USS Enterprise veterans honored by Central City

Week of September 1 st from now on

By David Josselyn

On Tuesday, September 3 rd , the Central City Council met to deliberate both old and new matters. All members were present and the meeting was called to order in the six o’clock hour by Mayor Engels for an executive session regarding a personnel matter. The publicly open council meeting began shortly after 7:00pm. Before commencing with the meeting, Alderman Gloria Gaines added an agenda item regarding a dues notice she received for the I-70 Coalition.

Consent Agenda

The consent agenda was moved to approve by Alderman Gaines and seconded by Alderman Shirley Voorhies. The consent agenda consisted of the regular bill lists of August and the City Council minutes from August 6 th . The motion to approve the consent agenda was passed unanimously.

Honoring those who served aboard the USS Enterprise CVAN-65

City Manager Alan Lanning suggested that due to the number of people in attendance for the USS Enterprise proclamation, eight members of the USS Enterprise CVAN/CVN-65 Association, the agenda item be moved to address immediately. The council agreed. Vice Chairman James (Jim) Voorhies addressed the council giving some background of the historic vessel after which, Mayor Ron Engels proudly recited, with a smile on his face, a proclamation setting aside the week of September 1 st , 2013, to honor the contribution to our great nation by the men, women and families of the USS Enterprise CVAN/CVN-65. The Enterprise was commissioned on November 25, 1961, and served our country for 51 years before being decommissioned on December 1, 2012 – twice the expected lifetime of similar vessels. The CVAN designation stands for Carrier, Fixed-Wing Aircraft, Multi-Mission Platform, and Nuclear Powered respectively. In 1975, the ‘A,’ Multi-Mission Platform, was dropped creating the CVN designation. Several Gilpin County veterans served on the Enterprise and belong to the CVAN/CVN-65 Association which is a social organization dedicated to preserving the history of all ships commissioned as the USS Enterprise, maintaining memories of past and present shipmates, establishing a camaraderie among former shipmates and families, and reaching out to communities to promote the value provided to our country by the service of our young men and women.

Cultivating and manufacture of marijuana goes up in smoke

The second reading of Ordinance 13-09, “an ordinance of the City Council of the City of Central, Colorado prohibiting the operation of retail marijuana cultivation facilities, retail marijuana product manufacturing facilities and retail marijuana testing facilities within the boundaries of the City of Central, and establishing a new article IX to Chapter 6 of the Central City Municipal Code regarding the regulation of retail marijuana stores to comply with the requirements of Amendment 64 to the Colorado Constitution, and setting forth related regulations and licensing requirements,” was summarized for the council by City Attorney Marcus McAskin, saying, “It’s a long title for an ordinance, but shorter than the proclamation you just read.” Ordinance 13-09 prohibits two facets of the new retail marijuana laws passed by state voters; the manufacturing of products and the cultivation of the product. Growing your own plants or creating something from the plants such as hash brownies or space cakes, remains illegal in Central City and Gilpin County. This ordinance does not ban the retail sale of marijuana and in fact, requires retailers of marijuana to conform to the new Amendment 64 laws. Alderman Gaines moved to approve the ordinance and was seconded by Alderman Voorhies. The motion passed unanimously.

Medical marijuana establishments have more time to sell

The second reading of Ordinance 13-10 was summarized for the council by City Attorney Marcus McAskin. Ordinance 13-10 aligns the hours of operation for medical marijuana with retail marijuana by adding an hour and shifting them later in the day. Facilities may now operate from 10:00am to 10:00pm daily. Previously, stores were able to operate beginning at 8:00am for 11 hours. Alderman Voorhies moved to approve the ordinance and was seconded by Alderman Gaines and Alderman Spain simultaneously. The motion passed unanimously.

Contractor’s bid accepted for Lawrence Street water project

The council approved a bid from Hammerlund Construction for $261,000 with a 10% contingency for a total potential cost to the City of Central of $287,000. Other bidders considered were Duran Construction and American West Construction whose bids were both higher than Hammerlund. Central City staff met with the Black Hawk Sanitation District which tentatively accepts the bid of Hammerlund pending reference checks. Utilities Superintendent Shawn Griffith requested approval from the council and Mayor Engels confirmed that Griffith has reviewed the bids with Black Hawk. Alderman Kathy Heider asked Griffith if the numbers stated for the motion ($261k and $287k) were solely Central City’s portion of a combined funding with Black Hawk. Shawn said that this was so. The project will commence by the 18 th of September, projected Griffith. Alderman Heider asked if they realize that digging up here will be different than other areas. Alderman Voorhies queried if Shawn likes what they see in the company as she is not a proponent of the lowest bidder wins strategy. Shawn said he was happy with what he saw in Hammerlund from their prior projects ad experience. “I didn’t really have a reason to flag them,” stated Griffith. The city will be meeting with every resident whose access will be compromised during the project. Alderman Gaines moved to approve the choice of Hammerlund’s bid and Alderman Voorhies seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Central City Promise Program for Kasey Mayle-Combs

