[0:15] Good evening and welcome to the Westminster City Council

[0:18] meeting of August 24, 2026.

[0:19] Please stand and join us in the pledge. Thank you for joining

[0:42] us this evening. Please remember that our meetings are

[0:44] governed by the rules of decorum posted inside chamber

[0:47] doors. We ask all attendees to maintain a respectful

[0:51] environment, no disruptions, threats, or audible expressions

[0:53] of support or opposition are permitted. Signs and placards

[0:57] are prohibited and all attendees must remain seated in

[1:00] designated areas. If you wish to speak during public comment,

[1:02] please sign up in the lobby.

[1:04] Sign up closes at 6:45 p.m.

[1:07] City clerk, roll call please.

[1:13] Councilor Barajas. Mayor Carmelia here. Councilor

[1:17] Rozzati, Councilor Hott Councilor Ireland. Councillor

[1:23] Johnson Mayor Pro Tem Nomela is trying to log on right now.

[1:28] Thank you so much. um, with that, may I have a motion to

[1:30] allow Mayor pro tem to attend remotely. Councilor Johnson,

[1:34] thank you. Mayor I move to allow the mayor pro temp to

[1:38] participate in tonight’s meeting remotely. Thank you,

[1:40] Councilor Hopp. 2. Thank you.

[1:43] Any further discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? OK.

[1:50] With that, the motion passes, and I’ll pause until we have

[1:54] her confirmed. City clerk. Uh, any progress? If not, I might

[4:17] call a recess just until the mayor pro tem is able to.

[4:20] Perfect. All right, we will take a short recess until we

[4:23] can get our uh remote attendee online. Mayor Pro Tem, can you

[5:27] hear me? Yes, I can. Welcome.

[5:36] OK, with that, we will continue with this evening’s agenda. Do

[5:40] I have a motion to approve the minutes. Councilor Johnson,

[5:43] thank you, Mayor. I move to approve the minutes of August

[5:46] 10th, 2026. City council meeting as presented. Thank you

[5:48] so much, Councilor Hot. 2nd.

[5:51] Excellent. Any further discussion? All right, city

[5:54] clerk. Oops, I’m all over the place. All those in favor, aye,

[6:00] any opposed? Excellent. That moves us on to presentations,

[6:04] and this evening we have one presentation and uh this is a

[6:09] big congratulations to our staff who work so hard, uh, in

[6:13] our finance committee, uh, we will be presenting the

[6:17] government finance Officers Association, Triple Crown Award

[6:20] for the 42nd year in a row.

[6:34] Hello team, is this on? OK.

[6:42] Good evening, everybody come on up. Oh, these are so pretty. Uh

[6:48] Check that out. Looks like marble. All right, somebody

[6:52] else better hold this. This is way too heavy and important.

[6:55] There you go. All right, distinguish budget presentation.

[7:02] I’m gonna put this on this side.

[7:03] Who wants to hold it? There you go. It’s real heavy. It’s a

[7:06] good like 10 pounds right there.

[7:07] OK, do we have a There’s no paper. Do we have a OK. Well,

[7:14] with that, I’m going to allow everyone here to please, uh,

[7:17] introduce your name and what you do, uh, in the staff, uh,

[7:21] title and role. You want to start on this end? Sounds good.

[7:24] We’ll start right over here and I just want to pause to say

[7:28] these folks were taking this slow because they really

[7:31] deserve, um, everything they can get. This, this is a lot of

[7:34] work that comes into the budget department, and they put up

[7:37] with a lot of a lot of work from council and from residents,

[7:41] and they make this happen and they continue to make it happen

[7:43] and Just because it happens every year, doesn’t mean it

[7:46] isn’t a lot of work to continue winning this Triple Crown award,

[7:49] so. Thank you. Mark Harrelson, sales tax manager. James and

[7:56] Bruggan policy and budget coordinator. Just Sally,

[8:00] accounting coordinator. Mandy Lemmig policy and budget

[8:04] coordinator. Michael Parlow, policy and budget coordinator.

[8:09] Sherry Young, accounting manager. Erin Ferrier policy

[8:14] and budget manager and also not with us tonight is Teresa Boco,

[8:17] policy and budget coordinator, and Brian Donahue, business

[8:20] operations administrator. Chris Lindsey, assistant city manager

[8:25] and mayor, if I could, uh, make a few, make a few comments. Uh,

[8:28] I would also say this is on behalf of uh Ezekiel Vasquez,

[8:32] our chief financial officer who’s not here this evening. Um,

[8:34] thank you, Mayor and council, on behalf of staff, we’re

[8:37] honored to accept the government finance officers, uh,

[8:40] Triple Crown award. Uh, this recognizes governments and in

[8:43] the same year earn all three distinctions, uh, the

[8:47] excellence in financial reporting, the popular annual

[8:49] financial reporting and the budget presentation, um, which

[8:52] is a national benchmark. for transparency, accountability,

[8:56] and reporting excellence.

[8:58] Westminster met these standards again this year, affirming the

[9:01] city’s commitment to clear, accessible financial

[9:04] communication for our community.

[9:05] We’re one of 17 recipients of the Triple Crown Award in the

[9:09] state of Colorado. This continues, uh, a really

[9:12] powerful track record, 42 consecutive years of earning

[9:16] the uh certificate of Achievement and Financial

[9:19] Reporting. Uh, the 6th consecutive year of the

[9:22] Distinguished Budget Presentation Award and the 4th

[9:24] consecutive year of the popular, uh, financial report.

[9:29] recognition. These accomplishments aren’t just

[9:31] about awards, they’re about how we serve the Westminster

[9:34] community. They demonstrate our financial, that our financial

[9:38] information is accurate, accessible, and meaningful, uh,

[9:41] while engaging residents and council and informed decision

[9:45] making. These recognitions reflect the strategic plan

[9:48] principles of stewardship and fiscal responsibility,

[9:51] transparency and accountability, and organizational vitality. Uh,

[9:54] mayor and council, thank you for championing championing.

[9:58] Transparency and fiscal stewardship, uh, our staff is

[10:00] honored to continue this work, uh, on behalf of the community.

[10:03] Thank you. won’t OK. Yeah.

[10:27] Appreciate you. Thank you all so much. With that, we are now

[11:06] moved to our public comment section. Public comment is an

[11:10] opportunity for the public to address city council on any

[11:13] issue or item pertaining to city business unless there’s a

[11:16] public hearing on the topic.

[11:17] Tonight there are no public hearings. During public comment,

[11:20] each speaker will have up to 3 minutes for their comments.

[11:23] Staff will follow up with questions and outstanding

[11:26] issues. City clerk, would you please report the number of

[11:29] email and voicemail comments received, the number of

[11:31] individuals signed up to speak and then call the first speaker

[11:33] to the podium. Thank you, Mayor.

[11:36] We have. We received 2 emails, 1 voicemail that has been

[11:41] transcribed and attached to tonight’s packet, and we have 7

[11:45] live speakers. The first speaker is Mr. Alan Farb.

[11:50] Welcome. So regarding the August 10th public comment and

[12:02] council’s discussion on our city’s homeless, particularly

[12:05] in South Westminster and especially in and around Irving

[12:08] Street Library and know that hundreds of unhoused people

[12:12] reside throughout the city council members, staff, our

[12:14] police chief and park rangers, such community members as

[12:18] Westminster Elks, Westminster Presbyterian Church’s Fish Food

[12:21] Bank, Mission, Nevada, even members of the local business

[12:24] community know that I have for 6.5 years done weekly volunteer

[12:27] street outreach. Outreach among our unhoused women and men,

[12:32] there are now 7 of us volunteers in our group who go

[12:34] out among our Westminster unsheltered residents bringing

[12:38] food, sometimes their only meal of the day, water, hygiene

[12:42] items, socks, underwear, maybe an antibiotic for an infected

[12:45] wound or a warm cap or tarp to protect them from the elements.

[12:50] This weekly outreach entails much more than offering a lunch

[12:53] bag meal. We remind people about available if limited

[12:57] resources to connect with.

[12:59] Professionals, including our city’s 5 member homeless

[13:02] navigator team, but importantly, we offer compassion,

[13:06] interaction, and serve as a conduit for our unhoused

[13:09] residents to share their situations and hopes for moving

[13:12] off the streets into safe hygienic housing and getting

[13:16] proper medical, dental, mental health, and substance use care

[13:19] that is, we treat our homeless women and men with basic human

[13:24] dignity. We see them as people.

[13:26] Yes, uh, some homeless folks are problematic so are many

[13:31] others who aren’t homeless. And yes, there are habitual drug

[13:36] and alcohol users, but even more so, many unhoused people

[13:39] endure a variety of mental health issues that go untreated,

[13:43] which too often puts and keeps them on the streets, behind the

[13:47] bushes, under bridges, on the sidewalks in the parks where

[13:50] the rest of the population just doesn’t want to see them, even

[13:53] our own officers have told our unhoused to move on, but the

[13:58] question always remains where business owners and their

[14:01] clients’ libraries and their patrons, parks and their users

[14:02] shouldn’t. have to have worrisome concerns about a

[14:06] homeless woman with her life’s belongings sleeping near to

[14:09] where they want to enter, but we as a community can’t just

[14:13] tell unsheltered people to move on with no safe place to move

[14:17] on to. Dollars are tight, state and especially federal funds

[14:22] once depended on have been stripped away, leaving more

[14:26] people who need our community’s help with fewer options.

[14:31] Westminster doesn’t want to see unsheltered women. Men and yes,

[14:36] children, neither do I fortunately this council is

[14:40] making the effort to actually do something, so I say to all

[14:45] in our community, join with the city to be part of the solution

[14:49] and if you want to learn more about the homeless person you

[14:52] don’t want to see come spend the day with us volunteers.

[14:56] Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Christine Wars.

