Montrose, CO — City Councilors met for a work session Monday morning, December 5, to meet with applicants wanting to serve on the city’s Planning Commission, consider a couple of emergency funding requests, and hear a proposal to study and finalize highway access points along Townsend Avenue.
Councilors Barbara Bynum, Dave Frank, Doug Glaspell, David Reed, and Ed Ulibarri met in City Council Chambers along with city staff.
The following is a summary of the primary topics discussed during the meeting.
Watch the meeting here.
PLANNING COMMISSION APPLICANT INTERVIEWS
City Councilors met with three applicants for the city’s Planning Commission.
David Fishering, Chad Huffman, and Richard Rogers are currently serving on the commission and each submitted an application for reappointment. The City Council will formally vote on appointments to the commission at a future council meeting.
The role of the Planning Commission is to review a variety of land use applications including changes to property configurations, modifying uses within the city, reviewing new development plans, and implementing the Comprehensive Plan. Planning Services staff provide training, information, and support to the Planning Commission. The City Council, Planning Commission, and City staff work together to help the community manage growth and development.
More about the city’s Planning Commission can be found here.
EMERGENCY DUMP TRUCK REPAIR RECOMMENDATION
City Councilors were briefed regarding a proposal to spend $70,000 to repair a damaged dump truck.
Public Works Manager Jim Scheid said a Streets Division employee was visiting United Companies to pick up a load of hot mix asphalt for street patching. United Companies has two overhead silos that load trucks from above. In a turn of unfortunate events, the plant operator did not communicate with the city’s driver and, while awaiting direction about which silo to pull under, four tons of 300-degree asphalt dumped on the cab, hood, and through the windshield of the truck. It didn't take long for the asphalt to fill the cab.
Luckily, the driver escaped with only minor injuries. The truck has been totaled by the insurance company and is inoperable. The hot asphalt melted many of the in-cab controls.
This particular truck plays a vital role in the Streets Division’s snow operations. Currently, the city has a four-route snow removal plan. The four large plow trucks used by the city each have their own unique route within the snow removal Tiers. Without one of those trucks, operations are hamstrung and other route drivers have to take up the slack. The loss of a plow truck will significantly impact operations and the city’s level of service this winter season.
The lead time on a new truck is over a year and a half and of the used trucks with a snow plow and sander that the city has found are single-axle trucks that do not work well for the City of Montrose’s year-round street operations. Scheid said Public Works has received a quote from our local Mack dealer for estimates of repair costs and lead times. They were able to locate a used cab and hood and estimated repairs would take five weeks.
Scheid said this truck, Unit 256, is scheduled for replacement in 2023 (realistically expected for delivery in 2024) and, at that time, would be sold in operable condition, which would yield a much higher price than if it were sold in its current condition. Repairs to Unit 256 will be funded from the Fleet Fund, which will be reimbursed when the insurance payment is received.
EMERGENCY CULVERT REPLACEMENT RECOMMENDATION
City Councilors were presented with a proposal to fund an emergency replacement of two bridge culverts, both of which serve entrances to the Meadowgate neighborhood. The estimated cost of the unexpected repairs is $81,400, according to Nik Pridy, Street Division superintendent for the City of Montrose.
Earlier this year, settling depressions and a sinkhole were observed in the roadway. Subsequent inspection revealed significant undermining of the roadway, up to 12 feet long and 4 feet deep. At the mouth of the culvert, water was observed flowing under and around the sides of the pipe, causing a collapse of the culvert. Crews determined the road was unsafe for travel and permanently closed the entry. A week later, a total failure of the roadway had occurred. Local neighborhood traffic was detoured to a secondary entrance further south at Overland Drive and 6900 Rd. Repair of the damage was expected to take place in the spring of 2023 while irrigation water was off and resources could be allocated.
Following the initial entrance closure, in May 2022 Public Works received calls from concerned neighbors about the condition of the neighborhood's back-up entrance. Upon investigation, street personnel observed signs of a partial collapse occurring in a similar timeframe and manner as the event on Open Field Drive. Street staff and engineers decided to place road plates over the weakened area to help mitigate the deterioration taking place. In July, street crews installed a temporary bridge on Open Field Drive. Now that irrigation water has been shut off, the culvert on Overland Drive will be replaced promptly. Work on Open Field Drive will follow after Overland Drive is reopened.
Pridy said the City of Montrose Streets Division, with support from the Engineering Division, will be self-performing the work. Work will include the replacement of 120 feet of the culvert, four new flared-end sections, two formed concrete headwalls, and 180 tons of angular riprap for bank armoring.
The purchase of the material needed for this project has already been approved by the City Manager’s Office due to the emergency nature of the work and material availability.
As an unanticipated emergency project, funds for the repair of these two culverts were not budgeted in the city’s 2022 budget. Due to savings in the 2022 Streets Division budget, this project can be completed within the available budget.
NORTH TOWNSEND AVENUE ACCESS CONTROL PLAN
City Councilors were presented with a plan to partner with the Colorado Department of Transportation, CDOT, to complete a traffic access control plan on Townsend Avenue.
City Engineer Scott Murphy said CDOT has partnered with the City of Montrose over the years to create comprehensive access control plans for the highway corridors throughout the city.
To date, this has included the creation of the San Juan Access Control Plan (2010) and two South Townsend Access Control Plans for the area south of Niagara Road (in 2009 and updated in 2019).
As a continuation of this effort, CDOT is now working on an access control plan for North Townsend Avenue/Highway 50 extending from North 9th Street within the City of Montrose north to the Montrose county line. This project is being performed by CDOT ($85k) in partnership with the City of Montrose ($20k), Montrose County ($40k), and the Town of Olathe ($5k).
Access control plans are long-term planning tools that document access types, locations, and frontage road connections that are ultimately desired along a corridor. The plans aim to maximize the efficiency, contiguity, and safety of a corridor and to meet the requirements of the state highway access code. Typically, the plans are used to guide development/re-development or large highway projects as they occur. Along those lines, access control plans are typically created for corridors likely to see continued development or redevelopment.
The project team has produced a draft of the access control plan available online with the City Council packet documents. This draft plan is initially being presented to the City of Montrose, the Town of Olathe, and Montrose County elected officials.
Following these initial presentations, the project team will then perform public outreach consisting of one-on-one meetings with adjacent landowners and a public open house.
Details on the public outreach will be advertised once available. After incorporating public feedback, the plan will be finalized and come before each jurisdiction for formal adoption through the execution of an intergovernmental agreement.
GENERAL CITY COUNCIL DISCUSSION
City Councilors thanked city staff for hosting a successful Parade of Lights on December 3. The parade had a record number of participants this year, with a total of 75.
•••
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 and on-demand through the city’s Public Meetings Portal.
For more city news visit CityOfMontrose.org.