Monday, February 22, 2010

January Minutes 2010

January 14, 2010

The regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Town of La Jara was called to order by Mayor Austin Valdez at 7:00 pm. The roll was called. Present: Earl Haslett, Paula Medina, Patrick Montoya, Tiffanie Polkowske, Henry Schimpf, Larry Zaragoza and Mayor Austin Valdez. Absent: None. Also present: Chief of Police Dan Martinez, Maintenance Supervisor Keith Martinez, Town Clerk Priscilla Schimpf, Building Inspector Joseph Trottner, Town Attorney Ray Valdez and Town Manager Bill Yohey. Guests: Jill Lucero, Fred Gutierrez, Larry Sisneros and Jordan Sisneros. Those present recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

Guests: Jill Lucero – 2nd Phase La Jara School Playground. She went through the Phase I accomplishments and passed out a summary sheet. She explained the money that came in to help accomplish Phase I. Phase II will be another working process. They are looking for more donations and in-kind, the summary sheet also shows what will be done and money needed for Phase II. This project was complimented by the Board. Once again Jill wanted to see what the Town could help with as far as a donation and being the applicant for the GOCO Grant. The Board said they would need to discuss the donation portion but are more than willing to be the GOCO Grant applicant. Ms. Lucero left at 7:17 pm.

Fred Gutierrez – Basketball. He was here to ask the Board for a donation for his basketball program. Dan suggested for them to ask the other towns for help too, there are kids that come from other towns to attend this program. Fred also asked if anyone on the Board would like to volunteer to speak at awards night. Mayor Austin Valdez will speak at awards night February 17, 2010 at 7:00 pm. A motion to donate the $400 budgeted for Fred’s La Jara Youth Basketball Program was made by Paula and seconded by Tiffanie. A roll call vote was taken: Earl-yes, Paula-yes, Patrick-yes, Tiffanie-yes, Henry-yes, Larry-yes and Austin-yes. Motion Carried. Mr. Gutierrez left at 7:25 pm.

Reports:

Town Manager: Bill informed the Board that the State is so far behind that the discharge permit will not be reviewed until 2011. He stated he went and seen the Alamosa Wastewater System. He also mentioned that Hensley is threatening the Town about the ditch again. Her last attempt to sue the Town didn’t go through because CIRSA stated the Town had no liability with it. Bill passed around a report of areas of concentration for 2010 that he drew up for the Board to review. He asked if they would like to set up a donation for the Haiti disaster. They all agreed to it and Priscilla will include a flyer about this with the W/S bills on January 29th. He updated the Board on the 2nd Phase of the Historical Society Fund and stated that asbestos was found in the Town Hall building. Setting a date to start on the Policy and Procedures was brought up, Patrick and Paula would like to be on the Policy and Procedures Committee. Patrick asked what had ever happened with setting up the Emergency Siren at the School; Bill and Austin went to talk to Brian and he was to get back to us but never did. Bill read a resolution for an Emergency Disaster Plan to be set. The resolution was set up by the county to combine the whole county to participate in this. Some of the Board Members will go to the next Emergency Disaster meeting held on January 22, 2010 before they decide to adopt this resolution. The report was accepted upon a motion by Tiffanie and a second by Patrick. Motion Carried.

Building Inspector: He reviewed his report with the Board. The Board questioned permit #170 at 320 Spruce 1st Stop, material use fee should be $1,500 not $150. Joe needs to redo, needs to collect $1,350 more. Inspection portion of the building inspection was discussed. The report was accepted upon a motion by Patrick and a second by Henry with the exception that Joe fix permit #170. Motion Carried.

Court: The Board reviewed the Municipal Judge report. It was once again brought up that the Judge is not playing as Judge for the Town but is playing as a defense attorney. They discussed the option of hiring a new judge. Ray and Austin will meet with Ray Miller and explain the situation. They will give him one more chance but this would be 3 strikes. The report was accepted as presented upon a motion by Paula and a second by Earl. Motion Carried.

