April 9, 2024 Minutes

Call to Order

The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees was called to order on April 9, 2024, at 7:40 PM by Mayor Rick Kolm. 

Roll Call

Present: Mayor Kolm, Trustee Wineland, Trustee Howard, Trustee Baker, Trustee Hart, and Trustee Shafer. Mayor Pro Tem Smith arrived late at 7:42PM. The Town of Kiowa had a quorum to conduct business. 

Also present were: 
Kirn Boyd, Town Administrator 
Sasha Davidson, Town Clerk 
Ruth Borne, Town Counsel via Zoom 
Nick Poppe, Nathan, Dumm, Mayer, Attorneys at Law via Zoom 
John Hill, Ranchland News 
Polly Ehlers 
Richard Croisant, via Zoom 
Debbie Ullom 
Diana Edstrom 
Eric Whitman, KWWA Board 
Tim Craft, KWWA Board 
Laurel Brown, KWWA Board 
Teri Mills, Cowboy Up 
Lori Campbell, Cowboy Up 
Angelique Dieker, Cowboy Up 
Kali Benson, Elbert County CSU Extension 
Eric Carlson, Elbert County Republican Party 

Pledge of Allegiance

Mayor Kolm led the Board in the pledge of allegiance. 

Agenda Consent

Ms. Boyd recommended a revising the agenda to remove the Republican Party Special Event Liquor License request public hearing, because of a date discrepancy. Trustee Baker made the motion to approve the agenda with revisions. Trustee Howard seconded the motion and the motion was carried 6-0 with no discussion. 

Public Comment

• Debbie Ullom read a prepared statement to the following effect:
  
  Town of Kiowa's failure to make loan payments; bills not being paid; reports not filed; violations from the state and CDPHE for failure to report and test; audits and budgets not being sent to USDA and other state agencies; offices not being open; calls going unanswered; billing not going out on time; giving away taps to "Ann Alley" at no charge; and, the "attack and accusations" put out by your attorney and administrator that KWWA signed an agreement without voting. 
  
  Referring to the Town as keeper of the minutes, videos, permits and all records, Ms. Ullom asserted the Town of Kiowa and the Board of Trustees have failed in that capacity. She further asserted that Administrator Kim Boyd closed the Town of Kiowa website that was up to date with 2020 and 2021 records and they are not on the new website. 
  
  Ms. Ullom asserts that on page 2 of Ordinance 3, Series 2024: An Ordinance Reaffirming the Rescission of the Kiowa Creek Meadows Development Agreement and Well Development Agreement and Further Establishing the Disqualification of the Appointment of Board Member to the Kiowa Water and Wastewater Authority, at the "5th WHEREAS", wherein it was asserted the Development Agreement failed to follow any formal approval requirements; there is no record of the Water Authority approving the Well Agreement in any manner. There are no minutes, resolutions, or motions to approve the Well Development Agreement by the Water Authority; This is completely inaccurate. The Town of Kiowa failed to keep minutes or video, and this is a violation of the operating agreement. She asserted that she could play for the recording of the July 13, 2021, meeting that was posted on July 19, 2021, by Town Administrator Maria Morales wherein, at or around minute 00:12 the entire board voted to approve upon validation of the company and a small verbiage change. Further, she asserts this Facebook page was deleted also but is still accessible. 
  
  Ms. Ullom asserted the Town broke their own home rule charter rules by not allowing public comment at the meeting held on March 5th, 2024. She asserted that page 5- 3.04 number 3 reads: All regular and special meetings of the board shall be open to the public and citizens and employees shall have a reasonable opportunity to be heard. The entire KWWA Board along with 2 taxpayers sat in the audience of the Town Monthly Board meeting and were not allowed to speak and it was not just an executive session. There was discussion and should have been a reasonable opportunity to be heard by your rules. The Board of Trustees owes KWWA an apology for the falsehoods and lousy treatment. 
• Diana Edstrom, 26060 CR 41, Elbert, CO, spoke about her recent experience making an open records request from the Town.

