Planning Commission Vacancy Filled, Town Considers Vendor Solution to Manage Ordinance Publishing & Updates, New Liquor License Granted to the old “Wine Mine” Location
by Becky Olson
The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees for the Town of Westcliffe convened as scheduled on Monday, August 15th 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, the board’s only item of old business was approval of Mayor Paul Wenke’s recommendation to appoint Christy Patterson to fill the vacancy on the town’s Planning Commission, with Chris Lund as an alternate. The Trustees voted unanimously to accept the Mayor’s recommendation.
In new business, the Trustees heard from JR Riley with Municode Civic Plus on how their platform can help the town publish and manage updates to its municipal code ordinances. Currently Town Clerk, Kathy Reis, performs these functions manually, but she notes the task has become more time consuming than in the past and this solution, or something similar, would greatly help manage the process in a much more efficient manner. There would also be benefits to citizens and other stakeholders by providing the town with the ability to self-publish updates in real time, as well as provide a much more user-friendly manner with which to search and view the town’s ordinances. This platform is an industry standard used by many other Colorado municipalities. After a fair amount of discussion, the Trustees voted unanimously to proceed with implementation of this solution.
After a vote to formally authorize the Westcliffe Center for Performing Arts to reallocate some funds previously disbursed via a grant, discussion next turned to the public hearing for consideration of granting a liquor license to Bear Peak LLC (the current owners of the Stage Stop coffee shop) for 109 North Third Street, formerly known as the Wine Mine. Public comment was all positive, and after some further discussion, the Trustees voted unanimously to approve the liquor license.
Consideration of a request to waive a building permit fee for the fire department’s facility was tabled until next month because there were no representatives from the department present to answer the Trustees’ questions. The Trustees then turned to discussion on consideration of granting a special use zoning variance for 103 Ridgeline Drive to change the location’s approved use from light to heavy equipment maintenance. The Trustees did not give indication of wanting to stipulate any conditions to the variance request, nor were there any objections noted to the proposed change overall. This matter will now proceed to the public comment phase of the special use variance approval process. Trustees agreed the business may continue its existing operations while this matter is resolved.
A brief discussion ensued about the town possibly hosting a networking or “meet and greet” style event for all of the town’s business and building owners to get acquainted as there are a lot of new establishments and property owners. Discussion next turned to the need for the town to retain the services of an engineer to develop design specifications for the proposed Memorial Park trails and sidewalks project. This project was previously put out to bids from contractors, but did not include engineering specs and unfortunately resulted in widely disparate proposals being submitted. Town Manager Shank notes the need to “get our ducks in a row” with regard to engineering specs, and then re-initiate the Request for Proposal (RFP) process to obtain more accurate bids that will be in alignment with engineering specifications, which will also reduce the town’s liability. This discussion also led to a wider conversation about the possibility of the town retaining the services of an engineer to design all future proposed town projects.
Next on the agenda was consideration of possibly adding some language to the town’s parking ordinance to address occasional non-vehicular use of parking spaces and off-street parking, such as that which occurs during the farmer’s market, car show, concerts, and other special events. The Trustees decided to request town attorney, Clay Buchner, draft up some proposed language for review in a future meeting. After the Trustees scheduled some workshops for detailed discussion on various items, Mr. Shank and Mrs. Reis provided some brief updates in staff reports. In public comment, the new President of the local Dark Skies organization board reported receiving numerous complaints about the new LED lights installed in town. There is a concern the new lighting is too harsh and bright, and does not comply with International Dark Skies regulations. This matter will be a formal agenda item at next month’s meeting. After some other brief public comments, the Trustees then voted to move into Executive Session to privately discuss personnel matters. The Trustees returned from Executive Session with no further public comments, and the meeting was adjourned.