August Minutes

August 13, 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 7:03pm. The roll was called. Present: Trustees Paula Medina, Tiffanie Polkowske, Henry Schimpf, Larry Zaragoza, Patrick Montoya, Earl Haslett, and Mayor Austin Valdez. Also present: Maintenance Supervisor Keith Martinez, Chief of Police Richard Pena, Temporary Town Clerk Karol Wilson, Building Inspector Joseph Trottner, Town Attorney Ray Valdez and Town Manager Bill Yohey, Sgt. Dan Martinez, and Paul Naranjo of the Maintenance Dept. Guests: Jan and Leroy Polkowske, Ruby Nissley, Brian Crowther and Rick Ivers. Those present recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

Guests: Jan Polkowske came in to ask who had given orders to cut their trees completely down and leave unsightly stumps in the yard. The maintenance men cut a special 20 year old Silver Ash, and the want the town to do something about it. They had been in the process of getting the branches trimmed, but Mrs. Polkowske had left town before she finished and maintenance had been told to go cut the trees down in order for the speed limit sign to be visible from 150 feet away. Before the trees were cut, the sign was not even visible from the railroad tracks. Mayor Valdez asked why the speed limit couldn’t be moved. He also apologized on behalf of the board. Everyone agreed there was a real lack of communication. Keith apologized for cutting the Ash tree to the board, but the town doesn’t have the means to trim tree branches that are up high. Tiffanie asked what size/how big a tree could we get to replace this tree. Jan said she would get back to the town board with that information. In the meantime they want the stumps removed. Patrick apologized for the miscommunication.

Ruby Nissley had a complaint about vulgar messages on the playground equipment. She had young people visiting and they saw it. She came and reported it on July 20, and it is still there for all to see. She wants it removed now! Why aren’t we more organized? Bill informed her that it will be taken care of tomorrow if he has to do it himself.

Leroy Polkowske expressed his unhappiness with the tree trimming situation. Again he stated that he wants the stumps removed. He addressed issues he has with the town manager and the town attorney that are of a personal nature.

Brian Crowther and Rick Ivers thanked the community for all the support for the new playground complex. They will be putting in a walking path, and part of that path would extend onto a 10x100 foot section of town property. The path won’t be put in until next summer, but they will be putting in a fence this fall. The PTA had raised money for the fencing project, with plenty of volunteer help. Ray suggested we give them a 30 year variance to run concurrently with the Intergovernmental Agency contract. They will get Reynolds to draw up a description. A motion was made by Earl to grant this variance, with a second by Patrick. Passed unanimously by roll call of all board members.
Robert Middlemist was not able to plow the grounds and Brian would like to flood it in two weeks with hopes of working the ground so they can plant grass seed. Austin offered the hoses and fire trucks to flood the area. They will flood it on Monday and Tuesday.

Reports:

Town Manager: Bill will be going to Salida on Tuesday, 8/18/09 for the law suit settlement conference. Since Ray will be gone, Larry will go with Bill. Bill stated that the best thing he and Paula got from the trip to Vail was “communication”. Lots and lots of communication. The retreat idea is a good thing in order to discuss issues that aren’t being taken care of. Bill will meet with any one any time. He wants more communication, and he wants everyone to be on the same page. We could have avoided the Polkowske issue. We need to use the cameras more. #1 on Bill’s report…What is being done about the other buildings in town? Henry says he offered Gilbert some curtains for the front to make it look nicer. Patrick asked Ray what could be done legally about Rios’ building. Ray stated he contacted Danny years ago, with no response. What are we going to ask him to do? Discussion followed about nailing up boards on the outside. Austin says boards on the outside looks better that what it looks like now. Painting a mural was suggested. The kind of wood was discussed. Larry suggested the board do it, but Ray says we need Danny’s consent. There was discussion about informing Danny that we are going to fix the building front and send him the bill. Patrick suggested a face to face meeting through a letter from Ray, telling Danny of our proposal. The set a special meeting for September 3, 7:00 p.m.
#2. Glory Days went well. There was a discussion about a new location next year. The carnival people want to come back next year with their full carnival. It was well attended. Austin asked about the land behind the Catholic Church. Dan says he plans on contacting the Bishop about using that property for next year. He will also talk with K Miller about going across his property. Tiffanie suggested the board be involved in Glory Days parade by maybe entering a float. Dan suggested offering a contest like “The Best Lawn”, and have winners on that float, or something along those lines. The 5K run was great, but they could use better markers. The report was accepted upon a motion by Tiffanie and a second by Paula. Motion carried. Building Inspector: He reviewed his written report with the Board. The report was accepted upon a motion by Paula and a second by Larry. Motion carried.

Court: The Board reviewed the Municipal Judge report. The report was accepted as presented upon a motion by Patrick and a second by Earl. Motion carried.