[15:16] Welcome. Good evening. Um, as you know, this will probably be

[15:22] my 6th time coming in front of you guys and it’s still the

[15:26] same issue your mission statement says the city of

[15:30] Westminster provides high quality services respond to

[15:34] evolving community needs and fosters resilience to promote a

[15:37] safe. And thriving community.

[15:41] Just recently this weekend.

[15:44] There was fires, gunshots fired, a total of 8. Right in front of

[15:49] the town home. And the police.

[15:54] Obviously we’re called. And then today, the next day they

[15:57] were called to come, I should say later that day because it

[16:01] was Sunday, they were called to come pick up the casings. When

[16:07] is it enough? That our community is at risk. When will

[16:16] we do something we call the police. And in this case,

[16:21] another incident on Saturday.

[16:23] And one of my staff actually stopped a young man from taking

[16:28] a bat and going to the front of the rodeo to have a

[16:34] confrontation with another individual. Police were called

[16:39] by the time they got there, the plat with the bat was hidden.

[16:45] The police officers was shown where it was at, but because

[16:49] nobody was. Hit by it. There was null and void. But if it

[16:58] wasn’t for one of my staff stepping in and saying, dude,

[17:01] you don’t want to do that. It’s going to cause a lot of

[17:04] problems. It was avoided. Again, you tell us. Go to the police.

[17:12] By the time police get there, it’s not their fault. But

[17:18] things have been dismantled.

[17:21] Things have been um. Quieted down. But there’s an issue. If

[17:28] that bat issue wouldn’t have been stopped. Somebody could

[17:32] have gotten really hurt. It has been known that when you shoot

[17:38] um bullets up in the air. have been hit. I’d like to know

[17:43] where those bullets are. Found the casings. They found 5.

[17:47] Another one was found today and be turned into the police

[17:50] department. I just ask, what has to happen? Before something

[17:56] is done. And I know that. I have been ridiculed that I

[18:05] embellish things, but I don’t need to embellish things you

[18:09] come out there 12:30, 1 in the morning, you will see for

[18:11] yourself. Thank you very much for your time. No clapping is

[18:19] allowed. Thank you so much.

[18:20] Thank you Christine. The next speaker is Dorothy Chaffee.

[18:37] Welcome. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and council.

[18:40] Christine kind of stole a little bit of my thunder. She

[18:44] took my mission statement from Westminster, which I heard last

[18:49] Tuesday at the meeting that was held here. And the word safe

[18:55] really came out. I printed it off so I wouldn’t misrepresent,

[18:58] but Christine just read it to you, so I don’t need to. I want

[19:02] to address, The type of music that’s being performed at the

[19:10] rodeo that promotes deviant behavior. Please excuse my

[19:14] pronunciation if I’m saying it wrong, but it’s called Narcocor

[19:19] Rio. It’s a type of Hispanic music that glorifies. Um,

[19:28] Illegal activities organized crime, drug trafficking, money

[19:34] laundering, prostitution, and other illegal activities. The

[19:39] headliner That was there this past Saturday is a proponent of

[19:44] this music and sings this type of music. I heard about what

[19:49] happened this past weekend with the gunfire. I would love to

[19:52] share a video with you after council that will show you and

[19:56] you can hear the gunfire. You can see the truck peeling out.

[20:01] To support. The, the behavior that is being promoted by the

[20:07] type of music that is being promoted by the rodeo. Nothing

[20:11] against the rodeo. They have a right. As you all have informed

[20:17] me and I actually agree with to have whomever they want there.

[20:21] It’s their place of business.

[20:23] The problem is their place of business and how they are

[20:27] conducting the business and who they are supporting is causing

[20:32] problems for your city. It’s causing problems for the

[20:36] residents that have purchased hundreds of thousands of

[20:38] dollars’ worth of town homes that are right across the

[20:41] street. That are fearing for their lives because bullets are

[20:47] flying. It’s documented. I have a uh. City of Westminster case

[20:51] number. For the officer that came and collected those bullet

[20:56] casings. Those don’t fall from the sky, they fall from a gun.

[21:01] Again, as Christine said, we have to call the police, we

[21:04] have to call the police. Well, we need help we need your help

[21:10] to help us. Try to get a handle.

[21:12] On the behavior because what’s gonna happen next. is A

[21:20] mortuary situation where you’re going to have a dead citizen or

[21:24] dead citizens because this type of behavior is being allowed to

[21:29] continue to present itself within your city, and that’s

[21:32] very sad. So thank you very much for your time tonight.

[21:35] Thank you. The next speaker is Jeremy Parker. Welcome. Good

[21:51] evening, um. I’m gonna keep riding the rodeo train, um, and

[21:56] please forgive me if my words are going to come across

[21:59] accusatory, um. 1:30 a.m. My wife and I were woken up again

[22:06] by the rodeo. And what did I do?

[22:10] I did what we’ve all been asked to do. We observe, we document,

[22:14] we report. But before I had a chance to even do that, as I’m

[22:19] opening my window. To decide which riff or raff I’m gonna

[22:25] document this time around the truck that we’re all talking

[22:28] about peels out of the parking lot. From what I remember

[22:32] hearing, 5 rounds boom boom boom boom boom. In the air

[22:35] while I’m on my balcony shot in my direction. I wonder if

[22:40] anybody up here has had to duck for safety in their own home. I

[22:45] did. I had to do that that night. Next to my son being

[22:50] woken up, eight year old boy running down the stairs. Dad,

[22:53] what was that? What’s going on?

[22:55] What’s happening? And that’s a really fun parenting moment to

[23:00] navigate at 2 in the morning with your son. Thanks to our

[23:02] friends at the rodeo. Um We did collect the casings the next

[23:08] day. Myself went out with someone else, we found what I

[23:11] thought the police department was going to do. We saw the

[23:14] casings, got a patrol unit out there, so we have a case number

[23:17] with that. It’s just very frustrating. To feel Unsafe.

[23:25] And terrorized in your own home.

[23:26] Every weekend. Something’s going on. And I Excuse me. I

[23:36] know we don’t. Want to. Make it a race thing, and I understand

[23:42] that. But what is being Communicated back to us. By the

[23:50] complacency of either the council or staff or the

[23:54] Westminster PD by de facto you have made it a race issue.

[23:58] Because if there’s any other group, this would have not gone

[24:01] on. For 6 months. So I’m not a very passive person when it

[24:09] comes to matters like this, especially protecting my family.

[24:12] And my investment into what. I was sold moving into downtown

[24:17] Westminster. So Myself And the rest of us in the downtown

[24:27] Western downtown Westminster Western downtown Westminster

[24:28] community are going to begin utilizing the connections. And

[24:31] the influence we have with the media and news outlets to shine

[24:34] a light. On the inadequacies of what’s happening here. Thank

[24:38] you for your time. Thank you.

[24:45] The next speaker is George Miller. Welcome. Hello. Good

[24:54] afternoon, Mayor. Good afternoon, council members.

[24:59] Unlike the previous speaker, I do not care whatsoever if you

[25:02] will please speak into the mic so our audience online can hear

[25:05] you. Unlike the previous speaker, I do not care if

[25:08] anyone up here forgives me for my accusatory tone. Uh, my name

[25:13] is George Miller. I live off of Raleigh Street by the high

[25:17] school. I’m here today to inquire about the homelessness

[25:22] issue here in Westminster. I’d like to know why the city of

[25:25] Westminster has made a practically impossible for

[25:28] police to immediately arrest and remove homeless people from

[25:32] public spaces upon a call of complaint, especially when

[25:37] 13-1-5, Section 24 exists on the books. It states that no

[25:41] one is allowed to reside in public spaces between 11 p.m.

[25:46] and sunset. Why are our police officers not allowed to. force

[25:48] that. And rather the the local government has opted for. The

[25:56] quote unquote continuum of compassion policy which is

[26:01] extremely bureaucratic and easily abused by homeless

[26:03] people who refuse to go into a shelter. When I go to the

[26:07] Irving Street Westminster Public Library, I should be

[26:09] able to go into the bathroom and use the facilities without

[26:12] having to see a homeless man wash out his dirty drug needles

[26:16] in the sink. When I want to go for an evening run along Little

[26:22] Dry Creek Trail, I should not have to go past a homeless

[26:28] encampments with drug addicts everywhere and trash and

[26:32] disgusting litter strewn about everywhere. When I’m driving

[26:36] down Federal to get onto the on-ramp to Highway 36, I should

[26:41] not have to pass by a homeless woman defecating on the

[26:45] sidewalk in front of, for the whole world to see, and God

[26:49] knows how many people, small children who see that. Last

[26:54] year I returned from vacation before I went on vacation there

[26:59] was no homeless encampment in the little in the little dry

[27:01] creek trail park in across the street from my apartment. Upon

[27:05] returning, there was a tent in every week more and more and

[27:09] more tents went up until eventually it was practically

[27:12] an entire homeless civilization evolving. Why did it take

[27:16] months and months for them to be cleared out. I went up there

[27:19] and talked to some of those people. They are drug addicts

[27:22] and many of them are riddled with dangerous diseases like

[27:26] tuberculosis. This is supposed to be a park where children

[27:29] play and people run. I’d like to know if at present time the

[27:36] Westminster municipal government has any plans to

[27:38] make the process of removing homeless people from public

[27:41] view, more streamlined and allowing the police to actually

[27:44] do their job as it pertains to keeping our city safe, clean,

[27:48] and presentable. Other countries around the world,

[27:53] they see America, they see this absolute mess. Your time is up,

[27:58] sir. Thank you so much. The bar, but all of you have a choice to

[28:04] not participate in that. I hope this decides decides to do

[28:09] something. Thank you. Thank you.

[28:11] The next, the next speaker is Wendy McKendrick. McKendrick,

[28:19] yeah. Welcome. Thank you. Good evening. I’m here tonight

[28:33] because I care deeply about both public safety and the

[28:37] constitutional freedoms that define this country. I’m here

[28:42] to talk about surveillance.

