City Council - Regular Meeting

Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.

All right. Call to order the Florence City Council meeting for Tuesday, January 20th, 2026. Please rise for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Roll call, please. Councilor Van Houten. Here. Councilor Mergelman. Here. Councilor Gardner. Here. Councilor Stone.

Here. Councilor McKinnon. Here. Mayor Wolf. Here. Item number one, presentations, the America 250, Colorado 150 anniversary celebrations. All right. [snorts]

All right. Let's see. All right, we got everybody coming up. You got to get Millie. Millie. Millie. Millie. Come on, Millie. Millie. [laughter]

Come on, Millie. You can join us. Okay. Happy sesqui- semi-quincentennial. We are all part of something big. Approximately 2 years ago, throughout this great state of Colorado, the planning began to celebrate this very special and unique time in our history, Colorado's 150th birthday and America's 250. Sesqui- semi-quincentennial. Colorado becoming the only state to enter the union during America's centennial year, our nickname, the Centennial State. Then early in 2025, several historic-minded local groups in Fremont County came together and began planning our county's celebrations. What has transpired from these monthly discussions and plans will be that the communities of Cañon City, Cotopaxi, Florence, and Penrose will plan and host a tavern talk style of event, selecting a historic topic in addition to an activity booklet for the youth of the county. This booklet uh will be available to all fifth graders in the uh traditional public schools setting and those um that uh learn at home. Now, meet your Florence committee team. I'm Joan Elliott, president of Florence Chamber. Marty Lamb, secretary of the board for the Florence Pioneer Museum.

Millie Wind, archivist for the Florence Historical Archive. Darlene Mergelman, volunteer at the museum. Susie Garaty, volunteer and Bill's assistant. Ashley Fox, City of Florence. I loved it all because everybody knows everybody except Susie is new to our uh area. She is from a historic family from Coal Creek and she came back to us about 3 years ago and she gave up her volunteer three-day-a-week job in Pueblo to be ours. Thank you, Susie. Okay, so other groups are the Royal Gorge Regional Museum, the DAR, Fremont Heritage Commission, Fremont Historical Society, Territorial Daughters, Western Fremont County Heritage Society, Cañon City Public Library, Royal Gorge Chamber Allowance Alliance, I'm sorry, the City of Cañon City, the Museum of Colorado Prisons, and the Penrose Library. Our other um people that are helping is also our library and um did I miss anyone? No. From Florence? Okay. Okay. Specifically in Florence, the Florence Archives and the Florence Museum with participation from John C. Fremont Library, the Florence City Planning and Water Departments, Florence Chamber, several local busin- businesses that include Amrize and Sidewinder Sluice, and several uh families with deep historical ties to our areas um on the selected topics will co-host

and present our seven tavern talks. The Florence Tavern Talks will represent the six economic engines that developed the Florence area and settled many of its local communities, the railroad, coal, oil, the refractories and smelters that processed the gold from uh Creek and Victor, the cement, farming and ranching, and then we added water because without water termed a summer of history in Florence, we present to you the schedule and you all have a sample, which includes the date, uh day, time, location, and topic of each of the Florence Tavern Talks. These flyers will be available in several locations. The Tavern Talks will be free to the public and we will be held at the Florence Brewery in their back room, the other side, except for the coal presentation will be at Pioneer Park. The brewery will have their alcoholic beverages available for purchase and for those who would prefer non-alcoholic beverages, we will be serving root beer, ginger ale, and water. At the park, uh uh beverages available will also be non-alcoholic. Our Tavern Talks are not a stand-up lecture. Instead, each Tavern Talk will be a short living history drama, approximately 45 minutes, with someone in character from the topics period. One or two audience plants and a signature event.

