City Council - Regular Meeting

3:31 – 3:56•DWDave Woodruff

ahead and call to order the city of durango city council regular meeting for july 21st 2026 the time is 5 32 p.m and could i get a roll call please mayor woodruff here mayor pro tem lawyer counselor yazi here counselor coso here and counselor gonzalez thank you may i please get a reading of the indigenous land acknowledgement

5:04•DWDave Woodruff

Thank you. May I please get the introduction of the translator?

6:29 – 7:50•DWDave Woodruff

Thank you. Off to agenda item number three, opening remarks by mayor and council. I just had one. I had the opportunity to meet up with Katie Scott. I call it my organic office hours. It means I was at work and somebody hit me up about something. But anyways, Katie approached me. She's doing the Centennial Circuit, the relay for ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. Her and her family, there's a big triangle, Denver, Steamboat, and Durango. But they're basically doing a relay with these three Colorado hubs, 610 miles, just to unite communities and support families affected by ALS. And some of that vita

7:57 – 8:49•SGShirley Gonzales

I'm having office hours tomorrow at the library from 11 to 1230. If anybody would like to join me, we're usually out to the right, sort of in the back corner. So looking forward to seeing anyone during that time. I spent this last week in Los Angeles for the National Association of Elected Latino Officials. And it was a really great event. Lots of discussions around many of the things we all do here on the council related to our city government role, but big emphasis on immigration this time, big emphasis on housing, as many cities around the country are also experiencing a housing crisis. Lot

Thank you, Mayor. I wanted to make a couple of comments. The Volunteers of America celebration for Elaine and Michael Morovin today, I was able to attend that. I just want to remind everybody how much the Morovins have been contributing to the community and how important they've been for so many of our nonprofits. The VOA in particular, their budget has really been devastated by federal cuts. So it's been impressive how much they've stepped up, their challenge grants, how much they've raised for a real important organization. We're doing really good work with the VOA. I also wanted to acknowle

10:16 – 10:30•DWDave Woodruff

All right, moving on to gen item number four, presentation and proclamations. Seeing none, we'll actually see manager Madrigal, do you have anything for Well, actually, no, that would be the next one, number five. How about city manager updates?

Mayor, I guess I just want to ask a question. This is kind of a city manager update. We're usually pretty limited in questions, but I've got a lot of questions on this one, so I'm not sure how best to handle it, to be honest. So can I ask for an exception and we do some questions? Sure. Okay. Is that all right with all of council? Cool. All right. Thank you. Shirley's first. I'll go after Shirley.

29:34 – 30:19•SGShirley Gonzales

Thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Tommy and team. I really like these kind of reports that are, you know, community feedback, like people with lived experiences going through this together and that you did comparable cities. I really like it. And I had an opportunity to read through it. It makes sense. It's readable. And I look forward to implementing some of the things that have been suggested. I did happen to come into one of the events as a small business owner. I didn't realize exactly what was going on. I just heard that it was City's Works, which I was familiar with. Did you have a name c

30:23 – 30:48•SGShirley Gonzales

And I think being part of the Institute for Justice, I was intrigued. And so I happened to go and sit in one of the meetings, and it is as presented, many of the things that were suggested. And so I'm really grateful for all the work and the time that you put in. I guess one of the recommendations that I did not see in the report was like a mentoring program. Did that ever come up at all?

31:43 – 31:58•SGShirley Gonzales

That peer-to-peer model, Some of what you guys did, I think, organically here, but tends to be really helpful that a small business owner can go to another small business owner that's been through it and ask for guidance. I see what you're saying.

32:49 – 33:52•SGShirley Gonzales

Well, thank you very much. And, you know, just as an aside, I mean, I love that you still printed something, like an actual print, that it's not just online. And I think it makes for just a nice presentation. And I guess, finally, that there was no cost to the city. for this really valuable information is also in a tremendous plus for us. And I just look forward to the implementation because I feel like I've been involved in a number of these activities that actually don't lead to implementation. I think that's on us as a council to adopt some of these suggestions And I hope that we do, becaus

I'll say a loud amen to Councilor Gonzalez's last point there for sure. So really appreciate that. Erin, you got to stop spreading Priscilla so much. She's going to break at some point. It's just incredible. So I wanted to thank her publicly as well as you, Rachel Landis. I think you guys are doing incredible work at Good Food Collective. Every time we interact, I enjoy the interaction. So thanks for all the hard work here too. And Tommy, thank you. for leaning in on the staff side, too. A couple of questions. Can somebody share with me the economic development orgs that are in town, SBDC, All

Great. Okay. Thank you very much for that. The ongoing tracking and the resets that will probably have to happen. So we've got a menu of opportunities here. And so how is, I almost need a little bit of help on the next step. How do we start choosing from the menu? And then when we are trying to decide on some things, it doesn't go very well. We want to replace them with some other things. How does all that play a role? Because you stay connected to us through the process.

