PALMER LAKE, COLORADO
Town Council Meeting - Record of Proceedings

JANUARY 11, 2007

The Palmer Lake Town Council meeting was called to order by Mayor Parker at 7:03 p.m., January 11, 2007.

Attendees:

Trustees: 
Mayor Parker
Allen
Coleman     
Finan
Flake
Girlando - excused
Miner

Attorney: Kin
Audience: 20

Pledge of Allegiance:  Mayor Parker

February Planning Commission Liaison – Trustee Flake (Feb 7 and 14, 2007)
March Planning Commission Liaison – Trustee Girlando (Mar 14 and 21, 2007)
April Planning Commission Liaison – Trustee Miner (Apr 11 and 18)

Item 3:  Approval of the Agenda

Mayor Parker asked for the addition of Item #6A:  Chris Olivier, Conditional Use.  Mr. Olivier was to be heard at the December Planning Commission meetings.  Due to the recent storms Mr. Olivier could not be heard until January 10, 2007.  All necessary publications and postings reflected the December Planning Commission dates and the Town Council Dates.  Town Council date was January 11, 2007.

Trustee Finan  made a motion to approve the agenda with the addition of 6a – Chris Olivier, Conditional Use, seconded by Trustee Miner.  Motion carried unanimously.

Item #4:  Consent Items

• Approval of Minutes – December 14, 2006
• Payment of Bills – Final Bills for December 2006

Trustee Finan made a motion to approve the consent items, as written, seconded by Trustee Miner.  Motion carried unanimously.

Item #5:   Committee Reports

Mayor Parker – Mayor’s Report

• State of the Town Address – attached as a permanent part of these minutes.

Trustee Allen – Roads

• Worked on the Safe Routes to School (SR2S) Grant, with Bob, Jeff Hulsmann and Bill Fisher.  Trustee Allen is optimistic the grant will be approved.
• Plowed snow, 65.5” for the month of December bringing our total for the year-to-date (January 9, 2007) 114”.  This amount is about average for a full year accumulation.  We expect to get a lot more.
• Bob prepared a document for the El Paso County of Emergency Management for Governor’s declaration of a State of Emergency for the 2 storms (Dec 20th  Dec. 28th).  This document accumulates cost of overtime, fuel usage and cost, repair costs, and expendable supplies.  We may see come reimbursement from this, but it will not come to any major dollars.

Trustee Coleman – Fire

• Part-time EMT/Firefighters have been hired:  Derek Sams, Justin Latifi, Moises Barrera.  They will be on duty from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm.
• New Officers were voted on, effective date January 1, 2007.  Chief Beckman was retained, Dan Reynolds was voted Assistant Chief. 
• PLVFD delivered Santa and his elves to Santa’s Breakfast at Palmer Lake Elementary School on December 9th.
• PLVFD was on medical standby for the Yule Log Hunt on December 10th.
• First meeting of the newly-created PLVFD Support Team took place January 8, 2007.  Jane and Teresa are looking for any help from associates for fundraisers and helping at the fire house.
• Gary Coleman will continue to host a “Christmas Train” display at the West End Center through January 22, with donations going to the PLVFD.  There are 7 layouts to include a layout of the Polar Express.
• Two EMT\Firefighters have been hired for day time coverage.
• Please place house numbers so they are visible from the street.

Trustee Finan  – Police

• Chief Gilliana is currently working on linking to the town’s website and making use of the town’s email system.
• Officer Joe Lundy has been hired as the 5th Police Officer.  Joe previously worked for Palmer Lake but left to work in Grand Junction.
• February will see 24 hour full-time coverage.
• Police Office Clerk position has been renamed to Police Analysis.  Duties will also include Evidence, Crime Scene Recovery and Administration tasks.

Trustee Flake – Parks and Recreation and Buildings

Buildings

• No report.

Parks and Recreation

• I am working on a flyer includes a map and descriptions of all of our Town’s parks and trails.  This is a bigger project than anticipated, so it will continue to be a work-in progress.
• It has been an exciting month as we are getting ready to kick off our programming with Great Starts.  (Flyers for everyone)  On one side of the flyer you will see an invitation to the Winterfest Skate Night on Saturday, January 27th from 5:00-8:00 pm at the lake.  There will be free skating, a campfire, live entertainment and refreshments.  Please join us for some old-fashioned winter fun at the lake.  One the reverse of the flyer is a copy of all the class offerings for Winter 2007. As you can see, there is quite a variety of opportunities for sports and recreation.  Registration will not be done through the town offices.  To register, or for updates and future classes, you should visit the Great Starts at website at:  www.gscamps.com or by calling (719) 488-9370.

Trustee Girlando – Water - excused

Trustee Miner – Economic and Community Development

• Putting a Face on Palmer Lake photo contest was a great success.  Next month, the winners and their pieces will be presented..

