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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-05-18 (Regular) Meeting Minutes• • 1. Call to Order ENGLEWOOD CITY COUNCIL ENGLEWOOD, ARAPAHOE COUNTY , COLORADO Regular Senion May 18, 2009 The regular meeting of the Englewood City Council was called to order by Mayor Woodward at 7:42 p.m. 2. Invocation The invocation was given by Council Member Mccasli n. 3. Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Alleg iance was led by Council Member Mccasl in. 4. Roll Call Pmsent: Absent: Council Members Jefferson , Moore , Penn , Oakley , Mccaslin , Wilson , Woodward None A quorum was prasent. Also present: City Manager Sears City Attorney Brotzman City Clerk Ellis Director Gryglewicz , Finance and Adm inistrative Services Director Black , Parks and Recreation Housing Finance Special ist Grimmett, Community Deve lopment Recreation Manager Hultberg , Parks and recreat ion Fire Chief Pattaroul Pol ice Commander Condreay Ope rations Superi ntendent McCorm ick, Utilities Englr 0 sri ng Tech ni cian I Dye , Public Works 5. Consideration of Minutes of Previous Seaalon (a) COUNCIL MEMBER JEFFERSON MOVED, ANO COUNCIL MEMBER PENN SECONDED , TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 4, 200!), Mayor Woodward asked if there were any corrections or modification s. There were none . Vote results : Motion carried . Ayes : Council Members Penn , Mccasl in , Moore , Woodward , Jefferson , Wilson, Oak ley Nay s: Non e • 6. Recognition of Scheduled Public Comment There were no scheduled visitors . 7. Recognition of Unscheduled Public Comment Englewood City Council May 18, 2009 Page 2 (a) Jerry Furman , an Englewood resident , said I already talked to Joe about this and I think that everybody needs to look into it. On Broadway ... we are looking at...it is dying there and it was all Mom and Pop shops . I think it is time to lower the tax prices down on the little shops and raise up the tax prices for like Wal-Mart , King Soopers and Kmart , because they are bigger stores and they are all over the world . These little ones were funded by Englewood for many years . They are the ones that have helped us raise up the bigger stores and stuff. We need more , more ... lots of money for the ones who are just... who are feeling the pressure of the community . Thank you . Mayor Woodward said tha nk you . (b) Julian Newton , an Englewood resident , said I got an interpretation on your ... it is CD 11 .11 ... it states "parking for certain purposes prohib ited . No person shall park a vehicle on a roadway for the principal purpose of: 1. Displaying such vehicle for sale .· He said the principal purpose I park in front of my house is to have convenient access to my pickup . The second reason would be to kee p an eye on ii. A third reason would be because I told the insurance company that is where I park ii. Now , I have a small For Sale sign in the back window of the truck , which ... for about a month and a half, I'm willing to sell it. II just says the price , my phone number and that it is for sale . And since it is not principally parked out in front of my house for the purpose of displaying the For Sale sign , I feel that, shouldn 't be ticketed for it. Mayor Woodward said th is is an opportunity for guests to address Council and, typically , we do not respond at this time . But there is a response that comes at the end of this session under General Discussion . Council Member Mccaslin said can I ask a clarifying question? Were you ticketed? Mr . Newton replied yes and I spoke with the officer and she said that the principal purpose doesn 't matter. I've got a For Sale sign on • it, so I can't have it parked in front of my house . Thank you . • Mayor Woodward said thank you . (c) Matthew Crabtree , an Englewood res ident , sa id good even ing . I'll start off b" saying that I am somewhat amazed ... two weeks ago I stood before you for ten minutes and presented allegations that Council disregarded the voice of the people of this community or selectively regarded the voices of the people of this community . It is kind of amazing actually , my comments brought little response after that meeting ... very limited respon••· To refresh your memory , I discussed two topics ... one of which was a petition that a member of our community brought forward to Council , listing 57 signatures and a fairly clear expla na tion on what the peo ple of this community wanted , or at least those 57 people ... as king for a resolution basically ... or something . I got a ,~~ponse from one Council member and it wasn't anything but more impassive . The other topic I brought forward to you is the topic of the National Night Out Program and how effectively the City , including the City Council , being respons ible for this ... lett ing the National Night Out Program substantially decrease ... in attendance and part icipation . I really didn 't get much response . Maybe check into it type th ing , no , nothing further than that. It didn 't seem like much of a priority . I think you pretty well proved my point , that this Council is not interested in the voice of the people of this community , especially when I stand up here or other people st:nd up here and you selectively respond to them . Now, another th ing , all of you have been provided a copy of a news artic le that was printed last week ... clarification, this was not ECOG , th is was not Eye on Englewood, nor was th is any other