City Council - Regular Meeting

Roll call, Ms. Kurtz.

Mayor Sashow.

Here.

Council Member Kozad.

Here.

Council Member Erdiales.

Here.

Council Member Kaeper.

Here.

Council Member Garcia.

Here.

Council Member Boyette.

Here.

Council Member Parks.

Here. Okay, next thing on the agenda is public comment, audience participation for items not on the agenda. Public comments are limited to three minutes per speaker. Speaker must sign on the sheet. next to the podium and address the council from the podium. The council will not take action in this meeting to any response to public comments. Have anybody wants to come up? Come on up, sign in at the sheet there.

all right hello i apologize in advance public speaking is not my forte so i might be a little shaky so mayor and members of city council i am here again because this dispute that's happening between cargo And the members of the community for Morgan is paying the price too. I want to say something that I think has been lost throughout the dispute. These employees did nothing wrong by asking for more. Wanting better wages does not make someone greedy or ungrateful. These employees work difficult jobs that help make Cargill successful. They use their right to collectively bargain and simply said, we believe that our work is worth a little more and giving them a little more wouldn't benefit only them. Cargill employs the significant portion of our community and recent reporting say that the shutdown could cost the city of Fort Morgan millions of dollars in lost revenue because there is no them and us. We are all Fort Morgan. When these workers earn more, that money comes right back to this community. It pays mortgages and utility bills. It fills grocery carts. It buys school clothes. It gets spent at our restaurants, our gas stations, and local businesses. A stronger paycheck for 1,700 workers can mean a stronger local economy for all of us. I understand that the City Council cannot negotiate on this contract, and I'm not asking you to choose the union over Cargill. I'm asking to use the influence that you do have. Reach out to Cargill. Tell them that this continued dispute, what this dispute is costing Fort Morgan. Encourage them to return to the table and ask whether there is room to give these employees a little more so everyone can finally move forward. Cargill needs its workers, workers need Cargill, our businesses need customers, and our city needs a healthy local economy. there is nothing wrong with workers asking for better and there is nothing wrong with our city asking one of its largest employers to help find a solution this isn't about choosing sides anymore it's about choosing all of us it's about choosing fort morgan thank you thank you all right we have anybody else

Same routine, bud. Just sign in there.

As a longstanding member of this community, I have experienced what it means to be suffocated by big business in this small town. For a long time, it has been easy to ignore the mechanical Leviathan that fuels our local economy. If Cargill is the fuel, employees are the crude oil of which that fuel is made of. We are the lifeblood of your economy. We buy products from your stores. We stimulate the economy and pay the taxes that fund this committee. To those in this community who have decided to demonize and smother the flame of change we attempted to instill, Those who have given us the cold shoulder, regardless of how this will play out, we see you. This fight for justice will prosper, hopefully with you. We should not allow the company to retain its financial stranglehold on us. We are bound by the self-devised monolith of a company that has exerted its powers on us, the powers to divide a community, to hold hostage necessary funds from the local government. This deliberate and calculated lockout has now reached every corner of our quaint town. eventually this facade of victimhood must fall this company tried to convince you that a strike would ruin them that locking out workers stripping their health care and remaining silent was necessary for their own sake but let me ask you this if a work stoppage was their biggest fear why did they opt to do it voluntarily they weren't concerned with the economic consequences of a possible strike they were afraid of surrendering their power to the employee who make their company run Cargill has never been in the dire straits it claims to be. They played the game with surgical precision. So I ask everyone, what side of history will you choose to be on? And what values are you ready to cement in your name for eternity?

Thank you, sir. Okay. Is there anybody else that want to talk?

Same routine, buddy, right there. Thank you.

