City Council - Regular Meeting

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Just a reminder, anybody need to sign up for public comment? Do it. Do it now before Courtland gets over there to the sheet. Two sparing back and forth. I call to order the Warren City Council meeting for Monday, May 4th, 2026. Please rise for the pledge.

I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty andice for all. Roll call, please. Councelor Van Hton, here. Councelor Stifel here. Councelor Mgleman here. Councelor Gardner here. Councelor Stone here. Councelor McKinnon here. Mayor Wolf here.

First order of business is a presentation from Kindred Kids Child Advocacy Center. Just make sure the lights green there.

Thank you. Sorry, I didn't expect to go first. um usually last. So um I'm Lori Jenkins. I'm the executive director of Kinder Kids Child Advocacy Center. And first I want to thank you for having me come tonight. Um I have been trying to get in here for a couple of years. We've actually been open for eight years. Um, we are located in Canyon City and we provide all of the forensic interviews and medical exams for law enforcement and the Department of Human Services for children who have been um where there's allegations of sexual abuse or physical abuse. Um, we also cover the entire 11th Judicial District. So, we have been covering Florence for the last eight years. um working handinhand with your law enforcement to make sure that all of your kiddos are taken care of as far as um investigative pieces go with their um abuse. We also provide victim advocacy. So, our advocates are with our clients from the time that they come to our office until the time that their um case is disposed in court. And as many of you may or may not know, that can take a really long time in court. Um we have had some families who have been with us for three to four years while their cases go through the judicial district um or system. And so our advocates are constantly with them making sure that they have all the things that they need um as far as legal services, housing um in some cases. Sometimes we have to go to court with them to um help them get restraining orders, protection orders, victim's comp, all of the good things that come along with being a victim of a crime. Unfortunately, um we also provide medical services on site. We are one of the only CACs um in Colorado that do that on-site. Um and we also are the only one in the 11th judicial district. Um each judicial district in Colorado is allowed to have one child advocacy center. Um and we just re got reacredited in 2026.

So I have brochures. Um, I wanted to answer any questions anyone may have about child advocacy centers, what services we provide for Florence. Um, all of our services are free of charge to Florence. Um, the only thing that we do recoup from Florence Police Department is medical exams and that's because we have to pay the hospital. But all of our services are fle free to the police department. Um, and we have been working with them. Oh my goodness. Well, I've been working with them for 12 years because I actually used to be your victim advocate prior to that. So, um I also have brochures and I also have a few calendars. Um we started a new program this year. It's our peer support K9 program and we have some calendars that I'm going to leave in the back if anyone would like to um have one of those to hang up on their wall. Got a bunch of cute dogs in there. So,

any questions? How big is the 11th judicial district? What does that encompass? Uh we cover Fremont, Kuster, Chaffi, and Park counties. Yeah. Do you have facilities? We do not. Um so each CAC is allowed to have one standing facility. We are allowed to do site um like sister sites if we wanted to. Unfortunately, we don't have the capacity and with victim's comp and victim services uh funding being cut. We've been cut almost 65% in the last two years through federal funding. um getting another site in another location would be would be difficult to man that more than what we're already doing.

I really don't want to know this, but what's your case load? We do on average 100 to um about 150 to 165 interviews a year. Um and that's just of children under the age of 18. That doesn't include our adults. Um we also provide victim services for um the Canyon City Police Department. So when you combine the two, we're servicing about 400 victims a year. About 225 of those are children and their family members. So quite a few. Well, thank you for what you do there. Thank you very much.

All right. Um item 3B, Florence employee recognition. Lori join me, please. Thank you, council. So, this week is professional municipal clerk's week. So, we wanted to appreciate Courtland and Kiana. Uh Kiana is at a with one of her kiddos, so she can't be here, but we want her to know we appreciate her even if she's not here. Uh so what that is, it's an established and I'm not and I'm I'm sure everybody wears, but I'm just going to say Courtland has worked really hard to get her certification, her CMCA, which is a certified municipal clerk. She's worked very hard for that also while doing her job. So in addition to I like to say um Courtland the you stepped in she's been here since 2021. Courtland stepped into uh this role uh during a little bit of turmoil. She took it without question. I remember uh when she did said, "What do you need me to do?" um she was very eager to learn and to be in a role. And anybody that knows her,

she tells them she's going to be here for 30 years. This is her home. This is her job. This is her everything. And we appreciate you every day, even though sometimes she's overly loud about it. Um, Courtland uh keeps the office going. You never know. Um, she is our ball of energy and we appreciate her. She has really worked to bring those professional standards up to a level we all could be proud of. Uh, we have a lot to thank you for, Courtland. And me personally through my journey, I want to thank you. uh she has uh embraced everything I've thrown at her and uh my hundred days would not be possible without Courtland keeping my calendar, keeping me in track and keeping me on uh path. So, uh she's a great partner and we're very fortunate to have her um here in our little great little town. So, uh here's to well, she's been here since 2021, so we got about 26 years left. Um,

she does and um I'm very excited to see what she will continue to do and to take the city to a very high standard and that's what we all want. Um, so thank you. Uh, couldn't do it without you, Courtland. This original Well, it's a Brandy original speech. The other thing about Courtland is she's all about the branding. So, I don't usually get to make things. So, brand I had to make brandy because Courtland took all my options away. So, that's what she was saying. Um, oh, and this is your chickens.

