City Council - Regular Meeting

Councilor Azadi, can you hear me? Is there parking? There is one at the federal Okay, I think I heard you.

Good evening and welcome to the April 27th, 2016 meeting. Are there any questions on the evening's agenda? Okay. Uh then moving on to city council reports. Uh Councilor Azadi, can you hear us? Oh wait, he can't talk. Oh, he's he's going to yeah. I just wasn't sure if he's going to participate. Okay, we'll move on. Councilor Hot, do you have a report?

No. Councilor Brahaus? Yes, thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh this past week I went to the NATA, the North North Area Transit Alliance, which is a organization with multiple municipalities and county and Adams County, and we talk about transit and we advocate for certain transit uh priorities. One update I wanted to bring to the attention of this body and to our community is that on April 30th from 5:30 to 7:30 at Arvada High School, um the West Mountain train station analysis, so there's going to be a train they're working on a train. I'm not sure which body it I don't think it's C dot, but some transportation body in Colorado is working on a train uh passenger train passenger rail from, you know, Metro Denver area all the way up to at some some point Craig and Steamboat. Right now it'll end at Granby and they want to know from the community on which station location we would prefer. You know, whether it's so right now there's two options though I guess it's kind of any input would be welcome. Clear Creek which is like Federal and 64th or Gold Strike which is closer like 60th and Sheridan. Those are kind of the two major options and so anyone in the community who's interested in advocating for either one of those or maybe some other input or wants to learn more about it is welcome to join again April 30th at Arvada High School from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Also had my first tabling session this last weekend kind of pop up tabling at City Park fitness center. It was a great success lots that I learned in trying to how to capture some more people and maybe get some different timing from staff that was there. So it was a good kind of first trial and I'm offering that feedback to the communications department and we'll kind of work on hammering some of those uh those details out. We were you know, had the chance to hear from the city at the affordability town hall. I was personally really moved with a lot of comments about people's wondering

around the city's role and connect connections whether that's kind of you know, emotional infrastructure or infrastructure supporting kind of those emotional and and personal connections or even just physical how how people of varying abilities depending on you know, their age or physical ability can get around the city. Also went to Earth Day and participated in the Great Global Cleanup which was really awesome. Just some feedback I'd like to share with staff is maybe next year I would personally love and and maybe there's some option for council to kind of be more involved in this Earth Day programming. I would love to see it more of a celebration as well like I like that there was a lot of tabling and services available and I think those are essential. Love if there was some sort of kind of celebratory aspect to it to kind of bring more people in cuz I don't know if a lot of people were necessarily drawn into it. And then I have a few more things I'll save for the meeting. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Counselor Ireland. I went to the affordable town hall as well. There was lots of good ideas from my table about recycling, child care, transportation. I went to the Great Global Cleanup, talked to a lot of residents who helped clean up this part of the city and parks and so. Or they appreciate all of you out there that helped. Some years on end they do the same park and I appreciate them taking an area and doing it. And I know their neighbors do too. Also stopped by the Bloom event at the new downtown the Origin Hotel. It was businesses anything to do with plants from wedding arrangements to making a terrarium business. Um The only thing they had to complain to me about is the parking downtown which I have been talking about. As vendors they have a hard time figuring out where to park.

So I'm still advocating for that free parking during business hours. So just let them know I I'll keep advocating for it. Um went to the Presbyterian Church fundraiser for FISH. They appreciate all the the kids come into that and those that volunteer their time for the dinner. I tried to attend the Westminster weekly legislative affairs meeting this morning but my iPad would not cooperate. It said I had no internet but it showed I had Wi-Fi. [laughter]

So I'm going to come in again and see if I can get that cleaned up cuz I tried to do the ad hoc meeting I couldn't get on that either last week. So So that's what I did. Thank you. Thank you. Counselor Johnson. Yes, thank you Mayor. I just have you know, two quick updates. The first is that I thought the affordability town hall was really valuable and appreciate all the work that the staff did to get us prepared and participate. And in addition to that the birthday celebration like cake was awesome and it was a great way to pair those events to give people some sweet cake as we talked about affordability. The second is that this is Pothole Palooza week and you know, several of us went out and filled some potholes together. A couple of weeks ago I was out again today talking to Denver 7 about our Pothole Palooza. I just want to remind everyone to report your potholes. You have until Thursday afternoon to make sure you get all those reported so we can get them all filled. Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem DeMott. Well, that reminds me so this morning I spent a little time over at Northglenn High School which we do have some Westminster residents who attend the school and with their civics STEM class and one of the things that they often bring up is trying to fix in the city are potholes and traffic safety. Those are usually the things that they lean on. Speaking of which I was going to say there were a couple of students who identified I'll write an email or they they wrote an email too so maybe we can both pass it on wrote about intersection at 84th and Zuni [clears throat] that has a couple of accidents in the past 6 months and so they were trying to advocate for that to be you know, to have a signal or to have some improvements there. So they they said they wrote Mayor Carmelia so

I know that the mayor will pass that along but it's just kind of cool to be able to to see them in action. Then like the others I appreciate what staff did to get the town hall for the budget going last week. Had some really great elements and definitely you know, want to be able to reach more people. So you know, I guess we'll keep trying to iterate on how we get people engaged in the budget process. The other thing I was going to note was I did send folks on Friday [snorts] just some info that I got from the Front Range Passenger Rail meeting that I was in. I was able to ask a couple of questions that staff had flagged regarding the um the new legislation. I'm forgetting I didn't write the bill down. SB 26-172. And um I'll just I I won't go into it but I did flag a couple of things in that email if you haven't taken a look at it. So Yeah. Enough. Thank [clears throat] you. Okay, well that brings me to I've been asked actually by the Front Range Passenger Rail board to speak in public comment tomorrow evening at their board meeting so I will make sure to do that since we took a position on that bill. And Counselor Johnson, thank you for bringing up Pothole Palooza. I was also going to remind folks go to Access Westminster. You can download the app. Once you have the app on your phone it makes a lot easier to report a stoplight or pothole or whatever it is that's in your neighborhood that needs fixing and it puts a ticket into our system so that we can follow up with you on that. But right now is the time to do that. A big thank you seconding what's been

said about the affordability town hall. I'm really grateful to staff for all their work in prepping us and and making that such a success on Tuesday night and big thank you to Erica from Sweets of Inspiration for that incredible tower cake. It was delicious. I don't even like cake but that was really good. [laughter]