news source affiliated with or been accused of, or whatever, in this City . This was facethestat e.com , a fairly large news site , has now got word of your actions and some of the things that you 've done . Soon enough this Council will understand that you are not operating in a vacuum , in your decisions , make it clear that your decisions are going to be made publ ic. Facethestate .com ... it is on their website right now . I recommend go ing to it. .. for the benefit of the recr.,d ... anybody listening to this right now. If you go down to the bottom of the page and look at all our staff articles, it is printed right there . Facethestate .com is not local to Englewood , it is the entire state that they report o,. I am actually pretty impressed with this website and some of the article s that they have . SoJn enough, this Council will understand that your actions are now becoming public . And that leads me to the last one here . Why Is this Laura Bartnick situation so important? • You are trying and trying and trying to find other things to pin th is on . I actually didn 't know really th e full details of th is until I read that article ... and I was like wow , it is going back and fort h here in just a couple of months . Why is it so important ? She was grandfathe re d in, everything should be oka y, grandfather ing by defin ition Englewood City Council May 18, 2009 Page 3 • means tliat you don 't have to abide by a law passed after wh ich you started yo ur ac tio ns. So, I just wante d to brin g that to your attention ... soon enoug h these sources will catch on to what is happen ing here and we will see what happens. Thank yo u. Mayor Woodward sa id thank you . 8. Communications, Proclamations and Appointments (a ) A letter from Tom Rothe indicating his res ignation from the Keep Englewood Beautiful Comm iss ion was cons idered . Council Member Mccaslin said I regretfully accept th is res ignation from To m, because I worked with Tom for three and a half years and I really enjoyed his partnership. He has really been a go-getter, in fact , he 's leaving Keep Englewood Beautiful as the president... the leader. I appreciate, Tom , for all your support for the three and a half years . You have been a vo ice that has been heard ... somelimes too much ... no .. but you have . I really appreciate your service to the community, so thank you very much. COUNCIL MEMBER McCASLIN MOVED, AND COUNCIL MEMBER WILSON SECONDED , TO ACCEPT, WITH REGRET, THE RESIGNATION OF TOM ROTHE FROM THE KEEP ENGLEWOOD BEAUTIFUL COMMISSION . Mayor Woodward asked if there was more discussion . Council Member Penn sa id I would just like to say what Bob said. Tom you have been so valuable on that committee and we thank you for all the insight that you have given us and any grief that you have given Mr . •• Mccaslin is well deserved . There was laughter. Thank you . Council Member Oakley sa id your appearance before us tonight Indicates that you care about serving the City and you can 't anymore and we sure appreciate your services. Mr. Rothe said thank you . Mayor Woodward sa id I would like to say the same th ing . Having served a short period of lime on Keep Englewood Beautiful with you and you served as the Chair of that committee, I wish you well and hope you are able to come back soon and look at another commission. You are cl!rtainly someone that is valued in the community and an asset that you bring to the table, so thank you . Mr. Rothe sa id I plan to be a thorn in your side about Janu,,ry 2011 . There was laughter. Mayor Woodward asked if th ere we re any other comments. There were none . Vote results : Motion carried . Aye s: Council Me m bers Pen n, Mccaslin , Moore , W oodward , Jefferso n, Wilson, Oakley Nays: None 9. Consent Agenda (a ) Approval of Ord inances on First Read ing There were no additional items subm itted fo r approval on firs t read ing . (See Agenda Item 11 .) • (b) App rova l of Ordinances on Second Rea ding Englewood City Cou ncil May 18, 2009 Page 4 COUNCIL MEMBER MOORE MOVED , AND COUNCIL MEMBER McCASLIN SECONDED , TO APPROVE CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS 9 ib) (I), (II), (Ill), (Iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii). (i) ORDINAN CE NO . 13 , SERIES OF 2009 (COUNCIL BILL NO , 11 , IN TR ODUCED BY COUNCIL MEMBER OAKLE Y) AN ORDINANCE AUT HORIZIN G AN AMENDMEN T TO THE 1990 BI G DRY CREEK INTERCEPTOR AGREEMENT REG ARDING FE ES, (ii) ORDINANCE NO , 14, SERIES OF 2009 (COUNCIL BILL NO . 15 , INTRODUCED BY COUNCIL MEMBER McC ASLIN ) AN ORDINANCE AMEN"llNG TITLE 1, CHAPTER 8, OF THE ENGLEWOOD MUNICIPAL CODE 2000 , ENTITLED "MUNICIPAL . ELECTIONS " WITH THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION 8. (iii) ORDINANCE NO . 15 , SERIES OF 2009 (COUNC IL BILL NO . 16, INTRODUCED BY COUNCIL MEMBER MOORE ) AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING A "LICENSE -Cl n' DITCH CRO&SING AGREEMEN T" TO PUBLIC SERVICE COMPAN Y OF COLORADO TO INSTALL ELECTRICAL LINES , IN CONDUIT UNDER THE CITY OF EN GLEWOOD 'S RIGHT-OF-WAY FOR THE CITY DITCH BElWEEN XCEL ENERGY SERVICES INC , AS AGEN T FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF COLORADO AND THE CITY OF ENGLEWOOD , COLORADO . (iv) ORDINANCE NO . 16 , SERIES OF 2009 (COUNCIL BILL NO . 17 , INTRODUCED BY COUNCIL MEMBER MOORE) AN ORDINANCE APPROVING AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL Am:EEMENT (IGA) FOR MUTUAL AID/AUTOMATIC AID AGREEMENT (FIRE) -2009 , BElWEEN THE CITY OF SHER IDAN AND THE CITY OF ENGLEWOOD , COLORADO . (v) ORDIN ANCE NO . 