PALMER LAKE, COLORADO
Town Council Meeting - Record of Proceedings

JULY 10, 2008

The Palmer Lake Town Council meeting was called to order by Mayor Cressman at 7:11 p.m., July 10, 2008.

Attendees:

Trustees:
Mayor Cressman
Coleman
Jack
McDonald
Stafford
Reynolds

Attorney: Gaddis
Audience: 12

Pledge of Alliance:  Trustee Stafford

July Planning Commission Liaison – Trustee Jack (July 9 and 16, 2008)
August Planning Commission Liaison – Trustee McDonald (August 13, 2008)
September Planning Commission – Trustee Stafford

Item #2:  Approval of Agenda

Trustee Jack made note of the incorrect date for the approval of the minutes, June 10 should be written as June 12, 2008.

Trustee Jack made a motion to approve the agenda, as amended, seconded by Trustee Stafford.  Motion carried unanimously.

Item #3:  Oath of Office – Jan Bristol
Clerk Gray administered the Oath of Office to Jan Bristol. 

Item #4:  Consent Items:

• Approval of Minutes – June 12, 2008
• Approval of Minutes – July 2, 2008 Special Meeting
• Payment\Ratification of Bills – July 2008

Trustee McDonald made a motion to approve the Consent Items, Seconded by Trustee Stafford.  Motion carried unanimously.

Item #5:  Committee Reports
Mayor Cressman – Mayor’s Report
 
Mayor Cressman stated he was very pleased with the cooperation between the departments; police, sheriffs, Douglas County and fire personnel for the 4th of July celebration. 

Trustee Coleman – Fire

2008 CALLS:

1. PLVFD Firefighters Shana Ball and Troy Oliver passed the Hazardous Materials examination and are now certified as Firefighter I.
2. Elephant Rock Ride: The PLVFD operated an Aid Station for the bike ride on June 1st.
3. Community Wildfire Protection Plan: Public informational meetings were held on June 19th and June 25th. The Masticator was demonstrated in Glen Park. Any residents who would like to sign up for the Masticator on their personal property should notify the PLVFD no later than July 20th.
4. Grants: The following grant applications have been submitted and are outstanding:
• SAFER Grant for a paid Volunteer Coordinator
• Assistance to Firefighters Operations & Safety Grant for a Thermal Imaging Camera and 10 sets of personal protective equipment for structure fires.
• Assistance to Firefighters Vehicle Acquisition Grant for a brush truck.
• Assistance to Firefighters Regional Grant for mobile data terminals (part of the North Group application).
• Colorado State Forest Service Volunteer Fire Assistance Grant for personal protective equipment for wildland fires, drip torch, and a GPS.
5. Preparation for Independence Day Celebrations: The PLVFD participated in multiple planning meetings, and changed the light bulbs in the STAR to red, white and blue.
6. 70th Anniversary Celebration: The PLVFD is celebrating its 70th anniversary of service to Palmer Lake residents in 2008. An anniversary celebration is scheduled for August 17th at The DEPOT. Thanks to Alicia Gatti for assisting with this event.
7. Controlled Burns: The PLVFD will be doing some controlled burns in the parks and around the Lake, time and weather permitting.

REMINDERS:  ***Place house numbers so they are visible from the street.***
For a $20 donation, the PLVFD will install address signs for Palmer Lake residents. Call 481-2902 for appointment.

Trustee Jack – Roads

Trustee Jack reported a well attended roads committee meeting had been held prior to the council meeting.

The roads department and the fire department are both using VHF radios to supplement the 800 MHz currently being used.

50% of the millings have been removed from Centennial Park across from O’Malley’s.

• Receipt of the I-25 millings and El Paso County millings has been completed. We received over 12,000 tons. We placed approximately 3,200 tons on County Line Road. (final ##’s have not yet been computed). We then placed about 2,000 gallons of sealant. Dan and Miles worked nights for 3 weeks. (Special Thanks).
• We placed millings on Circle Road, Circle Drive, Meadow Lane, and Hillview. Those roads took about 1,550 tons. We have about 9,000 tons remaining. The Road Committee is reviewing other roads within Town. They are following certain criteria in their review. Safety, Drainage, Traffic are a few of the criteria.
• Received new VHF radios. 3 hand-held and 4 mounted. These are becoming more necessary with the many “blind spots” in the area. They have some of the same channels as the Fire Dept. in case of an emergency.
• The shop has received its windows, snow guards on the roof, and the sky lights. Minimal work is required for completion.
• The Roads Dept. along with Parks Dept. worked franticly in preparation for the July 4th festivities. ** mowing, fencing, installing “No Parking” signs, just to name a few.

***SIDEWALK GRANT UPDATE***
      The surveying of the Right-of-Way has finally been completed and that has been sent to the engineer. The surveyor had a lot of difficulty in being able to find property pins. 

Trustee McDonald - Economic and Community Development

August 3 will the first Chautauqua Revival to be held at Pinecrest.  This is a learning Day Camp for Adult.

July 22, 7:00 pm, an environmentalist will speak at the FRERC meeting to be held at Pinecrest.  The drilling proposal by Dyad Petroleum has been delayed pending further information to be supplied before the Environmental Assessment can be completed.