Police: Dan stated that Jerry should only have 11 days vacation instead of 13. He also made a correction on Lucas’s sick leave which is 23 instead of 44. It was asked what happened to Adam Chacon as being hired as the 4th Police Officer. Dan explained the situation to the Board and stated that he turned down the job due to salary issues. He mentioned the he did major clean-up to the police station, it is hopefully going to be a good start to the New Year. He met with Alejo and also spoke with the DA in regards to reports and such and they are very happy with what the La Jara Police Department is doing. Maryann Gallegos contacted him in regards to people selling cars on the side of the road. Dan checked into and it was stated that if it is a personal vehicle it is okay but if newly purchased to sell for profit they can not do. It was brought to Dan’s attention that Vargas’s mother is now trying to buy the Rawhide feed store again, Dan is keeping an eye on it. He asked if it would be possible to store one of the vehicles some where else. This would be just in case something would happen to the police station such as a fire at least one vehicle would be safe. He let the Board know his web page is almost up. He also mentioned that he was contacted and asked if our police department is involved with any phone taps. He did not respond he requested more information about it. The police report was accepted upon a motion by Earl and a second by Larry. Motion Carried.

Maintenance: Keith met with Gary Halbersleben from Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment. He took samples and checked our records, he gave recommendations. Keith stated that this was the most in depth inspection he has ever been through since he has been here. Once he gets the report he will pass on to the Board. He mentioned that people with wells will need to get them inspected annually and they will need to provide proof to him. Keith will need to go house to house to find out who has wells and to get the proof of inspection – will be very time consuming. The discussion of giving residents a credit in the winter months for leaving their water dripping was brought up. Keith and Paul have been insulating meters as they come across frozen ones. It was asked if Keith had gotten any quotes for a tamper and he gave them some of the quotes. A motion was made by Henry and 2nd by Earl to purchase the tamper for $1,200. Keith setup 2010 goals for the maintenance department and passed around to review with the Board. The maintenance report was accepted upon a motion by Henry and a second by Paula. Motion Carried.

Trustees:
Larry – Had nothing to report.
Earl – Had nothing to report.
Henry – Asked about the flag pole pulley, Keith and Dan will order a new pole.

Tiffanie – Asked how the election is publicized and wondered about the terms. It was stated that a notice to pick up nomination petitions was posted at two public places and published in the Conejos Citizen and the Valley Courier. A notice of Election is also posted at two public places and published in the Conejos Citizen and Valley Courier. It was stated that we were Debruced and there is no longer term limits. Tiffanie brought up putting an ad for Town Manager position so that something could be done by end of March 2010, Bill’s end of contract date. It will be put on the Agenda for next meeting in February to discuss.

Patrick – Asked Bill for his comp. time, vacation and sick leave report like everyone else has included in their reports. Bill passed around his report. He also asked what happened with offering police officers another retirement plan. Everyone explained to him what Cas, the Auditor said which was that Social Security is not a retirement plan and that PPF will land up paying more out to the Police then what other employees will get out of their retirement plans. She also stated that the Town has no money to provide another plan for police.

Paula – Had nothing to report.
Austin – Had nothing to report.

Attorney: Had nothing to report. He was excused at 8:30 pm.

Clerk: Priscilla reviewed her report with the Board. She passed around her goals for 2010 for the Board to review. She also passed around the rough draft of the Welcome Brochure to hand out to new residents for the Board to review. The report was accepted as presented upon a motion by Paula and a second by Tiffanie. Motion Carried.

Approval of Minutes:
Regular Meeting December 10, 2009 – Motion by Paula, 2nd by Henry. Motion Carried. Special Meeting December 22, 2009 – Motion by Henry, 2nd by Larry. Motion Carried.

Follow-Up of Minutes: None.

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

Other Business:
Employee/Board Retreat – Setup Date: Looking at the end of February, Bill will call February 1st to see open dates for everyone.

Keith asked for donation money for his La Jara All Stars Basketball program. Keith explained the program. A motion to donate the $400 budgeted for Keith’s La Jara All Stars Program was made by Patrick and seconded by Paula. Motion Carried.

Henry mentioned for Bill to clean-up his office. Henry also stated that he sat in with Priscilla for the SLV HMO renewal meeting and afterwards looked into what other towns were doing with their health insurances. He found out that most towns are paying a percentage and the employees are paying a percentage. Larry went through the percentages of other towns which range from 40/60 to 30/70. This was just a discussion for future budget decisions.

Patrick asked for the Fire Department donation money. A motion was made by Tiffanie to cut the Fire Department donation check in the amount of $4,000 per budget less invoices due to the Town and seconded by Larry. Patrick and Austin abstained from the vote. Motion Carried.

Dan asked about Payroll Direct Deposit. It was discussed.

The wiring of the 2nd pump house was discussed. Earl made a motion to wire 2nd pump house and seconded by Larry. Motion Carried.

There being no further business a motion to adjourn was made by Tiffanie. Meeting adjourned at 10:30 pm.