Courtland recently got some chickens. So, that's all we hear about are the chickens. So, we're very happy for chickens. Chickens

and we will recognize Kiana. She's our deputy. Kiana, you we all know Kiana. Kiana stepped into the role as a part-time admin. And uh anybody that's worked with Kiana, she has the highest standards I've ever seen in any one per No matter what she's doing, Kiana is she's topnotch. Kiana will be running something sometime in her life and we appreciate her. She is our deputy. So, we're uh we're very fortunate to have these two ladies in those roles. So, thank you. Thank you. And Corin, congrats. Welld deserved.

Okay. We had no sign up for public comments, right? Okay. Item five, consent agenda. Consider approving minutes expenditures. Emanual liquor license for the Rialto liquor license renewal for loaf and jug. Approving the mural installation on city hall. Approving the Fremont County bulk station drainage improvement and awarding a contract to Landmark Aquatics for the Florence Municipal Pool project. At this time, would any council member like to pull any of those items? Yes, I would like to pull E, F, and G.

Okay, E, F, and G have been pulled. Any others? Do we have a motion then to approve consent agenda items A through D? I'll make a motion to approve consent agenda A, B, C, and D. Okay. Do we have a second? I'll second. All in favor? I. I. Any opposed? All right. Motion carries. Item E, consider approving the mural mural installation on the city hall in celebration of Colorado's 15250 anniversary.

Um, I would like to split um the motion and discuss the mural and then discuss the flag. Okay. Um Okay. So, as far as the mural goes, um I like it. Um, I think it's a good good logo we have, but I would also like to see it put um on a backing and not put on the brick wall that we have. Discussion. Okay. Okay. So, there's been a thought about taking the the city logo and putting it on a backing

something in instead of directly on the brick. Just a point of clarification, that will completely change the item. So, we would just scratch this and I would have to go back for another proposal. Scratch. Well, because that would be additional costs. Yeah, we'd have to Could we just add something into that? Okay. Okay. Maybe Rud could tell us a little more.

No, I think I the time it takes on that brick. You might pick it up. I've been able to do that in the studio and bring it here already to put up. I don't know. But I think a metal sign makes a lot of sense to me. Okay. So, the estimated cost right now is for for the mural painted on the brick is it's in the financial portion on $1,600. I read it. No, the first one 25. No, it's it's 16. It's 1,600 for just the logo inclusive. Yeah. Excuse me. Nope, you're okay.

John, do you remember how much we had estimated a metal logo to be? Okay. Thank you. So, Tammy, are you thinking something that could be moved around? Is that is that what you're thinking? Just in the future in the future of it. um not to be on the permanently on our brick like any any particular type of wood or just something that emulates the brick or the wood grain or do you even care about that piece of it?

No, not really. You know, if it need to be touched up later, it would be really easy um to redo it when it fades in the sunlight. Okay. Okay. But you're good with the logo, how it looks and all that. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. You definitely know you're in Florence when you come in and know where town hall is. Yep. I like the logo. It's good. Y There's all sorts of sign material out there.

Well, I think what I'd do, I'd ask Steve. He does a lot of work. If he knows some material out there, it might not have to be metal. It might be some kind of fiber. They do a lot of sign work around. It's not all on metal. I have absolutely no preference. This was just a thought for you guys to commemorate your 150 250. If you would like to put a cap on the project, I can see what other cost-effective means that I can come up with. But again, no preference.

I just I think if we're going to be doing something that's if we want to go the movable route, I mean, what's the instance of us just doing a banner and having that up, it's going to be a quarter of the cost? And if they're if they're saying a a metal sign is going to be three times the amount, I mean, should we just save the money and do a banner, have a banner temporarily hung up, or do we want to spend a ton of money just for a metal sign we're going to have on the building for a little bit and then potentially move somewhere else? any thoughts here?

But but the logo is from now until forever and and so I I I would like to see maybe like Tammy suggested something a little more permanent but yet not painted on the brick. And I know I've always been I've always heard a word of caution from our public works director Sam on potentially anchoring items into the brick. So the less amount of anchors I've been instructed the better. So this was just a thought as far as painting but also something to consider for longevity.

So both of them as Sam's saying to anchor into the brick and them saying don't paint the brick. It's preserving the brick either direction. Right. So so if you're done a drill into the brick you might damage the brick. If you paint the brick, you're damaging the brick, right? Is that where we're going with? So,

right. Okay. Sam, you're talking about a standup sign that would go into the cement.

