[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