There was a concept that we're doing this for Durango and we've bonded with you, et cetera. But how do we export this a little bit and help out the county, Bayfield, Ignacio, surrounding municipalities that could be benefiting off of this as well?

Yeah, Council, earlier on we talked a little bit about partnerships and reaching out more, and this seems like a great idea in some way, shape, or form, and I don't want to direct staff or anything along those lines, but hopefully that can be part of the conversations as we move forward.

Great. Last question. The freeness is appreciated, no doubt about that. But you are an organization that needs funding, et cetera, et cetera. So have you had other municipalities or folks that you've worked with that have shown their thanks in some other way than straight donation? Or you just would like the donation?

All right. No city swag, no Frisbees, nothing.

We all run into that. Thanks so much for all the work. Really appreciate it.

40:28 – 42:01•DWDave Woodruff

Thank you, Mayor. Just to piggyback on. Sorry, Joseph, some more time. Yeah, just to piggyback on what Councillor Costa was saying, you know, just when you think you couldn't be more proud of staff and organizations like the Good Food Collective and the La Plata Equity Food Equity Coalition and working with community partners that go in and look at, you know, how could we be doing things better? Just super proud of the work that is being put in. But then, you know, to kind of also piggyback on Councillor Gonzalez's statements of really keying in on stakeholders and constituents and figuring ou

42:03 – 42:48•GYGilda Yazzie

Yeah, well, thank you guys. I really do appreciate the. The effort to put it together in a pamphlet because. We're not business adverse. I did go to business school and I've been a business owner in my past, so I really appreciate the tools put together to help other businesses get started because there are a lot of hoops you have to jump through to get a successful business going in Durango and plus the seasonality and the tourism and we're a service economy, so there's a lot that goes into it. So thank you very much, Tommy, for helping this issue because I know you have a lot of knowledge in

There's always a question from Kip. There's always a question. Can I go ahead there? Yes. Yeah. Just quick. We saw two different versions of it. We saw the abbreviated version that was here and then a longer version in our agenda packet. Is the intention that one of those comes and not the other?

In the presentations. We'll see them in the agenda packet. Will we see the longer version in the agenda packet?

Yeah, yeah. I thought that was interesting, at least every now and then, or maybe on something that's a little bit more controversial. Last question. Did you guys talk at all about even weights on all of those criteria versus weighting them in a different manner?

Oh, OK. Great. Yeah. All right. Thanks for all the work on this. Really appreciate it. Thank you. That's a yes.

50:49•GYGilda Yazzie

Thank thank you, Mayor. OK, so this. Can you quantify facts in this? You know, say like for an evaluation.

52:07•GYGilda Yazzie

Thank you, Mike. I find this really interesting. So thank you.

52:11 – 53:09•DWDave Woodruff

Thank you. I'll just add briefly, blown away. I mean, give you all and the rest of staff enough time and energy and latitude to do something like this is incredible. I'm just looking forward to seeing how this progresses and and how this i mean the strategic plan and the vision is everything to us right like we base all of our decisions and all our policy around this and so having a tool that that really helps um just consolidate all that and then really refine why i mean that's what it is it's like how do we solve the why of how we're advancing this i'm just I haven't had a chance to dive dow

53:27•SGShirley Gonzales

Like what am I missing that my colleagues are all understanding? I mean who who? Who determines these metrics?

54:26•SGShirley Gonzales

But it's still done by his or her own feeling about the topic? Or it's not AI-driven based on?

54:43•SGShirley Gonzales

But isn't that going to make a lot more work for the staff? Won't that make a lot more work for the staff member that has the data?

55:04 – 55:17•SGShirley Gonzales

Okay. Well, you know, I don't know. It's not coming naturally to me. So hopefully after I see it a few times, it will make a little bit more sense. But, you know, I don't know. Yeah. I'll give it a chance.

55:32•DWDave Woodruff

Thank you, Mike. Alright, moving on to agenda number six community. I'm sorry, Committee, Board and Liaison reports.

