City Council Covers Varied Agenda

Municipal Offices in Lamar

The council appointed Roger Stagner as the City of Lamar’s replacement representative to the Arkansas River Power Authority, ARPA. He will replace John Sutherland who resigned his position this past July following his retirement.  Colleen Messersmith was appointed to fill the vacancy on the Lamar Housing Authority Board when the term of Christy Love expired this past June.  Jim Larrick was appointed to the Adjustment and Appeals Board for an unexpired term which will end in 2021.

Chief Building Inspector, Craig Brooks, presented a bid from Total Roofing to conduct an interim roof repair project at the Lamar Community Building. The roof has been leaking for some time.  The building is slated in the 2020 budget to be re-roofed over the gym area.  This year’s bid is $15,450 which was approved.

Susan Lathrop, Director at the Lamar Public Library, was recognized by the Lamar City Council as the 2019 recipient of the Julie J. Boucher Memorial Award for Intellectual Freedom. Each year, the Intellectual Freedom Committee of the Colorado Association of Libraries presents the Julie Boucher Memorial Awards, named for Boucher, an employee of the Colorado State Library and an outspoken opponent of censorship.

Lathrop presented a grant for approval for $5,976 from the State of Colorado to be spend on various library materials.

This past July, it was announced that the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Passenger Depot was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties. History Colorado is making a commemorative plaque available to place at the site.

The council approved a grant application for $7,500 from the Animal Assistance Foundation as requested by the Lamar Animal Shelter.   Lamar Police Chief, Kyle Miller, also requested an increase in the Shelter’s operating budget from $3,500 to $5,000 to enable the Shelter’s manager, Sarah McCloskey, to attend more training and network opportunities.  Another $2,500 would be earmarked to support community outreach and assistance.  The total request is $15,000.

The council agreed for a contract of $1,500 for Gordon and Janice Guihen to continue to water flowers on Main Street and other locations. They are taking over for Mason Martinez and the agreement will run until October 31, 2019.

Lamar Fire Chief, Jeremy Burkhart presented a contract agreement with EMS Billing Services to collect past due accounts for the Lamar Ambulance Service. Burkhart explained this move will keep the account in-house and reduce the delay of collections.

The council approved a restructuring loan agreement with the Colorado Water Conservation Board. The loan of $101,000 was taken out in 2015 to repurpose city wells 12 and 13.  The project was completed on June 30, 2019 and came in under budget and the amount disbursed was actually $83,200.49.  The amount of the loan was amended to the actual costs and the City of Lamar will begin to make annual payments of $9,238.21 starting July, 2020.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 5^th.  The City of Lamar entered into an agreement with the Prowers County Clerk and Recorder as the designated election official to conduct a coordinated election.  Lamar City Clerk, Linda Williams said Kirk Crespin and Bev Haggard will be running for Mayor, as Roger Stagner will not run again.  Write-in candidates will have until August 30^th to submit their paperwork.

An ordinance was passed on first reading re-zoning property within the City of Lamar – Strain Brothers Subdivision, Lots 1,2 3 (former Kmart Building) and vacated alley adjacent to the lots. The Planning and Zoning Commission approved the request to rezone properties at 701 North Main Street from A C-3 Commercial to a C-2 Commercial property with exception of ability to perform warehousing and light manufacturing.  The property is owned by Gateway Safety Flare and is being repurposed to house the facilities which will allow for future business growth.  The perimeter will be fenced and equipped with security cameras as part of the rehabilitation of the property.

The council set September 3^rd as a budget work session, but discussed including what would be entailed to allow golf carts to operate on Lamar’s side streets with certain safety stipulations.  They also will research ordinances from other communities to allow families to own chickens at their residences, an earlier request from a Lamar citizen.  A proposed Memorandum of Understanding from High Plains Community Health Center will be reviewed.  The Center is interested in finding partners for the construction of a covered swimming pool.  The venture has obvious benefits, but the cost of the project, including a feasibility study needs to be financed.  City Attorney, Garth Nieschburg will review the MOU and report to the council.

Future events for our area include the monthly council information breakfast on Wednesday, September 4th from 7am to 8am at Daylight Donut; the Annual Tri-State 9/11 Tribute and Parade on Saturday, September 7th in Lamar and the Paint the Plains for Patriotism 5k walk/run will be held at 5pm that afternoon. Pedal the Plains will be held in part, in Lamar, September 13-15 and volunteers are still needed to assist with the logistics.

The council went into executive session for a conference with the City Attorney for the purpose of receiving advice on specific legal questions regarding the City of Lamar Pension Plan. C.R.S. 24-6-402(4)(b).

By Russ Baldwin