17 , SERIES OF 20 09 (COUNC IL BILL NO . 18 , INTRODUCED BY (;OUNCIL MEMBER OAKLEY ) AN ORDINAN CE AUTHORIZING AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT (URBAN ARl::A SECURITY INITIATIVE) BElWEEN THE CITY AND COUNTY OF DENVER , COLORADO AND THE CI TY OF ENGLEWOOD , CO LORADO . (vi) ORDINANCE NO . 18, SERIES OF 20 09 COUNCIL (BILL NO 19 , INTRODUCED BY COUNCIL MEMBER WILSON ) AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE ACC EPTAN CE OF AN INTER GOVERNMENTAL GR ANT "ST ATE OF COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL AFFAIR S EMERGENC Y MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE GRANT (EMP G) AGREEMENT WITH TH E CITY OF EN GLEWO OD". (vii) ORDINAN CE NO, 19, SERIES OF 2009 (COUN CIL BIL L NO , 20 , IN TRODU CED BY COUNCIL MEMBE R PENN ) AN ORDINAN CE OF THE CITY OF ENGLEWOOD AU THORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF GENERAL OBLI GATION BOND S, SERIES 2009 , TO FINANCE THE CONSTRUCTION OF IMPROVEMENTS TO THE • • CI TY 'S WATER SYSTEM AND AUTHORIZING THE LEVY OF PROPER TY TAXES , IF NECESSAR Y, TO PA Y • SUCH BONDS ; PROVIDING THE FORM OF THE BONDS AND OTHER DETAILS IN CONNECTION TH EREWITH : AND APPR OVING DOCUMEN TS RELATING TO THE BONDS , • • Englewood r.ity Council May 18, 2009 Page 5 (viii) ORDINANCE NO . 20 , SERIES OF 2009 (C OUNCIL BILL NO . 21 , INTRODUCED BY COUNCIL MEMBER McCASLIN) AN ORD!NANCE OF THE CITY OF ENGLEWOOD >1UT'"ORIZING AND APPROVING THE LEASE- PURCHASE: OF CERTAIN EQUIPMENT FOR CITY DEPARTMENTS AND PROVIDING DETAILS IN CONNECTICJN WITH THE LEASE-PURCHASE TRANSACTION . Vote resulta : Mot ion carried , Ayes : Council Members Penn , Mccaslin , Moore , Woodward, Jefferson , Wi lson , Oakley Nays : None (c) Resolutions and Motions The re were no add itional resolutions or motions submitted for approval on second reading , (See Agenda Item 11 .) m Public Hearing Items No public hea ri ng was scheduled before Council. 11 . Ordln1nc11, Reaolution and Motions (a) Approval of Ordinances on First Reading (I) Housing Finance Special ist Grimmett presented a recommendation from the Community Development Department to adopt a bill for an ordinance authoriz ing three lntergovemmental Subgrantee Agreements for the 2009 Arapahoe County Community Development Block Grant Program . She said the 2009 awards have been approved by the County for the three projects that we have for the Homeowner Fix-up Program , for the Northwest Englewood Sidewalk Project Phase II and for the continuation of support for the House of Hope Staffing Program . The ex isting employees of the Comm unity Development Department will adm inister these projects and the projects are scheduled for completion by the end of May 2010. They antici pate that the notice to proceed, hopefully , would be received by the County by the end of June , hopefully, if not by then , then by the early part of July , She asked ii th ere were any question s. COUNCIL MEMBER WILSON MOVED, AND COUNCIL MEMBER McCASLIN SECONDED , TO APPROVE AGENDA ITEM 11 (a) (I) -COUNCIL BILL NO , 22. COUNCI L BILL NO . 22, INTRODUCED BY COUNCIL MEMBER WILSON A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OFT: ;REE INTERGOVERNMENTAL SUBGRANTEE AGREEMENTS (CDBG) FOR THE YEAR 2009 BETWEEN THi: ARAPAHOE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND THE CITY OF ENGLEWOOD , COLORADO. Mayor Woodward asked ii there was any discussion , Mayor Woodward said I would just like to mention , if these funds are approved and you do get these ... the Phase II of the Sidewalk Project In northwest Englewood Is someth ing that Is address ing four blocks . The four blocks is someth in g that I know the people up there are appreci ative of and the students at Colorado 's Finest • th ink it is great project. Ma yo r Woodward askeo if there we re any othe r comm ents. There were none . Englawood City Council May 18, 2009 Page 6 '✓ote results : Ayes : Nays : Motion carried . Council Members Penn , Mccaslin , Moore , Wood.,,ard . Jefferson . Wilson . Oakley one (b) Approval of Ordinances on Second Reading There were no additional items subm itted for approval on second reading . (See Agenda Item 9 -Consent Agenda .) (c) Resolutions and Motions (i) Housing Finance Specialist Grimmett presented a recommendation the Community Development Department to adopt a resolution authorizing staff to apply lo Arapahoe County for additional Commun ity Development Block Grant funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (2008-R CDEG funds). She said this evening we are requesting approval to submtt two applications to Arapahoe Cc,unty for special funding that was issued as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 . There is a special allocation of Community Deve lopment Block Grant Funds that were budgeted under the 2008 fiscal year allocations . so they are known as th& 2008 CDBG-R fund ing . The application must be submitted by this Friday , May 22"', so we request the support of Council for the two applications that we are prepared le submit. One application will be to continue our H~rne Owner Fix-up Program and the other application we have deemed as Energy Efficient Englewood . We thought that was kind of a nice sound ing name . The programs and these projects have very specific priorities as to what they will fund . The administration must provide for infrastructure improvements , create joos or activities that promote