Silver Cliff Town Meeting August 3rd, 2020

by Lisa Frank

The meeting came to order at 5 pm with a request to silence all cell phones, the Pledge of Allegiance, an Invocation and Roll Call. All Town Trustees were present with one calling in on the phone. There were no Amendments to the Agenda and the Attendees introduced themselves.

The Consent Agenda was approved unanimously and the Board moved on to the agenda.

• New Business
  1. Trent Stafford from Kirkpatrick Bank presented the Town Board with investment options for their current CDs and the Board agreed to secure them with easily accessed, short-term Certificates of Deposits, acknowledging the tumult of today’s economy.
  2. Jim Cole – Turner Ore Mill Proposal. Jim Cole presented the Town Board with a very generous offer to donate the old Turner Ore Mill with the stipulation that it be added to Silver Cliff’s historical attractions, such as the Silver Cliff Museum. He detailed the buildings, land, contents within the buildings and the Mill’s history. This reporter missed the beginning portion of Cole’s presentation but I have been in the Turner Ore Mill more than once when I worked as a realtor here. Mr. Cole had a box of items that were being passed around the room, treasures from Silver Cliff’s mining glory days. Some of the Trustees had gone on a field trip to the property days prior to the meeting and were impressed with the property and offer. Understandably, for if you’ve ever been to the Turner Ore Mill it is in incredibly good condition and the contents are labeled and organized. This is a very generous and precious gift to the Town of Silver Cliff whose history is mining and that existence predates Westcliffe’s. Mr. Cole was specific regarding the reason and purpose for the gift and that is to maintain and share the town’s history with visitors, school children and Custer County residents. Mr. Slater, counsel to Silver Cliff, will work the town, Mr. Cole and his partner and hammer out the details of the deed transfer and other stipulations. Slater asked if there were any environmental liabilities and Cole said that a study had been done and the property and structures were cleared. He will find the study and provide it to Town Clerk Squire. The Town is 100% on board with this endeavor and everyone will meet again at next month’s meeting to finalize the details. Congratulations Silver Cliff!
  3. Trinity Huffman – Discussion on fence, fees and lease term to be included in his business plan for the Sangre MotoCross Park. It was one year ago, August 5, 2019, that Trinity came before the Town Board with an idea to lease some land and develop a motocross park for kids and adults. He got the go-ahead to continue researching the idea and they suggested that he go before the Planning and Zoning Committee first for their suggestions, approval or denial. With that done he came back to the Board to discuss fencing for safety/security, fees and terms of the lease. It wasn’t spelled out to the audience but it was clear to this reporter that the location had changed as the discussion continued. The previous location presented a year ago was north of Hwy 96 on private property that is already a haven for young ATVers, motorcyclists and dirt bikers, albeit illegal. The new location (and I cannot confirm this but deduced the location from the conversation) is land owned by Silver Cliff Cemetery, a 40 acre piece of land out south on Mill Street. Mr. Huffman has spoken with the AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) who founded and sanctioned the Motocross Race Series in 1972, and they are interested to work with Huffman’s group and potentially supply group insurance to riders. When questioned by Attorney Slater as to liability insurance Huffman asked up to what amount? Slater suggested up to one million dollars and Huffman assured him that it was not only doable but that he had several companies wanting to bid for it. Roger Squire said it must be smooth wire fencing and Trinity agreed completely and also assured the Board that the track would be designed in such a way as to minimize the possibility of anyone hitting the perimeter fence but, he added, it is motorcycle racing, he also noted that there would always be one of the organizers present on the property if open for use. The Town agreed to a 5, even 10-year lease on the land which pleased Huffman. The Sentinel will keep citizens informed as this sporting event attraction proceeds.
  4. Silver Cliff Cemetery Boundary Survey – Roger Camper noted that after the survey was done it became painfully obvious that some of her citizens are buried on land not belonging to the Cemetery, but belonging to Silver Cliff Land & Cattle Co who own all the land surrounding the Cemetery’s acreage. Roger will speak directly with them to arrange a possible land swap and feels SCL&C Co. will be wholly amenable. Stay posted.
  5. Sheriff’s 1st and 2nd Quarter Reports – Sheriff Shannon Byerly was there with information and an explanation of how complicated it has been with the closing of our dispatch and partnering with Fremont County’s dispatch. To get accurate attributable information has been a challenge for Sheriff Byerly because Custer County, Silver Cliff and Westcliffe all share one zip code but are different paying entities, 1 county and 2 municipalities. He feels that they have discovered the errors causing the data confusion but not completely fixed them and he has stayed on top of the company running the software that supports the dispatch data in order to be able to accurately report to Silver Cliff’s Town Board, Westcliffe’s Town Board and the County Commissioners. He personally went over the data presented to the Board that day and felt that it was accurate. Silver Cliff had 49 Calls for Service (CFS) in the 2nd Quarter and 22 Criminal Investigations (CI) equaling 12% of the SO’s resources. Though still not able to say with 100% accuracy because of the above stated reasons, Byerly felt it accurate enough to give this report because in the past Silver Cliff averaged 