For example, our first Tavern Talk is oil themed. This is May 9th. We will be highlighting the 1960 marriage performed at the top of the under-constructed construction 25-ft smoke stack in the United Oil Company's yard. You see the stack today, come learn about the story behind it. Can you imagine saying, "I do" way up there? A few more surprises are under consideration to make each Tavern Talk unique. A community discussion is the goal of each talk, so audience, feel free to talk about the subject or ask a question. Volunteers are made up of each talk, so if you would like, volunteer. Those who attend the Tavern Talks will receive a souvenir pamphlet sharing the key points of the talk and additional information and resources. Our hope is that those who attend learn what gives Florence its sense of place. Several local businesses and private donors are making Fremont County celebration possible as well as Colorado's corporate sponsor highlighting our state's birthday celebrations as a destination for a Colorado historic vacation. This is United Airlines. Tomorrow, January 21st, is Fremont County historic 150 250 anniversary celebration rollout at the

Gateway Depot and Plaza vi- visitor center, 816 Royal Gorge Boulevard in Cañon City. We know it as the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Depot. Anyway, it starts at 4:30. It's open to everyone, so please come be a part of something big. Well, thank you very much, and [sighs] looks like you put a lot of work into this already. And and more to come. More to come. Right. Okay. All right, thank you. [snorts]

Having no public comments, we will move on to consent agenda. Consider adopting the minutes for the regular meeting on January 5th, approving expenditures for January 8th and January 14th, and approving the annual liquor license renewal for Papa's Restaurant. This time, does any council member like to um remove one of these from the consent agenda? Hearing none, we have a motion. I'll make a motion to approve consent agenda A, B, and C. Do we have a second? I'll second that. All in favor? I. I. Any opposed? All right, motion passes. New business. First item is uh consider appointing two council members to the City Council Ward vacancy interview committee or adopt qualified applicant to fill the seat. Uh city clerk? So, [snorts] um as discussed in the last City Council meeting, the City Council obviously has a vacancy left from our 2025 regular election. Um after the conclusion of the posting period, there has only been one applicant, and it is your former city councilman, Matt Stieffel. So, um at this time, it's up to you guys if you would like to extend that application process to get new new applications, or as stated in the uh CAF and on the the item, you guys can appoint Matt Stieffel to fill the vacancy for City Council Ward 2. I would like to make a motion to appoint Matt Stieffel back on City Council after his application. I think he explained himself very well how come he didn't run during the regular election, being a good big uh new father.

[snorts] But he's been a new father long enough, he wants back out there. [laughter]

Uh uh he's good he's a good guy, and uh I would be glad to have him back on council. Do we have a second? I second. Okay. Any further discussion? Um I just want to clarify that this appointment would be for 2 years till the next voting cycle comes up. Yes. Um as stated in the revised statute, that this this vacancy would be filled until the next regular election, which is in 2027. And as we all know from previous um ordinance adoptions, the city councilman would not be filled until January. So, they would serve until January, but they, you know, could could appoint themselves for re-election on the ballot, yada yada.

Yeah. And so at the next [snorts] election, there would be two vacancies in uh Ward 2. True. And then the um one with the most votes would serve the 4-year term, and the one with the lesser votes would serve 2 years. Okay. Okay. Any other discussion? Roll call, please. Councilor Mergelman? Yes. Councilor McKinnon? Yes. Councilor Van Houten? Yes. Councilor Gardner? Yes. Councilor Stone? Yes. Mayor Wolf? Yes. All right, motion passes. Congratulations to Matt, if he's out there watching right now. He may be online. Um we look forward to all of his insight again.

he still have Does he still have time to to get here? What's that? Asked if he still had time to get here. Uh with this agenda, maybe not. Huh. Okay. Um item 6B, consider adopting the amended street needs assessment for the City of Florence. CM Andrew. All right, council. Uh in front of you is um the street assessment as done by Three Rocks for the High Meadows subdivision. Um as you'll recall as part of our 2024 budget process, the City of Florence and the council selected the street needs assessment. Um PW2306 is one of our capital improvement plans. As you know, this is our roadmap um for our street repairs. Um and since then, we have used that uh to ensure that we stay based on those streets. Um the initial adoption, of course, was done also by Three Rocks. Um and we found the need for an additional assessment um because this was not initially included in uh the first street assessment. So, uh upon research, we reached out to Three Rocks, asked them to assess this. So, we're asking at this time to amend the original, um but and put High Meadows within that street assessment. We did not rank it, we put it in um as an amendment as the first part is the initial integrity of the street uh rankings. So, so this is an amendment. It will be included in every project for you guys to make your decision based on the street assessment. Um we thought it was

