PALMER LAKE, COLORADO
Town Council Meeting - Record of Proceedings

Return to Palmer Lake Town Council page

AUGUST 9, 2007

The Palmer Lake Town Council meeting was called to order by Mayor Parker at 7:03 p.m., August 9, 2007.

Attendees:

Trustees:
Mayor Parker
Allen
Coleman
Flake
Jack
Miner
Stafford

Attorney: Gaddis
Audience: 14

Pledge of Alliance: Trustee Flake

September Planning Commission Liaison - Mayor Parker (September 12 and 19, 2007)
October Planning Commission Liaison - Trustee Allen (October 8 and 15, 2007)
November Planning Commission Liaison - Trustee Coleman (November 12 and 19, 2007)

Item #3: Approval of Agenda

TRUSTEE ALLEN MADE A MOTION TO APPOVE THE AGENDA AS WRITTEN, SECONDED BY TRUSTEE COLEMAN. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Item #4: Oath of Office

Bryan Jack and Max Stafford were sworn in by Clerk Gray.

Item #5: Consent Items:

a. Approval of Minutes - June 14, 2007
b. Approval of Minutes - July 12, 2007
c. Payment\Ratification of Bills - July 2007

Trustee Allen stated the minutes from June 14, 2007 had been held until Clerk Gray reviewed the tape. The minutes were approved as originally submitted.

TRUSTEE ALLEN MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE CONSENT ITEMS AS PRESENTED, SECONDED BY TRUSTEE COLEMAN. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Item #6: Forest View Acres Water District - Richard Crocker and Barbara Reed-Polatty

Richard Crocker thanked the Town for their assistance during the water outage in their district by reading a resolution and presenting a plaque in appreciation.

Item #7: Committee Reports

Mayor Parker - Mayor's Report

  1. Attended the monthly meeting with members of the Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority. We heard a presentation from developer Alex Million on the Green River Reservoir project. This large ambitious project starts in Wyoming and plans to bring Colorado River water to the Front Range. The WIPS study is on track, the technical portion is scheduled to be completed in August, with the final report due by the end of October.
  2. Chaired a Special Town Council Meeting to meet with a potential Water Supervisor, Mr. Steve Orcutt. After discussing terms of employment, the board voted to make an offer to Mr. Orcutt to return to the Town Staff. Mr. Orcutt has since accepted the offer.

Trustee Allen - Roads

  • Placed approximately 18,000 of water in preparation of 5,000 gallons of magnesium chloride. (Most of which is now gone due to the rain.) 12,000 gallons came from the MTI line flush. Nature has not been cooperative.
  • Rebuilt S. Highland Rd as discussed this past winter. Approximately 400 ton of Class 6? material was placed, rolled and maged.
  • Had a meeting with CDOT concerning specific forms to continue with the Safe Routes to School grant. The forms have been completed and submitted. Estimated time of turn around is 90 days.
  • Set traffic counter at 2 locations in July. 1st at Spring St. Over 3,200 ADT's (Average Daily Traffic) in a 48 hour time period. 2nd was on County Line Road. More than 3,700 in a 48 hour period. With such a high traffic count, these 2 roads are in the queue for upgrades in the near future.
  • Contacted developer, Randy Jones, re: concrete cross-over and dust control on Meadow Lane. No time table of a completion date.
  • We recorded close to 4? of rain in the month of July. Severe damage to roads and culverts due to the heavy rains. At present, we are just trying to keep the roads passable. Problems are rectified one day and are back to the starting point the next day.
  • Graded and patched potholes. Continue equipment maintenance. Some severe enough to go to pro mechanics