[28:43] Like everyone else in this room, I want criminals caught. I want

[28:48] stolen cars recovered. I want children protected. Those goals

[28:52] unite all of us. But the question before you isn’t

[28:56] whether we support law enforcement. The question is

[29:00] whether creating a system that records the movements of every

[29:04] innocent citizen is a reasonable price to pay.

[29:08] History teaches us something important. Governments rarely

[29:12] take freedoms all at once. It happens one step at a time.

[29:17] Each new surveillance tool is introduced with good intentions

[29:20] and for a worthy cause. The technology itself is neutral.

[29:24] The question is who has access to it? How it will be used in

[29:28] the future and whether future leaders will exercise the same

[29:32] restraint. We hope today’s leaders will. Around the world

[29:37] we’ve seen how surveillance systems can expand far beyond

[29:41] their original purpose. China has demonstrated how powerful

[29:45] these technologies become once they are woven into everyday

[29:47] life. We are obviously not China. That’s precisely why we

[29:52] should be careful to protect the freedoms that distinguish

[29:56] us from a authoritarian governments. Supporters often

[30:00] say if you haven’t done anything wrong, you have

[30:03] nothing to worry about, but that’s not how constitutional

[30:06] rights work. We don’t protect privacy because everyone is

[30:10] guilty. We protect privacy because everyone is innocent

[30:14] until proven otherwise. We don’t require warrants because

[30:18] we distrust every police officer. We require them

[30:22] because our Constitution recognizes that government

[30:24] power should have limits. Even the effectiveness of these

[30:28] systems deserves scrutiny.

[30:30] Several communities have questioned whether automated

[30:33] license plate reader programs provide measurable reductions

[30:36] in crime that justify their cost in the collection of

[30:39] millions of records from law-abiding citizens. In some

[30:43] cities, officials have concluded the value did not

[30:47] justify continuing the programs.

[30:48] This isn’t simply about today’s council or today’s police

[30:52] department. It’s about the president we leave for tomorrow.

[30:54] Once the surveillance infrastructure exists, future

[30:59] councils can expand it. Future governments can change the

[31:03] rules. Future technologies can connect databases in ways we

[31:07] can’t even imagine today.

[31:09] Benjamin Franklin warned that those willing to trade

[31:13] essential liberty for temporary safety deserve neither liberty

[31:16] nor safety. Whether or not you agree with every word of that

[31:20] quote, the principle remains time remains timeless. Freedom.

[31:25] Once surrendered, Israeli returned voluntarily. I

[31:29] respectfully ask you to not allow these surveillance

[31:31] cameras. Your time is up. Thank you for your time. Thank you so

[31:35] much. The next speaker is Brandon Giggu. Welcome. Uh uh.

[31:49] I’m uh my name’s Brandon. I live in the Sheridan Green area,

[31:54] um, I’m a software engineer with 10 years of experience,

[31:56] and I’m adding my voice like the previous speaker, uh,

[32:00] against the automated license plate readers being used in the

[32:03] city, um, I wanted to thank you for letting me speak and I

[32:07] wanted to thank Councilor Izzati for um bringing this

[32:10] topic up for a study session. I was greeted by an ALPR upon

[32:17] driving here uh to speak today and it filled me with a sense

[32:20] of dread. This cameras made by Flock Safety. It’s a private

[32:24] company with billions of dollars funneled into it to

[32:28] create an extremely capable AI powered surveillance system and

[32:32] my visit today, particularly my license plate and it’s my car’s

[32:38] distinguishing features is now stored in Flock’s massive

[32:41] database along with millions of Of Americans own cars and their

[32:45] whereabouts across the nation.

[32:47] Uh, this database can be searched at any time for any

[32:51] plate number or for images on a particular time and day. This

[32:55] is undoubtedly mass surveillance and uh the system

[32:58] is not tracking cars at the end of the day, it’s tracking

[33:00] people. These ALPRs are sold as a tool to fight crime and help

[33:06] keep us safe with these cameras popping up in my neighborhood

[33:10] at Lowe’s, at Target, uh, at Westminster City Hall. I feel

[33:15] less safe, not more. I am much more concerned about this

[33:19] technology and the swaths of data being abused, making

[33:23] mistakes or being given to the wrong hands than I am about

[33:26] being a. The victim of a crime.

[33:30] Let me be clear, I appreciate the police for the work they do,

[33:34] officers’ jobs are not easy. I have confidence the city police

[33:38] has my best interest in mind and would keep the data

[33:42] collected by these cameras from being accessed by other

[33:44] agencies. And Flock assures everyone and makes it clear the

[33:48] data is owned by whoever pays for the cameras. However, this

[33:53] has not been the reality. Flock allows their police customers

[33:58] to use a national lookup tool which uh lets them do

[34:03] nationwide searches. Police in other jurisdictions have been

[34:07] caught providing data to federal ICE agents and these

[34:10] searches, whether local or national, are warrantless and a

[34:13] breach of privacy. Against the Fourth Amendment. Another thing

[34:19] is that I don’t press the a private company with billions

[34:22] in funding to sufficiently protect this data. Data

[34:26] breaches like the Equifax breach, uh, revealing millions

[34:30] of people’s identities are becoming more and more common.

[34:33] Data is valuable and if hackers can access the live feeds of

[34:37] these cameras, which has occurred many times, what’s

[34:40] stopping them from going a step further. I wanna voice my

[34:45] opposition against all ALPR camera manufacturers, that’s

[34:48] just luck. Thank you, sir. Your time is up. Thank you for your

[34:51] time. Thank you so much. The next speaker is Tom Lampo.

[35:08] Welcome. Hey, thank you very much. Hello to Westminster.

[35:11] Hello to you in front of me.

[35:12] I’m Tom Lampo. And I’m here to lift up Westminster to the Lord

[35:16] in prayer. So please join me in prayer. Heavenly Father, in

[35:20] Jesus’ name we invite you here tonight to be with us.

[35:23] Westminster is your city and you are always welcome here.

[35:25] Your word in Psalm 139 710 states where can I go from your

[35:30] spirit? Where can I flee from your presence if I go up to the

[35:33] heavens, you are there. If, if I make my bed in the depths,

[35:37] you were there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I

[35:40] settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will

[35:44] guide me. Your right hand will hold me fast. We’ll keep you to

[35:48] your word. We want to be in your presence wherever we are

[35:52] and in whatever situations we are engaging in help us to be

[35:54] mindful of you. We lift up the kids of Westminster to you.

[35:59] They’re back in school. The new school year has begun. There is

[36:03] new act there is new activity in a lot of it near our schools.

[36:06] There are students and parents whose only focus is to arrive

[36:09] at school before the first bell rings. The focus might not be

[36:12] on their surroundings. Drivers will need to be more conscious

[36:16] of their surroundings. Most need to get to work and their

[36:19] focus might not be on the surroundings. So for everyone,

[36:22] we ask you make us all mindful of Philippians 2:4, which

[36:25] states. Not looking to your own interests, but each of you to

[36:29] the interests of others. Keep everyone safe. Help everyone to

[36:33] think outside of their own situations and to be mindful of

[36:36] what is transpiring around them.

[36:37] Help us to keep outside.

[36:40] Outside of ourselves and to think of others first, keep our

[36:43] little ones safe, and bring clarity and understanding to

[36:45] their minds. There are many adults who have contact with

[36:50] our kids while they’re at school. This is school. This

[36:54] includes school resource officers. They have become part

[36:56] of the fabric of schools. They have unique and challenging

[37:00] role because of their unique situation, we give them

[37:03] Proverbs 2:11, which states discretion will protect you and

[37:07] understanding will guard you.

[37:09] Give our school resource officers discretion and

[37:12] understanding. They will be challenged during their days to

[37:15] make quick decisions and to assess the multitude of

[37:18] situations. A situation where they are needed can come out of

[37:23] nowhere and progress quickly.

[37:24] Their mind needs to be sharp.

[37:26] Their actions can make the outcome of those situations and

[37:29] ultimate positive for all involved. You are a god, and we

[37:33] are your people. In Jesus’ name we pray. Hey man, thank you

[37:36] guys. Have a nice night. Thank you so much. And that was the

[37:41] last speaker. Excellent. Thank you, speakers, and now we will

[37:45] turn it over to our city manager. Do we have a report

[37:47] this evening? Mayor, thank you.

[37:50] I do have a brief report this evening if I could have the

[37:53] next slide. All right, first up, by way of city update, I want

[38:00] to announce that there is a significant step forward, uh,

[38:04] for historic Westminster with the Berg Food Hall, uh, now

[38:07] underway, so the city officially completed the sale

[38:10] of the Schoenberg Farm property to MJ Development last week and

[38:15] that sale represents um countless hours hundreds of

[38:18] hours of dedication and collaboration over the past 20

[38:22] years to preserve and protect this historic uh uh property,

[38:26] the berg will breathe exciting life. In one of historic

[38:30] Westminster’s iconic properties as a food hall and music venue,

[38:33] the Berg is scheduled to open in the fall, uh, winter of 2027,

[38:38] so, uh, more updates to come on that, but that is a huge step

[38:43] forward for historic Westminster uh with one of our

[38:45] historic landmarks. Next slide please. All right, this is also

[38:52] uh a call to our community, um, uh, RTD is looking for, uh, RTD

[38:59] compu um community ambassadors, so, uh, they are recruiting 30

[39:02] community representatives to provide feedback for RTD

[39:05] Connect, which is an initiative that reviews RTD’s core

[39:09] services, um, we are advised that community ambassadors for

[39:12] RTD will earn a $2500 stipend and play a vital role in

[39:17] sharing information uh back to their communities gathering

[39:20] community. Feedback, uh, and getting that into RTD and then

[39:24] connecting community members to engagement opportunities, so uh

[39:28] we understand that those applications are due no later

[39:31] than August twenty-eighth, and you can learn more at

[39:38] surveyMonkey.com/r/9GK8BPV um we’ll have that link on the

[39:39] city website. Next slide, please. I have 2 slides on

[39:43] tonight’s agenda. Uh, first up, we of course had the

[39:45] presentation, uh, to our, um, team, uh, for our government

[39:50] finance officers association Triple Crown Award, the

[39:53] forty-second year for all three awards, um, in my manager

[39:56] report, I will briefly go through tonight’s agendas and

[40:01] what’s upcoming and then I will have a uh presentation for you

[40:04] of our city’s proposed 2027 budget, which is the

[40:07] culmination of a lot of engagement work with city

[40:09] council and the community and the. Beginning of deepened

[40:13] engagement uh as we work towards an October adoption of

[40:16] that budget on consent agenda tonight, there are 12 items and

[40:19] that includes 2 2nd readings and then under new business we

[40:22] have two first readings. The first is counselor’s Bill 34

[40:26] that amends the Westminster Municipal Code to exempt infant

[40:29] formula, diapers, and feminine hygiene products from the

[40:32] city’s sales and use tax and then we have a first reading of

[40:37] councilor’s Bill 35 amending the Westminster Municipal code,

[40:40] uh, providing for the.

