March 11, 2025 Minutes

Regular Monthly Meeting Minutes 
March 11, 2025

Call to Order

The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees was called to order on January 14, 2025, at 7:00 PM by Mayor Theresa Howard. 

Roll Call

Present: Mayor Theresa Howard, Mayor Pro Tem Tammy Hart, Trustee Jonathan Shafer, and Trustee Trevor Smith, and Trustee Constance Stahl were present. The Town of Kiowa had a quorum to conduct business.

Trustee Baillie Wineland arrived late, at 7:09 p.m.

Also present: 
Kim Boyd, Town Administrator
Sasha Davidson, Town Clerk
Ruth Borne, Town Counsel via Zoom
Jill Duvall, KWW A Director
John Hill, Ranchland News
Jesie McElroy, local business owner
Charles Valenzuela, resident
Zach Graupmann, Counsel for Jesie McElroy, via Zoom
Richard Croisant, resident, via Zoom

Pledge of Allegiance

Mayor Howard led the Board in the pledge of allegiance.

Agenda Consent

Ms. Boyd asked to add the Board of Trustees Code of Ethics policy under Discussion/Communications and the minutes from January 14, 2025, regular monthly meeting and January 28, 2025, Special Joint Meeting under Consent Items.

Trustee Smith made the motion to approve the agenda with revisions, and Trustee Shafer seconded. The motion was carried 5-0 with no discussion.

Public Comment

Trustee Baillie Wineland arrived late, at 7:09 p.m., during Ms. McElroy's public comment.

Jesie McElroy of Unbridled Contractors at 304 Comanche Street, Kiowa, CO
Spoke to her frustration over the Town's request that she submit an application for Use by Special Review concerning her proposed use of the converted school bus into a mobile office, as well as the subsequent code enforcement action for having it on the property before she applied for the review and received a determination. Ms. McElroy handed out a letter and packet of all citations she has received from code enforcement to date to all the Trustees, which is included with these minutes.

Charles Valenzuela of 619 CR-45, Unit #1, Kiowa, CO.
Mr. Valenzuela spoke to the dog waste stations located by the Fire Department off County Road 45, which were never emptied, and the bags were not replaced. Ms. Boyd asserted that she never knew the Town had pet waste stations in those locations and assured her she would get public works to attend to them immediately and regularly moving forward.

Zach Graupmann, Hatch Ray Olsen Conant LLC, legal counsel for Jessie McElroy, appeared via phone call on Zoom.
Mr. Graupmann reiterated Ms. McElroy's sentiments expressed in her public comment and further asserted that, after reviewing the Town's Municipal Code, he feels no area is directly applicable to his client and her proposed project. He finds the request for her to apply for use by special review unnecessary and the current code enforcement action unwarranted.

New Business

Mayor Howard opened the public hearing at

1. Elbert County 4-H Leaders Council special event liquor permit
   
   Callie Benson and Lacey Zion of the Elbert County Extension Office spoke at this event and advised that they would not be doing anything different this year than they had in the past. This will be held on April 12, 2025, and this is the 14th year they have held it. All servers will be TIPS certified, and the Sheriffs Office is assisting with security again this year.
   
   No public comment was given. Trustee Wineland moved to approve the special event liquor permit for the Elbert County 4-H Leaders Council event on April 12, 2025, and Trustee Shafer seconded it. The motion passed 6-0 with no further discussion.
2. ORDINANCE 1, SERIES 2025, AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE TOWN OF KIOWA MUNICIPAL CODE, CHAPTER 16, ARTICLE IV, SUPPLEMENTAL REGULATIONS,
   MOBILE FOOD TRUCKS AND PUSHCARTS, TOWN OF KIOWA, COLORADO
   
   Trustee Smith opened a discussion as to how this ordinance would affect large events already being held annually at the fairgrounds . Ms. Boyd advised this does adversely affect those events because those events are being held at the fairgrounds other than further reiterating the license and permitting requirements they are required to follow by the County Public Health Department. Mayor Howard inquired about the food trucks she has witnessed setting up in front of Kiowa local businesses along SH-86. Ms. Boyd advised that it is an approval they need to receive from CDOT and the likelihood of getting that would more than likely be very low because they are essentially setting up a business on a state highway.
   
   No public comment was given. Mayor Pro Tem Hart noted a typo in the ordinance's title. Trustee Shafer moved to approve ORDINANCE 1, SERIES 2025, with revision, and Trustee Wineland seconded the motion. The motion carried 6-0 with no further discussion.
3. ORDINANCE 2, SERIES 2025, AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF KIOWA, COLORADO, AMENDING THE TOWN OF KIOWA ZONING CODE, CHAPTER 11, STREETS, SIDEWALKS AND PUBLIC PLACES, PARADES, RALLIES, BLOCK PARTIES AND SPECIAL EVENTS, TOWN OF KIOWA, COLORADO
   
   Trustee Shafer opened the discussion by inquiring how the Elbert County Fair gets approval for its annual parade up and down SH-86. Ms. Boyd advised that they coordinate that with the permitting agency, which is CDOT and not the Town. The Town does not accept or approve applications for anything that utilizes SH-86, only the municipal roads.
   