And I hope a lot of people had it because it was enormous and I know that it fed a lot of people and I just want to pile on to say you know, thank you to staff for making that happen because we're really trying to make a concerted effort to make our town halls fun and interactive and engaging and make sure that there's more of a reason for folks to come out and have fun before and after our town halls and to interact with council. You know, give you that that time that one-on-one chat time. And Bring Your Kids to Work Day was this past week and that was a lot of fun. So thank you to everyone at City Hall who brought their kids over. That was really fun getting to meet some of them here. I love that we have such a great welcoming culture here at the city where folks it looks like they had a a lot of fun here. And we just finished yesterday our first ever restaurant week and from what I can tell that was a big success. We've had hundreds of people registered on the digital passport so we can log the activity and how many folks were using it. And it was a lot of fun for me because I was in on a different news station every other day for the last 2 weeks on Denver 7 and Denver 9 and a few others. So that was a lot of fun and just a big thank you to all the restaurants that participated and of course our staff for making that happen. That was a big lift and I'll tell you it's really exciting for our city to take on so many things ourselves. I've heard people say why why are we doing a restaurant week? I've heard a lot of jealous mayors. So we're doing something right. And the Global Cleanup that was a big success. You know, I stopped by and from what I heard it was an incredible turnout. It was the first time that Westminster ever celebrated Earth Day here and that was really exciting and we partnered with Adams County. We had a lot of vendors there and hundreds of people from what I hear. So that's really exciting and I think it's going to be the catalyst for a lot to come a lot of efforts and projects that are on their way. So we'll look forward

to seeing that grow next year. So, very excited about that. And I want to say thank you to everyone who came this Saturday to my coffee chat. I think it was the busiest one I've had maybe ever, at least in a long time. It was a lot of fun. I love when I get to meet new folks there and hear about you know, whole new things. And this is we talked about the ongoing efforts at the dog park. I know there's there's a lot of work happening there. We talked about all the efforts going on to bring the downtown to life. [snorts] Um we had a lot of interesting discussions. Oh, speed. That always comes up. Uh and what else do we want to mention? The fish fundraiser on Saturday, that went really well. So, just a big thank you to everyone who showed up and donated to help feed those in need. Um that was a lot of fun and thank you Councillor Brahaus for your donation. I passed along. They were grateful. And I think that's it. It's been a busy week. With that, city manager, do you have a report? Um I have a report for that advice. Um so, Mayor, if you'd like, we could go into the first presentation of the meeting.

Yes, let's move into our first presentation, city attorney. Thank you, Mayor. I I'd like to welcome Mark Hoff and Brian Fuseley from the city attorney's office. They've been working on updates to the municipal code, which we have undertaken as a result of the Camp decision that came out in December. And they'd like to present to city council a status report on how their project is going. Mark. Thank you. So, so far we have been doing the updates to the city code. Um we've been focusing on title six. That is the criminal code. It's really called police if you looked into the into the code, but that is where most of the the criminal code is is contained. There are 117 unique ordinances in title six. So far we have done amendments for 30 of them. Um and it is a a time-consuming process, but out of those 30, we have sent the first 12 to our alternative defense counsel who has offered graciously to look over them. We did receive some feedback from him late last week. So, we are going through the process of that at this point. But just to give you an idea of what we're trying to do. So, we are looking at all of the ordinances individually in order to determine whether or not they have an identical state counterpart. So, the the Camp case said that if there's identical conduct in the state law that has to follow the same sentencing guidelines that the state uses. And so, when when the state language though ends up being clearer for those kind of cases, we are trying to adopt the that language, but we are also looking for whether it's appropriate given that we are a municipality and not the state

to adopt that language. And so, that is a process that we're going through as to analyze those different ordinances as we're going. Um as far as other ordinances that are out there, there are some that are similar, but not the same. For example, like disorderly conduct and um uh kind of like you know, disturbing disturbing the peace

disturbing the peace. They have very similar um types of behavior, but disturbing the peace doesn't actually have a state counterpart. There's no identical conduct for the state. But it wouldn't make sense for us to have a different sentencing range for that charge versus disorderly conduct. So, we are looking at those as well and trying to make sure that we're being consistent with the type of cases that are the type of sentences that are being outlined in our code. And as as I'm sure you're aware, that is a time-consuming process. So, we are trying to get through it um and we are making a pretty good progress. So, we did ask the the court and Brian Fuseley to look at the 30 sections we have finished. And we do have about 81% of the cases that are filed in the municipal court in 2025 would have had one of those 30 charges filed as well. As part of it, so I think we're making some pretty good progress on trying to identify the most commonly used ordinances and addressing those first so that you know, we are trying to give the most clarity to cases that are being brought in the municipal court. And then as we keep going, I think we're going to get to the more unusual cases. And so, those ones, you know, we're going to try to get those as quickly as we can, but we are certainly prioritizing the most common charges first. So, really we just wanted to give a brief update so you knew where we were at and what we were doing since it's been a little while since you saw us last. So, that is where we are. Just to also give you an idea, we did update section 181, which is the penalty section. And so, that does contain the

the maximum penalty has to align with the state law when it's appropriate. And I know that in the courts, every person coming into the court is advised as to what the maximum penalty is every time that they're when they're coming in. So, You mean the the new maximum penalty under the Camp decision. Yeah, so the prosecutors make sure everybody's aware before they make any decisions. The judges advise everyone before they are talking to anybody. And so, it is a is an effort that everybody's making to make sure everybody's aware of what the maximum penalties they would face. Thank you. Yeah. Council, any thoughts or questions? Councillor Johnson. Sure, thank you, Mayor. I I just had a couple of follow-up questions and a request for information that probably needs to be pulled cuz I think it's going to take a little bit of work not from the city attorney's office, but from the court administrators, which is actually under our city managers. Um but to start, you know, I appreciate the work that has been done. I just wanted to emphasize the importance of the stakeholder process as we go through this. Um because you know, I I I know that it's very labor-intensive to go through all these code sections. You know, that's my day job. And um

[clears throat]