[40:42] Declaration of fire restrictions in the city, um,

[40:44] so next slide please. Under old business we have a 2nd reading

[40:48] and that’s Councilor’s Bill 33 that authorizes an

[40:52] intergovernmental agreement between the city and Adam’s 12

[40:55] 5-star schools, and then we do have one, post meeting study

[40:59] session that’s an executive session and that’s a discussion

[41:02] uh by city council of a personnel matter. Which is the

[41:06] annual review for the presiding judge. Next slide, please. All

[41:10] right, this week, um, lots happening on Tuesday, tomorrow,

[41:14] August 25th is a planning commission meeting right here

[41:16] at City Hall that starts at 7 p.m. then on Wednesday, August

[41:20] 26th, uh, continuation of our hello neighbor Summer

[41:24] affordability Series, so that’s the 5th, uh, 1 of those

[41:27] sessions, that’s right there at uh downtown Westminster Central

[41:30] Park Plaza, um, that will run from 5 to 7 p.m. also that

[41:35] night concerts in downtown Westminster continues at

[41:37] Central Park Plaza, and that’s uh from 5:30 to 7. p.m. Also on

[41:42] Wednesday night, environmental advisory board meets at uh City

[41:45] Hall. It’s a hybrid meeting that starts at 6:30 p.m. Then

[41:49] we moved to Saturday on August 29th, our fire department

[41:53] professionals are hosting another uh car seat

[41:56] installation clinic for community members, that’s free

[41:58] of charge and this one’s at fire station number 2 at 9150

[42:03] Lowell Boulevard that will run from 8:30 to noon and then uh

[42:06] our fire professionals do ask to call ahead to make an

[42:09] appointment and you can call 303-658-4500 to get an

[42:14] appointment with our fire professional at fire station 2

[42:16] on Saturday, then on Sunday, August 30th. Is the

[42:20] continuation of the downtown Westminster summer yoga series

[42:23] right at Aerostat Park and that runs from 9:00 a.m. till 10:00

[42:25] a.m. Next slide, please. So this is, uh, usually where I

[42:31] announce that we have a meeting next week, but we do not have a

[42:33] meeting next week, nor the the the meeting after, so the

[42:36] coming Monday, August 31st, is the 5th Monday of August and

[42:41] therefore we do not have a scheduled council meeting, so

[42:44] no meeting next Monday, and then the following Monday,

[42:46] September 7th, which of course is Labor Day, so city council

[42:50] will reconvene uh in public meeting on Monday, September

[42:53] 14th, so that will be the next meeting of city council. I’m

[42:57] now going to move into uh the proposed 2027 budget. I have a

[43:02] brief introduction to make and then I’m going to ask Aaron

[43:05] Ferrier of our staff team to come up and uh provide you with

[43:08] a very brief run through of the budget, so tonight is not a

[43:11] study session on the budget, it’s really to orient you to

[43:14] where the budget is, uh, it’s now been put into the public

[43:17] docket and is a public record and uh this begins the

[43:21] community engagement part of the uh budget process. I do

[43:24] wanna read uh the budget message uh this year. Um, the

[43:29] proposed 2027 budget presents a tight balanced budget that

[43:33] navigates economic uncertainty with strong financial

[43:36] discipline. It continues the city’s commitment to tightening

[43:38] our belts and doing more with the resources we have, while

[43:42] delivering on city council’s priorities and continuing to

[43:46] meet the community’s expectations for Westminster’s

[43:48] exceptional levels of service.

[43:50] Guided by the city’s strategic plan, this budget advances a

[43:54] shared vision for a Westminster that is safe, connected,

[43:59] resilient and affordable by investing in its services,

[44:02] infrastructure, and people.

[44:04] It’s the product of months of city council and community

[44:07] engagement, ensuring that every dollar in this budget directly

[44:11] serves the city’s strategic plan. For a city with one of

[44:14] the lowest property tax rates in the country this budget

[44:18] acknowledges an important financial reality and does not

[44:20] delay difficult decisions. As with many of our neighboring

[44:25] communities escalating operating costs are outpacing

[44:28] revenue growth and this budget marks a deepening commitment to

[44:31] our no stone unturned approach, balancing reductions in

[44:35] department budgets and capital projects with strategic and

[44:38] thoughtful additions to the workplace to increase revenue

[44:42] opportunities, address service gaps, and deliver on city

[44:47] council’s priorities this year.

[44:47] The the budget also includes adjustments to critical fees

[44:51] and permitting processes for high. Impact roadway users,

[44:54] telecommunication companies, and other entities negatively

[44:58] impacting Westminster’s roads and rights of way, ensuring

[45:01] that those impacting our infrastructure pay their fair

[45:04] share instead of our taxpayers.

[45:06] As I complete my second year as Westminster City manager, I’m

[45:10] proud to reaffirm our commitment to a city government

[45:13] that leads with integrity remains accountable, and

[45:17] fiscally responsible and places meaningful community engagement

[45:19] first. Together we will stand strong in the shifting economic

[45:24] winds to make sure that our residents and businesses

[45:27] continue to thrive and that Westminster continues to be an

[45:31] exemplar of of excellence in local government. Now I’ll ask

[45:35] Erin Ferrier, uh, she has a brief presentation to run

[45:38] through, um. Providing an overview of this year’s

[45:41] proposed budget. Thank you, City Manager Andrews, Aaron

[45:44] fair to our policy and budget manager. Abby’s just helping

[45:48] with some technical. As we get through. Get it started. But

[45:57] I’ll begin with a huge thank you to City council for your

[46:02] leadership, partnership, and support throughout this entire

[46:04] process. The budget reflects many months of engagement that

[46:08] have helped shape where we are today. I also want to recognize

[46:13] our staff across the organization. Developing a

[46:16] budget of this size is.

[46:18] Citywide effort. And an incredible amount of work

[46:22] getting us to this point tonight. Tonight represents an

[46:26] important milestone. The development of a proposed 2027

[46:31] budget is complete. We are proud of the work that has gone

[46:35] into the proposal, but we recognize that it’s just that.

[46:38] A proposal. We are looking forward to city council’s

[46:42] review. Questions? And guidance as we fine tune the budget over

[46:46] the next several weeks. Next slide, please. We started the

[46:52] process in November of last year with the 2026 budget

[46:56] debrief and worked together over the last 7 months to

[47:00] drafting the proposed 2027 budget. We intentionally

[47:05] strengthen the development process this year based upon

[47:07] feedback we’ve received from city council and the community.

[47:10] Next slide, please. The budget began with a strategic plan,

[47:17] including the prioritized outcomes and tasks. And the

[47:20] community’s needs. The proposed 2027 budget translate those

[47:26] those priorities into investments into affordable

[47:31] housing initiatives. Community connections. Transportation and

[47:35] micro mobility planning. Public safety Economic vitality. And

[47:40] infrastructure. Next slide please. We also spent time this

[47:46] year thinking about how the budget communicates, not simply

[47:49] what it contains. The document is organized to make a complex,

[47:55] nearly 400 page financial plan easier to understand and

[47:58] navigate. We encourage City council and the community to

[48:02] begin with a budget message.

[48:03] And the budget brief. These sections provide an overview of

[48:08] the financial environment.

[48:11] Proposed investments and considerations that shaped the

[48:13] proposed budget. From there, move on to the other sections

[48:18] that contain greater detail about the funds, departments,

[48:22] capital improvement program, community requests, staffing

[48:27] and reference materials. The proposed 2027 budget continues

[48:32] to align resources with the strategic plan and prioritize

[48:36] outcomes and tasks while maintaining fiscal discipline

[48:40] and high-quality service uh delivery. Across the funds. The

[48:46] budget totals approximately 436 million, an increase of about

[48:50] 5% over the 2026 adopted budget.

[48:51] Within the total. Are targeted proposed investments and

[48:58] staffing to advance city council priorities while

[49:02] balancing growing service needs, infrastructure demands. And

[49:06] available revenues. With the proposed budget drafted, we are

[49:16] shifting from development into review and refinement. Between

[49:20] tonight and September 6th, we encourage city council to

[49:23] review the proposed 2027 budget.

[49:24] And submit questions or requests for clarifications.

[49:30] Share questions that help you understand how an item was

[49:32] developed. What is included in a budget. Amount. Or what

[49:37] information was used to evaluate a proposed investment.

[49:43] Staff will prepare responses to those questions and share them

[49:45] with city council ahead of the September 21st study session.

[49:50] These questions and responses will provide the foundation for

[49:53] a more focused discussion. And help identify areas where city

[49:56] council may want to add additional information or

[49:59] refinement to the budget.

[50:02] Between the questions and that study session. There will be a

[50:06] public hearing with, uh, will be held for the community to

[50:09] ask questions and share any feedback about the proposed

[50:13] 2027 budget on September 14th.

