—March 21, 2022
WESTCLIFFE, Colo.
Town to Develop Policy for Outdoor Restaurant Seating, Snow Route Ordinance Modified, Town Manager Gets
New Credit Card
by Becky Olson
The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees for the Town of Westcliffe convened as scheduled at 5:30 p.m. in Patterson Hall. A quorum of Trustees was present and proceedings commenced after recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.
After the consent agenda was unanimously approved, discussion turned to the one item of old business, Bootlegger’s Mercantile restaurant’s application for additional outdoor seating. Ed Stefanich, owner of Bootlegger’s, informed the Trustees he learned from Dave Schneider at Round Mountain Water & Sanitation District (RMWSD) that the town actually owns the water and sewer lines that run to the public bathrooms in Jess Price Park to the east of Bootlegger’s where the additional outdoor seating is proposed. RMWSD does not assume responsibility for those lines until the alleyway, so the town is free to handle this request from Bootlegger’s in any manner they please without input needed from the water district.
Mayor and Trustee Wenke then proposed the Board table the discussion around consideration of Bootlegger’s request for additional outdoor seating and whether that real estate ought to be leased or sold until the Trustees can develop a general policy for outdoor seating and serving of alcohol for all businesses
in town. Mr. Stefanich emphasized the urgency of this matter as the summer tourist season is practically
upon us, so the Trustees scheduled a workshop for Thursday, March 24th to develop said policy.
With no other items of old business, discussion turned to the first item of new business: Consideration of a request by Altitude Fitness to use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money which has already been allocated to them for the cost of a new boiler system scheduled for installation March 28th through April 3rd. Discussion among the Trustees revealed the disbursement of these funds to Altitude Fitness was approved for purposes of improving energy efficiency and associated costs, so using the funds for the new boiler system would fall under that umbrella of previously approved use of the funds.
The next item of discussion pertained to a minor modification of the town’s policies to allow town staff to provide letters of support for non-profit businesses which are seeking grant money. The Trustees unanimously approved a motion to allow town staff to fulfill these requests without Board of Trustee involvement so long as the town did not assume any financial commitments when providing such letters of support.
The next item of business was a request for the town to obtain an additional credit card for exclusive use by the town manager,
Gabriel Shank. Town Clerk Kathy Reis explained the need for this card in addition to the one currently available for use by the
office as being due to the fact that many of the town’s expenses auto-bill to the card used by the office, which often leaves Mr. Shank in a position where he needs to incur expenses in amounts greater than the remaining available credit on that card. Trustees unanimously agreed to grant
Mr. Shank an additional credit card with a $5,000 credit limit.
Up next for discussion was consideration to allow non-profit businesses located within the designated boundary of eligibility for façade improvement grants to apply for those funds. Discussion ultimately just clarified that the initial intent of the facade improvement grant program was to make these funds available to all businesses located within the designated area, which would include non-profit businesses. There was some discussion around the possibility of expanding the eligibility for this grant in the future to all businesses in the town of Westcliffe, but for now, that eligibility does not extend to businesses which are not located on Main Street.
Discussion then turned to the next item of business, consideration of an emergency and immediate modification to the town’s snow removal ordinance. The crux of the proposed changes pertained to adding the designation and use of the phrase “snow route” on Main Street heading west from southbound Highway 69 to Adams Boulevard. The primary benefit of adopting the designation of a “snow route” in the ordinance is that the actual street(s) subject to the snow route designation can be modified without the overarching ordinance needing to be changed.
After much discussion about various minutiae of town parking for both businesses and residents, as well as the importance of transparent communication with those who will be affected, the Board  unanimously agreed to modify the town’s snow
removal ordinance to the following: “No vehicle shall be parked or left unattended (along the snow route) between the hours of 3 a.m. and 9 a.m. during the months of October through April if more than two inches of snow is forecast.”
The last few minor items of discussion were requests from Mayor and Trustee Wenke. The first was for his fellow Trustees to submit suggestions to him of individuals who may be qualified for and interested in serving on the town’s Planning Commission. The second request was for the Trustees to re-familiarize themselves with the town’s Master Plan for the purpose of developing a cohesive method of aligning the Master Plan, Strategic Plan, and annual budgets.
The final item before staff reports was some discussion regarding broadband internet in the town. Hilltop Broadband was looking into providing a solution for all of Custer County, but that plan has been abandoned by Hilltop due to financial reasons. However, they will still be moving forward with the previously agreed upon plan to provide broadband internet for the town of Westcliffe.
In staff reports, Town Clerk Reis made a request for Town Hall to be open five days per week effective immediately, and the Trustees unanimously agreed. She also mentioned there is still grant money available from CDOT for street projects, which she and Town Manager Shank will be pursuing. Mr. Shank reported that he has interviewed a candidate for an open position. There was a brief discussion about how the Farmer’s Market will take place on Fridays now instead of Wednesdays, and after confirming there were no public comments, meeting was adjourned.