   No public comment was given. Trustee Smith moved to approve ORDINANCE 2, SERIES 2025, and Trustee Wineland seconded the motion. The motion carried 6-0 with no discussion.
   
   Public hearings closed at 7:44 p.m.
4. Contract for Elbert County Fair kick-off fireworks event, July 26th, sponsored by the Town 
   
   Ms. Boyd reported that, with the assistance of Elizabeth Fire Department Chief TJ Steck, she received cooperation from the other fire protection districts in the county to assist with the event, which allowed her to move forward with the planning of the event. Ms. Boyd presented the J & S Display contract for the display and fireworks purchase to the Board.
   Trustee Shafer moved to approve the contract with J&S Display, and Trustee Wineland seconded the motion. The motion carried 6-0 with no discussion.
5. Scoring Committee for Main Street Board applications
   
   Ms. Boyd advised they had received eight very good applications to the first Kiowa Main Street Board. The next step was to form a committee that would score the applications. Mayor Howard, Mayor Pro Tem Hart, Trustee Smith, and Trustee Shafer all volunteered to sit on this committee.
   Ms. Boyd would send the scoring matrix and redacted applications to the new committee the following day. Once that is completed and the board is selected, the next step comes in April for the formal agreement with the Town and the Department of Local Affairs in their commitment to being a Main Streets Community.

Staff Reports

1. Mayor
   Mayor Howard advised she had received complaints from residents near the new Farmers State Bank concerning traffic utilizing the entrance/exit at the back of the back coming off Navajo Street. Ms. Boyd advised she was aware of these complaints because the same residents had also called Town Hall. She advised this was already addressed in the bank's building permit application process, which went through a long review process with the building department and the planning commission and was ultimately approved by the Town Board with multiple opportunities for public input. After receiving these complaints, she spoke with the bank and made them aware. There was a discussion about the bank putting up signs at this entry/exit advising access was for bank customers and employees only for bank customers. Ms. Boyd also advised it is a traffic code violation for the public to utilize private drives as pass through. Still, ultimately it is the Bank's private property and nothing the Town can enforce. If the bank has an issue with people utilizing their parking lot in that manner, they need to report it to law enforcement. The Town would not be getting involved.
2. Board of Trustees
   Trustee Wineland referenced the mess being left from the snow melt around town. Ms. Boyd advised that public works has already contacted Kubota and inquired about renting an attachment for the Town's leased skid steer that will allow him to better clean up the curb lines once everything has dried out.
3. Town Attorney
   Ms. Borne expressed concern over trustees' attendance at the February 11, 2025, monthly meeting, which was canceled due to a lack of quorum. She proposed a policy on how board compensation is structured regarding attendance rather than just a monthly blanket payment regardless of attendance. Ms. Boyd will draft a policy for review at the next monthly meeting.
4. Town Administrator
   • Civic Plus software programs update
     Ms. Boyd advised that she and Ms. Davidson attend the initial training and onboarding for this software on January 2gth and the follow-up training on February 11 th. They have spent much time building templates and notification lists for internal customers. They are currently working to get Meta verified with our social media platforms so that the notifications sent out will be automatically forecasted to those platforms, but that is proving to be a process. Once these items are complete, an invitation will be sent out to the public to sign up for our system within the next 30 days and then schedule a series of test notifications on the system.
     
     Kick-off meeting for the Agenda & Meetings Management software will be on Monday, March 24th.
   • Park Project update
     On Monday, February 24th, a Community Development Block Grant application was submitted to DOLA asking for $600,000 for the permanent bathroom structures. This project budget total is $670,000. If granted, this will be removed from the GOCO grant request for the entire project; that submittal is in July. Removing this part of that total project from that grant request will make it more competitive because it shows we are actively seeking funding other than GOCO. We should hear back on this in July, so I will keep you updated.
     
     Kiowa School has agreed to hold a "Penny Wars Drive" among the classrooms to gain community involvement in this project. We will also be putting out tip jars at our various events to allow the community to show commitment to these improvements in their community parks. Also, we are planning some discussions with our partners at the County level to see what support they can offer. All of these will make our grant request to GOCO in July more competitive because it shows it is not just the Town saying this is what we want; it is the community saying they have buy-in for improvements they see and benefit from themselves.
   • Grants
     Kiowa-Bennett Road Improvement Project - Grant application submitted last. This was a regional grant opportunity with many other municipalities through the East Central Council of Governments. After three different revisions and project scope reductions to meet the ever-changing ask abilities, we submitted an ask for Kiowa that focused on Kiowa-Bennett Rd from SH-86 to the last tum-in of the fairgrounds, which is the edge of town limits to the north. The total ask of this grant was $1.5 million, which will fund the design and planning of bringing that roadway segment into what they are already doing on SH-86.
     