Bob Miner – Fountain Creek Watershed

• Mr. Miner handed out the minutes of the October 20, 2006 meeting, referencing the Floodplain Map Modernization Update in which funding is listed as 80% FEMA, 10% Colorado Water Conservation Board and a 10% local match.  No answer could be obtained regarding the local match.
• The Fountain Creek Watershed Vision Workshops will look at conservation easements, water quality, erosion sedimentation and state parks and trails within the watershed.  PPACG applied for a grant through the EPA to help fund this process and develop a master plan.

Awake the Lake – Jeff Hulsman

Mayor Parker stated the meeting with Water Attorney Sperling has been set for January 16th at 7:00 pm in the town hall.  Town Engineers, Paul Gilbert, Rocky Wiley and Linda Firth, along with Water Supervisor Orcutt, will also be present to help answer questions.  Mayor Parker asked that advance questions be emailed to the town office to be forwarded to the above participants.

Mr. Hulsmann asked about the production records.  Mayor Parker responded we are waiting for guidance from the town’s attorney.

Staff – none

Item #6:  Petition for Annexation – Parcel 71090-00-099, Parcels 1 and 2 –
18805 Cloven Hoof – adjacent to Hwy 105
Wealth Wonks Capital, LLC. – Represented by Ruth Bolas

Ms. Bolas stated that the original petition had included two small parcels, one in Palmer Lake and one in County, that had been determined to be illegal subdivisions.  She submitted an amended petition removing these two parcels.  When issues with these two parcels have been resolved, she will return to annex them also.

The proposed usage will be a high-end, approximately 20,000 sq. ft., wedding chapel and reception hall.  Access from Hwy 105 will be shared with the property to the south.  Application for zone request has been received by the town office. 

Trustee Flake made a motion to approve the Petition for Annexation, seconded by Trustee Coleman.  Motion carried unanimously.

Item 6A:  Conditional Use – Protech Mfg, Inc. – 780 Hwy 105 Unit E – Chris Olivier
Request for Business License - Same

Mr. Olivier stated he would be manufacturing small components to supply Diacut, Lewis-Palmer District 38, Synthes, etc.  There will be no negative impact on surrounding businesses.

Gary Atkins, 867 Circle Drive, stated he was a member of the Planning Commission.  Mr. Olivier had been heard the night before and no problems were found.

Trustee Finan made a motion to approve the Conditional Use and Business License for Protech, Mfg, Inc., Chris Olivier, seconded by Trustee Allen.  Motion carried unanimously.

Item #7: Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority (PPRWA) – Designated Representative

Mayor Parker stated that Rocky Wiley had represented the town when the organization was called Palmer Divide Water Group.  Mayor Parker volunteered to be the designated representative and asked Mayor Pro-tem Allen to act as alternate.

Trustee Flake made a motion to Appoint Mayor Parker as representative to the PPRWA, with Mayor Pro-tem Allen acting as alternative, seconded by Trustee Finan.  Motion carried unanimously.

Item #8:  Ambulance Agreement – Discussion

Trustee Flake referenced an article in Our Community News, January 6, 2007 and asked for a correction to be printed as follows:

The issues that I have brought up over the past several months surrounding the Ambulance Agreement for the Town of Palmer Lake have been about response times for medical calls in Palmer Lake.  In regards to the Larkspur Fire Department, Chief Baumgartner, and Chief Mills, the dialogue never included any discussion about their Department's qualifications, capabilities, or training.  I am confident that Larkspur's personnel are fully-trained, highly competent, and totally professional. The issue I presented to my peers on the Palmer Lake Town Council is simple: can Larkspur provide our citizens with medical attention in a timely manner? I would like to recognize the contributions of the Larkspur Fire Department over the past couple months.  Further, the Palmer Lake Volunteer Fire Department is a fine representative of our quality of life in Palmer Lake and I praise the time the volunteer firefighters and Fire Chief, Phillip Beckman, donate to our well-being.

Trustee Allen referenced the letter of agreement with Larkspur and the possibility of opening negotiations with Tri-Lakes, stating that his main issue was one of response times.  Trustee Allen offered to work on a letter of agreement with Tri-Lakes for the board to review. He will keep Trustee Coleman informed on his progress.

Trustee Coleman responded that he had a discussion with Brian Jack in which Brian indicated that the current arrangement was working well with the hiring of EMTs along with our mutual aid agreement.

Mayor Parker cautioned not to get dragged down in discussions as we have so many times before.  The offer that Richard is putting forward is for him to go back and to reopen negotiations with Tri-Lakes and not to be for emergency services in toto. 

Item #12:  Public Input

Jeff Hulsmann, O’Malley’s Pub and Steak, asked for assistance from the town in moving snow from Highway 105 to help with the off-road parking.  Bob Radosevich will contact CDOT to see if they have an issue with the town working on Highway 105.

Trustee Miner made a motion to adjourn at 8:47 pm, seconded by Trustee Coleman.  Motion carried unanmously.

Approved as written or amended this 8th day of March, 2007.

Max Parker, Mayor
Della Gray, Town Clerk

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