I you know, I also think it's it's important to be able to view this from a couple of different sides including our defense counsel partners because of their really important role in our courtroom. So, I appreciate that outreach. Um and I just want you know, as we start to get these ordinances in front of council, I just my request would be that you know, to the extent possible it sounds like given the shared goal, there wouldn't be any differences between what you are proposing and what the defense counsel our defense counsel partners partners see as an alignment. Or where there is a difference, either try to reconcile it to the best of your ability or at least present that to council so we understand where the stakeholders were at. If there's kind of an irreconcilable difference in where there's a proposed proposed change to our ordinance cuz I think that feedback is going to be really important for us to weigh. Um to the request for data, as you've been going through, one of the things that you've been identifying, which has been very fascinating and helpful, has been our municipal only offenses. And those unique offenses I think are a whole other basket of things that we're going to have to address as a council especially given the sentencing disparity that exists in our municipal code compared to similar or at least situated police power offenses. Um and my request for the it's I I think city manager, this is likely to the court administrator because I don't think the city attorney's office actually has this specific information, but it would be to coordinate with the city attorney's office and when we identify that list of municipal only offenses to try to identify how many charges we've seen under those um offenses since 2022. Um so, that would be you know, the case number, the charge, the citation,

the subsequent jail sentence if there is one or it was suspended, and then the date that it was imposed by the court. Um and that information likely exists if it does exist in a comprehensive way is at the court administrator's office, but I think that's more than a three-hour project and I definitely I don't have a have a hard timeline on that. I think it's kind of in conjunction with as they're working through the code and identifying that, but I thought it would be appropriate to pull council now to get ahead of that as we start to get that information if that's okay with you, Mayor. And can you expand for my sake and the audience's on the why? Yes, thank you. The reason is because we're going to have municipal only offenses that are really unique to our city that maybe other municipalities don't have and that you know, the state doesn't have. And it may be as simple as a code abatement type ordinance or it may be something related to a firearm ordinance. And we're as a council going to have to now that we have a staggered structure of penalties decide if there is a criminal penalty that should be attached to that ordinance and what that criminal penalty should be because otherwise we have discrepancies where you know, and this is a very extreme and not a not a real one, but the example is like, if your grass is too tall and there's a code of abatements ordinance that's technically under the criminal statute, now that sentence could be up to a, you know, 364 days in jail, whereas, you know, criminal theft or domestic violence is lower than that or could be lower than that. And so you have these different crimes that have dramatically different sentences because of the Camp decision. And so as a council, you know, in talking to our city attorney's office, the next step in this process is, what do we do with all these unique crimes that now have really high sentences compared to other crimes in our statute that maybe don't make sense,

that aren't equitable, that aren't fair, that aren't just. And that data around how many times are we actually charging these crimes and what were we actually sentencing people under these for can help inform our decision about what the appropriate um penalty should be, whether it's civil or criminal violation. Because if it's something that we haven't prosecuted in the last 5 years or if it's something that we do prosecute but typically it's 10 days or less in jail, that can color how we make that decision and is a really important benchmark for us. And it's not something that the city attorney has, so all of their good work, I think that's a missing piece of information that we're going to need to make those final decisions and it's a heavier lift where I want us to get ahead of it rather than them be prepared for us when we're not prepared for them with that data. Okay.

would just say that it may not be possible to generate that information until we finish reviewing the code so that we can give them the code sections that don't align with the state because I don't think they can just say, you know, they don't have the code sections, so it's hard for them to look up that information. Yeah. So it might be kind of a a process to get to that point, but I do understand what you're asking for. Yeah, and and and what may be helpful is I think you've already identified some. So beginning that information sharing with the city attorney's office and the court administrator given this ask of council so that they don't get 50 ordinances at once since they give us all this data. You can start to feed, you know, we here's 10 that we've identified similar to the way that we're doing batches of of, you know, our code review. Whenever you start to gather this information, especially that was provided, I think already had a couple, making sure that that gets to the city attorney's office so the court administrator isn't flooded with 50, you know, criminal history checks related to these crimes all at once would be helpful, but I agree, I don't think we'll know all of them until you're done first. Okay, and I think I want to make sure that we get to our meeting on time, so with that, do we have any more context we want to add, city attorney, before I do a poll? No. Okay, was there anything else you wanted to add? Okay. And anything from your side? Nope. Okay. All right, in that case, um I will go around and see if there's interest in pursuing this. So um Counselor Azadi? Yes. Okay, thank you. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. Yes, as long as we still evaluate some of our civil code items might be um high due to deterrence for um you know, if we want like our rental property code. I don't know to what extent this is all in chapter six or in

other chapters, but to be honest, I'd want to be able to have um bigger hammer for things where we need it, so. Thank you. For that caveat and context. Okay, well, with that then, um we have a majority there and I just want to say thank you for all the work you're doing. I understand it's very tedious and time intensive and it's on top of what you're already doing, so thank you for everything and um I guess we're just giving you job security, right? [laughter] So all right, have a great evening. Cheers. Uh with that, that concludes our pre-meeting and we'll see everyone at the dais at 7:00.

Good evening and welcome to the Westminster City Council meeting of April 27th, 2026. Please stand and join us in the pledge. Thank you for joining us this evening. Please remember that our meetings are governed by the rules of decorum posted inside chamber doors. We ask all attendees to maintain a respectful environment, no disruptions, threats, or audible expressions of support or opposition are permitted. Signs and placards are prohibited and all attendees must remain seated in designated areas. If you wish to speak during public comment, please sign up in the lobby. Sign up closes at 7:15 p.m. Roll call, please. Councilor Barajas. Here. Mayor Pro Tem Nirmella. Present. Councilor Azadi. Here. Councilor Hatt. Present. Councilor Ireland. Here. Councilor Johnson. Here. And Mayor Pro Tem Nirmella. Here. Thank you. And do I have a motion uh to allow Councilor Azadi to participate remotely? Councilor Johnson. So moved. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Second. Thank you. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. With that, that moves us over to minutes. Do I have a motion? Mayor Pro Tem Nirmella. Oh. Mayor Pro Tem Nirmella. I move to approve the minutes of the April 13th, 2026 City Council meeting as presented. Thank you, Councilor Hatt. Second. Thank you. Any further discussion? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed?

Okay. All right, well, that moves us to the fun part of this evening. We have a lot of proclamations to declare and first up, we have a proclamation designating May as Mental Health Awareness Month. Councilor Johnson, will you please present uh present the proclamation? Uh just ask if anyone in the audience is here. Is there anyone in the audience here for Mental Health Awareness Month? Excellent, come on up. Join Councilor Johnson at the front here. I love that ribbon. Yeah, me too. I'll stay for photos. Yes, please do. Yeah, thanks for being here. Thank you for having us. Yes, thanks for being here. Thank you. Thanks for being here. Thank you. Yeah. Thanks for being here. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you for being here. Thanks for bringing the ribbon. Absolutely. All right, just join me around here. Um so I'm going to go ahead and we'll just pass the mic down. You can just briefly introduce yourself. Thanks for being here. My name is Jason Poppenger. I'm a commander with the Westminster Police and I have the privilege of working with our co-responder unit. Emily Gettleman, I'm the supervisor of the co-responder unit. I'm Lieutenant Courtney Van Marter, EMS field coordinator, community outreach. It's quite a mouthful. I'm also the head of our peer support team as well as the north area peer support team. I'm Amy Leiden, manager of peer specialist services with Jefferson Center and appreciate our partnership with the city. Good evening. My name is Chad Christian. I'm the EMS chief and I serve on the behavioral health task force for the Westminster Fire Department. Thank you all. Thank you for being here. All right, let's get the party started. Um, so, I'm going to read a proclamation for mental health awareness month. Whereas, the city is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of its employees and residents by working