     CR-45 Improvement Project-On March 18th, an application to the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) was submitted asking for $750,000 to bring that segment into SH- 86.
   • 2025 Town events update
     The Town will again partner with the Kiowa Lion's Club for the Father's Day Pancake Breakfast this year. It will be held on Saturday, June 14th, from 8 am until 12 noon at the Kiowa Lion's Club. All proceeds go back to the Lion's Club scholarship fund. 
     
     Bino's Pizza has again volunteered to sponsor the annual Easter Egg Hunt lunch this year. This is our first event of the year, and it will be held on Saturday, April 19th, at 11 a.m., with a rain date of Saturday, April 26th, at the same time and place.
5. Public Works
   Thanks to Hoo Motors, we purchased another locally and under-budget public works truck for Mendez. We budgeted $25,000 this year for this truck, and on February 11th, we purchased a 2013 Ford F150 with 115,000 miles on it and, more importantly, a heater. The total cost was $17,144, $7856 under budget.
   
   The old truck was 25 years old, had over 300,000 miles on it, and had numerous mechanical issues. The dealership valued the old truck at $500, which was generous. Our public works employee purchased the truck back from the Town for $500 cash. Due to the value placed on the vehicle, both the auditor and general counsel found no need to surplus it because it is clearly fully depreciated, so the impact of removing it from the capital assets is $0.
6. Code Enforcement
   1st qtr. report due in April

Consent Items

1. Approval of Minutes of January 14, 2025, Monthly Meeting
   Trustee Smith moved to approve January 14, 2025, Monthly Meeting minutes and Trustee Shafer seconded it. The motion was carried 6-0 with no discussion.
2. Approval of Minutes ofJanuary 28, 2025, Special Joint Meeting
   Trustee Wineland moved to approve January 28, 2025, Special Joint Meeting minutes and Trustee Shafer seconded it. The motion was carried 6-0 with no discussion.
3. Approval of Minutes of February 11, 2025, Monthly Meeting
   Trustee Shafer moved to approve February 11, 2025, Monthly Meeting minutes, and Trustee Stahl seconded it. The motion was carried 6-0 with no discussion.
4. Expenditures for Year-to-Date 2025
   Trustee Smith moved to accept the expenditures for YTD 2025, and Trustee Wineland seconded it. The motion was carried 6-0, and there was no further discussion.

Old Business

1. RESOLUTION 6, SERIES 2025, A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE TOWN OF KIOWA COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, TOWN OF KIOWA, COLORADO
   
   Trustee Smith moved to approve RESOLUTION 6, SERIES 2025, and Trustee Wineland seconded it. The motion was carried 6-0 with no further discussion.
2. RESOLUTION 7, SERIES 2025, A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE SECOND AMENDED AND RESTATED OPERATING AGREEMENT BY AND BETWEEN DISCUSSION/COMMUNICATIONS
   
   Trustee Smith moved to table RESOLUTION 7, SERIES 2025, and Trustee Shafer seconded it.
   The motion was carried 6-0, and there was no further discussion.

Discussion/Communications

1. Ms. Boyd advised that she had received complaints from various citizens concerning comments made by a Trustee during the last community meeting at the Fairgrounds. She then referred back to Policy 22-056 - Board of Trustees Code of Ethics, which the Board approved at the February 13, 2024, monthly meeting. Ms. Boyd highlighted and openly discussed other areas of the policy that have come into question for her since it was adopted, as they relate to the Trustee's conversations concerning Town business, Town Staff, and their fellow board members in public settings, to members of the public, toward staff, etc.
2. Trustee Shafer discussed adding an invocation to the monthly meeting agenda. Ms. Borne cautioned that people of other religions could take offense if their particular religion were not recognized or that those with no religion could be involuntarily subjected to this. Trustee Stahl advised it could be added after the pledge of allegiance. John Hill suggested that the County has an invocation and then a pledge of allegiance before calling the meeting to order but is recording the entire time.
   
   Trustee Shafer moved to add an invocation to the monthly meeting agendas moving forward and Trustee Smith seconded the motion. The motion carried 6-0 with no further discussion.

Adjourn

Trustee Smith moved to adjourn at 8:56 p.m. Trustee Shafer seconded, and the motion carried 6-0 with no discussion.

The next regular meeting will be on April 8, 2025, at the Town Hall at 7:00 p.m.

Approved:

Theresa Howard
Mayor, Town of Kiowa

Kimberly Boyd, Town Administrator