January 14, 2025 Minutes

Regular Monthly Meeting Minutes 
January 14, 2025

Call to Order

The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees was called to order on January 14, 2025, at 7:09 PM by Mayor Elect Theresa Howard.  

Roll Call

Present: Mayor Elect Theresa Howard, Mayor Pro Tern Trevor Smith, Trustee Baillie Wineland, Trustee Jonathan Shafer, Trustee Tammy Hart were present. The Town of Kiowa had a quorum to conduct business. 

Also present: 
Kim Boyd, Town Administrator 
Sasha Davidson, Town Clerk 
Ruth Borne, Town Counsel via Zoom 
Jill Duvall, KWW A Director via Zoom 
Constance Stahl, Town Board Applicant 
John Hill, Ranchland News 

Pledge of Allegiance

Mayor Elect Howard led the Board in the pledge of allegiance. 

Agenda Consent

Mayor Pro Tem Smith made the motion to approve the agenda and Trustee Wineland seconded, and the motion was carried 5-0 with no discussion. 

Public Comment

None.  

New Business

1. Oath of Office for Mayor Elect Theresa Howard
   Town Clerk Sasha Davidson administered the oath of office to Mayor Elect Howard.
2. Appointment of new board member Constance Stahl and re-appointment of Trustee Jonathan Shafer
   Mayor Pro Tern Smith made the motion to approve the new appointment of Constance Stahl and the reappointment of Trustee Jonathan Shafer, and Trustee Wineland seconded, and the motion carried 5-0 with no discussion. 
   Town Clerk Sasha Davidson administered the oath of office to Mayor Elect Howard. 
3. Selection of Mayor Pro Tern
   Mayor Howard made the nomination of Trustee Hart as the new Mayor Pro Tern. Current Mayor Pro Tern Smith made the motion to accept the nomination and Trustee Wineland seconded, and the motion carried 4-0 with no discussion. Trustee Hart abstained from the vote.
4. Employment contract between Town of Kiowa and Kimberly Boyd, Town Administrator Mayor Pro Tern Hart opened a discussion concerning the protections an agreement provides for both the Town and Ms. Boyd. Mayor Howard advised the language considers that all areas addressed under the contract are applicable to all job duties she has had since working here, except for the $100 per month cell phone stipend for personal cell phone use. Mayor Pro Tern Hart asked if this would also include board trustees' use of personal phones for business. Ms. Borne advised the Board that trustees should be utilizing their Town email addresses and never conducting business over personal cells. Ms. Boyd advised the board that the issues with cell phone use center around the fact that her personal cell number has been given out to residents and other entities without her prior approval and that has created an issue. Ms. Boyd advised the stipend will go toward the creation of a second business line with her current personal account with Verizon, no need to purchase a second phone. Ms. Borne confirmed this agreement does not expire yearly, it would change if any of the conditions of the agreement change, i.e. pay, benefits, employment reviews, etc.
   1. RESOLUTION 1, SERIES 2025, A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE TOWN AND KIMBERLY BOYD
      Trustee Shafer made the motion to approve RESOLUTION 1, SERIES 2025 with revision to Ms. Boyd's employment date to reflect 2021 and Mayor Pro Tern Hart seconded, and the motion carried 5-0 with no discussion. 
5. RESOLUTION 2, SERIES 2025, A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A DESIGNATED PUBLIC PLACE FOR THE POSTING OF MEETING NOTICES AS REQUIRED BY THE COLORADO OPEN MEETINGS LAW
   Trustee Wineland made the motion to approve RESOLUTION 2, SERIES 2025 and Trustee Shafer seconded, and the motion carried 5-0 with no discussion. 
6. Contract with Civic Plus Mass Notification System and Agenda and Meeting Management Program
   Ms. Boyd explained the mass notification system will allow the use by both the Town and the KWW A boards, which would be very cost effective because the set-up and annual costs are split. The mass notification system will be used for public notifications of water emergency repair, emergency shut-off, Town office closures, extreme inclement weather, etc. Currently the Town and KWW A are limited to what the county allows under their policies and their contracts with Civic Plus. The agenda and meeting management program will allow an add on to the current website that will help with ADA compliance, transparency, reduce the numerous CORA requests by allow the upload of meeting videos, agendas and minutes, and other pertinent information and documentation that is currently only available via CORA requests. 
   
