Lamar City Council votes against proposed increase in building permits, approves moving to Stage 2 water restrictions in meeting on May 11, 2026

Lamar Mayor Kirk Crespin began the May 11, 2026 City Council meeting addressing the audience about the myriad of events coming up within the next week, including the Friday barbeque at the Lamar Chamber to kick off next weekend’s Lamar Days.  Also on Friday, he said, was the “No Booze Cruise”, the parade and car show on Saturday and Saturday evening’s drone show.  He encouraged everyone to get out and involved in the events, celebrating Lamar’s 140^th birthday.  All Council members were present at the meeting.  It was voted to exclude Agenda Item #5.  No one was present wishing to speak to Council during the Public Comments portion of the meeting.

City Treasurer Kristin Schwartz said there were no grant updates.  She said that a retirement party was held on May 8 for Toni McPherson, who dedicated 32 years of service to the City.  The Tyler software update continues, with the sales tax portion nearly completed.  Her department is undergoing some restructuring, with the addition of Tess Camp becoming the Deputy City Treasure, who will oversee the AP and Utility Billing clerks.  City Clerk Linda Williams added that the sales tax module update is going well and the data from same is in Tyler’s hands to work out a few bugs with numbers.

City Administrator Mitch Hammes had a lengthy list of announcements for the meeting.  He first asked Council members which of them will be riding on the city’s float in Saturday’s parade and all said they would be there.  Hammes said Lamar’s 1907 fire truck will be part of the display in the park, to celebrate Lamar’s 140^th birthday.  An overflow parking lot will be available on the north end of the park, east of Willow Valley Road and signage will be visible directed cars to the proper location.  The Lamar Days Kickoff BBQ at the Chamber will be held Friday, May 15 from 11 am to 2 pm.  The No Booze Cruise starts at Sonic Drive-in at 6 pm on Friday as well.  The parade will be Saturday, May 16 at 10 am, beginning at Prowers County Market on Olive Street, proceeding down 2^nd Street to Parkview and into the park.  The “Stories in the Sky” drone show will be Saturday night at approximately 8 pm, at the fairgrounds.  There will be a Pool Day at the Lamar Public Pool Friday, May 29, sponsored by Lamar High School DECA club and entry is by donations of canned food or money that will be donated to Sparrow House Ministries.  The 2026 Lake Hasty X-Treme Cardboard Boat Regatta is Saturday, May 30 at 11 am at Lake Hasty.  Interested people should contact the John Martin Reservoir State Park for more details.  The 5^th Annual Holly Demolition Derby will be held Saturday, June 6^th at the Holly Fairgrounds, with general admission ticket costing $10 – kids 5 and under are free.  Pit passes are $30 for all ages.  Lastly, the City of Lamar offices will be closed Monday, May 25 in observance of Memorial Day.  The City Council meeting has been moved to Tuesday, May 27.

The only Council member with updates to announce was Mark Headlee, who said that American Legion Post 71 would be installing crosses at both cemeteries.  The metal crosses will have flag holders and will display American flags for events such as Memorial Day and Veterans Day.  Permission is needed for families to have these installed on their loved ones’ graves. Permission forms for same are available at the Lamar Community Building.

The first item on the evening’s agenda was a discussion about the recently-proposed “local materials incentive discussion” that had been previously presented to Council by Andy Curry, owner of BMS, representing his business as well as the Home Store.  The proposal presented at that time was to add a 6% additional tax on new building permits, which would be rebated if purchasers could show receipts that 90% of materials used were purchased within Lamar city limits. Curry felt that builders need to purchase materials locally and contribute more to our tax base, feeling that internet shopping and shopping elsewhere were detrimental to Lamar, citing what he said was $16.8 million spent out of our community each year.  Council recently held a work session to discuss this with him  – the discussion at this council meeting was to decide what Council members wanted to do. Mayor Crespin thanked Mr. Curry for attending the recent work session, and then asked City Attorney Lance Clark to speak on the research he had done on the legality of such an added fee.  Clark said doing so would be in violation of the Dormant Commerce Clause, which prohibits legislation that discriminates against or excessively burdens interstate commerce.  Council members then spoke up about their and their constituents’ thoughts on the added fee. All were in agreement about trying to encourage people to shop locally but agreed that not everything needed is available in a community the size of Lamar and felt that the burden of this fee would discourage new builders to come into the area and would discriminate against other businesses.  They were worried that it could set a bad precedent for other types of businesses asking for added fees to favor their business.  Council member Brent Bates gave examples of how building costs would balloon with such a fee, forcing commercial builders who already had their own suppliers and could buy in bulk at lower prices to look elsewhere. Mayor Crespin gave an example of someone building a $450,000 house.  Currently, the 1% building permit would be $4,500.  With the proposed additional 6%, that fee would jump to $31,500.  Costs for commercial permits would be extremely high if a builder wasn’t eligible for the rebate. He went on to say that that there is no way of determining the value of potential local tax revenue from such an increase, that it would be a big risk to take and that Council needed to decide if it would worth that risk.  It was voted unanimously to deny the proposal, but all members thanked Mr. Curry for his efforts to support local shopping, saying they sympathized with him about losing potential sales to outside vendors, but that they can’t agree to something that they feel would penalize companies wanting to come to Lamar.  Curry thanked Council for their consideration.