Yeah, just a Couple of items to talk about. I did meet with the Metz neighborhood. This is Metz Lane neighborhood group about 8 or 9 neighbors about their concerns around the 250-251 intersection. Sent that email around, but it was a great meeting, very illuminating, and I'm looking forward to trying to work with them in the future. Also airport Commission meeting happened as well. The highlights from that meeting year end the first quarter for 2026. Still are seeing increases in passengers at 11%. Seats increased 12% year over year. But the average load factor is still flat at 83%. We're just

56:54 – 57:38•GYGilda Yazzie

Thank you, Mayor. Okay, so I did have my office hours on the 15th. And a couple of the topics that came up was, of course, parking. So I got a lot of input on that and what we should do. And then, well, I can't remember. Oh, just general activities at the rec center because I held my office hours at the rec center to see if I could draw in a different dynamic there. And so we got a lot of people also coming by just talking about how they enjoy the rec center. And, you know, we don't see city council. And it's like, well, I'm here. So I thought that was a good change of pace. But there was all

57:41 – 59:48•DWDave Woodruff

Great. Thank you. I had a few meetings this past week. We obviously all had the URA board meeting on the 13th. We talked about a few different things, but the big one was revolving around a potential URA designation for South Durango. And so there's a lot of conversation around that and We'll move forward with that. I'm sure the next meeting, we had a city county joint meeting on Tuesday of last week where we talked about a lot of successes that have been shared by both the city and county. And then we had conversation around a potential library district and kind of the historical narrative an

1:01:35•DWDave Woodruff

Alright, would anyone like to pull anything from the consent agenda?

1:02:19•GYGilda Yazzie

I make a motion to approve the consent agenda.

1:02:24•DWDave Woodruff

Thank you. And then let me clear this and set it one more time.

1:03:22•DWDave Woodruff

Thank you. Moving on to agenda item number 11, resolutions.

Move to approve resolution number R dash 2026 dash 0065 for the Homestead major subdivision preliminary plan with the findings that the proposed complies with the land use and development code criteria for major subdivisions. So long as the following conditions are met, landscaping plan is found to meet all code required code standards. Applicant addresses all engineering comments and engineering division. Provides final approval and second.

1:12:02•SGShirley Gonzales

Thank you. Thank you for the presentation. For the streets that are in the subdivision, are those maintained by the city or by the private developer?

1:12:19•SGShirley Gonzales

Yeah. That's by the city or by the developer?

1:12:24 – 1:12:47•SGShirley Gonzales

Okay. And is that pretty standard for the type of development they are maintained by the developer? Okay. And you mentioned part of the fair share program, but is there something in here that says it cannot be sold to developers? Do they have to be sold to homeowners? Or is there any restriction on that?

1:12:54•SGShirley Gonzales

Okay, so only for seven years they have to be unoccupied? Okay. All right, thank you. That's all the questions I have.

Daniel, thanks for answering some of my previous questions, but I've just got a small one for you. The internal circulation, it just wasn't feasible to build any internal circulation, so all of the sidewalk ends up out on Florida. Not the most pleasant walking in there. Do we ever do... not formal circulation but trails or anything through when you've got this 30 slope you've got areas that are unbuildable do we ever try and encourage internal circulation using paths through there or anything i know it's an odd question but yeah you know human nature is creates those circulation and the city d

Yeah, not necessarily. There's never been necessarily a requirement to build an informal internal circulation network.

Plus the 30% grade would be tough for some pedestrians.

1:14:22 – 1:14:34•DWDave Woodruff

Thanks, Daniel. Just real quick. Correct me if I'm wrong. Does this site plan need to have something defined as 10% open space? I saw the CDC talking about that in their meeting, but...

1:14:37 – 1:14:57•DWDave Woodruff

Okay. And so I'm assuming the... The area behind the retaining wall will be designated as the open space. What is the spirit behind the open space requirement when submitting a plot? Is it to have usable open space or is it just to have open space to look at?

1:15:16 – 1:15:32•DWDave Woodruff

I see. Okay. Thank you for that. And then second question, as part of the traffic access, it said that there was a need to remove a street tree. Is there a plan to replace that tree with a plan of another tree somewhere else, or would it be kind of in the roundabout the same location?

1:15:42•DWDave Woodruff

Oh, perfect. OK, great. Alright, that's all I have. Thank you so much. Alright, thanks Daniel. Appreciate it. Any other questions or comments?

Move to approve the budget amendment by resolution, amending the 2026 capital budget, increasing appropriations for the 2015 sales tax fund, 2025 parks, open space and trails fund, the 2019 sales tax fund, the airport construction fund, the water construction fund, the sewer construction fund, and the trash and recycling construction fund for the mid-year budget amendments for the city of Durango, Colorado. Second.

