Montrose, CO — City Councilors met for their regular meeting Tuesday evening, May 17, to hear a yearly report from the city’s Youth Council, consider a number of ordinances, and hear a budget report for the first quarter of 2022.
Councilors Barbara Bynum, Dave Frank, Doug Glaspell, and Ed Ulibarri met in City Council Chambers along with city staff. Councilor David Reed joined via video conference.
The following is a summary of the primary topics discussed during the meeting.
Watch the meeting here.
MENTAL HEALTH MONTH PROCLAMATION
Mayor Dave Frank read a proclamation recognizing May 2022 as Mental Health Month in the City of Montrose.
“Mental health is essential to everyone’s overall health and well-being and all Americans face challenges in life that can impact their mental health,” Frank said. “Prevention is an effective way to reduce the burden of mental health conditions and there are practical tools that all people can use to improve their mental health and increase resiliency.”
“Each business, school, government agency, health care provider, organization and citizen share the burden of mental health problems and has a responsibility to promote mental wellness and support prevention and treatment efforts,” Frank said.
MOTORCYCLE AWARENESS MONTH PROCLAMATION
Mayor Dave Frank read a proclamation recognizing May 2022 as Motorcycle Awareness Month in the City of Montrose.
“Organizations such as the Gold Wing Road Riders Association (GWRRA) … continually promote motorcycle safety, education, and awareness programs to the general public, and to the motorist community of Colorado, and motorcycle riding is a popular form of recreation and transportation for thousands of people across the state and nation,” Frank said.
Frank said “it is crucial that citizens of our city and state be aware of motorcycles on the roadways and recognize the importance of motorcycle safety.”
“The motorcyclists of Colorado have contributed countless volunteer hours to their communities and all motorists should join GWRRA’s Motorist Awareness Program of Colorado in actively promoting the safe operation of motorcycles as well as promoting motorcycle safety, education, and awareness,” Frank said.
PUBLIC COMMENT
No members of the public offered comments.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the May 3 regular meeting.
The city’s archive of past meeting minutes can be found on the new Public Meetings Portal and at CityofMontrose.org/ArchiveCenter.
YOUTH CITY COUNCIL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL
Members of the city’s Youth Council presented their yearly report to the City Council highlighting all the work they have done during the past school year.
The Youth Council focused its efforts on expanded engagement with the City Council while working to attract new members for next year’s council. The Youth Council participated in several projects including Earth Week and the National Mayor’s Water Challenge for water conservation. It hosted several youth events at the Montrose Recreation Center and the Montrose Recreation Fieldhouse with a focus on drug prevention and education.
The Youth Council hosted several local drives to gather food and clothing for local non-profit organizations that help the poor and disadvantaged. It received a local $1,000 grant from Montrose Ace Hardware and the Montrose Community Foundation to aid programs presented by the local Partners organization.
Harrison Hall and Gunnison Clamp, two members of the Youth Council who are graduating from high school this year, were honored for their service to the council and the City of Montrose.
HOTEL AND RESTAURANT LIQUOR LICENSE TRANSFER APPLICATION
City Councilors voted unanimously to table the transfer of a hotel and restaurant liquor license for Kinikin Processing LLC due to the applicant’s absence from Tuesday’s meeting.
The council voted decided to continue the hearing until June.
ORDINANCE 2590 - FIRST READING
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve Ordinance 2590 on first reading, amending Title 5, Chapter 15, Sections 2 and 7, of the City of Montrose Municipal Code regarding a sales tax exemption for a fee that the State of Colorado is imposing on carryout bags.
Assistant City Attorney Chris Dowsey said the ordinance adds the “carryout bag fee” that will be implemented by the State of Colorado through HB21-1162 to the city’s list of sales tax exemptions.
Dowsey said this extends to one-time-use paper and plastic bags. The state’s fee will not be applicable to polystyrene food containers that will be banned under the state’s legislation.. The onus is on municipalities to implement, enforce, and administer the new fees.
Beginning January 1, 2023, there will be a ten-cent fee per single-use bag given to a consumer at certain stores. This includes plastic and recycled paper bags. The fee will be split between the business (40%) charging and collecting the fee and the municipality (60%). Each municipality may raise the fee associated per bag and a minimum of ten cents,
Stores subject to this fee must include, on the customer’s receipt, the number of bags provided as part of a transaction and must conspicuously display a sign alerting customers about the carryout bag fee. Stores may not refund any portion of the money collected as part of the carryout bag fee.
The fee affects any establishment at which carryout bags are traditionally provided to customers, including restaurants, groceries, dry cleaners, etc. There is a “small store” exemption for “a store that operates solely in Colorado, has three or fewer locations in the state, and is not part of a franchise, corporation, or partnership that has physical locations outside of Colorado.” Additionally, consumers who receive federal or state food assistance are not subject to the ten-cent fee.
Important dates:
- January 1, 2023: fee goes into effect.
- January 1, 2024: retail stores will no longer be allowed to purchase new plastic bags and may only use what they have in inventory for the next six months; polystyrene food containers may no longer be purchased and businesses may only use what they have in inventory until depleted.
- June 1, 2024: retail stores may no longer use plastic bags. Restaurants may continue using plastic bags after this date.
- April 1, 2024: fee remittance begins, due quarterly.