9-12% of the SO’s resources. He will continue to badger the company until he is satisfied. The Sheriff reported that 2020 has been a strange year for his office because of C-19, the shut-down and the ensuing loss and hysteria. Break-ins and theft continue to be high and he urges citizens to lock their possessions up. He is also investigating the ability for citizens to catalog and photograph possessions and store them in the cloud so that if a day of loss due to fire or theft ever comes, one could easily retrieve information otherwise forgotten. He was sad to report the high number of 4 motorcycle deaths with only half the year gone. He also reported 2 heroin overdose deaths due to the drug being laced with fentanyl and cautioned everyone that bad drugs are out there. Sheriff Byerly ended his report with a plea for the 2 towns and the County to begin planning for the additional cost SB 217 is placing on law enforcement. He encouraged all 3 entities to get creative in raising the money to afford what Denver is saddling Police Departments and Sheriff Offices statewide with. It’s going to cost a lot of money to comply with everything involved and coming soon. They’re already required to comply with the early dictates even if the State hasn’t the infrastructure in place to house the data law enforcement is required to collect. Denver lawmakers require 28 points of data to be collected on EVERY INDIVIDUAL in ANY AND EVERY CONTACT a deputy makes, even a broken taillight. Our choice to police like a rural small town is gone and we must find the dollars to fund the SO, so they can do their job. Byerly is still trying to sort out how to comply with body cams for all his Posse Members who volunteer countless hours each month and are now under the same expensive regulations as paid deputies. This is what happens when elected officials pass laws without considering the consequences to rural communities.
  6. Continuation of Report Lucas Epp – Write-In Candidate for Custer County Commissioner Epp came to the Silver Cliff Town Board to introduce himself and squelch any potential rumors that might be circulating around this small town. He wanted the Board to know what he holds in high regard; God, church, family, community and he is proudly pro-life. He supports the Sheriff and Police and recognizes the important role they play in rural communities, care for our veterans is important, he is pro-2nd Amendment, pro-small business and community service. He is not new to serving and was Mayor of his hometown in Nebraska before getting married and starting a family. It was having a family that prompted him to begin a career which entailed a lot of travel, but has now come down to consulting for the same company with some travel. His current contract can be terminated or renegotiated, depending on the election results. He wanted the Board to know that he and his wife have started the business Sugarlump Coffee and Eats and they love the Valley and intend on making it their forever home.
  7. Steve Laswell – Installing 2 more permanent pickleball nets/courts The former Mayor called in to the meeting with his request and began by giving a short history on the sport. Apparently, there are two permanent nets installed and two removable nets and the club is asking for those to become permanent. He says the demand is there and the group are willing to raise the funds for equipment needed. The Board discussed the option of permanent “removable” nets/courts of the type basketball and volleyball courts use. This would allow for a stable playing court that could be removed if the space is needed for other events. After some discussion Mr. Laswell agreed to the Town’s terms and thanked the Board.
  8. Mechanical Permit Application and Contractor Information Request Form – Roger Camper reported that he would like to streamline the way builders and contractors do business with the town and with their customers. He has designed a form with pricing outlined, that a builder can pick up before they pull permits. This will allow them to know the cost and thereby bid the job adequately, it will also give the town an opportunity to gather information on the contractor for future contact and give the Town assurance as to their ability to perform the job to code. The Town Board discussed DIYers and this should not hinder them in pulling a permit but it must be to code. A motion was made and seconded to accept the form and passed unanimously.
  9. Public Hearing for Ord. 04-2020 “An ordinance adopting by reference and enacting the appendices for the 2006 International Building Code and the 2006 International Residential Code – Mayor Wenzel took the Board of Trustees meeting out and began the Public Meeting, asking for any public input. Hearing none the meeting went back into a regular Town Board meeting in one minute.
  10. Consideration of approval of Ordinance 04-2020 – Motion to approve was made, seconded and passed unanimously.
  11. Consideration of approval of the new permit fees schedule – Roger Camper provided the town with a permit fee schedule based on the cost of the job being done up to a certain dollar amount. The fee is currently static and some of the larger building projects going on take more time for inspecting by Mr. Camper with return visits up to 3 and 4 times to approve the project meets code. With the new fee schedule his time and that cost to the Town would be covered. Roger noted that our fee schedule is currently much lower than most Municipalities in Colorado and would still be lower even with the new schedule. A motion was made to approve, seconded and passed unanimously.
  12. Consideration of approval of the pre-buy with Norup Gas for the Town Shop and Museum – Motion made, seconded and passed unanimously.
• Old Business
  1. Silver Cliff Pit Update – Nothing really new here, Viscount is still trying to play bigshot with the Town of Silver Cliff but the Town holds all the cards and intends to keep it that way. Stay tuned.

Staff Reports were given and the meeting adjourned around 8:00 p.m.