important to do that um as another option when you're choosing your projects for the year. So, the revised assessment will continue to be our primary decision-making tool for uh pri- prioritizing those funds um unless there's unforeseen or different direction. But um we felt it was necessary to put that in um to get uh the expertise of those roads um within that street assessment. So, we are asking that you adopt the amendment to include uh High Meadows. Any questions? Any questions? And they use the same criteria as before? Yep. Same criteria, same uh ranking, uh the same mapping. Um everything is exactly the same. Um that's why we felt confident in just amending the original to include it because it's the same rankings. Any other questions? Someone like motion? I'll make a motion to adopt the street needs assessment as amended for the city of Florence, Colorado, as the basis of a pavement management plan for the city of Florence. Have a second? I'll second it. Okay. Roll call, please. Councilor Stone? Yes. Councilor Mergelman? Yes. Councilor Van Houten?

Yes. Councilor Gardner? Yes. Councilor McKinnon? Yes. Mayor Wolfe? Yes. All right. Next order of business, uh city council reports. Gail. As you can tell, I enjoy the ladies. I have a lot of fun with them. And we are excited to present the program. Something that didn't come out and on the um on the handout, it shows what is going to happen at farmers market. A little more explanation. Farmers market, Millie will be highlighting the tavern talk to come. So, she she will be in and her presentation, what she presents at her um farmers market day, she will be talking putting that in context to be part of the upcoming tavern talk to give people a lead at. And when she does the one at first two in June, it'll be bang bang, so she'll have one for one and then the next weekend she's on the second one. Cuz we we have two back to back. But, all I can say is they're going to be entertaining. Um And we we want the kids to be able to come too. That's another reason why we're not pushing the alcohol, even though it's in a tavern. As many people out there they they bring kids in a tavern setting for whatever reason. Well, there will be um the kids are welcome, too. So, yeah. Thank you. James. No report.

Tammy. I attended the Chamber of Commerce and merchant meeting. They are both working on their yearly calendars. Um lots of um the same um committees um and um some new new things going to happen, so they'll they'll be talking about that soon. Rudl. I went to the county planning The only thing there that's a little bit noteworthy is we're going to be attending a big workshop on a proposed rather large development up on 8 Mile Hill at the site of the old Buckskin Joe. And uh that goes through, it'll be a pretty good pretty good community in an addition. I went to the mayor's round table and had the monthly discussion with our neighbors. Uh I did miss the city planning, but it's my understanding that the master plan passed city planning and is going to be presented to city council in the next couple meetings. That is a major major milestone and I would like to thank all the members on the commission and Ashley Fox for her hours of work, months of work, and all the citizen input. And the people that worked with it were a good bunch of people. Alicia and her bunch, they were they're very good. They they I think they got personally involved in a little bit. I think we're going to have a real good document and we'll go into it more details as council gets involved, but I want to make sure those people are all noted for appreciated for their involvement and work. Thank you, Rudl. Brenda. Just looking forward to all the exciting stuff this summer and all the hard work you ladies are putting into this.

Uh mayor's report. I attended the Central Front Range transportation, the region two meeting. Uh the highway 15 115 project, um they year ago they started to have some open houses and some public meetings about what's going on. That continues to be pushed back one more step. Uh there originally was a million dollars earmarked for fiscal year 29 to start the engineering. Uh that has been pushed been split in half and pushed to happen 2030 and the other half in 2031. So, I don't think there'll be any action on 115 for till 2032 at the earliest. So, we're leaving the tape. Yep. Um Some other local projects that came out there, they are looking at uh working on the cement issues on 115 in Penrose. So, expect some work going to be going on there to repair those places there. And in 2027 they're looking at the US Highway 50 up on 8 Mile Hill. Uh real safety improvements there. Talking about widening Highway 50 coming down the hill from the Royal Gorge and actually putting some medians in there. Uh so, I would you know, if they have more public meetings and you have some input on that, I'd be ready to do that. I saw that they just put a big flashing sign that says 55 miles an hour at the top of the hill to slow people down. That would work, too. That would help. Uh mayor's round table. As Rudl mentioned, a good discussion uh amongst all the all the mayors and and county folks. Um You know, everybody's up and running and

