Town of Westcliffe Board of Trustees Monthly Meeting
March 21, 2023
Town Hall Conference Room, Westcliffe, 5:30 PM
New Trustee Lori Lund Sworn In, Town to Proceed With Grant Awarded to Install EV Charging Stations, Compliance With Town Ordinances to be Scrutinized
By Becky Olson
The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees for the Town of Westcliffe was held on March 21st, 2023 and convened as scheduled at 5:30 PM in the town hall conference room. All Trustees were present and proceedings commenced after recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and unanimous adoption of the consent agenda after minor edits to February’s Trustee meeting minutes for clarification.
The first item of old business was the swearing in of new Board of Trustees member, Lori Lund. Ms. Lund fills the role vacated by former Trustee, Bess Cole, who resigned in January. Congratulations, Lori! The other item of old business was a discussion around whether to proceed with a grant which was awarded to the town last August by the Colorado Energy Office to offset 80% of the cost to install EV (electric vehicle) charging stations on town property. A representative from the Colorado Energy Office was present via teleconference to answer some clarifying questions from the Trustees regarding liability, costs, warranty, maintenance, and so on related to the charging stations. A motion to proceed with the project and utilize the grant ultimately passed, with Mayor Wenke and Trustee Art Nordyke dissenting and voting nay due to concerns about the town taking on responsibility for this type of infrastructure.
In new business, Trustee Randy Wilhelm brought forth a discussion item requesting the Planning Committee to review and research both businesses’ and residents’ compliance with various town ordinances pertaining to sign display and usage, processes to review the terms of sales of town property, encroachments on town property and various rights of way, and other similar concerns. Mr. Wilhelm cited a few examples such as residents parking in alleys, tables or benches in front of Main Street business that aren’t removed each evening, the outdoor patio at Peregrine Coffee, and recent sales of town property under which water and electrical lines run, as examples of potential instances of non-compliance with town ordinances or activities for which there is no defined, consistent process. After some discussion it was determined not all of these items may fall under the purview of the Planning Committee, so Trustee Cathy Snow and Mr. Wilhelm agreed to review his concerns together in more detail to first make a determination of what the Planning Committee can address, versus possibly other committees that handle items such as building codes and land use, before any formal action or votes are taken.
In Staff reports, Town Clerk Kathy Reis reports she has thus far received one bid for the work to re-do an end of the new crosswalk between the front of the school and the dance studio that is currently causing water to collect and pool. She noted she hopes to receive at least two more bids, but mentioned the only contractor who is intimately familiar with CDOT regulations is the company which has already submitted a bid for the work. An electronics recycling day is scheduled for April 14th at the Silver Dome and the community wide clean up day sponsored by Oak Disposal is scheduled for May 6th. A grant for work needed on Second Street is being pursued, and an old ordinance requiring a minimum of three paper copies of the town’s municipal code be held on hand in the clerk’s office was unanimously waived by the Trustees.
In public comment a visitor in the gallery asked if a quote from Black Hills Energy (BHE) for the cost of replacing the new town streetlights which have been determined to be too bright and harsh has yet been received; Trustee George Mowery read aloud a letter from a representative of BHE stating they are still gathering the information necessary to prepare that price quote. In final discussion items the Parks Committee set a meeting to define a process for the town to accept donated trees to be planted in the town’s parks. With no further discussion items or public comment, the meeting was adjourned.