Finance Director Shannon Flowers presented a request for funding in continuing education of resident Kasey Mayle-Combs. A long-time resident of Central City, Kasey graduated New Vista High School in Boulder County, successfully completing a course in Bio Fundamentals at the University of Colorado before graduating. Kasey then attended the University of Colorado, Denver (UCD), pursuing a degree in pre-medicine. Kasey made the Dean’s list during her first semester at UCD with a 3.8 GPA; however, her grades started sliding with successive semesters. Realizing the slippery slope she was riding was due to stress; Kasey chose to take a semester off to study Buddhism in Japan for three months. Taking a full-time job upon return, Kasey developed a “greater sense of responsibility and work ethic.” Kasey is now ready to return to UCD and finish her degree. The Central City Promise program entitles the scholarship recipient to four years of funding or a maximum $20,000. Kasey has exceeded the four year requirement, but has been awarded a little over $12 thousand of the scholarship funds. The way the council votes on this will determine future decisions since this is the first time the ‘or’ situation has occurred. Should the council choose to award Kasey for this semester, it will leave the Promise program with just over one thousand dollars for future applicants for the remainder of 2013. Alderman Voorhies requested to discuss the awarding policy before voting on a motion; Voorhies stated that it should be whatever comes first, four years or twenty grand. Alderman Gaines referenced Kasey’s transcript showing a break in schooling and declining grades and does “not feel comfortable awarding” her for this considering it has been so long since she began college. Gaines believes it should be four continuous years, rather than piecemealed with a year here and a year there. Alderman Bob Spain agreed with Gaines. There was some discussion whether to award students who do not start college immediately. Alderman Spain spoke up for those entering the military before college and Gaines agreed there should be a stipulation for military duty. The council came to an agreement that the scholarship should only be awarded for students starting college no later than two years after graduation with an exception for military duty. Alderman Gaines moved to deny the request as it was written and Alderman Voorhies seconded. The motion to deny the award passed unanimously.

2012 Audit Completed

Finance Director Shannon Flowers summarized the City audit results for the council. Approving acceptance of the audit means that the council finds the audit is true and correct and this allows the finance director to send the audit to the state. Mayor Engels stated that the audit represents many long hours of work and thanked everybody involved for their hard work and encouraged everybody to get familiar with the audit results document as it is “a wealth of information” from which they can “make informed budget decisions.” Alderman Voorhies moved to approve acceptance of the audit results and was seconded by Alderman Spain. The motion passed unanimously.

Mutual Aid between cities

Fire Chief Gary Allen summarized the first reading of Resolution 13-17 approving an intergovernmental agreement for mutual aid between Central City, Black Hawk and the Timberline Fire Protection District. Allen stated “this is more of a house-cleaning type of deal,” and asked the council to approve this updated version. Mayor Engels quantified that it clearly is written by Black Hawk and came from a Black Hawk perspective adding that there is nothing reciprocal for the language stating that Black Hawk won’t respond to Central City’s growth area unless requested. Chief Allen mentioned he believes they (Black Hawk) don’t want to respond to the end of the Parkway. Alderman Gaines moved to approve the first reading of the resolution and was seconded by Alderman Spain. The motion passed unanimously.

I-70 Coalition Renewal

The City of Central has been a member of the I-70 Coalition for a year now and the annual dues are up for renewal. The dues have not been budgeted; however, Flowers stated that the dues amount is within the amount of discretional expenditures in the budget. Alderman Gaines moved to approve and was seconded by Alderman Spain. Gaines then discussed that the dues represent a fifty percent increase. That being said, Gaines has been going to Coalition meetings and recommended they approve this for at least one more year because that’s the only way they’ll receive information. It is clear to her that the coalition was set up primarily for the purpose of the ski industry. It would be strategic to be involved in discussions regarding moving traffic on I-70 including incentives to move people off the Interstate during peak times. The motion passed unanimously.

Staff Reports and Council Comments

City Manager Alan Lanning informed the council that there was a truck accident on the Parkway today; the driver was not hurt seriously, but will be off for the week. Lanning added that the truck will probably be totaled. The accident occurred about 11:00am, closing three lanes of traffic after the truck overturned dumping a load of dirt across the pavement. The scene was cleaned up within an hour or two of the accident.

Alderman Shirley Voorhies enquired about progress on the Quartz Hill project. Griffith stated that bids are going out this week for contractors and they should hear something soon. Voorhies added that rumors flying about the T-Lot.

Alderman Voorhies let the council know she attended a City of Golden council meeting and they (the council members) had an opportunity to have council comments following public forum and would like to look into doing that. Mayor Engels said we generally don’t do that because we want to “provide staff an opportunity to present a proper response instead of one of us just shooting off our mouth.”

Alderman Kathy Heider spoke up asking why they are doing core drilling on both sides of the post office recently. City Manager Lanning said they are determining structural integrity for renovations to the post office needed to prevent flooding inside the building and this has nothing to do with the proposed parking structure.

Alderman Spain moved to go into an executive session and was seconded by Alderman Gaines. The motion passed unanimously. The second executive session of the evening was regarding the instruction of negotiators for new development within the City of Central and the financing of future capital inprovements.

Looking Ahead

The next Central City Council Meeting is scheduled for September 17th.

USS Enterprise veterans honored by Central City

Patrick Henry Sweeney

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