to end the stigma and focus on the essential role of mental health in all of our lives. And whereas, Colorado is ranked 48th in the nation overall for prevalence of mental illness and access to care for adults in 2025. And whereas, good mental health is essential to the overall health and emotional well-being of all children, youth, adults, and families and promotes a healthy community. And whereas, when mental health problems and substance use disorders are detected early and treated, people can recover and maintain a healthy and fulfilling life. And whereas, it is imperative that we promote better pathways to care and make it as early easy and as possible for employees and our community to access mental health care while integrating mental health services and support systems into a variety of settings. And whereas, increasing focus on the prevention of mental health conditions and substance use disorders among children, adolescents, and adults through screening and early intervention helps reduce suffering and improve outcomes. And whereas, the month of May will include activities designated to increase awareness of mental health programs and resources that are available to those in need. Now, therefore, I, Jack Johnson, on behalf of the Mayor, Claire Carmelia, the Mayor of Westminster, and the entire city council and staff, do hereby proclaim the month of May as Mental Health Awareness Month and call upon the people of Westminster recognize the month of May as Mental Health Awareness Month. Signed this 27th day of April, 2026. Thank you.

Can you hear me? Okay. So, is there anyone here to accept this proclamation? Hi, thank you for coming. Thanks for having us. Tell us about your business. Um, hi, we're the owners of Missing Piece Puzzle Exchange. Um, you can rent or buy puzzles at our store. We're and we're at 72nd and Lowell and we've been there for almost 3 years now. Um, and so, if you like jigsaw puzzles, uh, you should definitely come check us out or come to one of our speed puzzling events. Um, so, we're pretty much everything puzzles. Um, would you like to say anything, Denise? Um, thanks for having us. Um, it's an honor to, um, to represent small businesses in the community. Thanks for having us. Um, the main thing is, I think, um, we grew from our garage and we got a store and we're in Westminster and the community's been very supportive. And, um, we continue to grow and expand, um, different avenues with puzzling. So, we have lots of different options, um, in regards to jigsaw puzzling. Um, so, yeah, if you like that or you know somebody that likes it, please refer them. Thanks so much. Great, thank you for coming out. I appreciate all the small businesses in our community. Our economy wouldn't be driven without it and I appreciate all the jobs they create. So, thank you for coming out. Um, I will read the cop proclamation. Westminster's economy is driven by small businesses which think big, take risks, and work hard. And for whereas, from the storefront shops to the high-tech startups that that keep Westminster on the cutting edge, small businesses are the backbone of our economy. And whereas, small business owners have energy and a passion for what they do. And whereas, when we support small businesses, jobs

are created and Westminster preserves our culture. And whereas, nearly 94% of our businesses are small businesses which create jobs and and spur economic growth. And whereas, National Small Business Week has been recognized every year since 1963 to highlight the programs and services available to entrepreneurs through the US Small Business Administration and other government agencies. And whereas, small business is a is big business and the city and the city's economic development division, the city's thriving chamber, and our local business small business development center take an active role in advocacy, community development, and business development in where Westminster. And whereas, the city of Westminster supports and joins in the national effort to help small businesses do what they do best, grow their business, create jobs, and ensure that our communities remain as vibrant tomorrow as they are today. Now, therefore, I, Claire Carmelia, Mayor Mayor of city of Westminster, Colorado, on behalf of the entire city council and staff, do hereby proclaim the week of May 3rd to May 9th as Small Business Week and call upon the citizens of Westminster recognize Small Business Week and support small businesses in our community. Thank you so much and thank you for all the small businesses out there that you're 93% of our economy and, you know, 1963 was when I was born, so I guess that's why they let me do this, right?

[laughter] It's been going since then. Thank you. Thank you. All right. [applause]

Okay. Thank you. Ready, 1 2 3. 1 2 3. Congratulations. Thank you.

Thank you. Thanks. Yeah, I thought I remembered you. Thank you. Thank you all so much. And our next proclamation is for Earth Day. Councilor Barajas is here to present the next proclamation. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Can I get my friends from the EAB, the Environmental Advisory Board, on up? And I'll have you all introduce yourself. Um, and if someone wants to mention what the Environmental Advisory Board does. Bridget, come on up. You too. All right, sorry. That sounded like a command. You're welcome to come on up here. [laughter]

Why don't you stand up? Hi. I'm Rachel O'Connor. I'm on the EAB. Jennifer Brown Palashegyi. Jennifer Fujita. Linda Allison. Benjamin Elwood. Bridget Tomlin, sustainability administrator and staff liaison to our wonderful Environmental Advisory Board. Awesome, thank you. And I will be reading the proclamation for Earth Day. Whereas, Earth Day has been observed annually since 1970 to galvanize environmental education and action all over the world. And whereas, the city of Westminster is dedicated to environmental responsibility, climate action, and sustainability. And whereas, the city of Westminster provides programs and services to build a more sustainable, resilient, and connected community. And whereas, the city of Westminster organizes and supports Earth Day events to celebrate our collective environmental action. And whereas, the Westminster community demonstrates ongoing commitment as active stewards of our environment and natural resources. Now, therefore, I, Adam Barajas, on behalf of Mayor Claire Carmelia, Mayor of the city of Westminster, Colorado, on behalf of the entire city council and staff, do hereby proclaim April 22nd, 2026 Earth Day in the city of Westminster. And call upon all our residents, businesses, and civic organizations to join to take actions, both large and small, that support the health and vitality of our local environment and the well-being of the entire planet. Signed this 27th day of April, 2026. Um, Mayor Claire Carmelia.

