City council swears in new member

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By Chelsea McNerney-Martinez
MONTE VISTA—Monte Vista City Council met last Thursday, May 17. The newest councilor was sworn in and council approved a camping permit for Fullenwider Park for the first annual Thunder in the Valley motorcycle rally. Additionally, the city heard the progress of the water efficiency plan and announced they are seeking volunteers to join a committee to review the city charter.
Kathy Lorenz was sworn in as the newest councilor, taking the position vacated by former councilor Joe Schlabach’s resignation, leaving no councilors from the former administration. Lorenz is the spouse of former councilor Jason Lorenz who did not seek reelection in 2017. She was also an outspoken supporter and donor to the Monte Movement committee which successfully elected Councilor Gary Johnson, Councilor Victor Sigala and Mayor Dale Becker. Lorenz was selected in a tie-breaker vote following an executive session at the last council meeting; please see the May 9 edition for a complete story on her selection.
City Manager Forrest Neuerburg presented on behalf of Scott Deacon, who is organizing the first annual Thunder in the Valley Brother’s Keepers Motorcycle Rally in Monte Vista on June 16. Deacon requested attendees be permitted to camp in Fullenwider Park overnight because of its proximity to Stars and Strikes, where the rally will be held.
Deacon’s request noted the rally organizers would provide portable toilets as no public restroom facilities exist at the park. Council discussed several factors, including setting a precedent for future events and a cleaning deposit. Neuerburg and Public Works Director Rob Vance noted although council should establish a rental agreement for parks in the future, the Ski-Hi rental agreement could easily be modified, which includes a $150 damage deposit. Vance also suggested as long as the depot road is closed for everyone not participating in the rally and the attendees follow the established laws against drinking in the park, the matter shouldn’t be a major issue, adding that most of the attendees are “bringing $30,000 Harley Davidsons; most are going to get a hotel room.” Council approved the request unanimously, with the caveat that similar future events be tied to a charitable event.
Jordan Dimick with SGM, the civil engineering, consulting and surveying firm, presented the city’s water efficiency plan. Dimick explained that the plan fulfills requirements set by the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) and fulfills the need for “strategic planning on how to do more with less water.”
Dimick stated the efficiency plan found that 51 percent of the city’s water use is by single family homes, 12 percent by multifamily facilities like apartment buildings, eight percent by the city, six percent by commercial entities, one percent by non-municipal government facilities like the post office and BLM office, but the largest concern is the 22 percent non-revenue water use. Dimick explained the non-revenue water comes from unmetered flat rate water customers, unmetered parks and leaks in the water lines. The plan sets goals for the city that include decreasing the non-revenue water use by half by adding meters to parks and getting the remaining flat-rate customers on meters. The city should also look at means of reducing all other use groups’ consumption by 10 percent.
Dimick provided council with list of 15-30 activities broken down by year to implement by 2027 to meet the efficiency goals.
Staff reports
During the staff reports portion of the meeting, Police Chief John Rosecrans outlined future events the department is working on and noted the first of the city’s two K9 officers will be on the street this week. Once both are certified, Rosecrans stated the PD will have a dog working seven days/week. Rosecrans stated he has been speaking with Monte Vista School District Superintendent Robert Webb as well as officials from the Sargent School District about getting the dogs in schools to look for drugs and for “using the schools as training grounds.” Rosecrans also discussed the increase in property crimes and mentioned the arrest of Cruz Villa, who the police department stated on Facebook “is who is stealing from you and your community,”  but has only one burglary warrant out of Monte Vista and two from Del Norte.
Rosecrans emphasized he wanted to get the officers enrolled in the Fire and Police Pension Association (FPPA) retirement plans, a statewide plan he stated is 120 percent funded and in better financial shape than PERA.
Code Enforcement Officer Jeff Huff explained there were 13 exceptions to watering restrictions in the first week, largely for newly planted lawns. He noted that the city should consider additional ways to explore educating residents, as five out of the 11 homes he found in violation were elderly people who didn’t know about the restrictions but were fine with complying.
Resident Margot Alexander stated the restrictions weren’t explained on recent water bills, which Neuerburg explained had been the city’s intention and should be on the next bill. Resident Phinel Garcia also noted Fullenwider Park was being watered last Monday, encouraging the city to lead by example in following its own restrictions. Vance explained he has changed the park watering schedule for the future and in his staff report also thanked Stones Farm Supply in Center for their generous donation of fertilizer for the parks as well.
Vance also addressed recent inquiries about extending Chico Camino to Lariat Road, stating he has been redoing the cost estimate, which was $260,000 in 2005 for a dirt road. Vance explained it’s a lengthy process that includes surveying, ensuring a right of way could be established, examining and possibly removing the topsoil and then looking into infrastructure like sewer lines and storm drains. The road was is part of the 2018 budget but Vance noted the city can discuss it during their 2019 budget negotiations.
Following staff reports Becker explained the city is requesting letters of interest for community members who want to serve on a committee to review the city charter, which was written in 1922. About six or seven people will be needed to update the language of the charter, meeting once or twice a month. Council held a work session last Tuesday, May 15, in which Neuerburg explained most major changes to the charter will then have to come before voters. Council agreed at the work session the commission should pick approximately 10 major changes to prevent making the ballot exceptionally long and losing the significance of the changes when voters read it. Former mayor and current business owner Raina Bowsher submitted a letter of interest and Lorenz also expressed interest in representing the city on the committee.


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