Montrose, CO — City Councilors met for their regular meeting Tuesday evening, December 1, to consider an ordinance related to the city’s Municipal Code and a supplemental budget ordinance for 2020.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, City Councilors Roy Anderson, Dave Bowman, Barbara Bynum, Dave Frank, and Doug Glaspell met online along with city staff via the Zoom platform. The public was also invited to attend via the Zoom platform. The following is a summary of the primary topics discussed during the meeting.
PUBLIC COMMENT
No members of the public addressed the council Tuesday.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Councilors voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the November 17, 2020, regular meeting. The city’s archive of past meeting minutes can be found at: CityofMontrose.org/ArchiveCenter.
WATCH Tuesday’s meeting here.
ORDINANCE 2519 - SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET ORDINANCE
City Councilors unanimously approved a supplemental budget for 2020, which was impacted by unexpected revenues from federal Coronavirus funds and grant awards to community projects.
On Monday, November 30, during a City Council work session, councilors were briefed on proposed Ordinance 2519, which amends the original 2020 budget ordinance that was passed in November 2019.
Each fall, the council reviews a supplemental budget when additional appropriations are deemed necessary for the public health, peace, or safety of the city’s residents.
City Finance Director Shani Wittenberg said 2020 was a unique year in that the annual supplemental budget will be larger than in recent years due to an influx of funding from the CARES Act.
The city also acts as a pass-through for local grant funds. This year, the city passed approximately $600,000 in grants to other local organizations. Most notable is the new roof for the Center for Mental Health's new walk-in crisis center and the new Columbine Middle School playground. The amount of additional funding the city received through grants, CARES Act, and other special projects totaled $1,952,852.
The original 2020 budget, approved in Ordinance 2490, was $35,875,943. The final budget estimated for the end of 2020 is $39,925,623, for a difference of $4,049,690.
Mayor Barbara Bynum held a hearing to accept public comment during this agenda item. No comments were received.
The 2021 budget can be viewed at CityOfMontrose.org/Budget.
ORDINANCE 2520
City Councilors unanimously approved revisions to the city's Municipal Code related to public safety.
The updates pertain to miscellaneous offenses related to open burning within the city limits, unlawful entry and/or trespassing on private property, window peeping, indecent conduct, and new terms related to identifying a person with various mental states.
Assistant City Attorney Rachel Allen, along with city Public Safety Attorney Matthew Magliaro delivered an overview of the changes. In November, both Allen and Magliaro delivered a similar presentation during a City Council work session and answered a variety of questions.
During the November work session, City Attorney Stephen Alcorn said that many of the proposed changes come from recent cases before the city’s Municipal Court. Alcorn said making these changes will better clarify the city’s code as it pertains to citizens who could be cited with city offenses while giving the court itself more thorough definitions of offenses in the city’s code.
Councilors will vote to approve the ordinance on second reading at the December 15 regular meeting.
ORDINANCE 2518
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve, on second reading, an ordinance amending the zoning district designation of Lot 1 of the Britney Boundary Line Adjustment from “R-3A,” Medium High-Density District to “RL”, Rural Living District.
Senior City Planner Amy Sharp told councilors the parcel is located west of South Townsend Ave/Hwy 550, north of Racine Road, and east of 6500 Rd. The parcel is approximately 21.551 acres.
COUNCIL COMMENTS
Mayor Bynum highlighted the great efforts happening in the community as residents help one another during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Mayor Bynum said she appreciates all the hard work people are doing to take care of one another, particularly during the holiday season.
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All City Council meetings are recorded and made available online via the city’s website and cable channels 191 for Charter subscribers and 970 for Elevate subscribers. Replays of council meetings are also broadcast at 6 p.m. on the same channels on days that the council is not in session.
In addition, each regular meeting is archived on the City of Montrose’s YouTube channel.
Residents can watch all regular City Council meetings and work sessions live through the city’s website at CityOfMontrose.org/Video.
For more city news visit CityOfMontrose.org.