Officials reappointed; CDOT to repair Hwy 6

Five City officials were reappointed by Holyoke City Council at a Tuesday, April 18, meeting.
    Superintendent Mark Brown, Police Chief Doug Bergstrom, Clerk/Treasurer Kathy Olofson and Judge Dave Colver were all reappointed to their positions unanimously. Attorney Al Wall was reappointed on a 4-2 vote. Council members J.C. Peckham and Steve Moore voted in opposition, and Kevin Scott was absent.
    
    Denver Street discussed
    After concern about the condition of East Denver Street brought up a question of who is responsible for repairs last meeting, Brown reported back to the council that Colorado Department of Transportation will be making necessary repairs.
    Previously, confusion arose because the City has a contract with CDOT saying the City will maintain highways 385 and 6 within the city limits. The City does do street sweeping and snow removal on those highways within the city limits, but historically, CDOT has patched them when damaged.
    The issue was brought to the council at the April 4 meeting because when Brown discussed the current condition of Denver Street with CDOT, he was told the City was responsible for making those repairs, per their contract.
    City Council did not think this was right, since CDOT has done those repairs in the past, and they tabled the issue and asked Brown to further explore their options and report back at the April 18 meeting.
    Upon meeting with them again, Brown found out that CDOT will take responsibility for repairing the highways within the city limits. That being said, it is out of he City’s hands, and Denver Street will receive its much-needed repairs on CDOT’s timeline. Their plan is to combine repairs to Denver Street with roadwork extending to the state line slated for this summer.
    
    Officials report
    Brown reported one power outage since the last meeting. Sunday, April 9, power was lost in the 1300 block of East Johnson Street, affecting only the sewer lagoon and cemetery.
    Electric crews continue to replace poles, and water and sewer crews were busy repairing sand filters at the pool and rodding sewers. The street crews have been dragging roads and alleys and picking up branches in the streets.
    He added that citywide cleanup has been proposed for May 10-11 and it will be going before the county commissioners.
    Bergstrom reported the Holyoke Police Department handled or generated 225 calls for service from March 30-April 12. They made two arrests, wrote 15 citations and five reports, and issued 25 warnings. Of those, code enforcement responded to three animal complaints and seven ordinance violations.
    Olofson reported the City received a capital credit refund from PC Telcom in the amount of $1,778.53.
    Wall reported that he wrote a letter to Aurora Cooperative in response to their request for a landlord waiver for Aurora Ag Aviation. He noted their request is not in line with what the City typically does for its lessees at the airport. He expects they will reply by the next city council meeting.
    Recreation director Victoria Timm reported she worked with Wall to create a facility use form for the ballfields. Anyone wishing to use the ballfields will need to contact Timm to fill out the form before use. She noted this will help with scheduling, as there are many club teams that want to use the facility. She added that knowing who is signed up to use the fields will help keep people accountable for taking good care of the facilities.
    Timm also has begun working with Brown to pursue an update to the little baseball field so it can be used for practice.
    The rec department will be holding a local Rockies Skills Challenge Saturday, May 27, at 10 a.m. at the ballfield for youth 6-13 years old. Registration forms are available at the City Office or can be filled out the day of the competition.  
    
    Open meetings workshop held
    After the regular meeting, council members participated in a workshop led by Wall to review open meetings laws.
    The council discussed examples of obvious violations of the law, such as meeting up at the mini park and making a decision regarding its construction. In that case, three or more members would be gathered, specifically for the purpose of conducting public business and taking formal action by making a decision.
    That touches on the three key points to watch for when determining if a gathering is subject to open meetings laws. First, are there three or more council members (or a quorum) present? Second, what is the purpose of their gathering? Third, are they taking formal action?
    Wall referred to the Colorado Supreme Court and Sunshine Law to inform council members of guidelines. A gathering of three people does not have to be in person; the law includes phone calls and emails between three or more members.
    The purpose of the meeting, he went on to explain, is of utmost importance when determining whether open meetings laws apply. If, for example, three council members are at the Chamber Gala, their purpose for gathering is the gala, not to discuss public business.
    “In a small town, at some time or another, there will be three or four of you at a single function,” Mayor Orville Tonsing said. Wall agreed and added, “Merely discussing matters of public importance does not activate open meetings law.” Rather, the meeting must be part of the policy-making process to do so.
    Council member John Schneider pointed out that if they are gathered at an unrelated event, although it may be legal, it might not look good to the public. Wall reassured members, “you have a safeguard if it’s just happenstance.”
    Tonsing has planned another workshop for members immediately following the May 2 meeting, but the topic has yet to be announced.
    
    Other business
    In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, the council:
    —Signed a resolution in support of solutions for statewide transportation funding.
    —Accepted a bid from Nick Ferguson to haul chip seal at $10 per yard.
    —Hired Vern Adams at $10.50 per hour and John Zilla at $10.70 per hour as summer employees in the cemetery and parks departments, respectively.
    —Contributed $10,900 to Phillips County Economic Development.
    —Donated $1,500 to Holyoke Volunteer Fire Department for education and training.
    —Approved a special event permit for MMH Foundation for June 10 at the Phillips County Event Center for the Building New Bridges event.
    —Approved a special event permit for Phillips County Fair Board to have a beer garden at the stock car races April 28-29, May 28, June 30, July 4, Aug. 26 and Sept. 29-30.
    —Revised annual rental fee with OmniTRAX Inc. at $1,206.08, effective May 1.
    —Approved Holyoke Swim Team’s request to use the pool to host the Northwest Kansas Swim League meet June 3.
    —Received information from Olofson regarding City health insurance options, explaining the different levels of coverage. Among other differences, one option has a $1,000 deductible and the other, $1,500. It will be on the May 2 agenda to decide which level the City will provide for its employees.