Montrose, CO –  Highlights from the June 5, city council meeting held in the chambers located at 107 South Cascade Avenue. 

City inks IGA with Main Street Montrose LLC to make improvements to the Vine building

The building commonly known as "the Vine building" - which houses the Vine Market at the corner of Main Street and Cascade Avenue – is the oldest brick building in Montrose, with a history dating back 132 years.

Investors Paul Rinne and Sarah and Tim Judkins are spending around $1.35-million to rehabilitate the building and bring the structure up to safety code. These investors make up Main Street Montrose (MSM), a limited liability corporation with a vision to "create a vibrant, thriving mixed-use economic hub that includes a local eatery, shops, and residential living," according to their mission statement. 

Councilors voted unanimously to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with MSM to begin improvements to the building with a $241,186 investment from the city to begin asbestos removal and install a fire sprinkler system on the building's second story. Replacing dilapidated windows is also a priority with the expenditures as the investors are working to develop the building's second story into downtown residential apartments.  

The city's investment represents about 18-percent of the total renovation costs, according to Chelsea Rosty, the city's Director of Business Innovation. 

Rosty told councilors rents for the building's residential apartments would be fixed at 33-percent above the median income of Montrose. MSM said those rents would be in the range of $1,000 and $1,200 per month.

Other areas of the building are being renovated to house retail shops and a possible satellite office of the KVNF radio station. 

City Waives Utility Fees to Help Build Youth Housing

Councilors voted unanimously to waive $42,228 in utility building permit fees to support construction of a youth-supportive housing project in Montrose to help curb homelessness in the city’s youth population. 

Two fourplexes, each including two one-bedroom units and two two-bedroom units, along with staff housing are planned for construction. The housing will serve youth ages 18-24 who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The site is in central Montrose, across the street from the new event center, which will also offer job opportunities for the facility’s residents. 

Support services from the Center for Mental Health, the Montrose Workforce Center and PIC Place will join services from CASA and the Chafee Program. 

CASA is a nonprofit organization with the mission of "helping break the cycle of abuse and neglect through advocacy and interaction" in six Western Colorado counties including Montrose, Delta, Gunnison, Hinsdale Ouray, and San Miguel. 

Virgil Turner, the Director of Innovation and Citizen Engagement at the City of Montrose told councilors there are currently over 100 young people in Montrose who are in some phase of homelessness. These young residents, "a good number of high school and middle school students" Turner said, are living in vehicles or couch-surfing and do not have a stable place to live. 

Turner said places like the proposed CASA center would help curb this number to better serve this population. 

The fees waived by the council include sewer and water tap connection fees. 

Cerro Reservoir To Be Drained For Dam Replacement

The City Council approved the authorization of $176,382,40 in expenditures to complete the Cerro Reservoir Drawdown Project. This includes the $136,382,40 contract with Rundle Construction and the $40,000 inspection support contract with James Norfleet. 

The project is expected to take two years and will include draining the reservoir and replacing the dam, which was built in 1912. The drainpipe at the bottom of the dam needs to be replaced so the structure can conform to national dam safety standards. 

For more city news visit: CityOfMontrose.org.

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