Hi, everybody. My name is Anastacio Lopez. I work, I've been here in Fort Morgan for about 40 years. And I work in Cary Rio for 35 years. So I was in negotiations in my union. I was working for the union before, for the local 961 and for the local 451, 455. And actually, and I addressed this issue to them, that you guys not going to do nothing with the company, period. The company already know and set up their mind what they're going to give to the people. And this is it. That's the final notice. Well, they went for the second time. And if you go for the second time to negotiate a contract again, and you come out with nothing, so how are the people not going to react? They're going to be mad. Why did you switch your numbers? And the payroll is still the same. It don't make no sense. The union knows that they're lying to the people. Don't lie to the people. That's why the people get mad. I know Calgary had many, many millions of dollars to pay because it cost economic, it cost too much for them. We don't know how much they pay around for everything, the business they have. But the problem is they used to do these contracts and give you 10 cents, 15 cents, 20 cents for five years. So that's ridiculous right now. You go to Walmart, you go everywhere, and you see the economy, how everything is. How are you going to spend? What is it that you're going to spend if you don't have the money? How are you going to make a living when the cost of living is too much for the city and the people here in Port Morgan? And if you don't have good salaries and good benefits, because a lot of people, they only care for the dollar sign. They don't care for medical. for everything else. When they go, when they take a little boy to this hospital, that's a million dollars or more. Who knows? Concentrating medical benefits and the money with the $1,000 that you get at the plant every week, you're not going to pay a million dollars in the hospital. So it's very important. The benefits plus the money, a little bit of money. But no. First of all, the union asking for $7 for five years. And I told him, my boy, yes, you know what? Shut your mouth and don't say nothing. People, I told the union, because I was interpreting for people, they say, well, let's put it down, a dollar a year, $5. They say, no. They come out with $2.50 for five years. So it's nothing. It's nothing. And actually, yeah, but they still argument with the union. And the union have a contract, and it's not done. It's no good. So, I mean, when the country expires, there's nothing. No insurance for the people, no nothing. And people are struggling right now. But there has to be somebody else, professional, that comes from the international to come and fix this problem with Calgary. And that's all I say. All right. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. All right. Anybody else want to get up and talk? all righty then we're going to move on to the next agenda uh approval of resolution of the minutes of the july 21st city council meeting miss curtis the meetings of the jill the meeting minutes of the july 21st council meeting are in your packet as presented i'll entertain a resolution your honor i'd like to make a resolution to approve the minutes for the july 21st 2026 council meeting second All right. I have a resolution by Jim Parks, second by Bill Garcia. Roll call, please.

That resolution carries unanimously.

All righty. Next on the agenda is proclamation recognizing August as Child Support Awareness Month. all righty proclamation child support awareness month whereas the city of fort morgan recognizes that every child matters and joins the nation in recognizing august as child support awareness month whereas child support is a vital support of income of households in the city of fort morgan many of them are low-income families whereas the strengthening the families improve the lives of children by prompting their safety and well-being and provides economic security Whereas the city of Fort Morgan applauds the parents who support their children and make child support permanent, consistently to care for them. Whereas child support professionals are important assets to the county, working in collaboration with the parents and other community partners to ensure that children and families receive quality service. Whereas it is important to increase public awareness of the child support program through outreach and education to reinforce the position that all parents must take responsibility for the financial and emotional and physical support of their children. Now, therefore, be resolved that I, Doug Shasso, Mayor of the City of Fort Morgan, Colorado, hereby proclaim August 26, 2026, Child Support Awareness Month. In witness thereof, I hear... Here unto set my hand and cause the official seal of the city of Fort Morgan, Colorado, be affixed on this fourth day of August 2026. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am.

If I could just thank you all for being here. I'm Tammy Wick. I'm the 4D administrator for the Morgan County and Washington County Child Support Unit in Morgan County. And just to let you know, if child support locates absent parents, establishes paternity for children, establishes child support orders, enforces child support orders, modifies current child support orders, as well as enforces the medical support on orders. And just to throw out a figure, in 2025, Morgan County Child Support Services collected $3.3 million that went right back into Morgan County citizens to help pay for and to support their children. And I just wanted to thank you all for taking the time to recognize that.