Agenda Item #2 for the evening was a proposed Resolution for Stage 2 water restrictions for Lamar.  Tresa Holbert, who is a licensed water and wastewater compliance specialist, presented the reasoning for suggesting the restrictions.  March was the driest on record over the past 132 years and snowpack was at 16% of normal.  She said the Climate Prediction Center is advising that drought conditions and impacts can be expected to deteriorate further. Advancing to Stage 2 is now necessary to ensure the long-term stability of our municipal water supply and to maintain adequate pressure for fire protection and essential services. Restrictions under Stage 2 include limiting outdoor watering of lawns and flowers to 3 days a week only, with no watering between 11 am and 6 pm.  Cars may only be washed on grassy areas, using a bucket and a hose with a shutoff feature.  More information on restrictions can be found by calling the water department at 336-2002.  Council voted unanimously to approve the Resolution.

Agenda Item #3 was approval of a purchase agreement for a new LED sign in front of the Community Building, as the current sign is inoperable and unable to be repaired.  There were two signage companies considered for the purchase, with identical warranties and similar signs; however, there was a $5,000 cost difference between the two.  Cost of the lower proposal is $31,540.  Community State Bank has offered to donate $26,000 towards the cost.  Council voted to approve the purchase from Concept Signs and Graphics and will decide how to come up with the additional $5,000 needed, with several options available to them.

Agenda Item #4 concerned permission to apply for the Bureau of Justice Assistance Rural Enforcement Violent Crime Reduction Grant.  The grant money would be used to support local rural jurisdictions to prevent, respond to, and reduce violent crime.  Lamar Police Chief Ridder is asking for permission to ask for $338,408.64 in grant money, with no city match.  Council voted unanimously to allow him to apply.

As Agenda Item #5 was removed for the evening, Council moved on to Item #6 which concerned internet access for the Lamar Animal Shelter.  The City is currently paying $183.65 for native ethernet which handles network traffic from the Shelter and Cemetery back to the city complex.  SECOM is able to provide faster service with no setup fee.  The new cost using SECOM is $149.95, saving the city $33.70 monthly from the current cost.  Agenda Item #7 also concerned internet, for the Lamar Swimming Pool.  The current 2Mbps link isn’t enough bandwith to reliably community to and from the city and the pool for the security camera system.  The proposal is to replace the current link with services from SECOM.  Both SECOM and Spectrum gave prices to provide this; however, SECOM had no setup fee.  The monthly cost is $150 and to offset some of this cost, the city has disconnected a cellular hotspot, saving $40 per month and an unneeded wireless link, saving an additional $60 per month.  Council voted unanimously to approve this.

Agenda Item #8 was approval of a lease agreement with Aqua-Holics for services at the ponds at Gateway Park.  The agreement is the same as previous years and was approved unanimously.  Agenda Item #9 was approval of the City’s Parks and Recreation Master Plan and was approved unanimously.  Agenda Item #10 was an update from Chief Ridder about adding a photo radar speed unit at 600 S. Main, which is a dedicated school enforcement zone and thereby subject to fewer Colorado requirements to install.  There is no charge to the city for this “test pilot” unit.  It is hoped to have a first reading for this ordinance at the next council meeting.

Agenda Item #11 involved the recent addition of a new four-way stop next to Lamar Estates Nursing Home.  Chief Ridder had previously had a request from the Lamar Estates facility director asking for same due to concerns for residents and visitors.  Ridder said he gave the request a lot of consideration and felt that the area was no different than a school or daycare and was needed to protect vulnerable individuals.  He also took into consideration the 10 letters from staff and residents asking for this change.  He spoke to the facilities director after this change had been made and said the director told him that it has already made an impact on speed and expressed his gratitude.  Council member Bates then spoke up about this change, which was made independent of the City Administrator and City Council.  Bates was upset that the intersection was not one of the 11 safety areas identified in the city’s traffic study and that the area at 6^th and Oak was much more of a priority.  Mayor Crespin also spoke, saying the city spent upwards of $60,000 for the traffic study and that adding traffic changes to an intersection that was not identified on the traffic study sets a bad precedent for other businesses or citizens who may feel that they can make such a request and have it granted.  Bates added that Council serves as fiduciary agents for the city who spent the money for the traffic study.  Both Bates and Crespin said that Council was following the direction of previous Chief Miller and Administrator Evans who asked for the study and that by Ridder adding an intersection not on the study or not approved by Council to be an exception and that they felt it was a “slap in the face”.  All Council members assured Ridder that they felt he was doing a superior job as Chief and appreciated him responding to what he felt was safety need but that, in the future, policy needs to be followed and all changes to traffic patterns need to go through the City Administrator and presented to City Council before implementation.  Ridder was told that there were no hard feelings toward him; they just wanted him to be aware of the proper process.  Bates joked that “no pun intended, but this is just a road bump” and that relations between Council and Ridder wouldn’t be negatively impacted by his decision, particularly since the traffic study was done before he became Chief and that he probably wasn’t aware of the proper procedure. Ridder agreed that better communication was needed and said he now understands the proper procedure.

After the reading of the 220 Holly Street LLC Rezoning Ordinance First Reading, it was approved and a public hearing date was set for June 8, 2026.  The meeting then adjourned for an Executive Session.  The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 26 at 7 pm.

By: Barbara Crimond