[50:18] Following the September review and the study session, we will

[50:21] move toward formal adoption process in October. First

[50:25] reading is anticipated for October 12th, followed by a

[50:28] second reading and adoption later in October. I want to

[50:31] close the way I started. With our sincere appreciation of

[50:36] city council’s leadership during the budget development

[50:38] process. We know there is work ahead, and we welcome it. We

[50:42] are looking forward to your suggestions, your feedback, and

[50:46] the opportunity to fine tune the budget over the next

[50:48] several weeks. Thank you and enjoy the budget book in front

[50:51] of you. When you open it up, the budget in brief is right on

[50:57] the side. And then there’s also a link if you prefer, uh,

[50:59] digital copies. Thank you so much, Erin. We are not doing a

[51:07] deep dive into the budget this evening, but counsel, are there

[51:09] any questions on the city manager’s report. Councilor

[51:14] Brajas, uh, thank you, Madam Mayor. This is a question for

[51:18] um uh just a logistic question.

[51:20] The public comment, uh, the emails and voicemail aren’t, uh,

[51:24] at least the website that I’m looking at, they’re not

[51:26] attached, um, so if could, could we just please get an

[51:29] email when they are attached, um. Yeah. Thank you. Any other

[51:36] comments? OK, thank you so much.

[51:40] That moves us now on to city council comments. Councillor

[51:45] Johnson. Uh, thank you, Mayor.

[51:48] I had a couple of things I wanted to speak about tonight.

[51:51] The first is there’s something on consent agenda, and I’m, I’m

[51:53] happy to leave it there, but I just wanted to say, um, my

[51:57] deepest appreciation to the office of the alternate defense

[52:00] counsel, which provides all of our indigent defense. I’m

[52:03] excited to see us renewing their contract. I think they do

[52:05] an excellent job, um, and they’re really important, uh,

[52:09] stakeholder in our justice system, and so I, I wanted to

[52:12] voice my appreciation in it since it’s on consent, now is

[52:14] my opportunity to do so. Um, the next thing. I wanted to

[52:18] talk about is our upcoming yet to be scheduled study session

[52:22] on ALPRs because I know this is a really important topic, um,

[52:26] our neighboring jurisdictions are starting to address it, and

[52:28] so I know we don’t have a date for that yet, but I hope that

[52:33] date comes soon, um, and, you know, in examining this issue,

[52:38] um, I think it is going to be, you know, one of the bigger

[52:42] priority issues given our constituent outreach that we’re

[52:45] gonna tackle and so. I just wanted to voice um, you know,

[52:49] not pressure, but a sense of hopefully um the, the staff are

[52:55] feeling the kind of importance from our community, um, and

[52:58] appreciate everyone who came out to speak tonight because um

[53:01] I know that’s an important topic that we are hopefully

[53:05] addressing soon. Um, finally, I wanted to talk about something

[53:07] and there were a couple of public comments tonight, but

[53:09] we’ve also received a lot of emails about our unhoused

[53:12] neighbors, um, and you know, I have personally responded to

[53:15] all of the emails we’ve gotten.

[53:17] On this topic, um. Uh, but I think it’s important to kind of

[53:21] put this out into the world about what we’re doing because

[53:24] one on one email responses don’t necessarily make it into

[53:29] um our public discourse, uh, to start with the fact that um, As

[53:33] a city, we are left with the responsibility and the failures

[53:37] of every government above us, um, and ultimately left in a

[53:41] spot where we are dealing with the consequences of things that

[53:45] are often far beyond our control. The federal government

[53:49] over the last two years has made significant cuts to major

[53:54] social safety net programs, including food stamps, Medicaid,

[53:58] um, the federal government recently ended, um, in the last

[54:01] two years, rental assistance programs and rental.

[54:04] Moratoriums, all of these are what we’re now now create

[54:09] housing instability for our neighbors. Um, in addition to

[54:11] that, our state government, because of restraints of Tabor,

[54:14] are making cuts to our behavior health system, our healthcare

[54:17] system, um, and because of our broken taxing system, we again

[54:21] are left with the consequences of their failures, even in the

[54:25] last year, our counties have decided to make cuts to rental

[54:28] assistance programs, um, which ultimately leave more and more

[54:31] of our neighbors in our.

[54:34] without the ability to maintain stable housing and without the

[54:37] social safety net services that they have relied on to become

[54:41] stable because of all that, we as a city and you know, myself

[54:46] included and all of our neighbors are left with the

[54:48] consequences, which is more and more people are left without

[54:52] services and supports and stability, and when that

[54:54] happens, they become unhoused.

[54:56] Um, it, you know, they can be unhoused temporarily and, and

[54:59] we try our best to rehouse them, or they can become unhoused for

[55:02] long periods of. Time when this happens, our city, despite the

[55:07] challenges that we’re facing at the federal, state and county

[55:11] level have stepped up to try to address this, um, you know, we

[55:14] have more homeless navigators than we have, I, I think, ever

[55:17] in the history of our city. We continue to invest in

[55:21] significant resources to find housing solutions for people

[55:24] who are facing housing insecurity. Uh, we have made

[55:27] and continue to make significant cuts to daily

[55:30] expenditures in people’s lives so that people who face housing

[55:33] Insecurity because of income, um hopefully have life a little

[55:37] bit easier, and whether that’s cutting taxes on essential

[55:40] products, um, looking at cutting its water rates for

[55:42] essential water use, all of these things are things that

[55:46] are in our control and then what we’re doing. So, you know,

[55:48] we’re not waving the white flag, you know, all of the city staff

[55:52] that have presented tonight, I think, have heard from council

[55:54] about the importance of homelessness issues. We’re also

[55:57] not waving the white flag on crime. I mean, criminal issues

[56:00] do occur, and when crimes occur, we always encourage people. To

[56:04] call our police officers to address that and our police

[56:06] officers do that and they, you know, you talk to our police

[56:09] chief, they’re frequently responding and helping people

[56:12] navigate situations in which crimes have occurred, but being

[56:15] existing is not a crime. And so in trying to deal with the

[56:18] issue of homelessness, and we’re, we’re not trying to

[56:21] criminalize people who exist in our community, but rather help

[56:24] them find the services they need to exist co-occurringly

[56:28] with the rest of us, um, and so I, I kind of wanted to leave on

[56:31] the note to say that. While this is not a mission

[56:34] accomplished, it is definitely not a white flag, and we’re

[56:37] going to continue to do more and hopefully with the budget

[56:40] presentation you just saw, by digging into that, you’ll see a

[56:43] continued investment, um, but again, but if you are coming to

[56:46] these city council meetings or you’re emailing us, um, please

[56:50] continue to do so, but don’t forget to email the people that

[56:53] control the billions and trillions of dollars, um, that

[56:56] ultimately funnel them away from the services we need out

[56:59] of our hands, and leave us holding the bag with what to do

[57:02] after that. Thank you, Mayor.

[57:06] Thank you, Councilor Ireland. I want to thank everyone that

[57:09] came out tonight, um. I’m sorry for you at the rodeo. Area that

[57:16] this is still going on, you know that I’m care about what’s

[57:21] happening. I would hate to be in your shoes in my

[57:24] neighborhood, um. I hope that we can come to a. Good

[57:30] conclusion soon, um, speaking about homelessness, I have

[57:33] talked. Two members of the police department. I went to

[57:38] their Citizens Academy on on Wednesday we had 35 sign up and

[57:42] it’s usually like 30. So It’s exciting that people are

[57:46] interested in the police and many of them wanted to become

[57:50] police officers, so that was good to see. But there are

[57:53] things that can be done. They told me about the homeless

[57:58] situation and we just don’t want to have those. Tough

[58:03] conversations 95% of them are drug related. 95%. And that is

[58:10] a huge number and it’s affecting all of us. From the

[58:16] crime from the shoplifting.

[58:19] It’s making more this state more expensive that we’re not

[58:23] dealing with the drug problem.

[58:26] So I will put that out there.

[58:27] There’s more that we can do.

[58:29] What we’re doing is not working, evidently. So we need to do

[58:34] what works. There’s no reason why this city has to pay for

[58:40] everything for everyone. Um, The ARPR cameras. I do believe.

[58:51] That when you trade your freedom for security. You lose

[58:55] both. I see it in other countries, countries that you

[59:01] think are free. are no longer free. We learned that during

[59:05] COVID. That they were not free.

[59:11] So we need to take a hard look at what we’re doing to our

[59:16] citizens and in dealing with crime, dealing with

[59:19] homelessness, dealing with cameras and. I will fight for

[59:26] you and this, I am. I am happy to see that we are getting rid

[59:31] of the taxes on diapers, formula. And feminine hygiene

[59:38] products, it’s, it’s one thing I pushed for, but I wish it was

[59:40] for all groceries, frankly. In some areas of the country.

[59:46] There is no garro taxes on groceries our state, we don’t

[59:50] have taxes on groceries, only our city. So we are taxed, we

[59:54] are feed. I talked to people daily that they don’t know if

[59:59] they’re small business is gonna make it. It’s worse than in

[1:00:02] COVID. So What we are doing.

[1:00:07] Needs to change. And We can talk about water rates, but we

[1:00:15] really lowered the water rates for apartment dwellers, and I

[1:00:18] don’t know if they’re landlords will give you that break. But I

[1:00:21] know my bill last month was over $500. And it wasn’t

[1:00:28] because I was abusing water.

[1:00:31] It’s just because it is dry and I had kids at my house and

[1:00:36] families use more water. My grandkids were visiting. My

[1:00:40] children are visiting when you have 7 people in a household,

[1:00:43] you’re gonna use more water and that’s who’s paying the water

[1:00:46] bills is the families through who’s paying for this water

[1:00:49] treatment plant. It’s the families because when you have

[1:00:53] a $263 million water treatment plant. That you went in debt

[1:00:56] for. We all have to pay it. And it’s not going to make it more

[1:01:00] affordable. So anyone can tell you that. But it’s not true.

[1:01:07] And I have fought for water lower water rates since 2018. I

[1:01:13] have fought for you. I put my whole soul into this job. And I

[1:01:19] will not quit. Because I care about the citizens of the city.