Trustee McDonald – Parks & Recreation\Buildings

June 14th we held the annual Columbine Festival, we had several folks come out to enjoy the music and get a flower.  Since the paper changed its deadline and it was not advertised we had enough Columbines for everyone that wanted one and we also had Pansy’s which seemed to be a hit., $76.00 was collected in donations.

Thanks to Steve Moiser, Mike Maier, Miles Reed, Dan Orcutt and Bob Radosevich for their hard work in putting up safety zone security fencing, no parking signs along Hwy 105 and County Line Road as well as completing the grooming of the town for the 4th of July celebration.

Thanks to Al Goodman and his crew of 12 community service workers who helped with the preparations before the 4th and the clean-up afterwards.

Thanks to the fire departments and police personnel for their part in the celebration.

And thanks to all of the volunteers on the fireworks committee that enabled us to have another truly spectacular fireworks display.

Trustee Stafford – Water

The Surface water plant has been out of priority since 21 May. This requires us to pump water from our wells. This water costs the Town more money to produce.
The water department’s 1997 Chevy pick up was sold for $1200.00. This was much more than the trade in value.

Trustee Reynolds – Police
4th of July went really well.  This was a multi-agency event with Palmer Lake, Monument, El Paso County Sheriffs, Douglas County Sheriff and the Mounted Rangers all cooperating.  Sgt. Nikki Tezak did a great job of organizing all the entities.

Parking and traffic control will once again be addressed next year.

Chief Ferrin flew to Chicago to take delivery of the new police vehicle.

Bob Miner – Fountain Creek Watershed

Bob presented the Arkansas Basin Consumptive Use Water Needs Assessment: 2030: the May 16 minutes of the Fountain Creek Watershed Technical Advisory Committee and the May 16, 2008 Fountain Creek Vision Task Force Funding Options and Project Implementation Working Group Preliminary Recommendation to the Consensus Committee.  Copies of all documents are available at the town office upon request.

Jeff Hulsmann – Fireworks

Jeff felt that the fireworks went really well this year, including the radio simulcast.

Jeff Hulsmann – Awake the Lake

Jeff and Mayor Cressman met with Gary McHellic, Union Pacific Railroad, met on site near the site of the old culvert is suspected to have been damaged by the derailment.  Mr. McHellic would not deny nor confirm the existence of the culvert and the change in water flow.  Jeff provided council with copies of a map showing a water way from the mountains to the northern end of the lake.  It appears this waterway is commonly referred to as Butler's Canyon.

Jeff asked for the Mayor to send a letter to Mr. McHellic regarding this issue.  Jeff stated he had the letter already written and would email it to Mayor Cressman and the office to be placed on Town letterhead.

The next ATL meeting will be held Tuesday, July 15, 6:00 pm at the museum.  All council members and the public are invited to attend.

Jeff and Mr. McHellic also discussed the safety issue of people crossing the tracks.  Mr. McHellic stated there is a possibility of the town acquiring a flatbed that could be placed on berms in order to provide safe crossing.  Jeff will email the link to Mayor Cressman and the town office for viewing.

Staff:  Clerk Gray

Clerk Gray asked for permission to write a letter to IREA thanking them for their help in installing the meter at the ball field on July 3rd.  Permission was granted.

Item #6:  Ordinance 3 – 2008 Correcting Prior Ordinances – Ordinance 1 – 2007
                                                                                                Water Rates

Clerk Gray explained the purpose was to change Section 13.02.060 from subsections 1, 2, 3 to A, B, C and changing current C to D and current D to E.

Trustee Stafford made a motion to approve Ordinance 3 – 2008 as presented, seconded by Trustee McDonald.  Motion carried unanimously.

Item #7:  Public Input

Chris Amenson, FRERC, presented a printout from the Front Range Environmental Resource Coalition in which Theo Colborn will be the speaker at the July 22, 2008 meeting and the information regarding Dyad Petroleum proposal being put on hold. 

Chris asked for Mayor Cressman to send a letter to the US Forest Management supporting the updating of the forest Management Plan with a copy being sent to County Commissioner Williams.  El Paso County does not have regulations for the drilling of gas and\or oil.  Chris indicated he had a letter already prepared and would email it to Mayor Cressman and the town office to be placed on Town letterhead.

Mayor Cressman introduced Dennis Stern, 732 2nd St. as the Planning Commission’s choice to fill the vacancy created when John Cressman accepted his current position as Mayor.

trustee McDonald made a motion to approve the appointment of Dennis Stern to the Planning Commission, seconded by Trustee Coleman.  Motion carried unanimously.

Mayor Cressman appointed Jan Bristol and Nikki McDonald as co-chairman of a combined committee: Parks\EDC.  Jan and Nikki will present a fitting name for this combined committee at a later date.

Trustee Stafford made a motion to adjourn at  8:21 pm, seconded by Trustee Coleman.  Motion carried unanimously.

Approved as written or amended this 14th day of August, 2008.

John Cressman, Mayor
Della Gray, Town Clerk

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