So, it could go in the same place, but it would be on a stand instead of on the wall.

Well, and we're we're looking at we're this sign over here of looking at that. That one's pretty bad shape. So maybe that's we look at something like that for over here. And that we're planning on bringing back to you. Me and Courtland have talked about that one out there. That one's in bed. Looks like just been ran over a few times. Um but this you could also put lights on it like track lights so at night it's nice and nice and shine lit up. Yes. That that's that's kind of that's kind of what we were thinking with the new sign, the new lights outside, you'll have all the bright lights from what they just did with this. When you drive by, you see bam logo. That's kind of the thinking on the brick. Um, we didn't think about moving it. So, that that is something that was not thought about.

It wouldn't have to be moved though if it's going to be a logo saying city. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I wasn't thinking really about Oh, you were thinking about anchoring it. Yes. Okay.

I know my question always been a painting on the brick is how sharp is it going to look? How sharp is the the outline of the lettering going to actually be? You know, because you've got all those angles in there. And that's always been a little bit of a concern of mine. Yeah,

so would you not anchor any um sign to the building this large or is it a weight thing? because it is on the sidewalk. So, it' be hard to put it Yeah. um in on a stand at that at this location. Anyway,

okay. So, are we concerned about the aesthetics, the cost, or the damage to the building? Can I ask one more question, Sam? The ones that are there now, are those put in the building? Are those So, those are already anchored in. Could you just use those anchors and put some a new logo on those? But, but there's already anchors there. Okay, that that's what I thought. I was thinking we can also go back to the drawing board. It's no problem. It seems like there's a lot of contention.

I think the question to the artist needs to be, can you put those on a backboard? Yeah, we can figure out and then mount it or Yeah, great idea. just um uh like you said, back to the drawing board. Yeah. Okay. The other option I think would be we have the find it in Florence there and those are banners, right? Uhhuh. Are they Sam? They're banners, correct? Yes. Yes. They're going bye-bye. They what? They're going bye-bye. Just because they're banners or because they're they're a little crusty and outdated. Yeah. So, this is to brighten it up. Okay. I think it's hard to read them.

Yeah, it is. But who? James. No, Matt, you brought up the banner part, right? Yes. Yeah. I I'd say just take a look and see what size of logo banner you could fit in that uses the anchoring system that we have right now and and see if that's an option because that would be by far the the least expensive. How big a circle is that? Do you remember? I think it was eight eight feet in diameter. Six. Six to eight. That's big. Yep.

Okay. All right. All right. Sounds like we we may want to just table this um till we get some more information. Sure. All right. Okay. I will make a motion we table the Florence Seal um logo. You just want to do the whole mural installation or do you want just

not the flag? So, we're going to discuss the flag here in just a second then. Okay. Okay. Okay. There's been a motion to table the item involving the mural with the city logo on it. Do we have a second? Second. Any other discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. Motion's been tabled.

Okay. Um, I was going to propose that we actually hang a flag on the flag pole um and not uh put it on the the wall. Um, I believe we have possibly some already ordered. Um, maybe we could use one of the the Florence flags for that. Are they flags or are they banners? They're flags. Okay. This is the official That's the official That's the official 1972 Florence flag design.

And we have just one flag pole. We have two. We have two flag poles, but my understanding is the taller flag pole can withstand two flags on it. So, but just with the general consensus, we can get that done. No problem. I want to see a flag hung. Say again. I would like to see the flag hung on a poll.

On the poll. Okay. I honest I I think I'm I don't know if there's any rules or I don't think law, but there very well might be sort of accepted standards with what you can fly and in what order. I I don't think you're in a problem here. I mean, you drive by other places, you see multiple flags, but just I'd hate to commit to something going on. you might need another flag pole, but I don't think you're in that case. But just wanted to mention that I I think there might be a problem with hanging another flag under the American flag. You can put it under the Colorado flag, but I don't know if you can hang it under the American flag.

Okay. Sounds like we need some investigation on that. But we we already tabled the previous item. They were both the same. So that's that was sufficient. Well, yeah. I I think because you discussed splitting them up and kind of handling them separately, it'd be fine to make another motion to table or just have us investigate. I also think if you're saying if you want your motion to be please hang the flag if it's possible, that's a perfectly acceptable motion to And then if it's not possible, we'll tell you why. But um

I would like to make a motion that we hang the Florence flag um on the flag pole in front of city hall if possible. All right. Do we have a second? Second. Okay. All in favor? Any opposed? Okay. Motion passes. All right, moving on. Um, consider approving the Fremont County bulk station drainage improvement proposal. City manager.