Trustee Coleman - Fire

  MTD
Medical Calls 17
Fire Calls 4
Wildland Calls 6
Traffic Accident 2
Public Assist 1
Public Contact 1
Other 1
Total Calls:
34
Mutual Aid 10
  1. Volunteer Firefighter hiked up to the STAR to change the bulbs for Independence Day and to change them back afterwards.
  2. Volunteer Firefighters were on scene to handle emergencies during the Independence Day fireworks along with the PLPD and several other agencies.
  3. Volunteer Firefighter Troy Oliver, also a member of the PL Fireworks Committee, was in charge of Palmer Lake's first ever choreographed fireworks program.
  4. PLVFD Assistant Chief Dan Reynolds was recognized by Sertoma as Firefighter of the Year.
  5. The Fire Department received a donation from the Historic Preservation Alliance of Colorado Springs on behalf of Roger & Kim Ward, who had given the group a private tour of Estemere.
  6. The PLVFD was one of the 11 departments out of 1,249 applicants to be awarded a grant from the National Firefighters foundations and Fireman's Fund Insurance Company. This grant for $2,650 will be used to purchase a Gas Detector that detects combustibles, carbon monoxide, oxygen and hydrogen sulfide. Our firefighters will use this equipment to provide personal protection from hazardous conditions, to quickly find the source of combustible gases and to determine whether or not it is safe for firefighters, homeowners or occupants to enter or return to a home or building.
  7. Volunteer Firefighters were on hand during the Palmer Lake Library's Summer Reading Party on July 27th for children to see and climb on fire trucks.
  8. PLVFD members will sell and install reflective house # signs for a $20 donation. We will start going door-to-door as time permits. Homeowners must provide pole or other post to affix signs to.

Chief Gilliana - Police

  1. Statistical Data
    1. Total fines for citations issued from 07/14/07 to 08/09/07 is $1402.00
      (A total of 12 written warnings were also issued.)
    2. Total Case reports being worked or entered for 07/14/07 to 08/09/07 is 16.
    3. We are currently at 169 case reports issued.
    4. Crimes:
      Alcohol Related: 3
      Thefts: 6
      Criminal Mischief: 1
      Burglary: 1
      Accidents: 5 (2 DUI Related)
      Unwanted party: 1
      Warrant arrest: 2
      Reckless Acts: 1
      AOA: 100 (Assist Outside Agencies)
  2. Summary of Events
    1. Training is a priority. CSPD has offered Crisis Intervention Training this month which Officer Vance will be attending. DUI procedures training through Fountain will have two attendees next month. Our two part-time recruits are in their 2-3rd week of field training. The Colorado State Patrol has confirmed a slot for Palmer Lake in their next Commercial Vehicle Inspections course for October.
    2. Follow-up work on prior cases as a result of Officers working more closely with the D.A.'s Office is increasing. Our computer software is being modified to track this.

Trustee Flake - Parks and Recreation\Buildings

Prime Roofing has temporarily repaired the gutter on the Fire Station.
The Library\Museum building has flooded twice recently.
We are still looking at repairs to the ramp at the Library\Museum, the Town Hall and the backdoor steps.

There was no meeting of the EPC\Palmer Lake Master plan Committee in July.

We have received no communication from Brad Miller, Great Starts regarding his final submittal of the Town's share of payments received from classes held in the Town Hall. Per the contract, Mr. Miller should have given 30 days notice before terminating the contract.

Jim Sawatski of Palmer Divide Productions informed me about a group called Colorado Humanities that has funding for Chautauquas. Information was given to the group and they fell we may be a candidate for funding of a revival of the Chautauqua. Contact will be made and a report will be submitted next month.

Trustee Miner - Economic and Community Development

The Tri-Lakes chamber Leadership Forum will be held on August 29th at the Air Force Academy.

There was no meeting of the Streetscape Committee this last month. Trustee Miner stated she had concerns regarding a more fluid relationship with parks.

Jeff Hulsmann - Awake the Lake

Jeff presented a letter from their attorney Hank Worley and a brief summary of Worley's letter prepared by the Awake the Lake Committee. (A copy of both documents are available upon request.) Mr. Hulsmann stated that option 3 is the least desirable.

Summary

TOPL has excess water resources that can be utilized to fill the lake. The following are "long-term solutions" that have been "administratively approved" by the Division of Water Resources, which regulate these matters for the State Engineer.

  1. Wastewater exchange - Water from Monument creek is put into Palmer Lake in exchange for wastewater generated by the use of the Denver and Arapahoe Wells.
  2. Excess Flows - Water from Monument Creek is put into Palmer Lake using either of the flow rights from two decrees on Monument Creek, when in priority. Since the capacity of the filter plant is less than the flow rights, the difference can be put into the lake.
  3. Stored Water - Use water from the reservoir (Glen Park Storage) seasonally and in moderation.