You're welcome. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next on the agenda is Recognition of Business of the Month. Ms. Engel.

Good evening. On June 24th, the Fort Morgan community experienced a traumatic storm producing large golf and baseball-sized hail. Cars were dented, roofs had divots, and home and auto windows were shattered. Until severe weather unexpectedly hits, we often forget our dependence on glass and how it delivers solutions that improve homes, businesses, and autos. Tonight it is my honor and privilege to announce that Standard Glass has been selected as this month's Business of the Month recipient for its valuable contributions to our community. Each month this distinction is given to a Fort Morgan business that excels in such areas as pride in their business, top-notch customer service, operational growth, active involvement in area organizations and programs, and community contributions that assist in creating a better quality of life. June 24th wasn't the first time that this locally owned and operated company responded to a large amount of emergency glass installations and insurance claims assistance during its 50 plus years of operation. However, it did provide a small deviation from other routine services this business provides, such as commercial glass and storefront installation, commercial door repair and replacement, Heavy equipment, semi-truck RV and farm equipment glass needs, automotive glass repair and replacement, ADAS windshield camera recalibration, and even residential glass needs such as mirrors and tabletops in addition to exterior windows. In fact, no job is too small for Standard Glass and its five full-time team members. I would like to share a quote from Diana Uris. This company was nice enough to replace windows in a little bird feeder. The older gentleman was so happy to use his bird feeder again. Hidden in this simple remark of gratitude says so much more about our honoree. It shows that this business believes in treating customers the way we all would like to be treated, and how the emphasis on service, no matter what the request has been, has helped in building relationships and trust, solidifying repeat customers, often multiple generations of repeat customers, and generating word of mouth referrals over five decades. Standard Glass was purchased in 2014 by Ray Keefe from another respected local business owner, Steve Crable. Ray felt strongly about keeping the business family owned and committed to serving the community. It began as a small local glass shop, which over time expanded into residential, commercial, and automotive glass. Originally located on Railroad Avenue, the Keefs moved operations into a larger space located at 216 State Street after three years of operation. Son Tryston joined the business after serving in the military and for the past three years has served as the store's general manager. As the industry has evolved, the Keefs continue to invest in newer tools, equipment, and technology while staying committed to personalized local service. Even with the challenges of finding and keeping skilled employees in a specialized trade as well as supply chain issues, our Business of the Month honoree continues to invest in training and equipment to provide this important service in the community. Many customers have recognized Standard Glass for their fair, competitive pricing, helpful staff, professional work as evidenced by their precise and safe installation, and use of quality material. Standard Glass also supports organizations that makes Fort Morgan a better place and enhances its community fabric, including the Dakota Prevost Memorial Events, the Sanctuary Church, after prom sponsorships, the Elk Lodge, as well as various monetary donations to local schools, youth programs, and miscellaneous community fundraisers throughout the year. Please join me in congratulating and thanking our August Business of the Month selection, Standard Glass, for the outstanding efforts and contributions this business provides in order to make Fort Morgan a great place to live, work, and enjoy. And we do have a representative. Oh, we have two. Great.

First and foremost, just thank you guys all so much. It is an honor being recognized as Business of the Month. It is a great deal to us, especially in a smaller community. We truly appreciate our customers, our team, and everyone who continues to support us. And we do look forward to serving this community for many more years to come. So thank you.

Thank you, guys. I'll come back up, Sandy. You're going to be here for a while. Yeah. All right. Next on the agenda is presentation. Possible action on a resolution approving the local historic landmark, 325 Main. Ms. Engel? Yes.

