Town of Kiowa Board of Trustees Regular Meeting Minutes
February 8, 2022
Call to Order
The regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Town of Kiowa was called to order on February 8, 2022, at 7:01 PM by Mayor Kolm.
Roll Call
Present: Mayor Kolm, Director Trevor Smith, Director Tim Chambers, Director Cindy Tapp, Director Terry Howard, and Director Jonathon Shafer. The Town of Kiowa had a quorum to conduct business.
Excused Absence(s): Director Carey Kalisch
Town Administrator: Kimberly Boyd
Guests: Robert Tibbals, Esq., Debbie Ullom, and Tasha Chevarria, Town Clerk
Pledge of Allegiance
Mayor Kolm led the audience in the pledge of allegiance.
Agenda Consent
Director Tapp made the motion to approve the February agenda. Director Smith seconded, and the motion carried 5-0 with no discussion.
Staff Reports
A. Mayor
Mayor Kolm reported that the snowfall was not as bad as he expected, but not great either. He and Director Smith, along with the new snowplow driver, were able to get everything cleared out adequately. They did discover maintenance issues with the snowplow equipment that needs to be addressed before the next big snow fall. As well, he noted the lack of available hand tools in the shop. He advised his father had an abundance of tools, many brand new, that he will be bringing in and donating to the Town.
B. Board of Trustees
No reports.
C. Town Attorney
Mr. Tibbals reported he is still working through the service plans for Kiowa Creek Development. He also advised the board that he, the Mayor, and Town Administrator had been in meetings with SafeBuilt discussing the process.
D. Town Administrator
- Town of Kiowa checking account
- Ms. Boyd advised that a decision was made to cancel the positive pay feature with Bank of Colorado and have them close the current checking account and reopen a new one. The cost was going to be $60 give or take some cents a month and the requirement to log in faithfully every single day before 10am was not feasible, and the fact that there is no back up person to fulfill this duty in the administrator's absence. Further, this function would have to be done on days off, as well, a missing the 10am deadline on any day would result in items being returned and further costs associated with that.
- Movement of ARPA funds: Ms. Boyd advised the ARPA funds were moved over to the Town's money market account on January 25th.
- 2021 Audits: Ronnie Farmer will be doing the 2021 audits for both the Town and KWWA. He will be in Town Hall for 3 days on March 16th through 18th, to complete such.
- 2022 Town sponsored events/activities: Ms. Boyd advised the events traditionally sponsored by the Town have finalized dates, which are as follows:
- April 9th - Kiowa Easter Egg Hunt (sponsored with Lifetime Properties and ECCO)
- May 14th - Town of Kiowa Clean-up Day
- October 8th - Harvest Festival (sponsored with Lifetime Properties and 40 Mile Feed) November
26th - Town of Kiowa Tree Lighting
E. Public Works
- Shop Inventory
Recently it came to our attention that all tools that were once in the shop and owned by the Town have all but disappeared. It is easy to point fingers of where that went, but in the end, it is what it is and at this point there is nothing we can do but replace them. Mendez has been using his own tools, in addition to his own lawn mower, to conduct town business. Rick will be. Replacing the tools in the shop and a system to better inventory and account for these tools will be put in place. At this time, I do not know what that looks like. As well, before Spring hits Mendez will be working on getting the push lawn mowers up and running again. - TOK Equipment
The Town's large equipment is in terrible shape. Ms. Boyd advised a CAT technician came in this past weekend and took pictures and lots of notes with which he will build a quote for what it would take to complete all that needs to be done on the machine, to include a severely overdue maintenance, broken latches to windows, manifold issues, lift bar, etc. Because of the extent of the issues now I have asked that this be run through CAT's service department for a total estimate, meaning labor charges will now be added. Once that is received, we need to make a decision as to whether it is more cost effective to do the repairs or try to replace the equipment with something newer and operationally sound.
Public Comment
None.
Consent Items
- Approval of minutes from January 2022 BOT meeting Director Howard made the motion to approve the minutes. Director Chambers seconded, and the motion carried 5-0 with no discussion.
- Expenditures for Year-to-Date 2022 The year-to-date expenditures were provided for review in the meeting packets. Director Chambers made the motion to approve the minutes. Director Howard seconded, and the motion carried 5-0 with no discussion.
Public Hearing
None.
Old Business
- Code Enforcement
Spoke to Susie Ellis with Community Preservation Specialist, Inc. concerning the contract proposal she sent us. Many things were clarified:- One day in the Town was always beneficial in the past because much of the work is done in the background from the office. This office work is often extensive, including but not limited to certified mailings, follow up phone calls and mailings, researching property owners because we cannot cite the renters or lessees, taking inquiries from town officials or contractors, citizens, or other agencies, etc.
- The one day a month spent in the Town has always sufficient because it allowed her to give violation notices with 14-day remedy requirements, but they essentially got 30 days by the time she followed up again. This boded well with a court because instead of them looking at our 14-day requirement and turning around and giving them another month, they will have seen us give them an entire month upfront in "good faith" and consider them having been able to remedy that in that amount of time and move for deference immediately.