1:30:41•DWDave Woodruff

Any conversation questions? Councilor Kosovo.

Just a clarification, since we're getting $12,500 back from the insurance company on the airport vehicle, do we not offset the $85,000 request or is that handled in a different way when it's an insurance reimbursement? Just an education question more than anything else.

So we need to keep the $85,000 so we cover the full cost of the vehicle, but we'll receive that $12,000 and it'll be tracked as revenue.

Okay, great. Thank you so much. One other thing, Council, I just want to put a pin in the idea that we are building another parking lot out at the airport. This is the fourth year in a row that we've been adding 150 to 250 spaces. out at the airport. So the beast keeps needing more and more parking. If we are a town that is set on environmental responsibility, I think we need to start investigating alternate things to do to provide transportation in and around the airport, then just keep building another 150 to 250 parking spaces. I'll leave it there. It's future discussion, but I just wanted

1:31:57 – 1:32:13•GYGilda Yazzie

Thank you, Mayor. Okay, so on the Water Construction Fund, it says $70,768 for project management fees. Are you hiring an outside contractor to do the management, or who's doing the management for that?

1:32:25•GYGilda Yazzie

Okay. And that's the same with the other project?

1:32:59•DWDave Woodruff

Moving on to item number 12, consideration of ordinances.

Move to approve an ordinance authorizing a ground lease with Don L. Gosney and Kelly C. Gosney for aircraft hangar 1452 at the airport. Second.

Only the briefest of praise. You took this through multiple airport commission meetings. I think you talked to the airport hangar owners. You talked to a lot of folks and I was there front seat watching the whole process. So I thought you did a great job working with the commission and finding out a happy compromise here, Tony. So I just wanted to say that. Thank you. Thank you.

Move to approve an ordinance authorizing a ground lease with DBL Management LLC for aircraft hangar 1490 at the airport. Second.

Move to approve an ordinance authorizing a ground lease with John W Sabo for aircraft hangar 1544 at the airport second.

Move to approve the ordinance authorizing the city of Durango to execute a sublease with Fort Lewis College for space in the main mall to establish a collaborative community hub located at 835 Main Avenue.

1:46:20•DWDave Woodruff

Any discussion? Can you get a roll call, please?

1:46:42 – 1:46:53•DWDave Woodruff

Alright, moving on to agenda item 13 public comment on city managers not under consideration tonight. Thank you, Mayor.

1:54:07•DWDave Woodruff

Great. Thank you very much. Moving on to Janetta number 14, other new business.

Yeah, thank you, sir. Council, hopefully this isn't too controversial, but I wanted to bring up that the two critical boards that I feel should have any counselor involvement in reviewing for application should be the FAB, which has the Financial Advisory Board, which has a three-year term and a very wide breadth of involvement for the city decision-making. as well as the Community Development Commission. It acts as a quasi judicial body and council members might want to be involved since more since appointments have direct decision making authority. And so there's a couple of reasons why I th

1:55:38•DWDave Woodruff

And financial advisory board to include any council that chooses to be included. Second.

1:55:58 – 1:57:33•GYGilda Yazzie

You know, I'm a firm believer in leaving it up to the people who are in charge of selecting the committees and pairing them with the counselors and the times and the applicants to meet because it's very hard to get to these appointments sometimes. I think they're very equitable in how they make the assignments and who they put on these teams. Now I have heard a counselor COSO say before that these two teams, the FAB and the Community Development Commission, that there's some kind of higher up than the other teams on the, or the committees on the With city council. No, I do feel like all these

Yeah. Council, I just don't think this makes any impact except you do have two boards or commissions that have a greater impact on the city and so i think they are elevated in a certain way and that importance should be weighed out by council weighing in on the um the appointments so um council yazi i just don't necessarily see where there's that much difficulty adding in even if all of council wanted to do it You're only talking about three more people on top of the two that were already assigned to the Commission, and I very heavily doubt that there's going to be three more counselors that w

1:58:21 – 1:58:34•DWDave Woodruff

I just have a quick question. Would they be a voting member of the interview team or they would just be there to watch, ask questions, and provide input? Or would they actually have a vote?

My inclination was to have them as a voting member.

1:58:36•DWDave Woodruff

Well, I mean, which would, so they would be a voting member.

1:58:47•DWDave Woodruff

Just a gentle reminder, no final decision tonight. This is just a business. If it gets the majority vote tonight, it comes back to and can be fully debated at that time.

1:59:45•GYGilda Yazzie

Okay. I'd like to withdraw it for this evening.