energy • efficiency. We believe both of these projects do that. They both will help to retain existing jobs from our small • contractors and businesses that are in the commun ity , that our homeowners would use . in order to make the repairs necessary for both of !hes~ projects . The emphasis on the newer project , the Energy Efficiency Englewood Program , is going to be one where we are going lo allow spec ial funding grant funding for homeowners to be ab le to utilize and apply for tax credits and rebates that are already out there in the community through the federal program or any stale or local programs . So the types of funding Iha! will be allowed under that particular project would be for Energy Star furnaces . upgrades in water healers ... especially the tankless water heaters ... ii could even be app lied towards solar, if there was a homeowner that so des ired to try lo look al doing that , double-paned windows , metal roofs , those types of things are all eligible currently for rebates and for tax credits under the Federal Tax Program . So , we are hoping that we will be able to be awarded ... Arapahoe County does not have a large amount of money that they were allocated , ii was just under $275 ,000.00 and we are requesting to 2pply for $175,000 .00 of that funding for these two projects . And again , the staff of Commun ity Development will administer these funds . Hopefully , if awarded , we will know Iha! by midsummer with funding be ing allocated in early fall so that we might be able lo beg in the orojects . She asked if there were any quest ions . Mayor Woodward sa id I have a question . If less than the full S175 ,000 .00 is allocated , will you use the S65 ,000 .00 and the S110 ,000 .00 as the two pe rcer tages to brea k out whatever is awarded ? Ms . Grimmett sa id ii ctually would depend upon what the Cnunty Comm issioners approve and at th is lime, I don 't know what the staffing ... what the Arapahoe County staff will subm it. Generally , they rnay do partial funding and that would be dec ided at their level and I don 'l lh ii:k it would be a decis ion that we would have an opportun ity to part icipate in . Mayor Woodward said okay . My second quest io n was , with the energy effic iency home improvement project , would th is coincide with .. give ci tizens the opportunity to leverage , even further, these funds with Xcel Energy 's wealherizalion prog•~m and some of the other programs Iha! are out !~ere ? Ms . Grimmett said yGs , they still • would be able to a~p ly for any rebates that they would be eli gible fo r ... absolutely . Counc il Member Penn said Janet. If we gel the $175 ,000 .00 , what are some of th e ways Iha! we will take applicat ions from cit izens or how do we disperse that mo ney? • • Englewood City Council May 18 , 2009 Page 7 Ms . Grimmett sa id, inilially , we wi ll do all immediale advertis ing through ou r local news papers of genera l circu la lion and we would also pul nolices in the Cllizen . Because the award letters , generally , will come vii a good two to three months in advance of our notice to proceed, which is the actual release of funding , we have some time to be able to advert ise , get notices out to people , so that they can call in and apply and estab lis h waiting lists . And applications will be taken on a first-come , first-seive bas is. And once we have the go-ahead with the notice to proceed , then people will be called In to complete applications and a face-to-face inteivlew will be done . These are qua lifying applications and grants , so there are certain upper income limits lhal families must comply with . For example , a family of four would still be eligible for bolh of these programs if they were earning tao 000 .00 annua lly or less . So that is our target group . But w~ would do it on a wa iti ng 11st bas is, with as much advanced advertisi ng as possible . Mr . Penn sa id thank you . COUNCIL MEMBER PENN MOVED, ANO COUNCIL MEMBER McCASLIN SECONDED , TO APPROVE AGENDA ITEM 11 (c) (I)· RESOLUTION NO . 30, SERIES OF 2009 . RESOLUTION NO . 39, SERIES OF 2009 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF ENGLEWOOD , COLORADO, TO FILE AN APPLICATION WITH ARAPAHOE COUNTY FOR ADDITIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT(CDBG ) FUNDING FROM THE AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT (ARRA) KNOWN AS 2008 CDBG-R FUNDS . Mayor Woodward asked if there was further discussion . The re was none . Vote rasulu· Mol ion c.·rried . Ayes : Nays : Council Members Penn , Mccaslin , Moore , Woodward , Jefferson , Wilson , Oakley None (ii) Recreati on Manage r Hultberg presented a recommendation from the Parks and Recrealion l-.'oartment to approve , by molion , a Bill of Sale, Notice of Term in ation of Lease , and Waiver of Notice Requ irement transferring th e miniature train, tracks. and bu ildi ngs at Bellev iew Park from the Englewood Lions Club to the City of Englewood . He sa id as we talked at the Study Session last month, the Lions Club has prov ided a great seivice to the City by providing such a popular amenity here prior to Cinderella City and now since 1993 at Bellev iew Park . Because they are unable to continue operation , they entered into talks with the Parks and Recrealion Department and that led to their offer of sale of the train and all of the am enitie s. So Parks and Rec is ready to operate the train as a recreation ame,1ity and we are ready to go th is Memorial Day . He asked if there