[1:01:25] And the state, I raised all my kids here. I’ve been here for

[1:01:29] 40 years. I’ve seen what is happening. And it’s, it’s

[1:01:33] sickening, actually. And it’s not all the federal’s fault.

[1:01:39] It’s the, the policies that we’re doing at the state level.

[1:01:44] is affecting because there are states that don’t have any of

[1:01:46] these problems. So how can we say it’s all a federal problem

[1:01:50] when there’s things in the state. That this has done to

[1:01:53] this, I mean, when I moved to the state, it wasn’t this mess.

[1:01:58] But it continues to get worse.

[1:02:00] And 76% of the people say they cannot afford to live here

[1:02:03] anymore. And I don’t think that’s what we want. So, things

[1:02:11] need to change big time. And so don’t quit showing up. Because

[1:02:18] that’s the only way things change is that people show up.

[1:02:22] I appreciate you for being here.

[1:02:24] I wanna put a plug in. I’m. I raised money for our farmers

[1:02:30] sitting, Nancy McNally to have a tribute plaza at the Sheridan

[1:02:36] Greens, the, the QR codes on my.

[1:02:38] Facebook page we only need to raise $10,000 for her to have a

[1:02:44] bench in a little. Dog to represent her love for pugs, so

[1:02:50] I hope you’ll all, I know it’s hard out there to give anything,

[1:02:54] so give what you can. Also we’re having a service project

[1:02:58] for 9/11. 8 churches in the area or are having service all

[1:03:03] day on September 12th. You can also find the QR code to that

[1:03:07] on my website. The more The better in in what environment

[1:03:13] we have, so. Um, I I reached out to me and What their

[1:03:21] concerns and your ideas to solve them because we need

[1:03:24] those too. Thank you very much.

[1:03:31] Thank you Councilor Azzati.

[1:03:31] Thank you, Mayor and thank you everyone for speaking tonight.

[1:03:34] Um, I think you can see that we’ve heard you and um we’re

[1:03:38] doing all that we can to address your issues. Tonight, I

[1:03:43] wanted to focus in on one of the things I said that I’m

[1:03:46] going to start doing, so I said this last time, but. From time

[1:03:50] to time I do get feedback from residents about city staff and.

[1:03:56] We don’t always hear the good.

[1:03:58] So I, I wanted to start highlighting the good and I was

[1:04:04] hanging out on Saturday in historic Westminster and

[1:04:07] talking with the owners of Creative Corner and all the

[1:04:11] residents there and 11 name.

[1:04:15] Bubbled up quite often and I said that I would bring his

[1:04:18] name forward just to recognize him pub publicly. Um, he works

[1:04:23] for Larry Dore and. Lindsay Kimball, his name is Jake Wells.

[1:04:27] Jacob Wells has been an employee for several years. I

[1:04:30] think he started in the comms team. He’s now in community

[1:04:34] services, but I wanted to just read some praise that I got

[1:04:37] from a lot of the folks there because If you don’t know,

[1:04:41] every Friday. Larry Doar and Jake Wells, they go down there

[1:04:48] to historic Westminster and they meet with all the

[1:04:51] businesses um to talk about.

[1:04:53] Ways that the city can better engage with them, can help them,

[1:04:58] can market for them, can make sure that that corner of our

[1:05:02] city is actually. Um, elevated and prioritized, uh, so they’ve

[1:05:08] been meeting for several weeks now and here’s what they said

[1:05:11] about Jake. So they said that Jake is highly approachable.

[1:05:15] He’s easy to talk to, um, they said that he takes their

[1:05:20] concerns very seriously. He’s a Westminster native who grew up

[1:05:23] and attended school in Westminster. Uh, so he, he

[1:05:28] really loves and cares about the city. He is genuine. They

[1:05:32] said he’s proactive. He’s Exceptionally proactive in

[1:05:37] supporting local business initiatives, um, he’s, and he,

[1:05:41] uh, he personally promoted or he took it upon himself to

[1:05:46] promote the upcoming September 12th festival that’s happening

[1:05:49] down there in historic Westminster, um, he promoted

[1:05:53] this across multiple channels and that’s just something that

[1:05:55] he wanted to do cause he really believes in the, the history of

[1:05:59] the city and wants to make sure that the culture down there.

[1:06:04] Which is quite unique actually in historic Westminster. He

[1:06:07] wants to maintain and preserve it. And that’s important, um.

[1:06:12] Because it does feel like a community, the more you hang

[1:06:14] out there, the more you can feel it. So we wanted to give

[1:06:17] Jake Wells if he’s, if he’s listening, um, his flowers

[1:06:20] there, but To pivot into some of the pain points that I’ve

[1:06:25] heard. That I heard on Saturday and we’ve heard this for years,

[1:06:30] but it’s quite important because there’s a lot of issues

[1:06:34] happening down there on Seventy-third. One, there have

[1:06:37] been several closures. Of businesses. So banana Goat is

[1:06:44] closing this December. Um, I heard Sue of inspiration just

[1:06:47] closed. Which just opened, I think a a few years ago, there

[1:06:52] are. Concerns with the rodeo building, so bark the, the

[1:06:58] restaurant that’s coming in, they just announced

[1:07:01] full-service coffee bar, which was not. At least from my

[1:07:05] perspective, it was not part of the original plan. What that

[1:07:09] does, it it creates a new competitor for coffee. There’s

[1:07:14] like 4 coffee providers now in the 1 mile radius and they’re

[1:07:18] very concerned about that. Um, their communication gaps.

[1:07:23] Between bark and the rest of the businesses there that they

[1:07:25] wanted me to just highlight, um, there are prolonged delays in

[1:07:29] construction, so there are a lot of construction projects

[1:07:32] that have been occurring there, that there’s a hole in front of

[1:07:35] the shop, for example, that’s been there for 4 months, so. I

[1:07:40] believe it’s Excel, Larry, um, that said that they would take

[1:07:44] a day to do this. It’s been 4 months now from, from Excel,

[1:07:47] but there’s lots of, so there’s dangerous potholes, there’s

[1:07:51] sidewalk blockages, chain link fencing that have that reduced

[1:07:55] foot traffic down to 73, and that’s important because if you

[1:07:57] wanna keep these businesses afloat, we need to ensure that

[1:08:01] traffic is flowing, foot traffic is flowing. As it

[1:08:05] always had, um, and that’s been slowing down, um, there are,

[1:08:09] there are curb bump outouts that reduced available parking

[1:08:14] for customers and then lack of marketing, so we, we on console

[1:08:18] for several years have been pushing for the city to get

[1:08:22] more involved in marketing them and marketing the festivals and

[1:08:25] helping the businesses. Even if it’s giving them free ad space

[1:08:29] in the um The Westie, for example, and things like that,

[1:08:32] but there are a lot of marketing concerns and they,

[1:08:36] and we, we He throw Certain events down there and when we

[1:08:40] do it, 1000, you know, 2000 people show up, so they’re just

[1:08:44] wondering if there’s a way we can try to integrate the events

[1:08:48] that we throw in historic Westminster with some of their

[1:08:52] existing events and maybe take over one of them, um, as a way

[1:08:55] of getting more people down there. So why not to just

[1:08:59] highlight those pain points, but also give Jake Wells his

[1:09:03] flowers and they’ll love you too, Larry, so don’t worry.

[1:09:05] Thank you. Councilor Brajas, uh, thank you, Madam Mayor, and

[1:09:11] thank you, uh, for the speakers who came tonight and for the

[1:09:15] councilors for the remarks I won’t belabor a lot of the

[1:09:17] points, um, you know, but, uh, I did want to, uh, make it, you

[1:09:22] know, just thank, uh, the city clerk for getting the public

[1:09:24] comment on there. We, uh, we’ve seen more, um. Notes about uh

[1:09:29] flock cameras on the public comment, uh, emails and

[1:09:32] voicemails as well, uh, or all license plate, uh, database

[1:09:36] ones, you know, and I think, you know. I just to echo

[1:09:41] Councilor Johnson’s comments that, you know, while this is a

[1:09:44] future agenda item that we will be discussing, you know, there

[1:09:47] is a sense of urgency around that and. Um, I guess I would

[1:09:51] just echo that I hope staff is kind of hearing that and

[1:09:55] whatever the plan is for uh for bringing that forward for us

[1:09:58] that it can be matched the expediency with which the

[1:10:01] community is desiring that conversation and uh outcome to

[1:10:04] happen. Mayor Pro Temmela, did you have any comment? Just

[1:10:14] wanted to thank all of the speakers for this evening and,

[1:10:18] and my fellow counselors with respect to underlining our

[1:10:24] continued intentions to, you know, respond to, you know, the

[1:10:27] issues that we hear in the community, and I know we can’t

[1:10:30] get to them fast enough as others have also mentioned um I

[1:10:35] appreciate that staff is working with us to try and

[1:10:37] tackle these, and I hope that the community knows that we are

[1:10:41] hearing them, and I know there are frustrations. There, um,

[1:10:45] you know, whether that’s around our libraries or in the

[1:10:49] downtown area, um, we, we hear you and um thank you for coming

[1:10:54] in. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you so much. I’m gonna give a

[1:11:00] couple updates starting on the positive and then I’ll respond

[1:11:02] to some of the comments that I heard this evening. I just want

[1:11:06] to, uh, thank all the volunteers with Seafire who put

[1:11:10] together the fundraiser at SNOooze this, uh, weekend for

[1:11:14] our incredible fire department, um, for general awareness if

[1:11:17] you don’t know, this fundraiser goes to cancer, uh, research

[1:11:22] and cancer prevention and being a firefighter puts you in line

[1:11:25] of uh being at risk for cancer.