Thank you, uh, council. As you know, the city of Florence and Fremont County are under an IGA for the bulk water that they use out of our hydrants. part of that uh IG is work on uh streets that benefit the water fund. So this will be part to complete some of those obligations to the city of Florence um around that bulk station. Um one note is this is for supplies um not the labor. They provide the labor and the trucks, but we have to pay for the supplies. And I say supplies, I mean asphalt and that. Um, the reason that you'll see there's two on this is because some of this as they're doing it, they're going to fill some potholes. It's a natural fix of it. You got to fix one to get the other. And Brandon can explain that a little better. But uh that's where the extra cost for the street fund is. It will fix some of those big potholes that are right in front of the bulk station. That is not for the enterprise fund. So that should not be paid or associated with that. So I want to be clear. Um so that's the amount is without my I don't have the authority to approve it. So, we wanted to make sure that we brought it to you and also to let you know that we are fulfilling some of these obligations and that the county is also fulfilling some of these obligations for this IG. Brandon, go ahead.

Uh, so as Lori stated, um, per the IGA, we provide the materials, they provide all the labor and equipment to do projects for the water fund. Um, we had had them do some asphalting at the bulk station uh previously and they could only dig down so far when they did the first asphalting project at the bulk station because of pipes in the ground and whatnot. Uh so once that was done, we found that the lift going towards the road was not enough to keep the amount of water coming from the bulk station off the road and it ended up on the road worsening the road uh extremely. Uh so the the biggest part of of this project is fixing that, building up the asphalt and the swale. Uh, but that's also going to require not only fixing the road, but raising the road. Um, as it sits, if we stuck within Lor's spending authority of 15,000 for this project, um, they would they'd be able to complete all the correct uh, surveyed, shot asphalt work that they need to do to get it to properly drain. Uh and then they can when they go to do the road, they would be able to fix the potholes and then with the remaining amount of material that we could that we could possibly do within Lorie Spending Authority, lay one thin layer um around an inch they were estimating uh of asphalt left on on that section of road. Um, well, I I had Sam and Martin join me out there when we were discussing this, and it'll be no time at all if we just do

one inch lift overlay uh for that to get eaten up uh and start chipping away and chunking off. Um that as well as it's not going to raise the road enough to keep the water off the road. So, uh, Martin and Sam said that they could use some of the general fund money and combine this, uh, into one project cost, uh, to lay some more asphalt on top of it so it's a higher lift on the road, uh, to keep the water off the road at that point in front of the bulk station. So, any questions? I do. Yes, sir.

I've heard about this for a long time. And I've also heard the county guy at some of the county meetings talk about it. And I got complete faith in everybody, but never have I heard an engineer has come and looked at it and here's his official plans on what we should do to fix it because it's always a little bit of this and if we have some left over, we'll put some up here. And it seems like that's what we've done for years and still problem. Is anybody is there a definite signed off plan? what we're going to do over there.

Um, no engineered drawings uh or engineered plans. Uh, but they did take a take it a step further and have it surveyed and elevation elevations shot. Um, which essentially in a in a road job that's that's basically what it is. When does that cover everything? The drainage? Yes. Yeah. Something that's going to last for How many years would they project? I I don't I'm not an asphalt guy, Sam. Quick fix or permanent fix? I do not believe this is a quick fix. I believe it would be a semi-permanent

10, 15, 20 maybe years.

And I and I will say part of part of this is to fix it long term. When the water goes from the station into railroad, it puddles. That puddle is causing a lot of this damage. So to fix that will fix the puddling and keep the longevity of the road. That road is amazingly traveled a lot by the big trucks. So this will adding the extra will help that and keep the drainage away. Um is it a fully redone road? No. But is it a fix that can be fixed and lasted until we can get that whole road? Yes, Sam. Correct.

Okay. Raising that road enough and crowning it properly. If someone were to drive by and splash some water up onto the road, um, if it's raised enough and crowned properly, it will just drain back off the road to the asphalt drainage that that they plan on doing. So, I know last year we had problems with icing over there. Will the drainage help with that situation?

Yes. Yeah. Because it was puddling not not only um in front of the bulk station uh on on the road there uh which was messing up the potholes even even bigger and deeper. Uh but uh we're hoping what what they're going to be fixing around the bulk station itself off the road that'll help some puddling that was happening there as well. I know we closed down kind of early because of the icing was happening. So now that is actually was actually mainly due to the icing up on the concrete right at the bulk station.