Police: Richard stated that he needs a transmission for patrol car #733. He presented an estimate for a remanufactured and a new one. A new one with a warranty is $2708.90, while the remanufactured one would cost $2913.90. A motion was made by Earl and seconded by Patrick that we put a new transmission in # 733, with Baroz Auto doing the installation. Discussion of dispatch service followed, with Ray stating we need the service, and Dan stating it is an officer safety issue when reception in the area is limited. Homeland Security needs to be contacted regarding funding for our own tower. We have the equipment, but no service. Richard stated that he has been working on contacting residents about their weeds. He sent out a letter to Gallegos’ about the old Standard station, but has not received a response. Ray stated that we don’t want to get into this with the old station because it is a liability issue. Richard has not been able to contact the owner of 3 Willow Drive, nor anyone from the bank. Some of the neighbors have cut some of the weeds. Tiffanie suggested we follow through with Richard’s idea of having the maintenance department cut those weeds and putting alien on the property. A work order will be put in place for maintenance department. Richard was asked if he is the only one making “weed control” contacts. Richard stated that Dan helps also. Patrick asked Richard if there is a time frame to get weeds cut after being contacted. Richard said they have 10 days. The police report was accepted upon a motion by Larry and a second by Paula. Motion carried.
Maintenance: Keith defended his actions regarding the Polkowske trees. He also addressed Ruby Nissley’s complaint. He went to the park that afternoon and did not see any vulgar remarks on the tables, but did not know to look at the slides. He will take care of the clean up on Friday, (8/14/09). A complaint form to be kept at the clerk’s counter was requested, and we will call the resident when a complaint/issue has been taken care of. The playground equipment has been installed at Aspen Circle Park, and Keith asked if he can purchase plastic border and pea gravel to finish. Patrick told him to do what it takes to comply with the grant and with what money is available.
Kelly Kitchen has put his own sewer taps in without contacting us or paying for meters. Earl suggested the county commissioner in charge of the nursing home project be contacted so as not to step on toes, and find out if they are in compliance. Kitchen should be required to remove the taps when construction is done. We can bill an average and back bill him. Water was seen being used from the hydrant without a meter attached. Bill did not give permission for the sewer taps and will go to the county commissioners with this issue.
There was discussion on #9 of the report. Bill had RMS jet out the sewer line behind Ann’s Café. Priscilla’s apartment and Gilbert Lopez’s. There is only one line there to the city line and these residents have been paying for sewer for many years. RMS put in a tap for Gilbert. Now the question is “who pays for the tap”? Karol will call RMS on Friday morning for a breakdown of services.
Tiffanie came back to the Polkowske tree incident and Keith stated he had made contact with them. The trees had not been trimmed in a timely manner and he was ordered to cut the trees down in order to see the speed limit sign. Bill will send a letter of apology from the town board.
Keith requested a portable cement mixer so they can continue to patch potholes. The maintenance report was accepted upon a motion by Earl, with a second by Patrick. Motion carried.

Trustees:

Larry – Had nothing to report.

Earl- Is grass going to be planted out front of town hall now? Keith stated he is checking on grass seed now.

Henry- asked Karol to let him know about the RMS bill.

Tiffanie – asked about drilling holes for flag poles. Business owners will need to be contacted first before we drill any holes. The board agreed they would be glad to drill the holes if someone gets a cement hammer drill.
She also addressed bicycle lanes, or changing the car parking direction, so that children are safe riding their bicycles in the street. Richard will look into the hiway department regulations on bicycle lanes.

Patrick-Why are we not offering an extra supplemental retirement plan to the police department employees. There was discussion that no one has been offered a plan over the last 15 years. Patrick thinks the town ought to offer a plan and pay employees retroactively. Ray suggested we ask the employees if they would be willing to go prospectively, not retroactively. Austin stated that a workshop would be needed to get all employees involved. Tiffanie moved that this issue be tabled until we can meet with Cassandra.
Patrick stated that the high school has a new wrestling room and Victor wants the town to relocate the manhole so that it will pass state inspection. State inspector has indicated that it can be patched and smoothed out to pass inspection, so we will go and patch around the current manhole and smooth it out, but not relocate it.

Austin –Opened the sealed bids for the 1999 Crown Victoria patrol car. Earl moved, 2nd by Patrick that the bid be awarded to Jacob Ortiz for $1000.00 Richard will call and let him know.

Dan-invited all to the new National Guard Armory open house, Saturday, September 12, from 3-5 p.m. in Alamosa, located next to the detox center.

Attorney-Ray has drawn up a resolution for GOCO-IGA/25 year agreement.

Other resolution: The town board has officially changed west Main to Joe S. Chavez Drive. Motion by Tiffanie, 2nd by Paula, to accept report. Carried. Approval of Minutes:

Regular Meeting June 11, 2009 – Motion by Paula, 2nd by Tiffanie. Motion Carried.

Follow-Up of Minutes: None.

Approval of Bills:Paula moved to accept bills minus $770.00 to RMS until we get a breakdown of work performed. Patrick seconded. Motion Carried.

Other Business: There was discussion for a curfew ordinance for the town parks. The current curfew is at dark. Ray will draw up an ordinance that states ½ hour after sunset. The police department agreed. Patrick made the motion, seconded by Paula. Motion carried.

There being no further business a motion to adjourn was made by Tiffanie. Meeting adjourned at 11.35 pm.