Tonight, the Fort Morgan Historic Preservation Board would like to recommend approval and designation for each of the three buildings that comprise the former Fort Morgan Times building for individual local landmark status. Each of these three buildings meets at least two major areas of the historic designation criteria, including being the site of a significant historic event or original location of a historical property, association with historic persons who made a significant contribution to society or the city of Fort Morgan, and or embodies distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style or is the work of an architect or master builder who is nationally, statewide, or locally recognized as an expert. The first building tonight is referred to the Bill Building, and it's located at 325 Main Street. Built in 1907 by OP Bill, this small building was representative of the modest, single-story Victorian commercial building that characterizes the Fort Morgan streetscape. Over time, many businesses occupied its location, including Johnson's Electronic Shoe Shop, Price Jewelers, West Steins Electric Shoe Shop, the Chiropractor Dr. Sigafoose, and the Ben Franklin Store, to name a few. Just months after completion of its original structure in 1907, an addition was built on the rear of the property. In 1978, the Fort Morgan Times bought the building from the Ben Franklin store for the expansion of its newspaper offices. The Fort Morgan Times was under the ownership of the Spencer family who occupied the building for the next four years and made significant contributions to the city of Fort Morgan, which is noted in related nominations that will be presented in a few minutes. In 1965, the Spencer family hired Willie Warner, a Denver architect from the Warner family of Fort Morgan, to design a modern style facade for the Times newspaper offices. It was a new modern style for Fort Morgan's Main Street with stone panels enhanced with aggregate background. The Times completely covered the front facade of the Beale Building with stone panels to tie in with their other buildings. So I will present that building first for consideration. Okay.

Do I have a resolution?

Yeah, and I'd like to make a resolution to approve the local historic landmark of 325 Main Street. Second.

I have a resolution by Jim Parks, second by Bill Garcia. Roll call, please.

That resolution carries unanimously.

All righty. Go through the Verbiage again. Presentation of popularized resolution on approval of the landmark historic, local historic landmark at 327 Main.

The second building, located at 327 Main Street, was built in 1888 by Lyman Baker as a basic brick box, architecturally unpretentious, with little ornamentation other than a band of contrasting bricks serving as a cornice. However, this building was unique for Fort Morgan in that it was the only stone-fronted commercial building erected in the downtown district. Most builders preferred the readily available brick. Lyman Baker reportedly was Fort Morgan's first newspaper man in the late 1800s. He hired Lute Johnson as his first printer who secured a cast-off army press from the Denver Republican newspaper that printed one six-column page at a time. This building was also the Fort Morgan Times' fourth home, ultimately. In 1901, the paper changed hands again as it was purchased by James A. Eide. In 1901, Eide operated the print shop in the building and in 1906 built a 25 foot by 50 foot concrete building at the rear of the lot to house the press. the buildings originally joined by a frame passageway were extended in 1936 and in 1971 they were joined as part of the present fort morgan times complex when the spencer family repurchased the building robert b spencer who purchased the time times in 1907 moved the paper to its fifth and final location next door at 329 main street three generations of the spencer family operated the newspaper for 108 years until 2018. okay entertain a resolution yeah i know i'd like to make a resolution to approve historical landmark 327 maine second all right i have a resolution by jim parks second by bill garcia roll call please that resolution carries unanimously

And here comes the verbiage again. Presentation of Paula's last resolution approving the local historic landmark 329 Main Street. Yes.

