Regular Meeting of the Town of Ignacio

REGULAR MEETING OF THE TOWN OF IGNACIO

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

I.  Call Regular Meeting to Order: Mayor George Whitt called the Regular Meeting to Order at 7:13 p.m. Trustees Present: Mayor Protem Cecilia Robbins, Trustees Lawrence Bartley, Kasey Correia, Delbert Cuthair, Ena Millich and Marie Zeller. Staff: Balty Quintana, Town Manager, Georgann Valdez, Clerk, Kirk Phillips, Chief of Police, Dirk Nelson, Town Attorney and Mike Whitney, Town Engineer. Guests: Gabe Preston from RPI Consulting and Allie Mifflin for Pine River Times.

II.  Approve Minutes of Special Meeting: Trustee Zeller moved to approve the minutes of the Special Meeting held April 9, 2008. Seconded by Trustee Correia. The motion passed unanimously.

III.  Public Comment: Gabe Preston for RPI Consulting LLC of Durango gave a brief presentation on a study done by his firm regarding the school land dedications and fees for the Ignacio School District. The report was presented to the School Board two weeks ago. They directed RPI to take it to the local governments for action, if any, and report back to the School Board. The school land dedication fee is a mechanism to insure that new developments and new subdivisions contribute their fair share toward school land. The fees apply to any new subdivision in the jurisdiction of the Town or County within the Ignacio School District and are collected through Town and County authority. The school district does not have legal authority to collect the fees. A survey was done by calling 400 households in the School District to determine the number of students per household on average in various types of housing. Research helped RPI establish how much land is required per housing unit in each type of school and how much that land costs for each housing unit type. After gathering the data, RPI determined the fee per housing unit is $683. The current fee of $65.00 per housing unit is very outdated. The Town and County must adopt these fees by ordinance or resolution. The governments include these in their fee schedules, collecting them through the building permit process. Another option is to have the developer pay the fees directly to the School District and show the Town Planning Department the receipt of payment. The money can be used for capital improvements in the School District. State law allows for land dedication in lieu of fees. After a few questions regarding the legal procedure to adopt and collect the fees Trustee Correia moved to direct Balty and Dirk to work with the School Board and La Plata County to draft an intergovernmental agreement and ordinance and bring it back to the Board for review. Seconded by Trustee Bartley. The motion passed unanimously.

IV.  Approval of Minutes – Regular Town Board Meeting March 12, 2008 - Trustee Zeller moved to approve the Town Board Minutes of March 12, 2008. Seconded by Trustee Cuthair. The motion passed with Trustee Correia abstaining.

V.  Bills to be Paid – Trustee Zeller moved to have the bills paid. Trustee Bartley seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

VI. Staff Reports

A.  Police Department:

·  Chief Phillips stated there is a reoccurring problem of youth playing basketball on the right of way on Candelaria Heights. In reviewing the Municipal Code ordinances and the Model Traffic Code, playing sports on town streets is not prohibited. Safety and civil liability is the main concern. Dirk will send out letters to see if the offenders will voluntarily comply. An amendment to the Model Traffic Code to address the issue may be the next step. Putting up a basketball court at Ben Campbell Park was suggested. Balty will look into the cost of the last option.

·  Animal Control IGA with Southern Ute Indian Tribe was briefly discussed. The fee will be $30 for each impounded dog (no cats) at their facility just south of the town’s limits. The Town now has an IGA with La Plata Humane Society where we are paying $50 per dog and officers have to take the time to transport the animals. Trustee Correia moved to approve the Animal Control IGA with SUIT. Seconded by Trustee Zeller. The motion passed unanimously.

·  By month’s end the 800 MHz radios will be utilized. The Tribe is currently replacing their dispatch system with Spillman. Chief Phillips said the Tribe asked the Town to piggyback on this records management software program. Because of the cost the Department will be looking for grants to replace the outdated system they are currently using.

B.  Maintenance: The Department got their new utility truck and also a smaller dump truck with a plow. The sweeper is the next piece of equipment to be replaced, possibly through Energy Impact Grant funds. Walter Romero has returned for summer employment.

C.  Treasurer: Auditors will start the 2007 Audit after the tax season ends April 15.

VII.  Old Business: Staff did a Citizen Survey in 2002. After a brief discussion, the Board agreed it was a good time for another.

VIII. New Business

A.  Gas Rate Increase from $10.83 to $11.02: – Trustee Zeller moved to approve the gas rate increase from $10.83 to $11.02, an increase of $.17 per mcf. Seconded by Trustee Cuthair. The motion passed unanimously.

B.  Re-Appointment of Town Manager, Clerk, Treasurer, Chief of Police, Attorney and Judge: Trustee Millich moved to re-appoint the following: Balty Quintana as Town Manager, Georgann Valdez as Town Clerk, Rebecca Dziarnowski (Becky Ski) as Town Treasurer, Kirk Phillips as Chief of Police, Dirk Nelson as Town Attorney and Diane Knutson at Municipal Judge. Seconded by Trustee Bartley. The motion passed unanimously.

C.  TP Lounge Liquor License Renewal: Trustee Bartley moved to approve the TP Lounge Liquor License Renewal. Seconded by Trustee Millich. The motion passed unanimously.

