Montrose, CO — City Councilors met for their regular meeting Tuesday evening, February 7, to consider a number of ordinances and equipment purchases and approve funds to build the 6700 Road extension.
Councilors Barbara Bynum, Dave Frank, Doug Glaspell, David Reed, and Ed Ulibarri met in the temporary City Council Chambers in the Montrose Public Safety Complex along with city staff.
The following is a summary of the primary topics discussed during the meeting.
Watch the meeting here.
YOUTH CITY COUNCIL APPLICANT INTERVIEW
City Councilors met briefly with Shiloh Warthen to discuss her involvement with the city’s Youth Council.
Click here for more information about the Youth Council.
PUBLIC COMMENT
One resident, a local developer, posed a question to the council asking them to spur future debate and thought as to what the City of Montrose could do to further promote dark sky-friendly infrastructure such as public lighting fixtures, possible Municipal Code modifications, and other areas of public infrastructure.
CONSENT AGENDA
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the January 17, regular City Council meeting.
The city’s archive of past meeting minutes can be found on the new Public Meetings Portal and at CityofMontrose.org/ArchiveCenter.
In approving the consent agenda, the council also approved a list of city-owned equipment set for auction later this year.
NEW TAVERN LIQUOR LICENSE APPLICATION
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve a new tavern liquor license at 35 N. Cascade Avenue for Daisy McEachern, doing business as the Red, White and Brew Tavern, for consumption on the licensed premises.
The City Council serves as the local liquor licensing board for the City of Montrose. The council, along with the city attorney, held a public hearing before approving the license.
ORDINANCE 2611 - SECOND READING
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve Ordinance 2611, on second reading, approving the sale of a small, unused portion of land located at the Black Canyon Golf Course to a private homeowner.
City Planning Manager Jace Hochwalt said James Renfrow owns the property at 2400 Columbine Lane and had approached the city about purchasing a small, unmaintained, and undeveloped area of the Black Canyon Golf Course. The total area to be sold is 0.62 acres and is adjacent to Mr. Renfrow’s property. While this area of land is owned by the city as part of the Black Canyon Golf Course, it serves no functional use to the course itself and is not maintained. Mr. Renfrow is acquiring this land in order to functionally maintain and revegetate the area so it is not an eyesore.
Mr. Renfrow has submitted a Boundary Line Adjustment plat reflecting the area of the property that he wishes to acquire. No new lots are being created, and the proposal simply shifts Mr. Renfrow’s existing property line to the south. While the process for approving a Boundary Line Adjustment is administrative through the Planning Department, City Council must approve the sale of city property prior to any plat recording or property transfer. Mr. Renfrow is purchasing the 0.62-acre property for $25,000.
ORDINANCE 2612- FIRST READING
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve Ordinance 2612, on first reading, to update the city’s traffic code. Currently, the City of Montrose uses the 2003 Model Traffic Code for Colorado Municipalities. City Attorney Ben Morris said the last time the city updated its code was in 2005 and said city administrators believe the time has come to update it again.
City Municipal Judge Charles Greenacre said the local code follows the State of Colorado code and sometimes the state statutes “don’t fit” for a local jurisdiction. Greenacre said the City of Montrose made slight modifications to better integrate the state code into the city’s code.
Montrose Police Chief Blaine Hall said he supports the code change.
Adoption of the new code would change the policy and procedures that the city's Municipal Court follows when Montrose Police Department patrol officers write tickets for traffic infractions. Language pertaining to types and descriptions of traffic infractions, along with updated penalties, are also tied to the code update.
CASA PRELIMINARY PLANNED DEVELOPMENT
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve a housing development currently planned as the CASA Preliminary Planned Development.
City Planner William Reis said the Court Appointed Special Advocates, CASA, Planned Development is a residential development on the northern side of Montrose, located on Lot B of the San Juan Industrial Park Subdivision.
The property is approximately 7.47 acres in size and is north of N San Juan Ave. The property is zoned “I-1” Light Industrial District and is planned to have 45 supportive housing units, along with a community center. Properties with multiple residential buildings on one lot require a Planned Development. Supportive housing is considered a conditional use in the “I-1” Light Industrial District. The conditional use may be approved with the preliminary planned development and final planned development, and does not require a separate application.
KLEIN ADDITION ANNEXATION
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve Resolution 2023-02 and Ordinance 2613, on first reading, to approve the annexation of the Klein Addition.
City Planner William Reis said the Klein Addition is approximately 1 acre in size. The parcel is located west of 6600 Road, addressed as 675 6600 Road. It is within the city’s Urban Growth Boundary, City of Montrose Sewer Service Area, and the Tri-County Water Service Area. Annexation of this property will allow for connection to city sewer service. An annexation agreement is required.
Proposed Zoning: “MHR” Manufactured Housing Residential District
Applicant: Kenneth Brison Klein.
ORDINANCE 2614 - FIRST READING
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve the zoning of the Klein Addition as “MHR” or Manufactured Housing Residential District.
ORDINANCE 2615 - FIRST READING
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve the Montrose Electric Light & Power Company building's addition to the city's historic register.
City Planner William Reis delivered a presentation detailing the building’s history in the City of Montrose and its qualifications for joining the city’s historic register.
6700 ROAD EXTENSION PROJECT CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve a construction contract in the amount of $4,595,856 for the construction of the 6700 Road Extension Project.