So the third building being presented this evening is the 1909 original Fort Morgan Times building located at 329 Main Street. It was considered the most architecturally interesting building of the town's Victorian commercial blocks. With its entrance set back behind a brick arched arcade, it represented a departure from the typical facade. The Gothic arches of the arcade further contrasted with the column and framed Renaissance revival upper story to create a pleasing yet eclectic building, one of the town's best. The 1965 remodeling removed the appearance of the original style to present a more cohesive look. As noted, it was the original site of the Fort Morgan Times, the community's oldest and most enduring newspaper. The newspaper business operated as a weekly in the early years under several owners and in several locations. The paper was purchased in 1907 by Robert B. Spencer, who built this building in the summer of 1909 and began publishing the paper as a daily on August 1, 1908. rb spencer a former iowa school superintendent came to fort morgan on speculation and bought the times for ten thousand dollars he served as editor and publisher for 58 years and during this time devoted his life in fort morgan to numerous city activities spencer served as mayor from 1909 to 1911. he also served 33 years as chamber director For his devoted community service, he received the titles of Mr. Methodist and Mr. Republican. Arby's son, Bob, grew up in the newspaper office and was officially employed in 1931. During the Great Depression, when finances were tight, Bob and his wife Fern took on many outside jobs in order to keep the paper operating. Bob's and Fern's only son, Bill, also grew up in the newspaper office, and after college and service in the Navy, returned to the Fort Morgan Times to become the editor. His wife, Sue, was also highly devoted to the community and served on the Fort Morgan City Council for many years, as well as led the major museum addition and remodel project during her tenure as the Fort Morgan Heritage Foundation president. The current building owner, the Morgan County Family Center, recently purchased the building comprised of the three original structures blended into one over time and is excited to occupy the property in order to provide valued family support services and programs such as housing assistance, emergency financial assistance, and parent leadership training. The Fort Morgan Main Street Board has been assisting the new owner in its quest to update and remodel the building for improved downtown aesthetics, as well as making it a welcoming place for our community members to access services and educational training. The Fort Morgan Historic Preservation Board appreciate your consideration. If approved, the three structures will be the 30th, the 31st, and the 32nd Fort Morgan Local Landmark designations. A special thank you to Lynn Deal for the extensive research on this project and for Mary Gross, the Executive Director of the Morgan Family Services who is here tonight. Awesome.

All right, entertain the resolution. your honor i'd like to make a resolution to approve a local historic landmark at 329 main second i have a resolution by jim parks second by bill garcia roll call please that resolution carries unanimously thank you thanks sandy thank you mary okay next on the agenda is the 2027 budget calendar presented 27 for expenditures and general fund. Mr. Nation.

Yeah, I'm going to have Casey come up here. I'll probably end up doing most of the talking, though. Oh, geez. I feel like we've been in a car wreck and back in a car wreck and out of a car wreck trying to respond to what's going on. I feel for the people that were here tonight to talk about what's going on at Cargill. Part of me wishes there was something we could do to make this all just go away, but we can't. And so with news of the fact that the union contract was not ratified yesterday by the employees, We made adjustments to what's in your packet. So we've gone back to the directive that we're going to cut the budgets by 15% accordingly. So your table file has the eight departments in it with those 15% cuts back in there. A lot of these we had already started working on with the 15% cut. made the changes last week to go back to a zero gain budget. Now we're back to the 15% cut. So what you have in your table file is the budget that we're presenting tonight. To keep this from being just a long discussion about we're cutting here, we're cutting here, we're cutting here, we're cutting here, we're cutting here. We're just gonna kind of do these in mass. I will answer any questions that you may have. Try to hit on some highlights that we may have in the departments that are in front of you tonight. So the eight departments that are in your packet tonight are mayor and council, city manager, finance, city clerk, city attorney, airport, human resources, and general government. These are all part of the general fund. With these departments, we are anticipating three and a half cuts of full time employees. The half cut is actually an attempt to move a part of an employee's salary into another department that would be more of a utility department. But we still have three cuts that we're looking at on the employee base. I'm not going to get into the particulars of who they are or what department they are. You'll see them in your list. Right now, we're trying to get through the entire general fund as a whole to see if all of the cuts of personnel are going to be needed. So I need to be able to balance the entire general fund before we would say that these reductions in force are official by any means. So what you have tonight is a proposal and a proposal only. But there are certain things that you will see. Some of these departments have minor cuts in them on the expenditure side. Just taking right off the top the mayor and council budget, unless I go in and change your health insurance requirements dramatically, that is one place that it makes it impossible to make reductions to the 15%. But when you take all eight budgets together that are in your packet, we were able to achieve a 15% reduction with all eight of them combined. So this is a bottom line type of effect that we're going for. We're trying to get the general fund in mass down 15%. So some of them, if you do the math, aren't going to be 15%. One in particular that you will see will actually be an increase, but it's because we just don't have any options. That is the airport budget that's in there. We went from an FBO contract with Kyle Scott that was $36,000 a year to where the contract that we approved earlier this year with the new FBO is now approximately $170,000. So unless we want to give up our general aviation status as an airport, we're going to have to pay that expense. And so we have worked hard to make sure that we're seeing other savings to where the bottom line is at that 15%. so um you will see things like that but every department has worked on what can we reduce what things make sense what things can we give up and so like i said we're not going to go line item by line item these are the eight departments that you have in front of you tonight The one conversation that I did want to have that involves these eight departments, part of this is the general government budget, 001419. That is a lot of money that takes to operate this building in particular that we have our council meetings in. um i will let council know tonight that my proposal will be that if we move forward with all of the reductions in force and changes in budget because of the ongoing situation with cargill we will probably move the staff out of this building next year if that's the case we will continue to use this for council meetings it works great for meetings and everything but there's a lot of money that goes into the heating and cooling of this building as a weekly operation versus if we only need to heat it, cool it for the two nights that we use it a month for council. So I would look at moving those departments that are in here back into the complex. If we go through with all the other reductions in force, we're going to have ample office space over at the complex for everybody. So that's part of the reduction that you see the general government budget we were able to cut by 36% because of the savings we would get by not having things in this building. So those are what you have in front of you. When we get through all of the general fund budgets, we will also bring projected revenues back to you at that time for the balancing effect of what monies we're anticipating coming in. But this is what you have, and this is my plan for presenting the budgets. I will let the other appointed officials present their budgets, so you'll have the police chief and the fire chief present their departments, but all the other budgets will come from myself, and then Casey will be available for questions. So at this point, I would be happy to answer any questions if you have them. And I will be honest, this is not a pleasant process to go through. This has been tough, but I give my managers a lot of credit for stepping up and doing what they need to do to make this work.

