Thursday, April 23, 2009

March 12, 2009

The regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Town of La Jara was called to order by Mayor Austin Valdez at 7:05 pm. The roll was called. Present: Earl Haslett, Paula Medina, Tiffanie Polkowske, Henry Schimpf, Larry Zaragoza and Mayor Austin Valdez. Absent: Patrick Montoya. Also present: Maintenance Supervisor Keith Martinez, Chief of Police Richard Pena, Town Clerk Priscilla Schimpf, Building Inspector Joseph Trottner, Town Attorney Ray Valdez and Town Manager Bill Yohey. Guests: Lance Clark, Larry Sisneros and Dan Martinez.

Those present recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Guests: Lance Clark – South Valley Liquor. He was her to ask for the Boards approval to renew his liquor license. He mentioned that he has been closed for two months due to health conditions. Other than that every thing is the same. Richard stated that between August and September there were some complaints that he was intoxicated there at the Liquor Store. Lance stated that he was not working at the time of that incident. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Paula that the license be renewed. A roll call vote was taken: Earl-yes; Paula-yes; Tiffanie-yes; Henry-yes; Larry-yes and Austin-yes. Motion Carried. Mr. Clark left at 7:25 pm.

Reports:

Town Manager: Bill mentioned that he met with Deb Downs and Cort Nickle in regards to the Lagoons. Deb told Bill that not to worry about the match money right away for a grant to take care of the Lagoons. It will be around 2011 before we will need to come up with match money. Cort has very preliminary options for correcting the lagoons. Bill mentioned that if the State sees a grant in progress they will let up on us.
Bill went to a Coalition Meeting and it was stated that the stimulus money will be coming our way and then within six months it will be distributed.
Austin brought up getting a grant to help pressurize water for people’s houses that are out of town. There was a concern about a certain house not having much pressure on US HWY 285. Keith will check the pressure at this house.
Bill also brought up that there will be grants available for insulating houses such as with solar energy. Hue Halack is looking into setting up a workshop to put out this information. There will be a meeting and kickoff with the Historical Society Fund on March 19, 2009 at 8:30 am here at the Town Hall.
The ground breaking for the Nursing Center will be Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 10:00 am and lunch will follow at the Wagon Wheel. Bill will be giving a speech.
Earl asked about the asbestos removal. Bill explained the State regulations. Ray then expanded on the explanation. It was said that the people do need to apply for a demolition permit through the State, can apply on-line. If asbestos is found then you need to hire a qualified licensed contractor to remove and there is not one in the Valley. The Town could also require a permit but can only issue after having one from the State. It would be duplicated. Ray did inform the Board that Joseph has applied for a permit. Ray stated it could become very costly for the resident for the removal. It was decided to discuss this matter further at a later date. The report was accepted upon a motion by Paula and a second by Henry. Motion Carried.

Building Inspector: He reviewed his written report with the Board. Tiffanie stated that she had a problem with the tax exempt certificate at Home Depot in Pueblo. They didn’t know how to handle. They finally waived all tax. Ray suggested putting instructions for the vendor on the certificate. Bill will work on it. The report was accepted upon a motion by Tiffanie and a second by Earl. Motion Carried.

Court: The Board reviewed the Municipal Judge report. Tiffanie asked if the issue of him acting as a defense attorney was brought up to him. Ray stated that he did confront him. The report was accepted as presented upon a motion by Paula and a second by Tiffanie. Motion Carried.

Police: Richard stated that it had been slow as far as traffic but that they have been busy with all the drug busts around the county. Paula asked him if he gets comp. time. Bill stated that he does qualify for it. Richard will start computing. Remodeling of his office has not begun yet. It was asked if the speed limit by the school is 15 mph during school hours and 25 mph after hours and Richard stated that yes. The police report was accepted upon a motion by Earl and a second by Larry. Motion Carried.

Maintenance: Keith thanked the Board for letting him attend the Water & Wastewater Conference, very informative. He passed around bids from Clutter Tree Service for trunk grinding and tree trimming. He was told to hold off on the bid until he finds out if tree by Ben Vigil’s is Town property. A motion was made to accept the bid at $3,000 after finding out about tree by Ben Vigil’s by Paula and seconded by Earl. Motion Carried. Keith also informed the Board that the State is requiring getting the 2nd well up to pare with the 1st well in case of an electrical failure. It is estimated at about $13,000 to do so. They are also cracking down on line flushing. The maintenance report was accepted upon a motion by Tiffanie and a second by Earl. Motion Carried.

Trustees:

Paula – She needed the renewal for Alice Price’s program for the 2nd quarter to be signed by Austin and Henry. They signed it.

Tiffanie – She gave an update on the GOCO grant. She stated it has passed the first hurdle. It is in the process of being reviewed now. We won’t hear anything until May or June.

Henry – Had nothing to report.

Earl – Had nothing to report.

Larry – He asked if we have a graffiti clean-up ordinance. It was stated that we don’t. He mentioned that he spoke with Bill, Chief of Police from Alamosa and was told that graffiti clean-up worked out very well for them in Alamosa. Austin stated that it was suggested at the last meeting for Richard’s basketball program to paint over the graffiti. Ray mentioned that the county could send people who have to do community service to do some of this for us. Dan will check with Renee, Probation Officer in regards to this.

Austin – Had nothing to report.

Attorney: Ray mentioned he had been really busy with Tiffanie, Jill and Bill with the GOCO grant. He asked what the Board wanted to call the street dedicated to Joe Chavez, it was decided to name it Joe S. Chavez Drive. Clerk: Priscilla informed the Board that she had contacted Marilee Vannoy from the Sanford Town Hall to see if she would be interested in some part-time work during her maternity leave. Marilee stated that she might be but she was leaving out of town sometime in August so she was going to get back with Priscilla. She has not gotten back with Priscilla as of yet. Henry brought up asking Helen Hutchins, they told Henry to check with her. The report was accepted as presented upon a motion by Larry and a second by Paula. Motion Carried.

Approval of Minutes:
Regular Meeting February 12, 2009 – Motion by Henry, 2nd by Earl. Motion Carried. Special Meeting February 25, 2009 – Motion by Paula, 2nd by Henry. Motion Carried. Special Meeting February 27, 2009 – Motion by Tiffanie, 2nd by Henry. Motion Carried.

Follow-Up of Minutes: None.

Approval of Bills:The bills were approved for payment upon a motion by Paula and a second by Larry. Motion Carried.

Other Business: Roll-Off – It was suggested to put up the last of April beginning of May. Bill stated that the county is talking about helping pay for half the costs. Bill thought that it would be better to put the roll-off up May 2nd through May 16th. Priscilla will post in the April W/S bill.

Police Car Bid – It was decided to start the bid at $2,500 for the 1999 Ford Crown Victoria, sealed bids. Priscilla will publish in the Valley Courier and CML Newsletter.

American General Retirement Plans – Keith is concerned about his retirement plan crumbling. He asked the Board if he could pull his money out and put it somewhere else. Bill will check on it being able to be transferred. Keith was thinking about putting into the Knights of Columbus. Keith will also look into it further.