[1:11:26] I forget what the statistic is, but it’s incredibly high and so

[1:11:31] our folks quite literally are putting their lives on the line,

[1:11:35] um, and I stopped by the doggy dive-in. There were a lot of

[1:11:39] dogs there, so I can, I know it was really busy, so thank you

[1:11:42] for everyone who participated and thank you for staff, uh,

[1:11:45] working with our community to continue doing all the

[1:11:48] incredible engagement that we, uh, that you see us doing and

[1:11:51] we’re gonna continue being persistent on that. Uh, I had a

[1:11:54] great coffee chat this weekend, so thank you to everyone who

[1:11:57] came by. We ended up discussing the airport for a good. 2 hours

[1:12:02] or so. Um, if you’re listening, just know, you know, we often

[1:12:06] come to the conclusion that, well, uh, airport, the noise is

[1:12:10] under the FAA, which is true, of course. However, please also

[1:12:13] know that you have a council that is extremely active in

[1:12:16] this area. We are taking steps to address this in every way we

[1:12:19] can. Um, we are working with a local coalition to add airport

[1:12:25] under the scope of transit on the thirty-sixth corridor. We

[1:12:28] have met with the FAA in. DC, which is, uh, the first time

[1:12:33] ever that they met with our city, and that was a really

[1:12:36] positive conversation. That was back in March. We’re looking to

[1:12:39] follow up to see um where they’re at with a lot of the.

[1:12:43] Asks that we made of them. And we’re going to continue

[1:12:46] following up with them and holding that conversation

[1:12:49] because so far it seems the conversations are going further

[1:12:52] than a lot of the litigation has. I also want to thank

[1:12:55] everyone who came out to the monthly community update last

[1:12:58] week, Tuesday. That was, you know, I had feedback after that

[1:13:01] that was, it was by far the most positive, um, community

[1:13:06] update that that some folks had attended and for me as well

[1:13:09] personally it was just really exciting. The momentum, um, and

[1:13:14] excitement is there and when we’re talking about everything

[1:13:15] that we’ve accomplished this year, it is really exciting and

[1:13:17] so for those who came with their thoughts, thank you, you

[1:13:20] have a council that is driving momentum quickly and we are

[1:13:23] doing everything we can. can to work with you. Um, Then to

[1:13:28] respond to some of what I heard, you know, I too, it is very

[1:13:32] clear that it seems there is a gap between the information

[1:13:36] we’re receiving, um, on our side around the rodeo and the

[1:13:40] complaints that we’re hearing and the experiences that our

[1:13:43] residents are having at that site. And so I have dug in

[1:13:48] headfirst to figure out what is that gap and what is happening.

[1:13:52] I, um Continue to commit to you, and I know that’s frustrating

[1:13:56] to hear because this has been months ongoing, and I continue

[1:14:00] to commit that I have been meeting with staff. I’ve been

[1:14:02] meeting with our attorney, and we will continue. I’m just

[1:14:06] gonna pause for a moment. I was gonna add this for the very end.

[1:14:09] When there are disruptions to our meetings, what that does is

[1:14:15] take away from the time and commitment of the rest of our

[1:14:18] residents. I’m very proud of the fact that we have a council

[1:14:21] and a city staff that is willing to listen to our public

[1:14:25] input because that’s what we’re here to do is listen to you.

[1:14:28] There are different rules everywhere you go. We don’t

[1:14:31] have to listen to everyone outside of just our residents,

[1:14:34] but we do. We keep it open. We don’t have to have public

[1:14:37] comment be as long as it is, but we do because we want to

[1:14:41] hear from you. And when we have active disruptions like we have

[1:14:44] continuously this evening. It puts a pause and a risk to

[1:14:47] everyone else we’re trying to hear. With that, uh, just know

[1:14:55] those conversations are happening and uh I’ll be I’ll.

[1:14:59] Meeting not only with you both uh to follow up but also with

[1:15:02] our police chief and our attorney. Uh, with that, I want

[1:15:06] to, uh, put another out for the city manager’s report. He

[1:15:10] talked about the RTD. RTD is going major constructive

[1:15:14] changes. It’s undergoing major constructive changes right now.

[1:15:17] Please get involved. If if you care about transit access, if

[1:15:20] you care about, uh, getting from point A to point B in

[1:15:23] Colorado, which is pretty hard to do right now. Please

[1:15:26] volunteer your time or recommend a friend that really

[1:15:27] cares. If you have a friend that likes to bike around,

[1:15:30] please tell them to go to RTD and volunteer, be one of the 30.

[1:15:33] We need you. We need you. Speak up for our community. Uh, and I

[1:15:38] think I will leave it with that.

[1:15:39] Um, other than I’m really very excited about the Berg and the

[1:15:44] Schoenberg Park, uh, Schoenberg Farm project. That’ll be a

[1:15:48] great addition, so with that, I hope that that proves that we

[1:15:51] are, uh, investing in our historic buildings and our

[1:15:54] historic preservation of the city and all the sites that

[1:15:55] matter the most to us while continuing to make them active,

[1:15:58] engaged, uh, sites for our community. Uh, with that, any

[1:16:03] further comments? Seeing none, we’re going to move on to our,

[1:16:10] uh, future agenda title requests, are there any

[1:16:12] potential agenda items from councilors they would like to

[1:16:14] propose for discussion at a future meeting. Seeing none, I

[1:16:21] will now move us to the consent agenda. Do I have a motion for

[1:16:25] the consent agenda, Councilor Hop. I moved to approve the

[1:16:29] consent agenda, I items 9 AA through 9L. Thank you,

[1:16:33] Councilor Johnson. 2nd. Thank you so much. Any further

[1:16:37] discussion? Councilor Rozzati yeah, I just wanted to mention

[1:16:41] uh one of the items on here, item 90, uh, it’s really

[1:16:45] important, so The Colorado state government passed

[1:16:49] legislation to grant a right of first refusal. To local

[1:16:54] governments for affordable housing, multi-family

[1:16:56] properties. That’s page B 24 1175. What that does is it

[1:17:00] gives us the ability to assign those rights to like a um a

[1:17:06] housing authority such as Maker Housing, which is a housing

[1:17:08] authority that we have worked with for a long time. This is

[1:17:13] all really important because this will allow us to

[1:17:18] proactively preserve affordability when buildings

[1:17:19] get sold in the market. So I wanna just highlight in case

[1:17:24] anyone didn’t see this. In the community, it’s very important

[1:17:27] for affordability and I’m, I’m glad to be approving this

[1:17:29] tonight. Thank you so much. Um, and I had a question on item L,

[1:17:39] uh, for our city attorney. I was just hoping that you could

[1:17:41] provide us just an update on where we’re at with this case,

[1:17:46] um, and what our timeline might be going forward. Thanks Mayor,

[1:17:50] the city brought a construction defect claim regarding the

[1:17:55] North Huron inter Interceptor, um, because we believe the

[1:17:58] interceptor was not constructed correctly. The trial is

[1:18:02] scheduled for March of next year, and as we approach the

[1:18:05] trial date, our outside attorneys who specialize in

[1:18:10] construction defect litigation have engaged expert witnesses,

[1:18:14] those experts have disclosed reports on both sides and uh

[1:18:17] there. will be depositions of witnesses, so unfortunately it

[1:18:22] will be time consuming between now and March, so that’s why we

[1:18:25] are requesting the additional authorization um On on the

[1:18:28] bright side, the mediation that occurred earlier this year is

[1:18:32] scheduled for another attempt this fall, so uh we will keep

[1:18:36] counsel appraised, apprised of any progress uh along those

[1:18:39] lines to settle the case. Thank you so much. Mayor Pro Tem, did

[1:18:43] you have any thoughts? Uh, no, I do not. OK, with that roll

[1:18:50] call please. Councilor Barajas, Councilor, I’m sorry, Mayor Car

[1:18:56] Carmelia, yes, Councilor Azzati, Councilor Hot, Councilor

[1:19:01] Ireland, Councilor Johnson, and Mayor Pro Tem Nomela. Yes, the

[1:19:05] motion passes on a 7 to 0 vote.

[1:19:07] Thank you so much. There are no appointments or resignations

[1:19:10] this evening, and there are no public hearings this evening.

[1:19:13] We will now move on to the first reading of Councilor Bill

[1:19:16] number 34. Do I have a motion?

[1:19:18] Councilor Rozzati. Thinking may I move to pass councilor’s bill

[1:19:22] number 34 and first reading to amend the Westminster Municipal

[1:19:26] code to exempt infant formula, diapers, and feminine hygiene

[1:19:29] products from the city sales and use tax. Thank you,

[1:19:32] Councilor Brajas. 2. Any further discussion? OK. City

[1:19:39] clerk. So sorry, Mayor.

[1:19:42] Councilor Brajas. Um, you know, I just wanted to, uh. Give a

[1:19:48] little bit of background and story on this, uh, just as we

[1:19:51] celebrate the success, you know, I remember when I first, uh,

[1:19:55] had the honor of joining this council, um, Councillorzati and

[1:19:58] I had a, a conversation around, uh, what, you know. Just in,

[1:20:03] you know, a little bit of, of wisdom sharing, um, from his

[1:20:07] end and. This idea kind of came up in its infancy uh during

[1:20:13] that conversation and I was uh kind of shocked that this was

[1:20:15] something that we could, we could do. I didn’t realize

[1:20:18] state statute had had allowed us to do this and, you know, um,

[1:20:21] Councilor Zadi, uh, talked through what the process would

[1:20:23] look like and, and kind of seeing that from its initial

[1:20:28] stages all the way through to the finish line, um. You know,

[1:20:31] from how it grew from community input, it just showed me, you

[1:20:35] know, what local government and what government can be uh when

[1:20:39] it’s working on its. Um, kind of best forms and so I, I just

[1:20:43] wanted to kind of share that anecdote and and give a big um.

[1:20:47] Thank you to staff and to this council for for kind of taking

[1:20:50] this uh and moving it forward.

[1:20:52] Thank you, Councilor Rozzati.

[1:20:54] Thank you, Councilor Perez. I think that um I do remember

[1:20:58] that conversation. It was, uh.