These options do not require further legal expense or involvement of the water court. None of these solutions require augmentation. They would all be accomplished at the same point of diversion by opening the valve located upstream from the filter plant.

At this time, ATL recommends that the town bring the lake's level up to 75% full or up to 6 feet on the staff gauge (currently at 4.5 ft.).

A special meeting will be held next Thursday, August 16, after council and legal counsel have had an opportunity to look over the letter and study the options.

Town Staff - Clerk Gray

It is not very often that I submit a report on behalf of my office staff. This month I would like to report, in a condensed version, on the activities from the end of June to date.

  1. Myself and office staff have interacted with 300+/- members of the community and outside interested parties on issues of roads, fire, water, police, town hall rentals, drainage, zoning, dogs plus a wide variety of other issues by means of one-on-one contact, telephone, email, mail and fax. We have prepared and mailed two sets of water bills, updated the dog licensing list and business license list to be distributed to the police.
  2. Had a preliminary meeting with Anthony Monk regarding his proposed Eagle Scout Project. Drafted letters of introduction on his behalf and attended an on-site meeting with along with Trustee Flake and Bob.
  3. June 27 conducted a meeting with community service personnel regarding the 4th of July activities. Continued to monitor, with the assistance of supervisors, the 13 community service workers used during this event up to and including the clean-up on July 5th.
  4. Attended a pre-meeting with Trustee Flake, Bob, fireworks committee members regarding set-up for the Ole Town Fair and the 4th activities.
  5. Arranged for the dumpsters from Brian, Tri-Lakes Disposal. Arranged for and met for placement of port-a-potties with Merrill Austin, MCS.
  6. Met with Troy Oliver on set-up of shoot site and inspected parking lots and safety fencing areas with Bob.
  7. Saturday, June 30th and Sunday, July 1st sold t-shirts in support of the fireworks fundraiser and assisted by phone with issues regarding the Ole Town Fair.
  8. July 2nd and 3rd spent both days assisting and supervising the placement of snow fencing and caution tape.
  9. July 4th - from 9 am to 12:30 am assisted with numerous aspects of the 4th celebration to include, placement of secondary safety fencing and signage, interaction with police and fire on safety and traffic.
  10. July 5th 7 am - 2 pm supervised and assisted community service personnel in the clean-up of El Paso County Park and the town.
  11. Conducted on-site visits with Bob regarding issues concerning zoning, building permits, drainage, road right-of-way and diseased trees.
  12. Meet with Attorney Kin regarding a zoning violation. Meet with Trustee Allen and the developer regarding these issues. This is still a work in progress, but an agreeable solution was proposed.
  13. Attended, with Deputy Clerk Tara Berreth, as observers, The 2007 South Central Region Tabletop Exercise sponsored by El Paso County Department of Health and Environment. Subject matter was the possibility of a Pandemic Influenza. The exercise was very informative and gave us more insight as to how the federal, state, county and local entities would interact in the event of a pandemic.
  14. Attended, with Mayor Parker, the monthly meeting of the Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority meeting.
  15. Evenings and weekends fielded phone calls received by the police regarding drainage and road damage issues caused by our current rains. Contacted either Mayor Parker or Bob depending on the individual circumstances.
  16. Interacted on a daily basis with all other departments within the town, including weekends and evenings when necessary.
  17. Attended the July Planning Commission meeting on behalf of an individual, who was out of state, who needed to ask an informal question.
  18. Was available to the auditor for 1 week.
  19. In addition, by working at home and on weekends, I accomplished
    1. The transcription of the July council minutes.
    2. Prepared agenda and council packets
    3. Prepared June 30th Budget Status report for council
    4. Completed payment of July invoices
    5. Deposited July receivables and entered tracking on computer system in preparation of closing July books

I will not be submitting a report of this length anytime soon but I feel it is important for the public and council to have an idea of what we do even though we are "just doing our jobs."