Uh and that is unavoidable. I don't know if any of you have ever seen someone fill up at the bulk station, but when they disconnect their hose, there's a certain amount of water that you know is left in the hose and it spills out. and uh repeat customers of uh doing that and that when it's freezing temperatures outside can can cause some some ice to build up. We're very adamant about uh checking on that bulk station, removing ice, salting uh where where we can. And then in the in the summer or excuse me, winter time, there's uh the west side gets less sun um out of uh the whole day. So the ice hardly ever melts over there. Um where whereas the other side we can put ice melt on and chip the ice away and the sun helps really break it up and take care of it. So we that's why we close down that west side uh during the winter uh time. So we really can't get the ice removed over there on that side. So we we certainly don't want anybody get hurt. Uh so we we go to the winter hours. And James, I think with that, we've we've looked at there's heaters under the concrete and that could be a capital improvement project down the line, but it's very expensive to do. So, that's why we went with that solution of the one side and closing early and trying to keep up with the weather. Fortunately, we've been pretty

well, I don't know about fortunately with the weather, but um it's helped a lot this year. We haven't seen any of the slip trips that we Yeah. that we've seen in the years before. Yeah. I my concern was that everybody's sure how this going to work and I don't I don't like to hear well you should put two inches in there instead of one inch. Get what you want now to fix it. Yeah. That that's what we're aiming for. Instead of going for just what Lori can do in her spending authority, we went ahead and increased the amount with some help from the public works department and to to get it done right. So we're not revisiting it again in a year. Good.

Okay. So this is for the cost of the materials and supplies. What's the value of Fremont County's labor and equipment that because that's what goes against their water, right? Them taking the water without cost? Yes. Okay. Do we have a a value on on what their labor and equipment is? They usually give us those values after the project. Okay. When they determine what they've used, what how many guys at at their hourly rate? Yeah. Equipment used. Yeah. Okay. I mean, I'm sure they could probably estimate, but Yeah. Yeah.

And then if it's over or under, then you guys negotiate again after that in within the It probably won't be over. Okay. They owe us a lot. They want the water. They'll use some water. Okay. Yeah. Okay. All right. Any other questions? I feel better. Okay. All right. Someone like to make a motion.

Uh, I'll make a motion. Approve the scope of work from the Fremont County Department of Transportation for the City of Florence Water Station drainage improvement in the amount of $19,4620 plus a 10% contingency. Do we have a second? I'll second. All right. Motion to seconded. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you, councel. Okay. Okay. And last item, uh, consider warning a contract to Landmark Aquatics for M Florence Municipal Pool Projects.

Sure. Councilwoman Stone, did you have any questions after pulling the item? No questions. Okay. So, this would be for There's There's two schedules in there, A and B. And there's also a C at the very end, right? True. The the bid is encompassing of three different schedules. The city has already um completed schedule C at a more cost-effective rate. Uh we used local contractor Bill Phillips Spencing and that project is done. So C is completed. C is complete. Okay. Very good.

Okay. What um what is the advantage of the chemistry controller? All right. Uh, so I'm not sure when um I haven't had my CPO license in about five or six years, but at some point Colorado pool regulations uh started requiring the mechanical monitoring and feed system for pH adjustment. Uh that is something we don't have. something we've to adjust pH. What we've always done is uh add muriatic acid to the pool um the night after it closes or early early in the morning so it has time to mix in. Um but we're dealing with uh well muriatic acid will eat a hole through concrete. Uh it's it's slightly watered down hydrochloric acid. So um and that's you know we have to dawn all the PPE uh rubber uh big rubber apron rubber gloves SCBA or breathing uh a mask uh filtered mask. So um this will not only help with uh safety safety wise but it's a it's a regulation for pools in Colorado and it's it's needed. uh we've we've gone without it for long enough. Uh this will make make things so much easier because it'll have inline monitoring as well. So uh as soon as it needs adjustment, uh it'll turn on the machine and and adjust it. So any other questions?

I guess I guess my problem is I I come from a generation $1,000 was an expensive part and now We went to 10,000. Now you look for a Parker swimming pool. 300,000. Oh yeah. It's crazy.

Our our chemical feed pumps that uh they're not inline. Uh we dribble feed like chlorine. Those those went from I believe 4200 when I first started in 2010 uh to like 7,000 something now. And that's just the chemical feed pump. And again, it's not inline in a pressurized uh pipe and all that. And that's just the feed pump, not not not even our analyzers for it. I think we just bought a uh chlorine probe for one of our chlorine analyzers at just under $2,000 to replace a chlorine probe. And that's just the sensor that measures the chlorine. Absolutely ridiculous.

And in council, the pool is in essence a water treatment. I mean, it treats the water, the chemicals, and I'm probably oversimplifying or whatever, but that whole pool thing is circulates chemicals and cleans and it's a a little plant in itself. So, some of these parts that are needed now are like the natural evolution of how uh regulations go. And um some of this stuff because it's been maintained so well, I've been able to use it since the 60s. So, um I foresee each year we're probably going to have to look at regulatory items on the pool and make upgrades um to keep it going. Um but yeah, when you think about the pool and the chemicals and the pumps and all that, it's it's a little system. It's I don't say little, it's a big it's a system. So, it's super complicated. So, those things are Yeah, it it is. It makes you makes you think when you look at the price of this, but then you also look at the price of a new pool at 20ome million or whatever and I say good job to all the people that have been taking care of it to keep it going

which a new pool would require the same. Yeah, probably probably a lot more. So, it's uh it's almost like a balancing act and really looking at those CIPs each year and what we're going to do and is it a priority? Y So, Brandon, can you uh monitor this on your computer?