were any questions . COUNCIL MEMBER JEFFERSON MOVED , ANO COUNCIL MEMBER OAKLEY SECONDED , TO APPROVE AGENDA ITEM 11 (c) (11)-A MOTION TO APPROVE A BILL OF SALE , NOTICE OF TERMINATION OF LEASE , AND WAIVER OF NOTICE REQUIREMENT TRANSFERRING THE MINIATURE TRAIN , TRACKS , ANO BUILDINGS AT c!ELLEVIEW PARK FROM THE ENGLEWOOD LIONS CLUB TO THE CITY OF ENGLEWOOD . Mayor Woodward asked if there was any discuss io n. Council Member Jefferson said I would like to add another thank you to lhe Lions Club for recogn izi ng the valu e of this to the City . Mayo r Woodward sai d as a member and Board membe r of t~e Englewood Lions Club , I want to compliment th e • membership on their generosity over the years and comm itmenl to the City of Englewood . Going back , prior to my time here , lhe swimming pool that was in City Park on lhis site ... thal was prior lo Cinderella City, the farm down at Bell eview Pa rk , which was also donated to the City and now lhe lrain at lhe cost of Sl.00 . So , I am proud to be a Lion . Englewood City Council May 18, 2009 Page 8 Mayor Woodward asked if there were any other co mments . There were none . Vote results : Motion carried . Ayes : Council Members Penn , Mccaslin , Moore , Woodward . Jefferson , Wilson , Oakley Nays : None 12 . General DII0JISlon (a) Mayo r's Choice : (i) Mayor Woodward said it just happens that the first item I have on my list is something that Matthew brought up . I do want to bring up that the next Neighborhood Watch Block Cap tain Meeting is the 4" of June , which is a Thursday , from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the Community Room here at CltyCe nter . Block Capta ins and anybody else that has an interest in the Neighborhood Watch Program and the block part ies are welcome to come . There is going to be a discussion and presentation by Officer Perry Schellpfeffer regard in g graffiti and there have been some things that have happened here recently ... Joe can attest to that. So , that should be very interesting . Nati ona l Night Out is always the second Tuesday in August and it is traditionally celebrated in Englewood ... over the last 20 years . So , aga in I would like to invite anybody and everybody who is concerned and wants to participate ... to please come out and do such . (ii) Mayor Woodward said I also want to mention that there was an Arapahoe County Mayors , Managers and Commissioners meeting Friday morn ing. We had a presentatio n by Centennial on • coyotes and what they are do ing , which can be made available lo us . And also , kind of the theme ... as we went • around the table ... tal ki ng to Mayors and City Managers ... is that everyone is feeling the economic pain that we discussed earlier ton ight in Study Sess ion , with regard to our budget. I believe Doug Clark , Mayor of Littleton , had mentioned to me that they were down 10% right now . Greenwood Village , I know, has or is cutting roughly 4 million dollars out of their 2009 budget. So , again, in looking at some of our stuff, comparing it to other cities in the area , we are hold ing our own . And apprecia tio n to the City Manage r's office and the directors and staff for looking at and prepar ing for th e meeting that we will have next week on that bud get. (iii) Mayor Woodward said I also want to mention that our Natio nal League of Cities Conference prese ntations are go in g to start at Stud y Sess ions on June 1 s". We are do ing them a little differently , we are going lo have them as the very first ite m, as opposed to the last item or under Council 's Cho ice . That way we will get them done . Joe will be the first one to start and then we will jus t go by District. then th e At-large people and if we need someth ing written it will also be good ... if citizens or the public would like to see something about what that is ... something short , it does n't have to be a long scenario . (iv) Mayor Woodward sa id I would als o like to mention that the Metro Mayors and Commissione rs Youth Awards were he ld on Sat urday and all nine count ies ... metro counties , had representatives ... either 3 or 4 representalives ... youlh that had overcome adversity and were awarded . Th ey come from the city level , to the county leve l and now to this final metro leve l. Two of our Englewood kids , from Colorado 's Finest Alternative High Sc hoo l. won awards : Cody Edie and Hannah Goettsch . I wou ld like to congratul ate them and I had the opportunity of meeting them and co ngratulating th em there . It is quite an , :complishmenl and a lot of these kids have really co me through very , very adverse situations . (v) Ma yor Woodward said Jerry , to address the iss ue that you had mentioned regard ing taxes , in taxing th e small er businesses le ss than the larger businesses , I th ink that wo uld be ... we couldn 't do that without a vote of th e peop le due to th e Taxpay ers Bi ll of Rights . That would have to go in front of the voters and you would ha ve to change taxes for ci fferenl companies and I don't know how that would go over with th e • vo ters . Jerry Fu rman (from the audien ce) sa id how do we ci tizens do that ? How do we put ;1 up for voting , for them to vote on ii? Ma yor Woodward sa id you wou ld talk to Lou regard ing that. • Englewood City Council May 18 , 2009 Page 9 (vi) Mayor Woodward said Mr. Newton I asked City Attorney Dan Brotzman to address .. when it comes around to his side ... to address your problem . I bel ieve he can . (b ) Counc il Members ' ,;hoice (i) Council Mernbs, P•nn : 1. He said I went to the retirem~o •. party for Joan Clayton down at the Library . If you didn 't make it by , it was excellent and unfortunately we are losing another outstanding employee to retirement and she seems very well on her way to retirement. So , congratulations to Joan on her retirement. 