and uh you know, moving ahead with all their projects for 2026. Uh there wasn't really anything real um big Oh, the the probably the biggest thing was the safe streets and road uh grant. Um I think um Beth Lines is is the project manager for that. And so, we're looking forward to what that might be able to do. That involves Florence, Brookside, Williamsburg, Coal Creek, Rockvale, Silver Cliff. I think those are the entities in it. And if we all go together, we can get more done as a big group than individually trying to do things. Uh [clears throat]

Mike Witt said on County Road 19 they're going to they're working on a they're going to be working on a bridge here. So, all the truck traffic coming from Pioneer Sand and Gravel and that other pit up there will not be coming through Sumo for part of the part of the year. They will be all diverted south and then out on Salida Road and then come down 67 into town that way. Um but there will be there will be some relief on you know, those trucks coming through Sumo. And the last thing, I talked to to Lori today. I got the invitation. I put it in each one of you guys' boxes uh about the self-help on the Arrowhead Arrowhead build. They have those six houses up there. That's going to be a ribbon cutting on Saturday, January 31st. Exciting project that that uh Now, everybody's invited to. Um all city city staff, council, um citizens that want to go up there and take a look at it and see what what went on there. It is 11:00 a.m. Um who's supplying Anybody remember who's supplying the the lunch? Yes, it is. Okay, yeah. Connect. The Connects and yeah. Okay. All right, very good. That's all I have. City manager report. Well, day 15 of uh day 15 and uh lots to report. Uh we've been very busy in city hall um moving and a shaking. Um let's see. If you notice on the report, it's a little uh we added a couple different

things cuz I really wanted to have some time for discussion. Um so, we could have some dialogue on some things. So, you'll see and to kind of tell you what we're working on that may uh may affect maybe an upcoming uh may affect staff or may affect uh maybe a workshop that uh we need uh or so forth. So, did add a few extra things on here. So, I wanted to kind of expand on a few things. Um but first, Courtland, can you bring up that picture? Um I we get lots of calls uh about um how many officers we have and um our PD and how many there are. We have so many new faces. Uh we're so so and one just walked in. Uh so, I just wanted to and we took this picture a little bit ago. Um and I it's just such a good picture and I'm so proud of them all and we've worked really hard uh to get the staffing up. As you know, it's not easy to to hire officers sometimes. Um so, I wanted to to kind of get that out there and show um exactly how big our force is. And I'm super proud of them. We also have uh one more that's not on there that will be uh extending and getting on very soon. I I hear he's got all his stuff in, but um so, as soon as she gets that uh I'll show you. All right, so you guys can see cuz it's it's uh it's a nice I'm very proud of them. There they are. There they are. So, we'll get that on the website. Uh so, there are our officers and our chief and um everybody over in the PD. So, um very proud of them. So, I wanted to show

them off. All right. Um And I'll be doing a ride-along with them very soon. And Zach, I asked to go with you, just FYI. Yeah, I know. I know. I know. So, uh uh I'll be doing that here in the next couple weeks. I actually very much looking forward to it. All right. So, um want to highlight a couple of my uh meetings that I had. I had a lot of meetings. As you all know, that's a big part of uh my commitment. Um I did have one with the local postmaster. Um and that actually we had two of them. Um and it was a was a great meeting cuz you know, there was some um some issues with the post office box and the say the sidewalk and all of that. And I'm very happy to uh announce that Roberta, that is our postmaster general, has gotten that all squared away. Um she they're going to have boxes now. Uh the post office is going to take all costs for that. Um and get that fixed to have a good solution. And that all started with a complaint a safety complaint that she was acting on. So, Ashley and myself were able to make some good contacts and get the communication going so, we can help fill that between the post office and citizens and uh that. So, uh that uh should be closed as soon as they get those post office boxes up in Arrowhead. So, we're really happy about that. Uh had the meet and greet with local the nonprofits, the chamber, uh the merchants and some business. So, um I'm going to continue that.