Item #8: Sign Request - Salon 105 - Pam Hafeman

TRUSTEE MINER MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE SIGN REQUEST FOR SALON 105, SECONDED BY TRUSTEE JACK. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Item #9: Sign Request - DARS - Julian Drummond

TRUSTEE ALLEN MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE SIGN REQUEST FOR DARS, SECONDED BY TRUSTEE COLEMAN. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Item #10: Sign Request - PinZ - Al Palmonari & Gloria McCarten

TRUSTEE FLAKE MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE SIGN REQUEST FOR PINZ, SECONDED BY TRUSTEE MINER. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

A discussion was held regarding the need to revise the Town's Sign Ordinance. Trustee Miner will be meeting with Planning Commissioner Jen Martin this Saturday to discuss possible revisions. Any revisions will need to be approved by Planning Commission and Town Council.

Item #11: Vacation & Replat - Cynthia Davis represented by John Bailey 71054-25-005 & 71054-25-005, Lots 4 & 5, Block 1, Refiling Lakeview Heights Unit 1

Lots 4 & 5 currently have a sewer line and drainage running through the lots. PL Sanitation has agreed to allow the sewer line to be moved at the expense of the owner. Mr. Bailey has spoken with Bob Radosevich, Roads Supervisor, and has received permission to redirect the drainage per an agreed upon plan. Aquila has not responded to numerous requests for approval to vacate the utility easement.

TRUSTEE ALLEN MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE VACATION & REPLAT OF LOTS 4 & 5 CONTINGENT UPON APPROVAL OF AQUILA, SECONDED BY TRUSTEE COLEMAN. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Item #12: Vacation & Replat - Charles & Patricia Sonzogni represented by Jerry Hannigan 71054-25-009 & 71054-25-010, Lots 9 & 10, Block 1, Refiling Lakeview Heights Unit 1

TRUSTEE FLAKE MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE VACATION & REPLAT OF LOTS 9 & 10, SECONDED BY TRUSTEE MINER. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Both applicants have gotten approval from the Variance Board for a reduced lot size and reduced setbacks contingent upon approval from Town Council.

Item #13: Ordinance 4 - 2007 - Ordinance for Supplemental Budget and Appropriations.

TRUSTEE ALLEN MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE ORDINANCE 4-2007, SECONDED BY TRUSTEE MINER. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

TRUSTEE MINER MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE EXPENDITURE OF $5,000 OF THESE FUNDS TO BE USED TO PURCHASE AN UPDATED CUB CADET, SECONDED BY TRUSTEE ALLEN. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

The total of expenditure for the Cub Cadet is $10,000. The additional $5,000 will be funded by Conservation Trust.

Item #14: Ordinance 5 - 2007 - Ordinance for Supplemental Budget and Appropriations.

TRUSTEE MINER MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE ORDINANCE 5-2007, SECONDED BY TRUSTEE JACK. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

These ordinances are budgeting and appropriating additional sums of money to defray expenses in excess of amounts budgeted for 2007. The excess revenue was approved by the voters in 2006. Per Auditor Report 2006, there is $110,000 in excess revenue. 40% will be retained by General Fund for items listed in the attached Data Summary, with 60% being transferred to Water Capital Improvement to be used to upgrade the Ground Water Filter Plant.

Item #15: Public Input

Gary Atkins, Planning Commissioner, 867 Circle Road, asked for authority for the approval of sign requests be granted to Planning Commission. Trustee Flake asked for that a list of all full-time employees be supplied and for all employees' jobs be ratified at next months meeting.

TRUSTEE FLAKE MADE A MOTION TO ADJOURN AT 8:58 PM, SECONDED BY TRUSTEE MINER. MOTION CARRIED UNANMOUSLY.

Approved as written or amended this 13th day of September, 2007.

Max Parker, Mayor
Della Gray, Town Clerk

Return to Palmer Lake Town Council page


Palmer Lake Town Offices P.O. Box 208
42 Valley Crescent, Palmer Lake, CO 80133
© Copyright 1999-2009 by Town of Palmer Lake Colorado. All rights reserved.
Send your comments or suggestions about our website to the Webmaster.