the agreement needs fulfilled by the Fire District, then he should have reçeived a certified letter from the Town as outlined in the agreement. ChiefMatis stated that it is hard toj justify rehooking to a system that the Fire District is already hooked to. The ask is for a waiver of the agreement, OR a waiver for a period of time to allow the Fire District to budget for the costs, OR allow communication with Pine West to figure out how they are going to actually hook to it or where they are going to be. Ms. McInnis stated that Mr. McConaughy would be available for the April meeting. Trustee Wood asked ifl Ms. McInnis could provide documentation oft the 2015 agreement at the next Board meeting. TOWN OF DE BEQUE BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETING MARCH 26, 2024 PAGE 5 Discussion and action regarding an out-of-town tap at 4602 Highway 6: Ms. McInnis stated that Lucien and Marilyn Church were in the audience to represent their children Carrie and Bradley Church. These applicants.are asking for an out-of-town tap. Staff's recommendation is to approve the out-of-town tap contingent on the execution of a preannexation agreement. This would be consistent with the other applicants over the past years. The application is the Board packet. The tap fees have already been paid. There is also a map to show where the property is. There is already a tap on this property, and they are requesting a second one. Mayor Hansen asked ifthere were any questions. There were none. Motion: Trustee Hambrick motioned to approve the out-of-town tap at 4602 Highway 6. Trustee Farris seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0. Discussion and direction regarding Resolution 2024-10: A resolution authorizing the Town to request Congressionally Directed Spending approval to fund municipal water system improvements: Ms. McInnis explained that she met with representatives from both Hickenlooper and Bennett's offices. She stated that De Beque only has one water source at this time. In times of emergency, there could be a need for a secondary water source. De Beque is the only town along the I-70 Corridor that only has one. We could use the senior water rights that we already have. She stated that the odds are not great of getting this ask. If the ask does get approved, there is not a time frame on the funds. Motion: Trustee Lippoldt motioned to approve Resolution 2024-10. Trustee Bruse seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0. OLD BUSINESS: Discussion and direction regarding Board-directed beautification project spending $20,000: Ms. McInnis stated this a revisited topic from last month. Ms. McInnis stated that Staff can't move forward until the direction is narrowed. Trustee Wood stated that he had taken 22 tons of used asphalt to Frontier Paving (FPI) in Rifle and FPI had a lot more at their yard. He stated perhaps they would sell some to the Town. Trustee Wood suggested using the asphalt and screened rock mixed together. Sam Flores explained that he has not been able to find any millings available for purchase. Mr. Flores also stated that to do a grassy area, there would need to be irrigation. Adding irrigation also requires electricity and that would be another added expense. Trustee Farris stated that with the water shortages, a grassy area doesn'tr make sense. Mr. Flores stated that xeriscape would be a good option for the area. He also stated that lighting should be considered. Dawn Palmer stated that she would like to see some attention paid to the horse at Gazebo Park and perhaps perennials planted beneath it. Mayor Hansen stated she would try to reach out to the members oft the old board to try to find out more about horse and its maintenance. Ms. Palmer also mentioned helping neighbors to keep the streets of Del Beque looking good. The Town will move forward with laying gravel on both ends of the recycle lot and putting a horseshoe shaped split rail fence in the center. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Hansen asked ift there was a motion to adjourn the meeting. TOWN OF DE BEQUE BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETING MARCH 26, 2024 PAGE 6 Motion: Trustee Bruse motioned to adjourn the regular meeting. Trustee Farris seconded the motion. Meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m. Respectfully submitted, SEAL oG CLAR - - Lisa M. Rogers, Town Clerk - SOLORADO