- July 1, 2024: local governments may enact, implement, or enforce any ordinance, resolution, or rule provision that is as, or more, stringent than the state’s laws.
ORDINANCE 2589 - SECOND READING
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve Ordinance 2589 on second reading, amending Title 4, Chapter 4, Section 24, of the City of Montrose Municipal Code regarding planned development (PD) regulations to clarify the process, consent, and public notice requirements for applications to amend an existing planned development.
Deputy City Manager Ann Morgenthaler said the city code and past practice have allowed amendments to previously approved PD plans in a manner that is consistent with Colorado State Statutes, requiring the consent of all property owners within the prior-established PD area. In many cases, PD plan areas have not been fully developed since the time of approval and developer, market, and community needs and desires have changed. Obtaining the consent of all property owners within an established PD plan area for a proposed amendment is impractical and is a barrier to implementing development that will better suit developer, market, and community needs.
The proposed amendment specifies:
- If only a portion of a PD plan area is amended, then only the consent of the property owners within such portion of the PD plan area will be required.
- When public notice of an amendment to a PD plan area is required, it will be sent to all owners within the prior-approved PD plan area in addition to being provided to property owners within 100 feet of the proposed amended PD plan area.
The code amendment will provide more flexibility regarding required consent than what is provided by state statute for PDs, which is within the city’s rights as a home rule municipality. Other municipalities have adopted similar regulations with respect to amendments of PD plans. City staff worked with outside land use legal counsel on this amendment.
ORDINANCE 2588 - FIRST READING
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve Ordinance 2588 on first reading, granting, and authorizing the conveyance of an interest in city-owned real estate pursuant to §1-9-2 of the Official Code of the City of Montrose.
City Engineer Scott Murphy said a small portion of city-owned land is located next to the property line at the Montrose County Justice Center. Murphy said Montrose County is looking at future plans and wanted to know if the city would ever need the land. Murphy said the city will maintain a utility easement in the area but will vacate the small portion of land to Montrose County.
MOVING MONTROSE FORWARD 2022 STREET MAINTENANCE CONTRACT AWARD
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve a construction contract with Mountain Valley Contracting in the amount of $1,430,000 for the completion of the Moving Montrose Forward 2022 Contracted Street Maintenance Project.
City Engineer Scott Murphy said the City of Montrose developed the Moving Montrose Forward (MoveMo) initiative in 2018, which placed a renewed focus on street maintenance, reducing traffic congestion, and improving pedestrian and vehicular mobility throughout the community. As part of this effort, each year the city hires contractors to perform some of the larger-scale and specialized street maintenance construction. This contracted street maintenance work is in addition to typical routine maintenance activities performed by the city’s Public Works Department.
The city’s Street Maintenance and Capital Plan is available on the city’s MoveMo webpage and at https://tinyurl.com/COMStreetPlan. The plan identifies funding needs to sustainably maintain an acceptable pavement condition throughout the city and how available funds should be allocated between the various types of maintenance activities (e.g., surface treatments, mill and overlays, rebuilds of failed roadways, etc).
The city budgeted $3.26M for this year’s MoveMo contracted street maintenance efforts. Approximately 50% of this street maintenance work is focused on surface treatments consisting of slurry and cape seals. A contract for that work was awarded on April 19, 2022.
Murphy said areas to receive asphalt overlays or street rebuilds under this contract are shown on a map that was included in the council’s meeting packet. He noted that the following two streets were planned to be included in this year’s work but have since been removed from the project’s scope of work for reasons summarized below:
- Overlay of Bridges Drive and East Oak Grove East of Bear Lake Drive. These reaches were to receive an asphalt overlay to add structure to the roadway similar to what was done on Pavilion Drive in 2019. The primary drivers for the overlay were insufficient pavement thickness in the original roadway, damage due to overwatering of decorative medians, and preparation of this reach for the additional traffic it will carry once the extension of East Oak Grove between Bridges Drive and 6700 Road is completed. This element of work is expected to cost approximately $650k and will be deferred to a future MoveMo street maintenance project due to limitations in this year’s budget.
- Rebuild of South 3rd Street from Townsend to Cascade Avenues. The 2022 MoveMo budget included $400k for the rebuild of this reach of South 3rd running between the Montrose Library and CMU’s Cascade Hall. Since originally establishing this budget, there have been new developments in the area such as the city’s purchase of the property at 402 South 2nd, the likely expansion of CMU’s quad, and a potential remodel/update of Cascade Hall by CMU. To ensure the project on South 3rd is complementary to these efforts, city staff recommended that the improvements and funding for this reach of roadway be deferred to allow the city time to work with CMU, the public, and other stakeholder groups on a comprehensive design solution for the area. A concept drawing for a potential quad expansion into South 3 rd Street was included in the meeting packet to help give a feel for some of the ideas that have been brainstormed at this stage. This concept was prepared by Assistant Public Works Manager Jackie Bubenik.
STAFF REPORTS
City Finance Director Shani Wittenberg delivered the sales, use, and excise tax report for March 2022, and also delivered a first-quarter budget review to the council.
Read the reports in their entirety here.
Deputy City Manager Ann Morgenthaler said a developer is looking to build new attainable housing next to the Montrose Recreation Center. Morgenthaler said the announcement is welcome news as the city is working with private developers to ease housing shortages as the city’s population continues to grow.
More information about this project will be released once it’s available.
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