Again, special thanks to this board. Oh, round of applause for sure. And special thanks to this board for they were drafters. They helped draft this proclamation. So, thank you. Because it's our first ever, had to be drafted. Thank you all. We will now recognize sexual assault awareness month and Mayor Pro Tem will present this proclamation. All right. Oh. Thank you, Alan, for joining me up here. Um yeah, this you know, just look to your left or your right and you're probably sitting next to somebody who's experienced sexual assault. So, um it's one in three people. [snorts]

Alan, do you want to introduce yourself? Well, Alan Farber. I'm on the Inclusivity Board. So, I'm going to accept this on behalf of uh all the victims. Thank you, Alan. All right, I will read the proclamation. Whereas, one in three Coloradans will experience some form of sexual assault in their lifetime and whereas sexual assault awareness month draws attention to the fact that sexual violence is widespread and has implications for every community member. And whereas there is compelling evidence that we can be successful in reducing sexual violence through prevention, education, increased awareness, and holding perpetrators who commit acts of violence responsible for their actions. And whereas sexual assault affects people of all genders, ages, races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Yet, it remains one of the most underreported crimes. And whereas this crime occurs far too frequently, goes unreported far too often, and leaves long-lasting psychological, physical, and emotional scars. And whereas we must work together to educate our community about sexual violence, supporting survivors, and speaking out against harmful attitudes and actions impeding victims from seeking services. And now therefore I, on behalf of Claire Carmelia and the entire City Council and staff, do hereby proclaim April 2026 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month and affirm the City of Westminster's commitment to keep community mem- community members safe from this crime and to stand with sur- survivors and victims of sexual assault. Signed this 27th day of April 2026. Thank you.

[applause]

One, two, three. One, two, three. Thank you. All right, thank you all and now I will be presenting the last proclamation for the evening for the uh Neurodiversity Celebration Month. We'll have our uh Inclusivity Board back up here. Thank you. And Is that on? Yeah, it is on. Okay. [gasps]

Uh we have our Inclusivity Board up here, but anyone else would like to join absolutely is welcome as well to accept this proclamation. And just so folks know, any and all of our proclamations, if you relate to it, if you have an interest in it, you're welcome up here. That's what it's for. Um with that, this is a great time uh and we just met Mr. Alan. Thank you for all you do on the Inclusivity Board and and representing uh the many different interests there. Uh almost every evening while I'm on the dais, my phone will go off and sometimes multiple times and you might wonder why doesn't she tell that person uh not to call during council meetings, right? And uh I have it with me and that is my brother, Elijah, who calls five times a day and he will not ever remember to not call during council. He is uh he's partially verbal, but he's autistic and he is in an institution in Santa Clara and uh he's amazing. And he gets bored. So, uh with that, I've said, "Hey, by the way, I'm on council." And he's like, "Hey, are you have you fixed the world yet?" And I'm like, "Well, we're working on it. We're trying." Um with that, I'll say too, you know, I'm a high-functioning autistic individual and I think we all know more than we might realize, you know? And so, um with that, it can be interesting navigating the world uh when you're you're trying to figure out how to relate to folks. And uh it comes with the good, which is the broader we have of a spectrum of people working on things, the better the solutions are and there are numbers and statistics to prove that. Uh if you go to companies, you can see that the broader their inclusion is in the workforce, the faster they come to solutions and uh a lot of tech companies at least embrace that, which is great, despite everything else happening in their world. Um but I will add that, you know, it can be interesting too because it's an overstimulated world that we're in right now. And so, that can be challenging. So. With that, I will say uh whereas neurodiversity recognizes

that neurological differences are a natural and valuable part of human diversity, contributing to innovation, creativity, and unique ways of thinking and learning. And whereas neurodivergent individuals include, but are not limited to people who are autistic, identified with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, and those who are gifted and twice exceptional, and other specific learning differences. And whereas, according to National Institutes of Health, NIH, an estimate 15 an estimated 15 to 20% of the world's population exhibit some form of neurodivergence, driven by both genetic and environmental factors, including many Westminster residents. And whereas, instead of labeling people with deficiencies of disorders, when we use the term neurodiversity, we take a balanced view of an individual's unique strengths and challenges. And whereas increasing awareness of these intersecting profiles promotes accurate identification, reduces stigma, and supports strength-based inclusive educational and community practices, fostering understanding, belonging, and opportunity for all individuals. Now therefore I, Claire Carmelia, on behalf of the entire City Council and staff, do hereby proclaim April as Neurodiversity Celebration Month and affirm that the City of Westminster's commitment to ensuring that our city remains welcoming and compassionate and encourages residents, educators, families, and community members to engage in activities and conversations that promote understanding and support for neurodivergent individuals. Thank you.

[snorts]

Thank you. All right, thank you all for those who came for those proclamations. We appreciate you for supporting our community. We will now move to public comment, which public comment is an opportunity for the public to address City Council on any issues or items pertaining to city business. During public comment, each speaker will have up to 3 minutes for their comments. Staff will follow up with questions and outstanding issues. If you are here to speak on a public hearing item, please wait until that item is called. City Clerk, would you please report the number of in- email and voicemail comments received, the number of individuals signed up to speak, and then call the first speaker up. We did not receive any emails or voicemails this evening, but we do have 10 speakers signed up to speak. And the first speaker is Don Opika. Welcome. Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. Um I'll pass these to you.

[clears throat]

Two weeks ago, I brought up the issue of the intersection of Church Ranch and 103rd Avenue. And I appreciate the fact that I got a very prompt response from the city uh planning to put a traffic signal at that inter- left turn uh traffic signal at that intersection. I've provided a picture of the intersection there, so you can see the the sight line problem that I was alluding to. And um my concern is that if you put a traffic signal in there, you're going to end up with one that is like the one at 92nd and Wadsworth, which is the the second picture, where you have a red arrow blocking the left turn lanes while traffic backs up and there's no oncoming traffic. There's no yellow arrow and there never has been. I've been driving that intersection since that road was changed from Westmin- from Wadsworth Boulevard going straight instead of jogging off to the side. And it's a uh and I noticed on the way in here that the the left turn into the city parking lot from I don't know what the street is on the on the side of the the property here, but you have low plantings um on the ground and then the trees are trimmed so they're high, and then you can see the cars coming, and you don't have a sight line issue the way that the entrance to the city hall is, but you've got a a a sight line issue at 103rd and um and Church Ranch, which city staff apparently approved the development plan, but doesn't want to change it now.