   Trustee Smith made the motion to approve the contract with Civic Plus for the Mass Notification System software and Agenda and Meeting Management Program software, and Trustee Shafer seconded. The motion carried 5-0 with no discussion. 
    

Staff Reports

Mayor 

Mayor Howard advised there were a lot of grants that have been awarded due to the diligence of Ms. Boyd, and she gave appreciation for such. Also, she acknowledged complaints from numerous town business owners that the board never listens to them, and they have no voice concerning town business. Mayor Howard asked the other board members to get the word out that they are all welcome to come to the monthly meetings and have their voice heard, but they need to come to the meetings. Trustee Shafer asserted the Main Streets Board is a fantastic way for these business owners to get involved making some decisions that affect them directly as business owners. Ms. Boyd advised she struggles with the fact that the messages she is getting from business owners are the continued animosity seemingly coming from their displeasure with past administrations. Trustee Smith showed appreciation for the three trustees that currently sit on the board who not only live here, but they are also business owners in Kiowa. 

Board of Trustees 

None. 

Town Attorney 

None. 

Town Administrator 

1. Community Meeting report RE: Main Streets
   Good turnout of possibly 40-50 people at the community meeting on January 7th Lots of . interaction and questions from the community. Moving forward, in the coming weeks I will be finalizing a page on our website for Main Streets and posting a Main Street Board Application. As well, I will be reaching out to key entities in our community for involvement in that Board. It would be advantageous to have these secured by mid-March because we will do the resolution and official application to become a Main Streets community in April.
2. EIAF 9734- Storm Drainage and Sidewalk Project update
   Project Manager, Jeremy Kahn, and Planner, Blake Young, ofKimley-Horn were present to give an introduction into the storm drainage and sidewalk project. Kimley-Horn first community meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 13th@ 6pm. AG Building at the Fairgrounds. Survey is going out to the community on January 20th from Kimley­Hom to gather some input and data from the community that will be utilized in discussion for the February community meeting.
3. Maverix Broadband, Inc. v. ToK and Kim Boyd, Case No. 2024CV30100
   Waiting on a response from Elbert County District Court as to whether they will entertain Maverix's complaint and set a court date or if they will grant the Town's Motion to Dismiss.
4. Parks Project update
   Referred to the memorandum from Fischer Project Management in their packets. There needs to be some community involvement regarding this project from the schools, businesses, churches, etc. The grant will be more competitive if there is more community involvement and there is a voice from the community as to what they want to see in their parks. Mayor Howard asked for transparency in how we are going about this project and the assistance we are looking for from the community at large.
5. Apple iPads and Apple Business Manager
   iPads are with Phoenix for set-up. Once that is completed, I will let both Boards know, and we will set up some training time for those requesting it.
6. RAISE Grant
   The Town is working in collaboration with the folks at the Eastern Central Council of Governments and AIR 360 Consultants to get in on a Regional ECCOG RAISE Grant that will help the Town address some long standing and needed improvements to two of our priority routes -Kiowa-Bennett Rd from SH-86 to the north end of the Fairgrounds and CR-45 to the edge of Kiowa town limits from SH-86. As well, we are seeking funding through this grant to go toward the construction of our storm drainage and sidewalk project through Kiowa along the SH-86 corridor. This will be a very quick turnaround for submission and the currently bringing in letters of partnership support from businesses, the school, residents, or community leaders that will be direct benefactors of these projects. The deadline for letters is the end of business on January 15th. The submission date for the grant is the last week of January.

Public Works

None.

Code Enforcement

1st qtr. report due in April

Consent Items

1. Approval of Minutes of December 10, 2024, Monthly Meeting
   Trustee Smith made the motion to approve the minutes from December 10, 2024, Monthly Meeting and Trustee Wineland seconded the motion. The motion was carried 5-0 with no discussion.
2. Expenditures for Year-to-Date 2025
   Trustee Wineland made the motion to accept the expenditures for YTD 2025, and Trustee Smith seconded the motion. The motion was carried 5-0 with no further discussion.

Discussion/Communications

None.

Adjourn

Director Shafer made the motion to adjourn at 8:52 pm. Director Howard seconded, and the motion carried 5-0 with no discussion. 

The next regular meeting will be on February 11th at the Town Hall at 7:00 p.m. 

Approved:

Theresa Howard
Mayor, Town of Kiowa

Kimberly Boyd, Town Administrator