Town of Westcliffe: Tax Talk, Grant Applications,
Lowes Liquor Licence,  Grants-Grants-Grants,
Trustees Candidate Deadlines

Westcliffe Town Board Meeting
—January 7, 2020
by Lisa Frank
The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance followed by roll call. All Trustees were present except new Trustee, Brian Clince. The visitors were recognized and the meeting began.
The Consent Agenda passed unanimously.
No Old Business
New Business
a. Lowe’s Pay and Save came before the Board to request that their liquor license be renewed, though the allotted time had passed, the State Fine of $267 had been paid and the owners apologized to the Town with an explanation of how this had all happened. Apparently, Lowe’s had stocked more beer (liquor) than they had approved space for. The overage was in the amount of one (1) 16 pack of Budweiser Beer. The owner apologized for his ignorance of the overage and promised the town that from now on, he would directly oversee invoices,
orders and stocking of alcohol. The Board made a motion to restore Lowe’s liquor license and the vote was unanimous. The owner requested permission to apply for a larger amount of space to be used during special events, sales, promotions, etc. and he was informed of an application process to do so. Clerk Reis will work with them to accomplish this.
Mayor Wenke made a suggestion as a local business owner that Lowe’s become more involved financially in the town of Westcliffe as a gesture of goodwill and the owner stated that they do support many local causes but keep it on the downlow so as not to appear grandstanding. Mayor Wenke suggested they continue supporting our town but use it to promote the store, their brand and Westcliffe. The owner said he would take that back to corporate.
b. The 2020 Board of Trustees Meeting Schedule was passed unanimously.
c. Consideration of appointing a Trustee to the Planning Commission (PC) – Mr. Jim Bistodeau, Mayor Pro-Tem, will be resigning his position on the PC as well as not running for his current seat on the Town Board in 2020. He and his wife bought an old home in Florence, are remodeling it and plan to move there when they can. Jim will be missed in Westcliffe. He has been a level-headed voice on the Town Board of Trustees as well as a teacher at Custer County School. We all wish him and his family well.
d. A motion was made and seconded and passed unanimously to Ratify the Change to Ordinance 12-2019 concerning the April Ballot Issue Raising Sales Tax by 1%. It was originally made and passed with a sunset clause of four years, but Attorney for the Town, Jay Printz, noted that if it should pass it would take effect July 1, 2020. That would mean it would sunset June 30, 2024 and he suggested they amend it to read four years and six months, thereby ending December 31, 2024. There was slight discussion before amending the Ordinance language to reflect the new sunset date and it passed unanimously.
e. The Board discussed the Lease/Maintenance agreement between the town of Westcliffe and San Isabel Land Protection Trust (SILPT). This is regarding The Bluff of which SILPT has ownership of a small portion of it. Trustee Cole had several questions as to whether or not SILPT is living up to the agreement, but it was ultimately determined that they were. Motion passed unanimously.
f. The Board passed Resolution 1-2020 approving the application for a Multimodal Options Funding Grant through the Central Front Range Transportation Planning Commission with CDOT. Mayor Wenke took time out to address the few in attendance about the value of grants to small towns and rural communities. He emphasized that these weren’t just ‘free money’ but that the towns had to have in their possession “matching funds”. In the case of CDOT grants, the amount a town has to put in to “match” the grant is 20%. DOLA requires 50% and GOCO requires 25%. In order to plan for larger projects such as infrastructure, a town would have to have significant monies in the bank to secure such grants. In the hope that a sales tax increase would pass, those monies would become available to secure the applied for grants. Should the grant be awarded and the matching funds not be available by any town, the grant is refused and moves on to the next in line for it. Both Westcliffe and Silver Cliff are applying for grants to improve important projects such as safe routes to school, business centers, etc. Both towns are growing, and their budgets are limited. The grants greatly expand their dollars for projects and both towns have expressed the importance to this reporter of the value of having available monies to improve those things we grumble about the most such as roads and services. It is something to consider as we move into a new decade and the expansion of our population is suddenly very visible to most of us who have lived here for some time.
There were no Additions to the Agenda. Staff and Committee Reports were given. Of note, Town Clerk Reis reported that April 7, 2020 voters will choose four Trustees. Anyone living in Westcliffe is eligible and if you’re interested, packets are available from the Clerk at 1000 Main Street. These must be returned by 5 p.m. January 27, 2020.
There was no Public Comment and the Meeting Adjourned at 6:03 p.m.