—February 22, 2022
Summary: Election Cancelled, Bootlegger’s Possible Additional Outdoor Seating, Candidates for Sheriff, and Changes to Town Employee Sick and Vacation Leave Policy

by Becky Olson
The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees for the Town of Westcliffe was rescheduled from Monday, February 21st to Tuesday, February 22nd in observance of Presidents’ Day, and convened at 5:30 p.m. in Patterson Hall. A quorum of Trustees was present and proceedings commenced after recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.  
The consent agenda was unanimously approved, and there was no old business to cover so discussion turned to new business.
The first item of new business was introductions by the two candidates for Custer County Sheriff, Brandon Schoch and Lloyd Rich Smith. Before either candidate spoke, a brief reminder was issued by Trustee and Mayor Wenke that this forum is not to be used for politicking or debating and there were to be no political questions back and forth between candidates and Trustees or anyone else in attendance. Messiers, Schoch and Smith each spoke for only a few minutes to give personal introductions and brief career bios. There was a brief discussion about a possible forum between the two candidates being in the works before the Trustees thanked the gentlemen for their time and wished them the best of luck in their campaigns.
The next item of business was consideration of the possibility of Bootlegger’s Mercantile restaurant on Main Street expanding their outdoor seating.
Representing Bootlegger’s was owner and citizen, Ed
Stefanich. He explained how after operating for almost a couple years now, they see an opportunity to expand and want to explore adding an outdoor seating area for five to six additional tables. The proposed area for this outdoor expansion would be on the East side of the building that faces the park and to the North of the public bathrooms. This real estate is owned by the Town of Westcliffe, so a discussion about the possibility of leasing this spot to Bootlegger’s ensued. Of particular importance to the discussion, however, is that the Round Mountain Water & Sanitation District
(RMWSD) has an easement over this particular spot because of the water and sewer lines that run to the public restrooms. While this easement doesn’t prohibit the town from leasing that spot to Bootlegger’s, it does forbid the construction of permanent structures on it. Mr. Stefanich mentioned he was aware this means whatever they erect will have to be modular and technically not permanent. He went on to state he has worked with RMWSD’s Dave Schneider
in the past to sort out the specifics of this, but that the two of them need to
revisit the plan and settle on an amenable solution.
A Trustee brought up the concern that perhaps the town should not get into the business of being landlords or property managers and asked if perhaps an outright sale of the real estate in question would be a better option than a lease. Town Attorney Clay Buchner was asked to look into this conundrum and make a recommendation as to which financial arrangement would be best for the town to enter into. The RMWSD easement remains in place either way. After a bit more discussion, all the Trustees indicated they were amenable to the idea of Bootlegger’s proposed expansion because it fits with the town Master Plan to encourage and expand outdoor activity on Main Street. This item was referred to the agenda for March’s Board of Trustees’ meeting for further discussion on the lease versus sale item and to allow time for Mr. Stefanich to sort out the particulars of the easement with RMWSD.
The next agenda item was Resolution 1-2022 for the consideration of a motion to cancel the town election scheduled for April 15, 2022, for four Board of Trustee spots up for reelection. Colorado statutes allow for the cancellation of municipal elections such as this if certain requirements and circumstances are met. In this case, the town meets those criteria because there are four Trustee positions up for grabs, and only four certified petitions were returned; and also because those candidates agreed amongst themselves which individual would initially take the spot with a two-year rather than four-year term due to it having been vacated by a previous Trustee who resigned. Before taking a vote on the matter, Mayor Wenke expressed that he was not actually fond of this plan because he believes citizens should be given a chance to cast votes in an election. However, he ultimately joined the other Trustees in a unanimous vote to approve cancelling the election.
Next on the agenda was Resolution 2-2022 for the consideration of a motion to approve changes to the town’s employee sick and vacation leave policy to ensure compliance with Colorado’s new Healthy Families and Workplace Act. The law requires the combination of sick leave and vacation leave – previously accrued separately and subject to different requirements for use – into one bucket of Paid Time Off (PTO). Trustees voted unanimously to approve the changes drafted by Town Attorney Buchner.
Discussion next turned to a recommendation for the town to utilize a portion of its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funds for Hermit and Memorial Parks. A workshop was scheduled for March 7th, at 9 a.m. to further discuss this matter.
The last item of new business to be discussed was a request to the Board of Trustees from Mayor Wenke in his capacity as the chair of the Master Plan Committee for ideas and input on how best to achieve the recommendations set out in the town’s Master Plan. He shared his vision of Westcliffe being “the best small town in the country” and asked his fellow Trustees to think about specifically how they can take steps toward this goal. It was agreed that the Trustees (including Mr. Wenke) would tack this discussion on to their ARPA funds discussion workshop on March 7th.
There were no staff reports or public comments. Meeting was adjourned