Montrose, CO — City Councilors met for their regular meeting Tuesday evening, July 20, to consider a number of ordinances and resolutions, a contract award for a waterline project in Cerise Park, and a sales, use, and excise tax report for May 2021.
Councilors Barbara Bynum, Dave Frank, and David Reed met in City Council Chambers along with city staff. Due to changing COVID-19 protocols, members of the public were allowed to attend in City Council Chambers, or online via the Zoom platform. Mayor Doug Glaspell was absent.
The following is a summary of the primary topics discussed during the meeting.
Watch the meeting here.
PUBLIC COMMENT
A city resident addressed the council regarding the intersection of Chipeta Road and U.S. HWY 550, stating safety upgrades at the intersection should be a city priority.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Councilors voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the July 6, 2021, special meeting and the July 6 regular City Council meeting. The city’s archive of past meeting minutes can be found at CityofMontrose.org/ArchiveCenter.
RESOLUTION 2021-11
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve the filing of a grant application with the History Colorado State Historical Fund to support efforts to rehabilitate the Montrose Potato Growers Association building located at 39 West Main Street.
Community Program Manager Kendall Cramer said the building's owners are planning to rehabilitate the building, which has sat empty since the 1960s. The building was built in 1908, according to Cramer.
Cramer said the city would apply for a $250,000 grant from the State Historical Fund on behalf of the building owners. The deadline to apply is August 1, 2021.
Cramer said the building's owners have already completed work to bring the structure up to current building codes, including replacing the roof and sub-flooring.
David Fishering, the building's owner, said he plans to create a commercial space inside the building while preserving its historical character as an agricultural hub of the Montrose community.
Fishering said they would be willing to share their experience with other businesses wishing to pursue grant funding for other local historic buildings.
The Potato Growers Association building was added to the city's register of historic places in October 2019.
YOUTH CITY COUNCIL MANUAL UPDATES
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve proposed updates to the Youth City Council manual.
Youth City Council Coordinators Mikayla Unruh and Kailey Rhoten said the changes affect topics like meeting times, roles and communications, and a new sliding scale for scholarships.
Currently, Youth Council members receive a flat $250 scholarship for their service. Under the new change, the scale would begin at $100 and move up to $500, depending on how much each member contributes towards the Youth Council’s community service.
Unruh said the city has already received seven applications to serve on the next Youth Council term, which begins in the fall.
More information about the city’s Youth Council can be found here.
ORDINANCE 2546 - SECOND READING
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve Ordinance 2546 on the second reading.
Assistant City Attorney Matthew Magliaro said the ordinance repeals Title 6, Chapter 1, Section 19 (6-1-19) regarding false identification. Magliaro said the revisions reflect the desire of city law enforcement officials to remove the language due to the fact Montrose Police officers rarely use this portion of the code.
Magliaro said since 2012, the section of code has only been used 21 times. Magliaro said local law enforcement offices tend to use the state statute rather than the local code.
ORDINANCE 2547 - SECOND READING
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve Ordinance 2547 on second reading, designating the Denver and Rio Grande Depot, located at 21 North Rio Grande Avenue, as a City of Montrose Historic Property.
City Planner William Reis said the city owns the building and is, therefore, the applicant for the designation. On June 22, 2021, the City of Montrose Historic Preservation Commission considered an application for historic property designation of the Denver and Rio Grande Depot according to Section 4-15 of the Montrose Municipal Code. The commission voted unanimously to recommend the structure for approval as a historic property.
The property is listed in the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties, the National Register of Historic Places, and has been designated as a Montrose County Historical Landmark.
ORDINANCE 2548 - FIRST READING
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve Ordinance 2547 on first reading to vacate a portion of Orchard Road.
According to Senior Planner Amy Sharp, the proposed vacation is located along Orchard Road in Waterfall Canyon Subdivision. It includes approximately 1.7 acres.
In 1891 a 30-foot-wide Orchard Road right-of-way between Sunset Mesa and Happy Canyon Creek was dedicated as part of the Orchard Plat. The extreme western portion of that dedication continued to be farmed until the Waterfall Canyon Subdivision was approved for construction in 2006.
The approved subdivision of the Waterfall Canyon project proposed that this old Orchard Road ROW would be modified as follows:
- The extreme western portion would be included in a new Orchard Drive (widened to a 50' ROW) and an open-space tract centered on Happy Canyon Creek.
- The center portion would be included in a new 5.16-acre city park (Tract N).
- The eastern portion would be included in two small HOA-managed open-space tracts totaling 0.22 acres.
The original Waterfall Canyon Preliminary Plat was renewed in 2012 and again in 2017, with another planned renewal later this year. This Orchard Road ROW vacation is necessary to allow final platting (creation of new residential lots, dedication of new city streets and parks, and creation of HOA tracts) for the final plat for Waterfall Canyon Filing #5 planned for later this summer.
CERISE PARK WATERLINE BORE CONTRACT AWARD
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve a contract award to Ridgway Valley Enterprises in the amount of $211,200 for construction of the Cerise Park Waterline River Bore Project.
City Engineer Scott Murphy said the city's Utilities Department has been working over the past two years to construct a waterline from the intersection of Shanes Way and Chipeta Drive, through Cerise Park, across the Uncompahgre River, and connecting to existing water mains in Riverbottom Park. This line provides a redundant connection point across the Uncompahgre River (currently the city’s water system only has three river crossings on the system) and also provides water service to the new amphitheater.
The city’s in-house utility crews have completed all reaches of the waterline within Cerise Park and up to the Uncompahgre River. All that remains is the final connection across the river, which requires a directionally drilled bore using specialty contractors.
Construction of the project was put out for bid on June 15 and bids were publically received on June 30, 2021, from four contractors. Each bid included a 10 percent contingency.
The low bidder, Ridgway Valley Enterprises, is considered qualified to perform the work and the city has recent positive experience working with them on multiple projects. The city’s local preference policy would not change the outcome of bidding in this case.
Traffic Control and Schedule
Completion of this project will require the closure of Apollo Drive for several weeks while the bore work is completed. The closure is expected to take place after October 1 to avoid disrupting access to Riverbottom Park during its busy season.
Contract Administration and Project Financials
Contract administration and project management will be performed by the City of Montrose Engineering Department.
The 2021 Water Fund budget included $200,000 for the project. Utility crews have spent approximately $35,000 on their portion of the work; leaving $165,000 for the bore project. The remainder of the project’s cost will be funded through savings on other water capital projects.
STAFF REPORTS
City Finance Director Shani Wittenberg delivered the sales, use, and excise tax report for May 2021.
Read the report in its entirety here.
Montrose Police Chief Blaine Hall said the city is partnering with Region 10 to create a program to assist seniors with weed control on their properties and other minor tasks that could resolve violations of local codes. Hall said the program is designed to let senior citizens know they have resources available help if ever such need arises.
Hall said Region 10 can be reached at 970-249-2436 if anyone has any questions.
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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.