Lamar City Council meeting of May 13, 2024

Lamar City Council met May 13, 2024 for a regularly-scheduled meeting.  City Treasurer Kristin Schwartz presented the 1^st quarter financial report.  She then spoke to Council about the NUE grant and how it is being used.  The overall grant was $1,924,082.37.  So far, $69,813.87 has been spent for SECED and $90,000 committed for the Ark Valley conduit project.  The remaining $1,764,268.60 has to be committed to specific projects by the end of 2024.  Such projects need to be completed by December of 2026.  There are multiple projects being discussed that would utilize these funds.  She then reported that the city was awarded a CPW grant of $120,000, which will be used to construct fish cleaning stations and a permanent dock at north Gateway Park.

City Treasurer Linda Williams presented the April Sales and Use Tax Report, which showed an increase of 8.52% from last year at this time.  A detailed breakdown will follow in a separate article in The Prowers Journal.

Rob Evans, City Administrator, had several updates.  He mentioned the community reception and meet-and-greet for the 4 final candidates for Chief of Police.  The event is from 4-6pm at Tavern 1301 on Thursday, May 16.  He stressed that the public’s input is welcomed from this event and that there will be cards available for citizens to submit with their thoughts and he assures that all comments will be recorded and considered.  Other upcoming events are this weekend’s Lamar Days celebration, the Chamber’s 3^rd annual Glow Golf night tournament June 8^th at 4 pm at Spreading Antlers, and the City Christmas Party December 7^th at the Elks club.  As part of the Willow Creek flooding situation, he stated that 2 large beavers were captured from the creek and relocated, which has already helped the water flow there.

Ezekial Hernandez was sworn in as a new Lamar police officer by Mayor Kirk Crespin and was pinned by his sister Bianca.  Officer Hernandez recently graduated from the police academy and will undergo a 14-week training program with the city before he will start as a solo officer.

Council voted to award a bid for new financial software for the city to Tyler Technologies.  It was decided to go with on-premise versus cloud-based software.  The conversion process should take approximately 12-18 months to complete.

Approved was a new Retail & Fermented Malt Beverage and Wine License for the Family Dollar Store at 1303 S. Main St. in Lamar.  Mayor Crespin was authorized by Council to sign an agreement with UAC 4U, the company who has provided free magnets to the city for the past 20 years, which list emergency numbers for police, fire, etc.  Council voted unanimously to allow the mayor to sign a letter of opposition against the Aurora Water Purchase in Otero County, with a revision suggested by the city attorney.   Approved was an ARPA Subrecipient Agreement with SECWCD which allows the city to spend funds from the ARPA plan towards engineering costs associated with the vault design for the city’s water treatment plant.   Council also voted to approve staff to apply for a Brownfields Cleanup Grant which will be used to abate asbestos from the Main Café as part of the city’s ongoing cleanup of the site.

The City was awarded $5,000 from the Southeast Council of Governments to be used towards construction of the new dog part at North Gateway Park.  It will be used for fencing, water lines and sod.  The city’s match will be a combination of cash and in-kind.

Mayor Crespin was authorized to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with DOLA and Lamar Partnership, Inc. which will allow the city to continue to be a Colorado Main Street Community, which it has been since 2010.  Our Main Street program is a graduate community which allows the city and LPI to receive additional services, mini-grants and scholarships.

A public hearing was set for the Monday, June 24 Council meeting for application of the final plat for The Royal on the 7^th Subdivision, which would rezone of the property off Memorial Drive from O-E to R-1.  The property is approximately 5 acres in total and located at 28573/28515 County Road 8.2 in Lamar.

Council voted to approve “An Ordinance of the City of Lamar, Colorado, stating the intent of the City of Lamar, repealing and replacing transportation units, Chapter 6, Article IV”  The ordinance concerns shipping containers (or Conex boxes).  It places restrictions on size and location of such containers as well as requiring persons to obtain a permit application from the Lamar Building Department.  It also includes multiple stipulations concerning the containers.

The meeting was then adjourned for Council to go into Executive Session.

The next meeting will be Monday, June 10, 2024 at 7 pm.

By Barbara Crimond