I know you don't want to get into line by line, but I've always wondered for ours, um, do's and subscriptions. What are those?

Yeah. So I think our CML membership comes out of there.

Okay.

And so, so that was one of the things, there was a few things that we knew we could cut out of there. Um, One of the cuts that we did make to the council budget is we would probably anticipate not having the entire council go to the CML annual conference. We would probably have a discussion about which half of council would go. Since you guys are basically here for two years, it would give us an opportunity to take one half one year and then the other half the next year and do it like that.

That's a good idea.

so yeah so we've made some reductions based upon things that we belong to but i think cml is the biggest thing that you guys pay for in dues and subscriptions okay so all right i always kind of wondered what that was and i had a property guy said that must be the property insurance for the building Yeah, so property and casualty, that's keeping this building insured so it can be replaced if it burns down. So things like that. All right. Thank you. Yeah. Don't tempt this year. Yeah, this year has been kicking us when we're down. So, yeah, we won't tempt anything.

All righty. Any questions for Brent or Casey?

Okay. Yeah. We'll be back in two weeks with more of the general fund and we'll get that all wrapped up and then we'll move back to the utilities in the end. So, okay. Appreciate your guys' patience through this too. I get it. We've changed the budget calendar quite a bit and we're, but we're going to stick to this as we move forward. So, okay.

Thank you. We got to deal with. Yeah. All right. Next on the agenda bids, meetings, announcements, Ms. Curtis.

Thank you. Um, on August 12th, we have an airport advisory board meeting at the airport at 12 PM, August 18th. We're back here for our city council regular meeting. And on August 24th, there is a planned planning commission board meeting at four 30 here at city hall.

Alrighty. Uh, the next we're going to go into executive session. For the purpose of determining positions related to matters that may be subject to negotiation, developing strategies for negotiations, and or instructing negotiators under CRS section 246402-4E, economic incentives. Do I have a motion to go into executive session?

Motion to go into executive session.

All in favor? Aye. Anybody not?