Um and I've My guess is that somebody in the city has the ability to change that development plan or whatever's necessary to just change the planting's and improve the sight line issues at that location. Um or I just wanted to bring that to your attention. I think there's a better fix than putting a traffic light and spending the money on a traffic light there when just improving the sight lines would be a much better solution. And um I appreciate the the focus on small businesses. I've been a small business in the area. But 25 years ago we were forced to move out of the city of Westminster because we could not legally operate as we have for the last 25 years inside the city. So, thank you for your time. Thank you. The next speaker is Brock Chapman. Welcome. Good evening. My name is Brock Chapman. I'm with Chuck Chapman Investments. Uh good to see many of you again. Uh we are the owner and developer of the Novera project, which is um located at 136th and Huron, uh just west of I-25. We're also the seller of the fire station property to the city uh on Orchard Parkway between 136th and 144th Avenue. And I'm here tonight based on an email we received from uh a staff member at the city stating that our city manager and city council do not understand why this transaction has not already closed. Well, I don't want there to be any confusion from our perspective. Uh I know or I am told that uh y'all are on a tight time frame because of the URA funds being used, and of course the lead

times that are required to build a fire station equipment and hire uh enough uh firemen to and fire persons to staff that. So, wanted to shed a little light on that from our perspective. Uh when the purchase agreement was signed initially, there were two key criteria that were conditions of closing, and we would have not signed the agreement without these two conditions. Condition number one was that a planning area planning area two within our project, the ODP, had to be approved subject to conditions acceptable to seller. Well, planning commission approved the PA2 ODP on February 10th subject to final conditions of approval. As of today, we are still waiting for these final conditions and have not received them, so we have no way of agreeing to them or not uh at this point. So, that's one of the conditions that have to be approved. I do have good news. I was just informed in the lobby that we should have those final conditions tomorrow morning. So, uh perhaps uh we'll get a miracle here. Uh the second condition was that buyer and seller must agree on the final site plan or lot Excuse me, site boundaries or lot line boundaries of the fire station parcel. Uh

[snorts]

we've not been able to agree on these final boundaries yet, but I think we're close. And the reason is the fire station parcel is one of three properties within the planning area, and every time you get comments, if you move one lot line, that affects another lot line, which then has a domino effect. So, we've been working on that for for quite a while. Um to try to understand that the lot lines must be determined before we can close with the city, uh or else the alternative is all the building footprints or some of the building footprints must shrink, which is not acceptable. I'll spare you the spare you the technical details tonight. Uh so, to address this, we suggested we wait till the final ODP is approved. Hearing from staff that no, that's going to take too long, uh we agreed to uh we agreed to a reliance letter, and we've been working on the exhibits to that reliance letter with city staff, and they've been talking internally. And once those two conditions are satisfied, we are ready, willing, and able to close. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Tom Lampo. Welcome. Hey, thank you very much. Hello to Westminster. Hello to you before me. It's good to see everyone. City and council, thank you for recognizing John Palmer earlier tonight. Appreciate that. I'm Tom Lampo. I'm here to lift Westminster up to the Lord in prayer. Please join me in prayer. Heavenly Father, in Jesus' name we come before you giving you all praise, glory, and honor. We are your people and Westminster is your city. There is no one that can remove you from your place of honor. You are the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, and there's never been a time when you weren't in complete

control. We've asked you for moisture again, and you provided. Thank you. Praise and glory to your name. In Philippians 4:6, your word states, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." So, we come before you with praise and thanksgiving on our lips and ask and again ask for moisture. Bring cooler temperatures to the mountains. Deliver snow so the runoff will fill our streams and rivers, and our farmers will have the water they need for their crops and livestock. Bring moisture to us in the cities to fill our retention ponds and reservoirs. Water our lawns and shrubs to keep them growing. Nothing is too difficult for you. Nothing is beyond your control. Praise be to your name. Our land is yours. On April 30th of 1789, the first act of our new government was to dedicate this land to you. You have immensely blessed us, and we've not always been faithful to you. We've committed many transgressions that have blotted and marred what could have been. We've taken for granted the blessings you have given us. Please forgive our transgression and renew us. Psalm 143:11, the psalmist cries out, "For the sake of your name, O Lord, revive me. In your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble." We as a collective body can do better. We as individuals can do better. Place a higher calling upon our lives and help us to exceed the calling you have upon us. Heavenly Father, for us to be everything you have created us to be, we need the Holy Spirit, which was given to us. In John 14:26, your word states, "But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you." Holy Spirit, come into our lives and work with us. Remind us of the scriptures which will guide us as we traverse through this life. Set us on a path of righteousness, and don't let us divert from it so we can bring glory to

God. You are our God, and we are your people. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you, guys. Have a nice night. Thank you. The next speaker is Jeremy Nuanes. Welcome. Hello again. Um I didn't have a big long speech prepared. I was just driving by on my way home from work, and I decided that uh this was a good place to to stop. And uh one of the things that I'd like to kind of say to you guys is that uh something that occurs to me is perspective. Perspective is the ability for me to kind of think of myself in your shoes or think of myself in somebody else's walks of life or where they came from. We all here have perspectives that we have. The uh everybody has a perspective on how they see Trump, how they see this war in Iran, how this flag issue last week or two weeks ago um and and that perspective. We all have our perspective on how I should interact with our city or even, you know, the pride flag that we are going to erect here, right? And this perspective to us, I think what we need to do is we need to start thinking about what each other uh is and and what they have and what they bring to the table as opposed to just our own beliefs and and what we want because all we do is by bringing up these really emotionally charged issues is divide each other. And to me, we need to be coming together as a community. We need to stand up for each other when we have one of our city council members basically being made fun of for her beliefs and nobody on city council standing up for her and saying, "Hey,

this is wrong. People shouldn't be laughing at this person." That's That's not how I was raised, right? This person shouldn't be attacked. And that's what I thought you guys were kind of standing up for when you talked about inclusivity and why we wanted to bring this flag and this stuff to city council. And and to me, I just don't see that, and I would like to see more of that from the rest of you and think about other people and their perspectives. So, uh I'd also like to say uh thank you for responding to me. I appreciate that. And also, thank you, Abby, for responding to my email. Thanks. Thank you. The next speaker is Alan Farb. Welcome. So, I want to thank this council for a number of its recent decisions in recognizing residents and businesses and their overarching concerns and our city's responsibilities and its responsiveness. While really there are many considerations that can be addressed, I'll limit my comments to just a few. First, your proclamations tonight, for example, demonstrate more than just basic acknowledgements of members of our communities. They remind us all that not only do we hold manifold perspectives and convictions, we also come together intersectionally beyond any perceived race, gender, or class. Tonight, mental health awareness, sexual assault awareness, neurodiversity awareness, honoring Earth Day, honoring small businesses, we all know or are a part of any, perhaps even all of these proclamation acknowledgements. Second,