Staff Reports

1. Mayor
   None.
2. Board of Trustees
   None.
3. Town Attorney
   None.
4. Town Administrator
   1. Municipal Court - Ms. Boyd advised they are still working to secure a prosecutor and she has been in discussion with Judge King and Susie Ellis. There was an intent to begin court in April, but May seems more likely so that there is time to engage with a prosecutor and have things in place by all involved.
   2. A memorandum regarding the public comments left by Debbie Ullom at the March 12, 2024, Town Board of Trustee Monthly Meeting, was read to the Board. Trustee Howard made a motion to enter the memorandum into record and Trustee Shafer seconded the motion. Motioned passed with a vote of 5 AYES and 2 NAYS.
      Mayor Kolm - Aye
      Mayor Pro Tem Smith - Nay
      Director Wineland - Nay
      Director Howard - Aye 
      Director Hart - Aye
      Director Shafer - Aye
      Director Baker - Aye
5. Public Works
   None.
6. Code Enforcement
   First quarterly report included in packets. No comments or discussion were made.

Consent Items

1. Approval of minutes from March 12, 2024, BOT Monthly Meeting
   Director Howard made the motion to approve the minutes from the March 12, 2024, BOT Monthly Meeting. Trustee Shafer seconded, and the motion was carried 7-0 with no discussion.
2. Expenditures for Year-to-Date 2024
   Director Howard made the motion to approve the YTD 2024 financials. Trustee Wineland seconded, and the motion was carried 7-0 with no discussion.

Public Hearing

Mayor Kolm called the public hearings to order at 8:03pm. 

• Lori Campbell and Teri Mills with Cowboy Up spoke to the two events they are having this year - Cowboy Up in Kiowa CPRA Rodeo on June 2th - 29th, the Elbert County Fair on July 27th -August 4th, and the 1st Responder Relief Rodeo on August 16th-17th. They advised all servers are TIPS certified and they will be utilizing wristbands, as they did in years past.
• Kali Benson with the Elbert County 4-H Leaders' Council spoke to their Gala Dinner on April 27th. She advised IDs would be checked at the door and wristbands would be utilized again this year.
• Eric Carlson with the Elbert County Republican Party soke to their group's annual Lincoln Day Dinner being held on June 14th-15th. He advised servers will all be TIPS certified and hand stamps will be utilized at the door to identify 21 and over.

Mayor Kolm asked those present in person and via Zoom if they had any public comment regarding any of the special event liquor license requests being heard tonight and none came forward with comment or discussion. 

Director Howard made the motion to approve all requests heard tonight. Director Wineland seconded, and the motion passed 6-0 with Director Hart recusing herself from the vote because she works directly with Cowboy Up at their events throughout the year. 

Old Business

None.

New Business

• Director Howard made the motion to engage with Nicholas Poppe as Special Counsel for the Town of Kiowa. Director Hart seconded and the motion passed 7-0 with no discussion.
• Mayor Pro Tem Smith made the motion to approve ORDINANCE NO. 2, SERIES 2024: AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF KIOWA, COLORADO, ADOPTING THE TOWN OF KIOWA ZONING CODE UPDATES BY REFERENCE. Director Howard seconded his motion and the motion was carried 7-0 with no public comment or discussion.
• Director Howard made the motion to approve ORDINANCE NO. 4, SERIES 2024: AN ORDINANCE APPROVING THE EQUIPMENT LEASE-PURCHASE FROM FRONT RANGE KUBOTA, INC. BY AND THROUGH ITS MUNICIPAL LEASE PROGRAM. Director Hart seconded her motion and the motion was carried 6-0 with no public comment or discussion.

Discussion/Communication

Director Baker requested to open a discussion concerning behavior that occurred in the hallway outside the board room during the Water Authority meeting prior. He found the behavior of certain board members highly unprofessional and offensive in nature. Director Wineland echoed Director Baker's comments asking for more professionalism from board members and staff, even if they do not agree with comments being made. 

Adjourn

Director Howard made the motion to adjourn at 8:20 pm. Director Wineland seconded, and the motion carried 7-0 with no discussion. 

The next regular meeting will be on May 14th at Town Hall at 7:00 p.m.