Um I think I did it too early, Joan. Too early in the morning. Um but I did get somebody to come to every meeting. And I got some great feedback, some great ideas, um and made some great um relationships. So, we'll continue that. We just got to find I think the right time for everybody. Uh but I do think that is definitely worth going in everybody wants to work together for the better of Florence. So, I think that's exciting. Um Let's see. Project pothole. My very favorite thing. I am happy to report that people are using it. Now, is it as fast as I would like to have it? No, but it's starting. Uh Sam probably thinks it's fast enough. But people are using it. Uh we've had several uh in there and we are happy to say we fixed everyone that came in there. We found a solution. Some of them were ones we didn't know and there was one we didn't. So, uh very exciting. Then on top of that, uh Sam in the last couple weeks pulled in 9 tons of asphalt and filled 100 potholes. So, we are we are working. Potholes are not going to uh it's ever they're not winning. Uh 91226 are reporting. Had a couple uh couple uh citizens put comments and actually one great idea came out of it. Um and we were going to take that to the pool. It's about an emergency exit in the pool. And it's a great idea. So, I'm really happy people are using that. It's just a great way to get the information quick. So, uh let's see.

Um other couple highlights. Um The Daily Record, I don't know if y'all looked, but did a a uh article on the swimming pool today. I had talked to Olivia. Super excited about some of the funding we got and what we're doing with the pool. Speaking of the pool, we did get a bid packet from the engineer today. It's a We haven't had chance to review it. So, it's almost ready to uh to get there. So, we'll be moving and shaking on the pool. So, read that article. It's we're excited for some good information to get out on Florence. Um Reminder on FEDC January 30th uh for whoever signed up for that. That should be a good time. Um the water department um has some training with Core and Main. And the reason I'm bringing this up because this is also part of our commitment to the rate users. Uh is they're they're having some training on it's called uh fusible pipe. And you ask what that is. Sam probably knows, but it's about poly pipe and changing and using this poly pipe that is less expensive, lasts longer, and more cost-effective. So, they are our our distribution and our water department is having a training on that so, we can start using that pipe. So, that's very exciting. Um So, let's see. Um Public Works, I'm very excited to announce that we have uh Well, we're we found a CDL driver. We're almost at the last part to get a an additional CDL driver hired. And our own Megan is uh finishing up her training for CDL. She is on is on her second set of tests.

She's almost there. So, we will have another CDL driver. That's a big deal. Because it's very hard uh to find CDL drivers lately. So, we're very excited and thankful that Megan is going to that training. So, uh thank her uh a hundred times, Sam. Um All right. So, on discussions and topics, these are a few things I want to kind of put on your radar and and see if there's any discussions you guys want to have. Um J- uh job descriptions. In the packet, I I put two job descriptions uh with you. One is the finance manager and that will be the job that replaces me. Um I moved it from a manager to a director level uh for a couple reasons. We've got it streamlined now to where it's going to cover basically payroll um and do the data entry, the bank reconciliations, and accounts payable. Uh will report uh to myself and then work with the directors, but not and indirectly work with them on the budget. That's where the change from manager to director goes. We will also be able to save some money there as it doesn't need to be a full-blown director. So, that's the job description. I will be posting that tomorrow. Soon as Courtland gets to work, it'll be her first her first thing. Um we will do Yeah. You may have misspoke. Is it the new posting a manager or a director? Manager. It's a manager. It's a finance manager. Um and the CPA, our consultant, will be working with me during those interviews.

I thought it was very important to get another set of eyes uh to assist in those and she's agreed to do that. Um so, if anybody's Get out the word. Get out the word. Um it will be um a pay range of uh in line with our man- our deputy uh superintendent and lieutenant and that pay grade, pay grade six. Um and then the water distributions manager is just an updated job description uh for Brett Hess, who is our ORC manager. This gives him an official job description. Um so, there will not be an additional FTE with that, but now he will have a job description. Okay. Um so, I'm excited about that. Um City Hall operating hours, we're doing some data collection on the timing of when citizens come in to see if this is worth doing. Um as you know, there's only a couple ladies up at the front. So, trying to navigate sometimes lunches is a little hard. So, we're trying to determine do we um push open the opening time a little longer in the morning, say 7:00 or do we stay open a little later and then maybe offer a half-hour lunch? So, we're right now at this point just getting data together to see if it makes sense of when people come in. Um so, that's down the pipeline, but it definitely could be something that we're looking at. Just to see how do we get maybe a a half-hour lunch in for for the ladies instead of pulling people to cover or any of that. So, that's down the pipeline. Um the uh audit for financials, I scheduled