- In the past, Ms. Ellis gave us monthly reports, as you see there and as she gave us in the past. I have also asked for a report that will give us information of what areas of town we are receiving these violations in, but they will not include the exact addresses or names, as that is a legality issue that we as a town do not want to encroach on. Plus, we don't need it if we are not doing the enforcement.
- Kiowa Creek Development
Mr. Robert Tibbals advised the Board we had been in communication with Safe Built with regard to this project and what progress we need to see from Craft. He questioned Ms. Ullom as to when the agreement to furnish the well kicks in and where the water usage is, at this point. Ms. Ullom advised they do have ten (10) permits for such, at this time. She said all they need to be able to do is show the ability to fund the $1.5M needed for the well, per the attorneys for KWWA. Mr. Tibbals advised we are in need of a civil engineer to review the proposed plans by Craft Development and to decide if they are being held to the standards of the Town of Kiowa. Ms. Boyd advised she had a meeting today with Elbert County Manager and Town of Elizabeth Town Manager, both of which provided her with contact information for the civil engineering firms they utilize and advised that the cost of such will be charged back to Craft Development. She advised she will be sending out an RFP to those firms for such. Mr. Tibbals further advised that Craft will need to revise the PUD in place, at this point, due to the age of it but that does not affect the service plan. - Elections and the seats coming open on Town of Kiowa Board of Trustees.
Ms. Boyd advised she spoke with Rhonda at the Elbert County Elections Office, today, and she advised they do not keep records of the Town's elected board members or the terms of such, just the ballots. However, she did confirm that during the last election year there were three full term candidates and one short term candidate, indicating that it was quite possible Director Chambers was that short-term candidate on the ballot that year. Hence, the Town will have four seats coming open this election year. Mr. Tibbals advised we should tag along with the County this year, negating the need for a mail-in-ballot. Ms. Chevarria advised she has been in discussion with the Elections office, as well, and they have been instrumental in bringing her up to speed on the process we will be entering into in November, but they are occupied right now with getting others ready for May elections. Mr. Tibbals advised the County will present him with an IGA later in the year, usually in July, and we will designate the County Clerk as our designated elections official with our Town Clerk coordinating that. County will tell us what kind of publications we will need to comply.
Mr. Tibbals advised he may also have something proposed for the November ballot with respect to revising the Town Charter. He explained that the revisions he proposes are in direct correlation to how the Board Members are titled, "Town Councilperson" as opposed to "Town Board Member", which is what they are titled now. Anything else that comes up in the next couple months may also need to be considered proposed updates to the charter. - Sponsorship of Cowboy Up in 2022 -Terri Mills:
Teri Mills from Cowboy Up asked the Town to consider sponsoring their rodeo event in June, as the Town has done in the years past. Referencing information sent out prior to the meeting, Ms. Boyd recommended the Town change up their sponsorship this year based off of what the Town can feasibly do financially, at this time. In the past the Town had been Platinum Event Sponsors, which sponsored an entire event, which would cost the Town $1550 this year. However, she proposed the Town go with the Bucking Chute Overhead sponsor level. She explained at this level the Town would have a Town of Kiowa banner over the bucking chutes and a½ page in their program. As well, she suggested an additional contribute to two (2) Gator for Greenback events, primarily in one of the rough stock events (bull riding, bareback or saddle bronc). This type of additional sponsorship would essentially entail the Town donating (through a representative, in person, at the rodeo) $100/each to the winner of those events that day. Ms. Boyd suggested the Town do two (2) events, one on Friday and one on Saturday. In total this sponsorship would be $725.00. - Planning Commission and Variance Committee for 2022:
Ms. Boyd advised she has attempted contact with the current members of the Planning Commission and Variance Committee and has invited them all to a meet and greet meeting to decided who is staying and who is no longer able to commit to these two entities. Will give an update at the next meeting to such.
New Business
- My Pay Solutions - Payroll Services proposal: Ms. Boyd advised in light of the recent situation wherein she had to travel unexpectedly out of state for a family emergency and could not successfully get payroll issued with the Caselle program, due to various issues on Caselle's part. The cost for this service is the exact same as the cost to add payroll to QuickBooks, but this service will also include the handling of payments for quarterly and annual federal and state taxes, as well as issuing 1099's and W2's at year end.
Director Shafer made the motion to approve the Town moving to MyPay Solutions Payroll services. Director Chambers seconded, and the motion carried 5-0 with no discussion. - Xcel Energy/Colorado's Power Pathway proposal
Mayor Kolm advised Xcel Energy is wanting to put extremely powerful power lines and wind turbines in or near the Town of Kiowa, which will service Denver exclusively. Mayor Kolm is asking for the Board's approval and support in writing a letter in opposition to this proposal in the Town of Kiowa. Ms. Ullom advised this project could adversely affect all property values in and around the Town.
No vote is required in this matter and Ms. Boyd will draft said letter by next monthly meeting.
Discussion
Director Tapp, citing current news reports of violations in the Open Meetings Act, just reiterated what constitutes a meeting when sending email correspondence to Board members or coordinating telephone calls.
Correspondence/Information/Review/Discussion
None.
Adjourn
Director Tapp made the motion to adjourn at 8:25pm. Director Chambers seconded, and the motion carried 5-0 with no discussion.
The next regular meeting will be on March 8th at Town Hall at 7:00pm
Approved:
Kimberely Boyed administrator