in this council's consent agenda tonight, you'll hopefully approve all, but I particularly note two of the following, of which this council affirms its commitments to this community's safety and well-being. Regarding council's bill 18 amending our firefighters collective bargaining, this indeed provides more input for our firefighters in matters of importance to them. That is, though this bill is of a practical matter, it confirms the worthiness of the people, the people of this life and property saving fire department. Regarding the community partnership between Hungry App and the city, which focuses on food rescue and food waste aversion, this is a wonderful [snorts] and needed platform that in its usefulness and dignity supports our residents, businesses, and organizations such those as those people who use Fish Food Bank and Growing Home, by providing access to food resources that contribute to sustainability, food security, and well-being. So, for those, I thank you. Finally, regarding the second reading of council's bill 17, the concept plan review, uh this eases some bureaucratic obstacles to businesses and housing by diminishing red tape in the city. As a resident, I attended last week's uh business happy hour in new downtown Westminster. I asked one of the developers of one of the mixed-use, mixed-income properties, how [snorts] well was he dealing with the city nowadays? The candid response, much better than before, and not just the approval process, saving time and money, but by the way of Excuse me. I was But by the way that the staff works with their company, while still maintaining the needs of the city's residents. So,

good job, Westminster. Thank you. The next speaker is Christine Wears. Welcome. Good evening, council members and mayor. I am one of the small businesses who support your city every day. I am Christine Wears from Kokopelli Leaf Your Company. I have been in business for over 12 years in Westminster. I have distributed a summary of activities from the past 2 months for your reference. While I could not include every detail due to time constraints, I recognize that your time is valuable. Frankly, I would prefer to be spending this evening with my family rather than speaking before you. However, my commitment to the safety of our community, my staff and patrons compels me to be here once again.

[clears throat] After following the council's recent discussions, it is evident that safety is a priority shared by all council members. Each weekend, when rodeo events are held in our city, [snorts]

the risk of public safety increases. While you may be at home and secure during these nights, our city is left exposed to potentially dangerous incidents. Night after night, there is an unsupervised, uncontrolled alcohol consumption in the parking lot involving individuals of all ages. During large events at the rodeo, over-serving becomes a significant problem. This situation raises the question, why is this behavior being allowed to continue in violation of the city's established safety standards? We would We routinely observe intoxicated individuals leaving the nightclub, struggling to reach their vehicles, and then driving through the streets of Westminster. Drinking in the parking lot persists throughout the night. Even when law enforcement arrives and disperses these gatherings, the drinking often resumes right after they leave. Additional issues in the parking lot include fights among patrons, broken liquor bottles. Also, cocaine has been found and picked up by Westminster PD.

[snorts]

There has also been several instances of public urination by men and women. Such Such actions are not only disrespectful and unsanitary, but also illegal. There are several events scheduled in the near future that warrant the council's attention. Among these is a series of MMA fights, which will be held in the heart of the new downtown area. The appropriateness of hosting such events in this central and revitalized part of our city should be carefully considered. Additional Additionally, a perreo land event, and I apologize, I may have said it wrong, which specifically allows attendees attendees as young as 16 years old. For reference, perreo is a term that originates from Spanish from the Spanish and refers to a style of dance similar to twerking or doggy style. The inclusion of teenagers at an event where there will be engaging with adults in their 20s through 50s, maybe even older.

Thank you, Christine. I'm sorry, your time is up. All right, thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Jeremy Parker. Thank you. Hello, mayor. Hello, council members. Um my name is Jeremy Parker, and I live in the townhomes on Harlan, and I don't know if I I'm going to piggyback off of Christine. I just wanted to continue bringing awareness to the rodeo convention center. It's become a very uh burdensome uh experience every weekend. Our house directly faces the parking lot, and until 1:00, 2:00 in the morning, the noise and commotion is pretty unbearable. Um last weekend alone, there was an attempted hit-and-run that I caught on camera. Um and then I think that same night, there was destruction of public uh parking areas in the downtown Westminster uh by Latinos. Um so, it is a big safety concern. I fully back Christine in everything that she said. I think she said it more eloquently than I did, but I'm just here to bring awareness and want to find a solution, and hope you guys do, too. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Adina McGibbon. Welcome. Thank you. Good evening, council members. Um

[clears throat] I am a Colorado native, one of I guess very few, very rare. Um I've lived in the Boulder County area most of my life, and um uh recently, a couple years ago, was able to finally purchase my first home here in Westminster, in downtown Westminster. [clears throat]

It's been a really great experience until a couple months ago when the rodeo convention center opened. Um opening night was a nightmare with the number of vehicles, um the lack of traffic control, and um when they finally closed at 2:00 a.m., um I remember exactly what time it was because I did not get a wink of sleep. It was over an hour of cars screeching out of the parking lot. Um I guess racing up and down Harlan Street and just being a general nuisance. It happens every weekend and I'm finally to the point where I don't stay in my lovely new home that I love so much and have worked so hard for. I go to my boyfriend's house in Park Hill, Denver um where I can get a good night's rest. I work very hard. I have a high-pressure job where people's livelihoods are literally in my hands and um weekend rest is really important. I love small businesses. You guys talked about small businesses. You talked about tonight about mental health and this is like not good for my mental health and I'm sure that um I'm not the only one who feels this way and so I just want to again bring this forward, let you know that this is a concern and like the people who are here with this concern are not the only ones, I guarantee. So I'm hoping that uh as an understanding group of individuals, you can help us out. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Julian Bendinelli. Hey, good evening. Council members, appreciate you. Uh my name's Julian Bendinelli. I'm an attorney, small business owner,

live in Westminster along with some of these fine folks. Uh live in downtown Westminster. My wife and I have a townhouse. Um as you are aware uh this rodeo is pretty extreme. Um the noise violations the alcohol and drugs use is is I mean we can see it. We look at our house and we're watching people drink and throw bottles. Um Jeremy mentioned violence. Not only have we witnessed physical altercations and car accidents. Last weekend we also have on video somebody leaving causing a an altercation, getting in their vehicle and trying to run somebody over. We have that on on camera. And so I know that is not you guys and thanks to the PD who have been out there doing the best you can. But it is it is quite a scene. It's kind of a circus. It's very dangerous. Um so that's just a common concern of hey, we we need to do something. Um A different perspective as I'm a civil litigator and so I often represent people with brain injuries or spine injuries. I do a lot of personal injury litigation. And when we have a client who has a serious injury, brain injury or spine injury and they were over-served at a bar that bar has liability through Colorado statutes through a dram shop action. And so I have significant experience suing or pursuing claims against small businesses because they over-serve wrongfully and then they put people on the road and people die. People get hurt. And I'm not sure what the city's exposure liability is in all of that. But I know that the the business has pretty severe exposure. Um so in voicing the concerns, the serious nature of it, I mean we really think someone's going to get seriously hurt sooner than later.