in April. So, we'll be getting that completed. Um City Council retreat. One of my researches um in other cities, they do sit City Council City staff retreats where it's training um for communication with staff and council. Is that something you would be interested in? Um It could be mediated. It could be something as simple as um Dan Dan doing it. Um A lot of the cities that I talked to, the city managers, it's a great tool to get everybody to where they're on the same page. So, um it could cost as a little as, you know, a couple hundred bucks to some of the cities go away for 3 days and have great retreats. That's not what I'm asking. Um Yeah. Yeah, it's a there's a lot of different variations, but I did not want to continue looking into it if it wasn't something um that you guys were interested in. But, anything that can get us all on the same page and, you know, ha- decision-making, um I'm in for. But, um I didn't want to do it unless you guys are waste the the energy doing it. I think it's a good idea.

[laughter]

And some cities do it with council and very specific staff. Some are council and only the city manager. And some are council and all, you know, directors. So, it could be anything we want. It would be open to the public. It's a I mean, it's a it's an open meeting. So, um can look however however you want, but I I would suggest a mediator and they have lots of people that will come in and help and it's like a just a training, actually. Really interesting. So. So, if we have ideas, you want us to come in and talk to you about it or

Yeah, or if you want me to to get some different ideas together and present it or however you want that to look. I just I just want to make sure you're interested in it. Yeah, okay. If we find a time, yeah. All right, I'll get um And uh let's see, that may be That may be all. Oh, we're going to turn the sprinklers back on in the cemetery cuz it's so hot and we got to get some water in done. So, we do we do understand that maybe some of it looks a little dry. The weather kind of is crazy. So, we're going to turn them back on and get some water in done in case anybody anybody out there's listening and wants to know that we know. Um and that is Oh, I'd like to thank Courtland. I've been running her ragged 100 miles a day and she's been key in my uh success in scheduling and keeping me going. So, I do want to thank her for for doing that because um trying to juggle some of this, uh she's been she's been great help. So, I want to thank her. Any questions for Laura? Okay. Um well, I can find somewhere. I sure can. I mean, I did not realize how big of a thing it was until I started looking into it. Yeah. And we and we also have that half a day training from the recruiter. That's part of that package. So, that's something to think about, too. I I forgot about that. I will look into that. Anything else?

All right. City attorney, anything? Nothing for me. Okay. City Clerk, anything else? Yes, I just wanted to touch on something really quickly that Lori had said. I'm meeting with the pool project manager today. Um his name's Brian Hill. He was the one who conducted the feasibility study earlier in 2025. Um we're finalizing a lot of the language. Um all of the the mapping is done. The language is pretty much constructed. We're going to run it obviously through Lori and legal. Um and I did ask for an end date as far as language in the bid. So, I think everybody would would really appreciate that so we have, you know, kind of something to look forward to. And I'd also like to know if I need to staff the pool for 2026. So, um when I have more details, I'll be happy to share it with you guys. Okay. And I'd also like to thank Courtland for, you know, you're organizing the 2026 student leadership week. Appreciate that. It's always good to to get the students involved. Are are we combining with Canyon on that again like we did last year? We'll have Florence and Canyon's uh student councils and Canyon National Honor Society. Okay. All right, very good. Anything else from directors down here? All right, anybody have a need for executive session? Hearing none, do we have a motion to adjourn? I'll make a motion to adjourn. Do we have a second? I'll second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? All right. Motion passed. We are adjourned at 7:13. Okay. That was a lot of stuff today. Yeah, it was.

Good night. Good night. What a good night. It's nice. We're so excited. I am excited. I'll be more excited