Uh, no. Uh, we don't have any um SCADA stuff down at the pool to to radio it back to the plant or anything. Uh, there'll be a a a controller um that that'll be wired to the the chemical feed system and the the pH analyzer. Um, it'll probably, chances are the pH analyzer will both do uh temperature and pH. That's what ours and the plant do. They're dual. Um, so then it goes to a controller and it'll just have a digital readout uh that uh the pool staff or or my staff can can just get a a digital read on it and and control it from there.

All right. One of the one of the questions we have here is the fact that this is with with schedules A and B it's 85,000 over budget and with C it's 109.5. Uh I think one of the most important sentences in our CFA here is that looking ahead an additional revenue source will be needed to be established to support the municipal pool. I mean that's there's no way we'll be able to keep this running with our revenue source as we have it right now. We still have some in the in reserve, but we've got to look down the line and it it's going to take another source of revenue somewhere and that's something we'll need to address maybe later on.

But this would require a budget amendment. Yes. Yes, it will because we have it allocated for what exactly we thought the cost was going to be. Um, and remember we went out how many times for bid? Three times out for bid. This is such a specialized um repair that it it's uh you can't just no one could do all of it. Yeah. Unfortunately, old school concrete and I just say that as example can't come in and do it. It takes that specialized.

So, uh yes, we'll do a budget amendment. Um we can wait and see how the revenues come in and then we can decide whether take it out of invest uh invested cash or uh reallocate some funds.

I you know I think the pool's the pool's important. I mean it's it's one of the cornerstones of this community during the summer. It's been the cornerstone of Fremont, Eastern Fremont County for the last three years. Um, I think it's something that has to be done and and I should have mentioned this before, we budgeted without those donations. So, we have the funding to make it and then the donations came in, we would just go back out and put those back into because if you guys remember, we we said we're going to do it no matter what. And then we got very blessed with our donations. So, we could just go back out and get those exact same funds from when we did our initial budget prior to the donations.

And hopefully, it'll have a great year. Pool had a great year last year and had, you know, 35,000 extra dollars uh that we didn't have to pull out of reserves from the t the sales tax from before. So, we, you know, a well-run pool, can it sustain? No, it will we'll need to look at other sources, but um a well-run pool can lessen that. So,

okay. Any other comments? Someone like to entertain a motion. I will make a motion that we award a contract to Landmark Aquatics for the 2026 Florence Municipal Pool project in the amount of $338,700 plus a 10% contingency. Okay, second. We have a second. All right. All in favor? Any opposed? Okay, motion carries. Thank you, council. All right. All right. Council reports.

Um Gail, the summer of history in Florence, Colorado begins this Saturday. Um the first one is fueling the future one barrel at a time. We're not going to tell you what's going to happen, okay?

But there it's based on um something that happened in the past and it's a history event, historic event. So that's May 9, it'll be at the museum, 2 PM. And also on May 9 at 2 PM, Canyon City decided to do theirs. Their location is the Worlds in Brewery and the topic is Skyline Drive by Mark Van Ryan. They are requiring registration. Florence is not for any of our tavern talks after um or the next one coming up. Mark your calendar will be Friday, June 5th. That one will be 2:00 p.m. also. And um the topic for that is get on board. So, we're kicking off our summer of history and off we go.

All right. Very good. Okay, James. No report, Tammy.

Um, a couple of things. The junk teique is coming up and it is May 15th and 16th. Um, I believe they are full of um booths and food trucks and entertainment. And then the next day, May 17th, is the car show. Um, and that starts from 9:00 a.m. and goes till 3M. Um, I also attended the preservation commission. Um, they're working on a project for the 250150. Um, and it's with the historic um, some of the landmarks um, buildings in Florence. Um, and they have they're the ones doing the flags and um, they're still working on the date for the presentation, but it will be announced soon.

All right. Thank you, Matt. No report. I attended the city city county meeting last Monday and it was very informative. Rud,

one of the best things the other uh, week ago Courtland hosted a student leadership conference here with high school kids from Canyon and Florence. This place is full of high school kids and it was very well put on, very well attended and I want to congratulate her for pulling that off. And I went to the city city county meeting. Water drought is starting to become the main undercurrent of everything. And I want to thank the city crews for all their extra efforts on picking up the clean.

Thank you. Um I also attended the city city county meeting. Very informative there. Um attended the Fremont sanitation district meeting. Um and then we had our regional water meeting last week. Um things went pretty well there. I know Brandon came in gave us little report. Um, we'll leave it at that. Uh, I attended the UA COG meeting. Ashley, you were online with that one. It was about the safe streets for all and I know Ashley and Lori are on top of it for for that grant and hopefully some good things will come out of it for Florence. Um, I talked to a whole lot of citizens about things like the Amise tire recycle which is coming next s this coming Saturday. spring cleanup. I got so many comments about how well the city and everything they did. Um I had one guy tell me he was had stuff in his back along the alley. He wasn't expecting to be cleaned up and and it got picked up. Um but but kudos to to the city crews. I mean I think that's one thing and I hope all the citizens of Florence appreciate that. We go above and beyond any place I've ever lived. and uh to help out the citizens there. Um I'm glad I saw where the city took advantage of the Fremont County recycle.