City Engineer Scott Murphy said the proposal includes the award of a construction contract to Williams Construction in the amount of $4,387,256, a survey and engineering support contract to Del-Mont Consultants in the amount of $133,600, flashing crosswalk and school zone signage expenditures of $25,000, and up to $50,000 in expenditures to Delta-Montrose Electric Association for costs associated with powerline relocation and undergrounding alongside the project.
The City of Montrose Comprehensive Plan calls for the completion of 6700 Road as a minor arterial by constructing the missing-link section between Sunnyside and Miami Roads. This project has remained a high-priority capital project due to continued traffic growth in the area, according to Murphy. However, until recently, the city did not own all of the right of way necessary to complete this missing link. The city secured the right of way in the summer of 2022, allowing the project to move forward. Concurrent with securing the right of way, the project was being designed by Del-Mont Consultants of Montrose throughout 2022 and was ready for bid in early December.
The project design includes through lanes in each direction, a center turn lane, bike lanes in each direction, and detached sidewalks on each side. This is the same configuration that was used on the South Hillcrest extension, which was completed in 2018, and the East Oak Grove widening project, which was completed in 2014.
Upon completion, it is anticipated that traffic volumes on 6700 will be much higher than on the intersecting streets (Sunnyside and Miami). As a result, 6700 Road will be given the through priority with stop signs controlling the side streets. Neither intersection meets industry standard warrants for use of a four-way stop. As buildout continues in the area and traffic volumes grow on these sidestreets, these intersections will eventually transition to four-way stops, then to roundabouts.
It should be noted that volume thresholds to warrant roundabout intersections are likely at least 15 to 20-plus years out.
Project Bidding and Associated Expenditures
Construction of the 6700 Road Extension Project was put out for bid on December 4 and bids were publicly received on January 11, 2023, from four contractors. Williams Construction of Norwood submitted the lowest bid for the project.
RAUSCH USA CCTV SEWER CAMERA VAN PURCHASE RECOMMENDATION
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve the purchase of a Rausch USA CCTV sewer camera van from Ten Point Sales and Marketing LLC from Wheat Ridge, Colorado, for $279,833.
Utilities Manager David Bries said the current sewer camera inspection system was last upgraded in 2016 and is currently using the 2003 van and chassis. The unit’s replacement was included in the 2023 Budget.
The camera is used to inspect city sewer lines to find problem areas or sections of sewer line that may require replacement.
2023 TRASH TRUCK PURCHASE RECOMMENDATION
City Councilors voted unanimously to purchase three trash trucks from Kois Brothers Equipment in Commerce City, Colorado, in the amount of $1,226,495.
Public Works Manager Jim Schied said the city’s curbside trash and recycling operations use six Automated Side Loader (ASL) trash trucks. Due to growth in the number of trash and recycling customers, the city budgeted for an additional ASL trash truck in 2022.
This additional truck was budgeted in the Trash and Recycle Division’s 2022 budget.
Due to ongoing growth, Scheid said the city issues new trash and recycling cans to new customers each day in the city.
The City of Montrose Fleet Division replaces vehicles and equipment based on the life expectancy and maintenance cost of each unit. The city’s ASL trash trucks are on a seven-year replacement schedule to maximize the useful life of the equipment and maintain the lowest cost of operation. One replacement was scheduled in 2022 and another in 2023. These two replacements are budgeted in the 2022 and 2023 fleet budgets.
This brings the total number of ASL trash trucks to be purchased in 2022 and 2023 to three.
The City of Montrose authorized the purchase of two ASL trash trucks in December 2021 for the 2022 budget year. This award was not honored by the vendor selected for the chassis, which resulted in the order being terminated. The amounts budgeted for 2022 were rolled over into 2023 for the purchases recommended above.
On December 6, 2022, the city received bids for the three new ASL trash trucks. Unfortunately, none of the bids met the specifications in the bid packet and were rejected.
Since then the city has been requesting quotes from any vendors that provide the specific equipment that is needed. Of these requests, only one quote was received from Kois Brothers in the amount of $1,226,495.
2022 FORD VEHICLE PURCHASE AMENDMENT
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve a price increase for the 2022 Ford vehicle order that was previously awarded to Sill-Terhar Motors.
Public Works Manager Jim Scheid said on December 9, 2021, the city issued a purchase order to Sill-Terhar Motors for 20 new Ford vehicles. Since placing this order, the City of Montrose has received only one of the vehicles.
This past year has presented many challenges in the automotive industry due to microchip shortages and other supply chain issues.
The reduced volume of vehicles produced by Ford and other manufacturers has resulted in many orders not being fulfilled within the model year they were ordered. For the city’s order placed in late 2021, 19 out of the 20 vehicles will be pushed to the 2023 model year and 2023 pricing. The 2023 pricing from Sill-Terhar matches the pricing that was awarded on the Colorado State bid for Ford vehicles.
- Initial bid: $856,828
- 2023 Pricing: $1,003,658
- Total increase: $146,830
YOUTH CITY COUNCIL
Youth City Council Member Hunter Barton said the council is planning another Rock the Rec event to be held at the Montrose Recreation Center with a theme that raises awareness about mental health.
COUNCIL COMMENTS
Councilor Doug Glaspell thanked the staff for their continued work to secure much-needed equipment that is hard to find due to global supply chain issues.
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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 on-demand through the city’s Public Meetings Portal.