Town Board Work Session and Meeting: November 28, 2018

Town Board Work Session and Meeting: November 28, 20184 min read

Good morning, neighbors! Last night’s Town Board Work Session and Meeting was my first as a Trustee – and one of the first items on the Board Meeting agenda was the swearing in of Ken Lish, Neal Shah, and me. With all the new responsibilities I am taking on as a Trustee, I will no longer have time to write the detailed recaps I did over the summer; however, I do still hope we can get an internship for someone to pick up where I left off. In the meantime, I will be providing short recaps here, on Facebook, and in video form at the end of this post.

Disclaimer: While I do my best to represent an honest and accurate portrayal of meetings and events, the following should be considered an editorial that represents one person’s interpretation of the meetings. For the most unbiased information, I would encourage residents to watch the meeting video itself and draw their own conclusions. EngagedCitizens.us is a fantastic free tool created by one of our own residents, which includes a repository of agendas, documents, and meeting videos, and allows you to search within a video to jump to critical parts. I hope you find it as helpful as I do!

2018-11-28 Town Board Meeting

First, during the Board Work Session, representatives from Thrive and RC Capital presented designs for townhomes in blocks 14 and 15 in Town Center. The Town Board and Planning Commission thanked Thrive for taking into account their feedback from over the summer, and most liked the second design choice for the homes, in the transitional style.

During the Board Meeting Reports, Trustee Mark Lacis noted that both OSAC and PROSTAC have called for the town to purchase the Century Link property, and he says this is one of his biggest priorities for our new Board. OSAC Vice Chair Ryan Welch spoke up in public comment and agreed.

Trustee Kevin Ryan noted that while Ballot Initiative 6A, around funding for Rocky Mountain Fire did not pass, he would like to see us create a committee that will work collaboratively with the fire department to ensure they can provide the services we need.

Town Manager Matt Magley noted that there was a second water main break this week in Original Town, and says the Town is looking into it since while water main breaks can be common this transitional time of year, it’s unusual to have breaks so closely together. Approximately 10 homes have been affected, and staff have knocked on the doors of all affected homes to let them know.

During the consent agenda, after some questions around year over year cost increases, the Board approved an agreement with Vargas Landscape for landscape maintenance, irrigation, and snow removal.

The Board heard an update from the Chamber of Commerce, who is currently seeking a new executive director, as well as a presentation from airport consultants Jason Schwartz and Jim Allerdice, who may be able to help us address the noise complaints related to Rocky Mountain Airport. This presentation raised some questions from the Board about how to proceed with noise mitigation and whether Superior should really be footing the bill on this type of consulting or if we can partner with neighboring towns, since noise mitigation will benefit them as well.

Next up was the choice of our Mayor Pro-Tem, who will serve second in command to our re-elected Mayor Clint Folsom. Trustee Mark Lacis expressed his interest in becoming Mayor Pro-Tem, with a focus on being goal-oriented and proactive instead of reactive. Trustee Sandie Hammerly also expressed her interest, noting that the Board needs checks and balances and that she doesn’t always vote with the majority. In the end, Trustee Lacis was voted as Mayor Pro-Tem by a vote of 4-3.

The Board then worked through the meeting schedule for the next year, and assigned committee liaisons. I am very much looking forward to working with the Cultural Arts and Public Spaces committee, who many people know I am very passionate about!

Finally, the Board heard from Attorneys Tim Gablehouse and Matt Sura around the drilling applications, all of which I am so happy to say have been withdrawn. The Board voted unanimously to approve an agreement with Attorney Sura to represent the town as our special legal counsel for drilling issues.

The Board did table the discussion of the moratorium against oil & gas, in order to get more legal counsel in an executive session. However, I want to reassure residents that this is NOT because the Board supports drilling in Superior. By waiting to enact a moratorium, we avoid “starting the clock” early. Furthermore, Attorney Sura believes that any potential application would be filed with the COGCC before being filed with the Town, which would give us a heads up so we could put a drafted moratorium into place.

Trustee Lacis talked about potentially starting discussions of becoming a Home Rule municipality, as drilling could be the burning platform to move in that direction. This will now be on the agenda for the December 17 Board Retreat.

Questions or concerns? You can email the entire Board at townboard@superiorcolorado.gov, or me specifically at lauras@superiorcolorado.gov. Thanks so much for listening, and thanks for electing me as your Trustee! I’m really looking forward to serving you.

One Response so far.

  1. […] create a realistic noise mitigation program. ABCx2 presented an overview of their services at the November 28 Town Board Meeting, and were asked to come back with tangible task orders, timelines, and outcomes for this formal […]

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