2. He said I did have a conversation with Bev Cummins after the meeting last week . I opened it up to continue talk ing with her and thank you Joe , for help ing me out with that. So , hopefully we can continue talking to Bev . 3. He sa id tomorrow morn ing at tne Englewood Rec Center. we have Mark Crawley coming in to talk about "212 Deg rees ·. It is an excellent business seminar. It will start at 8 o'clock . Mark is a Toast Master ... a speake r for the Chamber of Commerce 's in the State of Colorado . So , if you have a chance to get to the Englewood Rec Center . I'll see you there . It is very interesting ... I have heard him talk before and he does a great job . It is at 8 o'clock to morrow a,orning at the Englewood Rec Center . (ii) Counc il Member Mccaslin said I ran Into a new business we have in Englewood and I think it Is called Cardiology Now . I got their card and talked to a cardiologist. He sa id the business has just opened up between Blockbuster and Big Lots , right off of Hampden and Broadwa y. I met the cardiologist and • th e staff and . in fa ct . I invited them to one of our Council meetings to just introduce themselves . It is where you bring your cardiology report and they can help you or if you feel like you 've got some symptoms ... they are really open and they want to make this go and they opened another place in Pueblo . I think that they will come and share the ir experiences with us , hopefully . So , I just wanted to invite them to Englewood and thank them for choos ing Englewood . (ii i) Council Member Moore said I will take the opportunity to correct three inaccuracies presented by cne of our guests ton ight. First , I just want to confirm our meetings and processes are already publ ic. They are not private, they are not semi -private , they are not quasi public ... they are public . So , fortunately , we have already accomplished the des ired goal. Th is same individual expressed concern , a session ago . that Englewood doesn 't have a representative government , because 40 people weren 't able to mandate action by signing a piece of paper . I am also happy to inform our guest that there are seven duly elected offic ials up here . citizens of this commun ity , serving all 33 ,000 participan ts ... 33 .000 citizens . Finally . I'll take the opportunity to comment on th is letter presented to us tonight by Face the State , I believe it was . Besides reinforcing the confusion about whether or not we have a representative government , I would personally be disgusted to be associ ated with something that has presented an issue of zoning with su ch racial overtones . Quoting from this th ing . it started with the fact that a South Ko re an moved into our house and our ne ighbors didn 't like that. In my ... comlng up on 8 years with Council. .. it is a well understood fa ct, but since facts seem to be points of co nfus ion lately ... thal this Council has had a long ... and Councils before th is ... have had a long history of protecting R-1 Districts , it is never a ra ce issue and it is offensive to be reading criticism about the work that this Coun cil does and be ing brushed with racial overtones . So . I just wanted to take my opportun ity to make thos e corre ctions for the record . That is all I ha ve your Honor . Thank you Mayor Woodward sa id thank you . (iv) Council Member Oakle y: • 1. He sa id yes , I generally don 't say too mu ch in th is part of the meet ing , but ton ight I gu ess I wil l ma ke up for It. I too wou ld lik e to respond to Mr . Crabtree ·s comments at the beginn ing of the meet ing . He has been to almost every Study Sess ion and Coun ci l meet ing for th e last two years . With that knowledge , I was kind of surpri sed to hear him say that he was surprised that after two we eks , we hadn 't taken act ion on someth in g th at Englewood City Council May 18, 2009 Page 10 he had requested . I would like to say thal City Cou nc il , and City staff , are at th.s er.d of a large conduit and through that conduil passes all manner of things with different importance 's at•.;che d lo them . And to be able lo respond in a timely manner is one th ing , to be ab le to respond in a time ly manner of one 's own opinion is another. I, myself, and all the other Council people bring up things that we would like done and somet imes we wait weeks and maybe even mon ths sometimes before there is time to get back on the docket or get them done , So , I would suggest to you Matthew , 1• ·t two weeks is not a real long time when it comes 10 the wa y things ebb and flow , There is a certain crite ri a lhal has lo be followed . And , I don'! mean Iha! in a real derogatory manner , ii is just a th ing thal I th ink we need to understand . 