D.  Main Liquor License Renewal: Trustee Correia moved to approve the Main Liquor License Renewal. Seconded by Trustee Bartley. The motion passed unanimously.

E.  Trash Rate Increase (CPI 4% to $13.04 for single polycart and $3.77 for each additional) Trustee Bartley moved to approve the trash rate increase. Seconded by Trustee Correia. The motion passed unanimously.

F.  Personnel Policy Addition – Intern Hiring Policy: Balty explained staff reviewed and discussed wages and benefits with Sara Wakefield, the new intern under the Department of Local Affairs Grant. It was recommended to add a section to the Personnel Policy outlining the benefits and hourly wages. The annual wages of $30,000.00 would remain the same, with DOLA and the Town each contributing half. A statement was included allowing for dollars equal to benefits be paid in lieu of benefits to supplement the hourly wage. Trustee Correia asked if the intern was hired under the current policy knowing what the wages would be at the time of hire and Balty said yes. Trustee Cuthair moved to approve the addition to the personnel policy, outlining the Intern Hiring Policy allowing for wages in lieu of benefits. Seconded by Trustee Bartley. The motion passed with Trustee Correia voting no.

IX. Administrative Reports

A.  Planning Commission - Trustee Millich moved to appoint Trustee Correia to serve as ex-officio member to the Planning Commission. Seconded by Trustee Zeller. The motion passed unanimously with Trustee Correia abstaining. Staff is doing what they can to fill two vacancies on the Planning Commission.

B.  Town Manager

§  Regional Housing Authority was awarded $1.1 million from BP to be used for affordable housing. Balty gave a brief review of their progress.

§  Good news from the Energy Impact Grant funding committee that the Town has been granted full funding of $504,000 for the first phase of the natural gas line replacement project. Balty briefly explained the work to relocate the city gate.

§  Balty will meet with Richard Goll April 16 of the La Plata County Family and Youth Planning to discuss the town’s share and participation in the Plan developed by the committees. Mayor Whitt stated the recommendations could be costly. Trustee Robbins had concerns that there are duplication of services and that a group of youth are left out of the loop. The recommendations can be reviewed as to which would work for the community and see what funds are available.

C.  Town Engineer: Mike Whitney updated the Board on the road failure on El Paso Road. Mr. Whitney reported that the Town has lost a significant part of the east lane of El Paso Road due to a landslide. The hillside has not been rock solid for a number of years. Small cracks in the asphalt paving have occurred for years. In July 2007 Richard Olguin, in preparing his property (Rock Creek Complex) for development cut the toe of the hillside, which is believed to have triggered the catastrophic slope failure. The lane is barricaded and letters to property owners on El Paso have been sent to inform them that the Town is working on a solution to make the road safe for travel. The Town has contracted Trautner Geotech LLC to evaluate the situation, monitor ground water and develop a solution. Meetings with the community have been held to discuss an additional corridor to the mesa through Rock Creek Complex. Mike asked if we wanted to solve this problem for perpetuity or look at a temporary solution to provide a significant level of safety and security for people traveling on El Paso. Permanent solution to the problem could be brought about by different methods. Repairs to El Paso for a shorter life would be less costly and time consuming. That is the solution on which the Town is focusing. Mike described a few of these options. Balty explained the Town’s and Mr. Olguin’s responsibility and cost. The Town has documentation of Mr. Olguin’s cutting the hillside and measured movement. Talks with staff, Dirk, Mike and Mr. Trautner are ongoing to develop a plan. The Board’s questions were answered and Balty explained a special meeting would be scheduled. More information is needed before the Board can make a decision.

D.  Town Manager report continued:

·  Balty asked the Board to review the information in their packet regarding cleaning up properties that are creating an eyesore to citizens and possible condemnation of property. A special meeting will be set to discuss this issue in June.

·  Bids for Phase III of the Water Mainline Replacement came in with the lowest at $633, 682. References are being checked out. This project was approved in the budget process.

·  The Bike Week Proclamation was briefly discussed. This originated with County Commissioner Wally White. Cecilia Robbins stated that neither the Chamber of Commerce nor the Ignacio Bike Week Rally Board had seen it nor approved it. The Board agreed to table further discussion.

·  Balty asked the Board to sponsor three Ignacio High School Seniors in the Pine River Times at $35 per student, one from each of the ethnic groups in the community. The Board agreed by consensus.

·  On the Chamber of Commerce Beer Tent, they are asking about the possibility of having an individual selling flavored margarita slushies. The Special Event Permit was granted to the Chamber to sell beer and vinuous drinks. A third party was not mentioned in the request to the Board nor was selling margarita slushies. This will be cleared up with the Chamber.

X. Miscellaneous: The Town is not currently a paid member of the Chamber of Commerce. This will be corrected. The community trash clean up coordinated by the Chamber and the School will be the week before the Town’s spring cleanup, which works well with Transit Waste. The area adjacent to Sidekick is littered with beer bottles. Balty will inform the Chief.

XI. Adjournment - Being no further business before the Board, a motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at 9:45 p.m. The next regular meeting will be Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. in the Abel F. Atencio Municipal Complex.

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George Whitt, Mayor Date

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Attest: Georgann Valdez, Town Clerk

Town Board Meeting April 9, 2008 1