by Becky Olson
The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees for the Town of Westcliffe convened as scheduled on Monday, January 17, 2022, at 5:30 p.m. in Patterson Hall. A quorum of Trustees was present and the proceedings commenced after recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.
The first item of business was approval of the consent agenda, which was unanimously approved. There was no old business to cover, so discussion turned to new business.
The first item of new business was the Q4 2021 Sheriff’s report, presented by Sheriff Shannon Byerly. He reports that overall, things were “relatively quiet” in the final quarter of 2021. He noted approximately 25% of all calls and all traffic stops in the county pertained to or were conducted in the town of Westcliffe, which is in line with historical statistics. Assisting with medical calls and lending motorist assistance were the second and third items, respectively, keeping our Sheriff’s Deputies busy. Sheriff Byerly made the observation that the town and county overall saw more visitors than usual late into the year due to the thus far mild winter. He then goes on to note theft is on the rise, and, “we’re seeing a trend of different types of crimes” that are characterized by more “brash” behavior such as perpetrators confronting store clerks, not caring if there are witnesses, and of course, a violent murder occurring not even a week prior to this meeting. Trustees inquired as to whether the criminals who smashed the pawn shop windows and stole guns a couple months back had been apprehended, Sheriff Byerly confirmed the ATF apprehended those individuals and they were the same ones perpetrating similar crimes on gun stores in both Pueblo and El Paso Counties. Byerly also confirmed CCSO have apprehended the individual responsible for the recent theft from The Country Store, and he also outlined how they are working to catch specific individuals believed to be responsible for another recent rash of car break-ins at Bishop’s Castle.
Discussion then turned toward some particulars around the recent murder that occurred on January 14th. Sheriff Byerly was commended by the Trustees for his office’s transparency and professionalism around handling this incident. After a Trustee inquired, Byerly confirmed the suspect can be held in the Custer County Jail for up to two years minus one day as long as the suspect is pre-trial (ie. charges have been filed and a trial is pending). Byerly also confirmed that the trial would take place in District Court here in Custer County unless defense attorneys filed for a change of venue under the belief the defendant cannot receive a fair trial here. Byerly also explained how the CBI assisted in crime scene processing, a standard practice throughout the entire state due to CBI being well-equipped with mobile crime labs to perform that critical function for capital crimes. A Trustee then posed the question of, “if there were immigration issues (at play in this case), would federal authorities be involved?”. For context on this question, it has come out that all the individuals involved in this case are Mexican nationals whose presence here in the U.S. is of questionable legality. With obvious frustration in his usual measured demeanor, Sheriff Byerly described how all the individuals involved in this case had non-Colorado issued ID cards, which are given out in several other states to individuals without proof of legal presence in the country. He went on to say, “in the olden days, the feds would have been one of our first calls made”, but now because of recent Colorado legislation, “we’re prohibited from contacting the feds”. When discussing the possible reasons for the rise of theft and other types of crimes not just in our community, but in the state as a whole, Byerly further noted with much frustration and disappointment in his voice, that, “…now in Colorado, folks understand if you break the law, you’re not going to jail.”
In what this writer doesn’t believe to be a random coincidence in light of these grim circumstances for Colorado law enforcement, the next item of discussion was Sheriff Byerly’s recent announcement that he will not seek re-election for another term as
Sheriff. The Trustees took a moment to commend and express gratitude to Sheriff Byerly on his tenure as Sheriff, noting that, “you’re walking away from something that’s better than when you
came in.”
Next on the agenda was an annual formality to designate the bulletin board as the official location for public notices, which is amended to the front windows for the duration of Town Hall’s closure due to Covid concerns. Item passed unanimously. Next was discussion to set a date for the “Annual Town Gathering” which is an employee appreciation event of sorts. Saturday, June 25th was decided upon by unanimous vote. Adoption of the Main St., Parks, and Open Space Master Plan prepared by Denver firm DHM was next on the agenda. With no further discussion or public comment, the final version of the Master Plan was adopted by unanimous vote.
Approving revised language in the Façade Improvement Grant Program application was up next. Inclusion of a provision to give preference to first-time applicants was approved unanimously. Some discussion ensued when a Trustee raised the concern of whether there ought to be a provision restricting recipients of this grant money from then selling their properties within a certain amount of time. It was decided that even if this happened, “the town would still have an improved building façade”, and the Trustees are willing to accept this risk. A committee to review the grant applications was formed, and it was decided Town Manager Gabriel Shank, will review all initial applications for this grant and then submit them to the review committee, who will in turn make the final recommendations to the full Board of Trustees. A committee was also established to review the Master Plan periodically going forward and make recommendations for changes where necessary.

Discussion turned to the next agenda item, the upcoming election and the four open spots on the Board of Trustees. There was a fair amount
of discussion around whether the election could actually be cancelled and save the town some money if certain circumstances were met. In essence, if there turn out to be more candidates than available positions (there aren’t at the moment), or if the four candidates can’t come to an agreement among themselves as to which of them will voluntarily take the position that is limited to a two-year instead of a four-year term (due to a resignation from that particular spot), and or if someone submits an affidavit stating their intention to run as a write-in candidate by January 31st, the town is not legally permitted to cancel the election and it must proceed as scheduled. If none of these circumstances come to pass, however, the town may legally cancel the election and simply appoint the four candidates who returned petitions.
After deciding to move the regularly scheduled February Board of Trustees meeting from Monday, February 21st to Tuesday, February 22nd due to a federal holiday, the discussion turned toward the consideration of applying for a grant to install electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in town. Town Manager Shank presented two proposals commissioned on behalf of the town, and much discussion ensued. Up for consideration is what type of charging stations (fast charging versus slower charging) to install, how many, in what locations, at what cost, whether there would be future competition from the gas stations if they install EV charging stations later on, and whether this would help drive tourism into the town. The Trustees unanimously approved proceeding with applying for a grant to install two fast charging and two slow charging stations, a configuration that can serve up to six EVs at any given time. The total cost of installing this set up would be in the $100,000 – $125,000 range, with the town responsible for approximately $25,000 to $30,000 of that total up front expense, the rest being covered by the grant(s).
A minor item to revise the Town Clerk’s job description to grant more authority over direct reports was unanimously approved. There were no other staff or committee reports. Reporter Elliot Jackson from the Wet Mountain Tribune asked for clarification on when the grant application cycle for the façade improvement program would kick off; Trustees indicated it would be similar timing to last year (March or April time frame). Meeting was adjourned.