2. He said the other thing that. .. in the City Manager's notes .. , we had two or three th ings that I think people were kind of requesting action on . One of them be ing a fa irly serious dog inc ident at Jason Park , the second being , at the same Park with a Soccer Association member also referring to dogs running through the park and then a th ird being , the person that was referring to the wil dl ife situation we have in the City . He said are all three of these go ing to be taken care of through a response from City staff or how are th ese going to be handl ed? Or is Council go ing to be involved in any of these? City Manager Sears sa id I'm not sure where we are . I think we don't have a specific Counc il Request, but we can just take your comm ent, Council Member Oakley , and make that a Council Reques t and follow up . I think we are at different stages with a response on each one of those items . I know our Code Enforcement people are working through those issues , but we will go ahead and respond to those as we normally do and get back to Council next week with the status of where we are . Council Member Oakley said okay and I would present the se three le tters as an example of what I was refe rri ng to . With so much stuff to go through , sometimes you don 't know how these actions are goin g to be taken . 3. He sa id you had talked lo this subject in a Study Se ssi on before the Council meet ing tonight in regards to the mandated use of Personal Leave and I read the mem o aga in, Gary , and it appears that you asked certa in • depart rr,ents to forgo an y possib ility of cash ing in Personal Leave , in lieu of taking their vacation time and then • you wen, ~o to mandate to the peop le th at obv io usly you can , the department heads and thos e ... and I was wondering what kind of response are you getting back from the departments? And ii appears to me , anyhow , that !his is someth in g that if it is vo luntary , because of negotiations with un ions , that th is is someth ing that we need tu talk abou t. Otherwise , the pa in should be sh nred evenl y with everybody , So , I guess , I would either like lo know the departments that are cooperating and if there are any departmen ts that refuse , then we might be able to at least talk about that and especially at our bua~al meeting next week . I don 'I want to jump in the ce nt er of this ... I just want to state that I th ink ii should ~e shared equally by everybody , Is there any more commenl on thal Gary ? City Manager Sears said my first attempl, again , was to do voluntary . As it transp ired with the department directors , it became a little bit haphazard and , aga in, based upon the middle scenario we looked at. .. it was a 4 mill ion dol lar shortfall , And to accommodate the schedu ling of time for emp loyees , it is best done early on, so I went ahead as Manag er and ins tituted th e mandating of that , aga in, for th e employees tha t I can mandate for . Y ,u know , becau se we have thal October 31" dead lin e lo take that and Iha summer va' 'io ns are co ming up , ii ,s a litt le bil unfa ir to mandate that in the middle of Jul y to have that hap pen . So , th at is wny I went ahead and I didn 't see resistance , quite honestly , from an y departmental groups . II is certainl y a pressure po int. II is diffi cult for our employees because many of our emp loyees rely upon that as a year end bon us, bu t I fell that we co uld not he lp them with funds , if I didn 't ta ke immed iate action to do tha t. So , that is why I chose to go ahead and do Ih a!. I know that with a num ber of employees ii wasn 't popular, but it was wha l I had to do . As you ha ve stated , we ha ve three employee co ntra cts and th ose empl oyee contracts have different lan gu ag e within them rega rd ing Personal Leave I can 't respond tonigh t and we can respond in bett er deta il ne xt Tu esd ay nig ht reg ard ing the empl oyee group s and wha t the ir responses were with our request lo ut ilize that. There is a substant ial amoun t of savi ngs for Persona l Leave , but aga in Perso na l Leave is a lo ng term ben efit. II isn 't the loss of thal , ii Is just that they can't us e it this year , they look to annual leave . Bui ii creates , espe ci ally with the Fire Department , a very diffi cul t situation because of overti me and 24 hour sh ifts . In that wa,· ii was a difficult situation the las t lime we imp lemented tha t. So , I th ink Iha ! we will bring th is before th e Council , As Coun cil is aware, we are in negot iations for a contract with our general employees .. ,Jul y 1 is the dale and so , especially with our general • em pl oyees , that will probably be part of our final nego tiati ons wi th th em . So , I guess , ii is the bes t th al I can ... that is lhe status of how I made the dec ision lo go forward in terms of mandating in the area that I could • Englewood City Council May 18, 2009 Fat,, 11 Counc i, Member Oak ley sa id okay . For the record , I wasn 't implyi ng that you were handling th is inappropriately and haphazard is not the word I would use . It was givi ng them a chance to respond , but how they respond is somflthing you will have to deal with later. I well know , probably more than anybody , how much people rely on th is at the end of the year , for the Christmas bo nus . Th is was something that was negotiated years ago In lieu of ,·aises , so nobody is implying that this is going to be so meth ing that is going to be for now or forever . because it was a negotiated th ing . So , I just want to see how we can work th is and be fair with everyday and everybody get through the hard times together. So , when we have our next meet ing , I Jm pretty sure that th is will work its way c,ut. City Manager Sears said yes , I think Council Memb~r Oakley's rev iew is right there . Aga in , as we have met with