[1:21:02] I, I really enjoy, um. Speaking with new counselors but also

[1:21:08] with community members on ideas just, just like this, um, that

[1:21:12] aren’t typically Done in cities, right? So you’ve been told for

[1:21:19] decades that local government can only invest in roads and

[1:21:21] public safety. For example, um, not in human services, not in

[1:21:26] lowering your daily cost of living, and this is one of

[1:21:30] those steps, the first steps that I think um that this

[1:21:34] council has said, well, We think we can do more. And we

[1:21:38] think we can actually help your pocketbooks, and we think we

[1:21:41] can actually impact areas that aren’t typical for a

[1:21:46] municipality. So I’m really proud that this has made it to

[1:21:49] the stage, um. It’s gonna save Westminster residents up to

[1:21:54] $600,000 of sales tax revenue total. I think 5 other cities

[1:21:59] have adopted this or a comparable version of this

[1:22:02] specifically for feminine hygiene products and diapers,

[1:22:04] but this is one of the first to include infant formula. So.

[1:22:09] This is gonna help a lot of residents. There are a lot of

[1:22:12] residents right now who can’t afford childcare. Who are

[1:22:16] leaving the workforce, their businesses that are closing

[1:22:18] down because they can’t recruit or retain employees because

[1:22:22] there’s a childcare crisis and all the other crises that we

[1:22:25] talk, that we, that you hear about. Within this economy, um,

[1:22:30] so what we can do is stuff like this and, and I think it’s

[1:22:36] Valuable it’s necessary and it’s timely and there are a lot

[1:22:38] of residents who are, who have been reaching out throughout

[1:22:41] the year as we’ve talked more about this and the other and

[1:22:44] many other things that are coming down the pike, um, and

[1:22:48] they’re grateful, they’re grateful that this council is

[1:22:50] being responsive to their actual needs regarding their

[1:22:54] pocketbooks, so I’m proud that we’re doing this and looking

[1:22:58] forward to proving it just now.

[1:23:00] Thank you, Councilor Ireland. I wanna thank the council too. I

[1:23:05] brought this up back in March on the YouTube channel of the

[1:23:10] Chamber and just coincidentally.

[1:23:11] Um, Our councilor Zari had the same idea that day and sent out

[1:23:16] an email about it, so I’m glad that everyone’s on board. I

[1:23:19] have children of my own that use formula and diapers for

[1:23:23] their children, so I know what a burden it is, so I appreciate

[1:23:27] that we’re trying to lift a little bit of a burden in our

[1:23:31] city and I thank all of you for agreeing to it and. For Obi

[1:23:36] Azadi champion it. Thank you.

[1:23:41] Thank you and I’ll add my own um thank you to this council as

[1:23:45] well for the support unanimously to get this

[1:23:47] accomplished. To the point that was just made, it really does

[1:23:51] show that there’s a lot that a local government can do if we

[1:23:55] decide to flex some of the power that we’ve been granted

[1:23:58] and think creatively about new solutions that have been there

[1:24:01] all along where we could be taking forward action and we

[1:24:04] could be doing something about the way that things are and the

[1:24:08] prices that um costs are at and here we are doing something

[1:24:11] very directly about it. Uh, I’ll just share that, you know,

[1:24:15] this obviously directly impacts families of any size, uh, It’s

[1:24:19] not often that families have more than one baby in a

[1:24:21] household, right? And so it affects folks and it helps in

[1:24:25] little ways, but as someone who, who grew up in a foster family

[1:24:29] when you’ve got 3 babies or 2 toddlers and a baby, that

[1:24:34] formula is extremely expensive.

[1:24:35] It adds up and the diapers, the, the boxes of diapers we would

[1:24:38] have in our household, you know, this stuff is very expensive

[1:24:41] and the tax alone just goes a real long way, and I just had a

[1:24:45] conversation with an organization and some families

[1:24:47] that are helping out foster kids in. Adams County and those

[1:24:51] families that are trying to give the most by helping our

[1:24:54] community’s kids, are often struggling to do so. They’re

[1:24:58] struggling to come up with the dollars to afford the bikes,

[1:25:01] the clothes, the food, and they need the most help, and they’ll

[1:25:04] often have 5 kids in a house, so, um, this is really, really

[1:25:08] impactful, and I remember shopping for our family and

[1:25:10] piling up on that infant formula and uh having 20 cans

[1:25:13] in the cupboard, you know, it’s a lot, so with that I’m very

[1:25:17] excited about this initiative.

[1:25:18] City clerk. Mayor Carmelia, yes.

[1:25:24] Councilor Azzati, Councilor Hot, Councilor Ireland, Councillor

[1:25:29] Johnson, Mayor Pro Temer Mela.

[1:25:31] Yes, and Councilor Barajas, the motion passes on a 7-0 vote.

[1:25:35] Thank you so much. We will now move on to first reading of

[1:25:39] Councilor Bill number 35. Do I have a motion? Councilor Brajas

[1:25:44] uh, I moved to pass councilor bills number 35 on first

[1:25:46] reading, amending Westminster Municipal Code chapter 6, Title

[1:25:53] 13 providing for the declaration of fire

[1:25:54] restrictions. Thank you, Councilor Hot. 2. Any further

[1:25:56] discussion. Councillor Rizzati.

[1:26:01] Mayor, uh, can we have the Chief Burke? I, I just think

[1:26:06] it’s really important. Chief, if you can just walk through

[1:26:10] why this is so important, um, I’ve. I obviously see the need

[1:26:15] here, but I just want. The community to know that of what,

[1:26:20] what this is and why this is so important, especially after the

[1:26:23] Marshall fires that just, that occurred just a few years ago.

[1:26:26] Yeah, thank you for the question, Councillor Rosati.

[1:26:29] Mayor Mayor Prote and councilors, I’m Eric Burke,

[1:26:31] fire chief of the Westminster Fire Department. This ordinance

[1:26:36] would establish fire restrictions across the

[1:26:39] community, providing clear expectations and clarity and

[1:26:43] consistency as far as education and if needed enforcement with

[1:26:47] the city of Westminster in two counties, we could have

[1:26:50] restrictions that are different depending on what side of

[1:26:53] Sheridan that you’re on, these restrictions established again

[1:26:55] consistent. He. The entire city but also puts into place

[1:27:00] reasonable fire safety restrictions to protect the

[1:27:02] health and wellness of our residents. Thank you so much uh

[1:27:06] for bringing this forward, and I think it’s been long overdue,

[1:27:09] so thanks. Thank you. Any further discussion? Roll call

[1:27:14] please. Councilor Azzati, Councilor, Councilor Ireland,

[1:27:21] yes. Councilor Johnson, yes.

[1:27:23] Mayor Pro Tem Nomela, yes, Councilor Brajas, and Mayor

[1:27:27] Carmelia, yes, the motion passes on a 7-0 vote. Thank you

[1:27:31] so much. That brings us to old business. We will now move on

[1:27:34] to the 2nd reading of Councilor Bill number 33. Councilor Hoff.

[1:27:39] I moved to past counselor councilor’s Bill number 33 on

[1:27:42] second reading to authorize the city manager to execute an

[1:27:48] intergovernmental agreement with the Adams 12 5 Star School

[1:27:51] District to provide rebates and fees and use taxes not to

[1:27:54] exceed. $317,438 contingent upon city council approval of

[1:28:03] an official development plan and ongoing compliance by the

[1:28:07] Adams 12 5-star school district with the approved official

[1:28:10] development plan. Thank you, Councilor Johnson 2nd. Any

[1:28:14] further discussion? Councilor Ireland, um, I’m voting voted

[1:28:19] no for this because They’re going to be using our roads up

[1:28:22] and down with heavy trucks. And garbage trucks every day to

[1:28:28] that central kitchen. So I think that the money should

[1:28:30] have gotten to. For our roads instead of the taxpayers paying

[1:28:34] more, so I’m gonna no.

[1:28:37] Councilor Hut, um, yes, I am proud to support this. This is,

[1:28:42] um, so instead of our children receiving, uh, frozen foods for

[1:28:46] lunch. They will now be, um, eating fresh, um. Fresh food.

[1:28:51] So, uh, all food for all of the schools will be made fresh in

[1:28:55] the central, uh, kitchen, and, um, that I think is going to be

[1:29:01] helpful for our students, um, instead of eating processed

[1:29:04] frozen food, they will have fresh food to eat, so I am, um,

[1:29:07] I’m happy to support this.

[1:29:09] Thank you. Any other comments?

[1:29:12] Roll call, please. Councilor, Councilor Ireland? No.

[1:29:19] Councilor Johnson Mayor Pro Tem Nomela, yes. I’m, I’m sorry,

[1:29:23] councilor, uh, Mayor Pro Tem, could you repeat that? Yes,

[1:29:27] thank you. uh, Councilor Barajas, Mayor Carmelia, yes,

[1:29:32] and Councilor Azati, the motion passes on a 6-1 vote. Thank you

[1:29:36] so much. City Attorney, do we have reason for executive

[1:29:39] session? Thank you, Mayor. Yes, tonight’s agenda does include

[1:29:44] an executive session, a discussion of a personnel

[1:29:46] matter, the annual review for the presiding judge, and that

[1:29:50] could be convened pursuant to Westminster municipal Code

[1:29:55] Section 1113C1 and Colorado revised statute 246-4024F1.

[1:30:01] Thank you so much. I’ll go around to poll if we’re willing

[1:30:03] to go into executive session.

[1:30:05] Councilor Rosati, yes. Yes. Yes.

[1:30:09] Yes. No. Yes. And I will pause to, oh, sorry. Oh, I was just

[1:30:19] gonna ask or remind your mayor pro tem is on the line. Yes.

[1:30:25] Thank you so much, City Clerk.

[1:30:27] OK, um, with that, the timing is 8 on the dot and our public

[1:30:32] meeting is now adjourned and we will meet in the boardroom. We

[1:30:35] have a break. Yes, Mayor Pro Tem, if you’re still on the

[1:30:42] line, please switch to the

City Council Meeting | August 24, 2026

Transcript