We sure did. We sure did. How many So unfortunately we we hoard a little bit of old supplies. Courtland is on a mission to clean up responsibly. We're doing it responsibly. How many a truckload of electronics were dumped? Okay. So, all right. Very good. And then I've talked to lots of people about our drop plan. And Lori, I'll let you talk about that town hall that's going to come up on Thursday. Okay. That's all I've got.

All right. Thank you. Um, I'm going to start with the trash cleanup because I'll tell you, it was a huge success. Let me tell you, 43.71 tons of trash out of just those dumpsters that were around. Uh, five tires, which were naughty. They weren't supposed to be there, but there were five tires. uh six mattresses, 42 TVs, and well, we kind of got two different anywhere from 50 to 200 tons depending on how you weigh the limbs and stuff, but uh that's what they pulled out in one less than a week. These guys did the whole town and all that trash is out of the city to keep our town clean. So, I would say fantastic job. Um, couple things. Remember, we're doing a fall cleanup. We'll do cleanup number two. Um, but that doesn't mean put it out now because uh some people will, but we don't want you to put it out now. Uh, it'll be in September, so hold on to it. Uh, and let's see. code enforcement wouldn't be too happy about that. So, please keep it out of the street until September. Um, and then one ask that we're I'm going to have and Sam would never ask for this, but um the last couple days I think there's a frenzy to throw things away. There was a mess council. People threw glass. Sam and his crew to clean up to get the dumpsters. Uh, it was terrible. Glass and broken. Oh, it was horrible. Yucky, yucky stuff.

And it took Sam and his crew a lot of extra time and not safe. It's not safe. So, please citizens, if you're listening and you did that, don't do that. That That's not responsible. And somebody could have really got hurt. Um, so we're adding a second one just so we want to get rid of it and you don't have to do that. So, um, that is my my ask for you with that. But thank you, Sam, and your crew. And we're really excited about springtime or fall time.

Yep. Yep. Number two, but don't put it out yet. All right. Uh, I would like to take this opportunity to I'm gonna make a big announcement. Uh, as you guys know, Sam is retiring. as sad as that is. Um, so I have been doing interviews and looking for his replacement because those are big shoes to fill and I think I found the right person. Uh, John Veretti will be taking over as our public works director. Come on up here, John. Here. Welcome to the crew.

Welcome. So, um, it was very competitive. There were a lot of lot of interest in it and I was very excited about that. Um, but John John has been with the city uh, for a little bit. He came in as building um, inspector and the work he did just in that department shows what potential he has. Now, add on to that that he uh, his background in the fire department DOC, the Abby, all of the things that he has done. Um, it I'm excited. I am excited for us to p to have Sam retire and John to take that torch and take it to the next step. So, they will John will be doing double duty for a little bit. Ashley is a so well and kudos to you Ashley for nothing is more complimentary than having somebody in your department promoted to that next level. So thank you for doing that. Um so the 11th of May is his official start date. John will be a big part in helping transition and help. There will be no slowdown in the building department. We we make a commitment to that. We will keep it going. Um, we will post that job tomorrow and we will go full force to get that that filled because our contractors and our city depends on it and we're committed. Um, so welcome John. Congratulations. Plus, he's a husky. John's a husky.

Another husky. Yes. And uh he is uh he's going to be a big part of our emergency management planning. We're just we're very excited. The talent in Florence, Colorado is amazing. I'm excited. So, welcome, John. Do you have anything to say? Get used to it. Get used to it. A passing the torch. Huh? We Oh, no. No. You know what? It's

Yes. Yeah. So, I'm very proud. Uh the directors, we we've got a great team here and we are we are taking off and uh watch out watch out Colorado because here comes Florence.

Um let's see. This week is a busy busy week. We have taco talk tomorrow at uh Oak Creek with the chief and uh we wanted to talk safety and all kinds of things. So that is tomorrow. We have a BOSA meeting on Wednesday.