employee groups , and I have met with all employee groups in the organ ization , I met with most of the 550 employees the first two months of the year letting them know about th is concern . The employees said they read the newspapers , they see the numbers and I would have to say the employee organizations and the employees we have here are very responsive and have been very accepting , I guess , of the situat ion ... in that the reason for Persona l Leave in part , is to preserve the jobs within the City , so we don 't go to layoffs , as you will see in my memo , that the whole approach is to reduce expenditures without lay in g off employees , of which th is is a major part . (v) Council Member Wilson : 1. She said I went to the Farmer's Market again and I think it is very successful and I went a little bit later this time , Randy , so I got more samples . But , I think it is going to be very successful and I even took some ne ighbors so that they could see how much fun it was . So , I apprec iate all the work that you have done on that. 2. She sa id the other th ing was Neighborhood Watch . I have been here for what , 7 years , and I've had • one on my block every year . I too have a very nice block and they like to get together and we participate and people from the City came ... fire people , police anc· everything . Be ing on Council , we had 29 block parties last year , but I must say that one of the blocks Is the entire south end of town , at Duncan Park . So , it is a very large block . So , there are a lot of people involved , there are a lot of people who are pos itive about ii. Anyone can gel involved who wants to I think it is something that constantly has to be looked at , redone as times chang e. The police force and Code is work ing on that. I think there is always work that can be done , but sometimes peopl e don 't want to step forward and be that Bloc k Capta in and I know that . th at is a big respons ibility and hard to do . So , I fee l its pos itive, I think it can always be bette r, but I think we are working on ii. I th ink ii is alive and wel l. 3. She said the thing about the letter ... I just find you to be a little bit threatening around that and I don 't feel that is appropriate . And if you want to know why tt is still in court ... ask Laura . I'm sure she would be able to help you . (vi) Counc il Member Jefferson : 1. He said to Jerry and his comments that you made to Council. .. I would just like to say that I too am con ce rned about the vacancy rate on South Broadwa y. As much as I would like to see the tax burden alleviated on smaller businesses ... in addition to the Mayo r's com:nents ... I am just not sure lhal our budget could susta in that type of th ing al lh is moment. But I do beli eve Iha'. you can circulale a petition ... if you do believe ii is a good idea ... and get it on the ballot . You will need almost 1,000 signatures , I th ink , but you can talk to Lou aboul it. if you like . 2. He sa id Mr. Newton , I apprec iate your com ing down and sha ri ng your concerns with us tonight. I guess I would just say first that the role of our Council is truly a policy role and in tha t type of a situation , we can actually chang e the law ... we can say , you know ... cars with a small For Sale sig ns ... or something like thal. .. are okay . But I th ink there are reasonable pol icy reasons why we don 't allow ... you know we don 't want the right-of- way to be used for marketing people 's goods fo r sale . So I think your comments tonight are much better suited • for the actual court . You know they will give you an opportunity to ma ke your cl aim and , you know ... quesli on ... li ke , what Is the primary purpose of whe re you are parking your vehicle . I th ink is a lega l question . I th ink that you would be able to make that argu me nt on you r day . If they dete rmine tha t. then I th ink Englewood City Council May 18, 2009 Page 12 you will have an opportun ity to get that dismissed . I th ink the on ly way that you can take that with us is by asking us to change the ru i.,s . Just an FYI. And maybe I can chat with you a little bit more about It afterwards . 3. He sa id to Matthew , I am sorry that pu feel that you are receiving a limited or selective response from Council . Just like everybody , I do attemp t... or just like you , just like everyone else who approaches Council , I do attempt to give some response back on an individualized basis to attempt to meet those concerns on some level . 4 . He sa id I would also like to congratulate Joan Clayton on her retirement. Sorry I missed the party there and I hate to see her go , but hopefully she will be enjoying her time . Mayor Woodward sa id thank you . 13. City Manager's Report City Manager Seara did not have any matter.; to bring before Coun cil. 14 . Ctty Attorney's Report (a) City Attorney Brotzman said Mr. Newton , we will pull your ticket. I don't have any background on it... I don 't know what Is go ing on . If you have a court date , show up for the court date and my prosecutor will talk with yoi:. If you don't have a court date , which I don't know if you do or don't , we will have someone get back to yo,,, either a Code Enforcemen t Office r or my prosecutor will get back to you . Bu t if you have a court date , pler.se show up here . The prosecutor will go through the law with you , hear all the arguments in actual session . 15 . Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m. • • •