Um and on Thursday we have a drought town hall. And what that is is we really have to get out and start talking about our drought plan. We have a drought plan that really talks about con conservation and there's a lot of things in it but we want the citizens to be aware and have a have a platform. So tomorrow here or tomorrow Thursday six o'clock city hall come in Brandon myself probably mo lot of whoever wants to come Steve you'll be here please come and let's talk drought so everybody is aware because it affects us all. Um and uh we had a great drought plan. We just need people to know what's in it. Um let's see, 45 43 cases to two months working in code enforcement. Uh so we have a lot going on there. Um sidewalk workshop will be June 1st so we can get that going. And with that, have you guys noticed on the sidewalk in front of Fremont Motorsports, Dollar and Carl's Jr., it's like this. Uh so we got um so we're going to get those fixed. Uh so uh old school concrete, we'll be starting on those uh at the end of the week. We're hoping to get those done. Um they just can't wait. They're not safe for our citizens. So, we're going to fix those. Um, fire mitigation started at the mountain park. Um, if y'all remember, we got a grant. Ashley got us a grant out there. They started. They're working hard to m mitigate,

three weeks. Three weeks. Um, and, uh, another thing we're committed to do is maintenance, routine maintenance. So, we are kind of doing some work, Brandon with his distribution. Um, we've got a big order, MXUS, pigtails. We're really updating our distribution to stay on top. I tell you that because may that is something we may have lacked in the past, but now that routine maintenance will save us from having to go backwards and spend more money as they break. So, I'm very proud of the distribution team for doing that. So, I wanted to bring um that up. The last thing is, and this is really exciting for our citizens, is uh Brandy brings such great experience all around. Brandy, myself, and Ashley. We are looking at a grant through uh CRSI with the railroad and getting parts of the part of the railroad. And I'm probably going to say this wrong, but um we're looking for a grant for where Main Street is and up the sidewalk. So, thank you, Brandy, for bringing things to us that we we did not know before. So, very excited about that. And I know the citizens that walk to Main Street will be excited about that.

So, that's across West Maine where you go straight at the curve. Yeah, we're hoping. So, nothing in stone yet, but that's what we're working on. That's a big deal. That's a big deal.

Um, so we are doing that. Um, let's see. I think we'll we'll have some RFPs out and some bids back to finish up some of our uh projects for the year. And that's Sunnyside Union Culverts getting those going. So, we have several projects that uh we're waiting on contractors. The gravel roads will be done in June. And then uh last but not least, we are working with uh three rocks a lot to do some smaller engineering things. Uh Rud, you're exactly right. We have to have an engineer to tell us, is this a long-term fix? Are we going to fix it 12,000 times? So, we've partnered with uh Three Rocks on some of those smaller things like drainage, speed bumps, and high meadows, and then Ashley for some flood control. So, we're very excited about that partnership with Three Rocks. So, um we did a small one. If this works, be prepared. I'm going to bring a bigger one. We need an engineer. So, that's all I have. Do you have any questions for me? I did uh give you guys a copy of the financials, but we'll go through that next council and that'll give me and Brandy have spent a lot of time doing just basic stuff and uh we'll go back through and do a presentation for you next council unless you have count uh questions on it. Now,

just I did confirm uh that there's no obviously there is a state law that enables you to fly your local flag. Um there's some etiquette, but uh basically what you proposed is good to go. So, okay. Thank you. Oh, and I am just monitoring the end of the legislative session, which always closes with a flurry, but we'll see what comes out of it. City clerk.

Yes, thank you. Um, I wanted to let everybody know that coming off of the student leadership week, we did obtain an intern. Her name is Kelsey, and she's going to be starting soon, and I'm very excited. Um, also with the pool, um, the pool manager is Amanda Jones. She's doing an excellent job. We have it fully staffed. We're sending the kiddos for the drug tests and they will be um certified on the last week of May and we are anticipating pool open for the 2026 season on May 31st. So be sure to st share that with your constituents. And then um July 4th communication is also coming. I did update the website just to the bare bones, but I will be pushing that out on constant contact and Facebook as well. Um I know that Charlotte Bros has called and has asked for a statement on the July 4th uh schedule of events as well. So, that will be coming and I'm sure you'll be hearing from the citizens soon. And then, of course, being um professional municipal clerks week, I would like to just give a shout out to Kiana Lynn and Mel because the development in the clerk's office would not be possible without them and they are pivotable pivotal in all of our uh successes. So, just want to say thank you to them.

I do have one last thing I forgot to say is uh pod podcast. We're almost there. We had a meeting with uh with Sage and I say podcast. He told me that that's not what it's called because it's not on that platform, but uh it'll be on YouTube. Um so be on the lookout as special guests for influence. Yes. So we will be doing that. The sky's is the limit on it. we can really share Florence with uh my vision for this and we had a great partner. So, I'm hoping we can start in the next couple weeks. So, Steve, I think it's me and you first. No, Rud volunteered to go first.

Oh, my goal in life is never take a selfie or be on. It's coming. Okay. All right. Anything else? We've heard I think we've heard from all the departments down there. Okay. Anybody need executive session? Hearing none. Do we have a motion to adjourn? Oh.

Oh. Okay. So, what you're saying is we're going to start to see a lot of activity around town here in the next couple weeks. Okay. Very good.

Okay. All right. Do we have a motion to adjurnn? I'll make a motion to adjurnn. We have a second. I'll second that. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion carries adjourned at 7:38. Thank you everyone.