Um we're speaking from part of the community that wants to invest heavily. I mean I have a half dozen friends and families that bought townhouses. We go to Kokopelli's all the time. Love you by the way. Um so the concern the comment from this the different perspective of a legal exposure for issuing and maintaining the licenses and and for this business over-serving and and turning people loose. Um and then I guess lastly is just the question. What what does that look like? The review of business license, the review of alcohol licensing. Is that something that is coming up anytime soon or what's what's that look like with this venue? Not sure if you can answer any of that, but um if you're not able to answer, that's okay, but I think just the citizens would like to know what what the solution is, what the next step is in in licensing. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Mary Thunberg. Well, hi. Good evening. Um I want to first ask you cuz I just came from the library at basically 74th and Irving that it is a field of dandelions and they haven't sprayed. So it looks like we're just going to have weeds at the library. I don't know if they've changed the policy um but we I mean it's just they're you know the dandelion's heads are white with all the seeds. So I suspect unless we take care of that meaning your people take care of it um we won't have the library environment that we thought we had after having spent I don't know how much money

on the new playground there. So I also wanted to bring to your attention um the fact that we know by the records that at least there have been this is regard regarding supporting ICE. I don't know I I had heard some comment that but I haven't read any articles or heard any of your statements um that there was a possibility of not supporting ICE. Um and because at gellerreport.com there have been 13,000 Americans killed by illegals and that's 64% of all the murder cases which is 660,000 illegals with criminal records. So I have this handout for each and every one of you. Okay? So we don't want Westminster to become anything [snorts] like what's happening in every in in many other cities, okay? And I have an article just on this one incident where anti-Semitic anti-ICE rioters rioter um who torched 11 New York um police department cars identified as J A K H I and the last name is L O D G S O N McCray M C C R A Y. So these these are issues that we don't want here, okay? And if we can't contain the new downtown um I'd say that it could look kind of like we're sitting target for anybody wants to come in and and make problems, okay? So that's basically what I have to say. Um and we don't usually put out a

heterosexual flag to celebrate heterosexuals. So I would urge that you not start um making um you know a a really unnecessary claim for special rights for special people. We're all equal before the law. Thank you. Thank you. That was our last speaker. Yes. Thank you, speakers. City Manager Andrews, do you have a report this evening? Yes. Thank you, Mayor. I do have a report and I would like to thank all of our public speakers tonight and if you require a follow-up, staff will be reaching out to you to get more information for that follow-up. The issues raised are very topical for for staff. So we do appreciate you coming out and expressing your thoughts. Those residents from the downtown community, our business partners in the downtown um and I'd also like to thank Mr. Opica for his thoughtful comments around the intersection work. So Mr. Opica, staff will follow up with you also to get more insight into your suggestions and we'll follow up on the other issues as well, Mayor.

[snorts]

Next slide, please. By way of city update, I want to announce that our first water task force meeting is happening this week. That's this Wednesday. So this is the water affordability for every resident which is the water acronym. That task force formed by city council. This is the first meeting first of six meetings led by residents, business representatives and property managers. The task force will provide input on how the city can deliver clean, safe and affordable drinking water while meeting the water utilities legal, financial and operational obligations. That meeting is right here in city hall Wednesday, April 29th. So this Wednesday starting at 5:00 p.m. and running to 7:00 p.m. and that's in the South Platte meeting room here at city hall and I do see at least one of our task force members in the audience tonight. So thank you for being here. Next slide, please. Uh at the same time this is the same night and so apologies to our community members and council members who want to be at both. We did agree to host this meeting as well. This is a request from Commuting Solutions, the state's outreach team to hold a Northwest Metro region Front Range passenger rail town hall right here in Westminster. So that's also Wednesday night from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. That will be in this room here at City Council Chambers, right here at City Hall. So, learn about the proposed passenger rail service for the Front Range of Colorado, ask questions, and share your input to help shape the future of transportation in our community, particularly Westminster, which is we are working hard with this team to get a station right here in Westminster. So, you can get more information ahead of that meeting, or if you can't make the meeting at the Front Range Passenger Rail website, which is mobilize.us/ridethefrontrange/event903085. And of course, we have information on that on our city webpage, so you don't have to remember that address, you can go straight to our webpage for that. Next slide, please.

This Today marks the first day, as mentioned by some council members earlier, of our third annual Pothole-palooza. So, that kicked off today and runs all the way through to end of business on Thursday this week. Residents can report potholes through Access Westminster. That's our we have Access Westminster app, can download that from our directly from our webpage. You can get it off the Apple or Google App Store, and that's westminsterco.gov/accesswestminster. It's very very easy to use. And you just go on, click. It's GIS linked, so we know where the pothole is from where you report it. I want to note, there often is confusion in our community about what roads are in Westminster that we do not control. And so, some of the big ones are listed here: Wadsworth Parkway, Sheridan Boulevard, Federal Boulevard, and US 36 of course are not included in Pothole-palooza. If you see a doozy out there on those roads, you can go ahead and report those and we'll pass those along to our friends at CDOT to get those addressed. But, just want to highlight for our community with our third year, we've actually been catching up on our potholes, so we're starting to see some maybe some more complaints about roadways we don't control, but we will work on those as well if we can. And so, please do report those potholes. We also want to note when you do that, you are going to be eligible for a raffle to win a personalized street sign made by our very own in-house street sign shop. So, if you win that raffle, you will be able to come and get a street sign with your family name on it. Now, we don't put that on the street, you have to put that in your garage or something, but just want to All right, next slide, please. All right, I have two slides on tonight's agenda. Pre-meeting, we did City Council did discuss and complete a discussion with the City Attorney's Office on updates and proposed amendments to the Westminster Municipal Code following the Colorado Supreme Court decision in People v. Camp. A lot more work coming

for our council on that one. In tonight's meeting, we had the five proclamations: Mental Health Awareness Month, 2026 Small Business Week, Earth Day, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and Neurodiversity Celebration Month. Next slide, please. I do have two items in information only format for you in tonight's packet. The first is the 2025 Sustainability Plan report, and the second is the official city positions on Colorado General Assembly's proposed legislation. This is a great time to point out you you saw Mr. Bridger Tomlin come up as our liaison for the Environmental Advisory Board. He was also the author and lead on the 2025 Sustainability Plan report on our Earth Day work, and also on an item that was referenced by a speaker around the Hungry app for food reuse and diversion. So, I'm going to shout out Mr. Tomlin for all his hard work for us in tonight's agenda. We have eight items in our consent agenda, two of which are second readings. And under old business, we have a second reading of Council's Bill 16, and that's an economic development agreement with the Origin Hotel in downtown Westminster. And we have second reading of Council's Bill 17 regarding the repeal of the concept plan review process. Next slide, please. This week is a busy week. There are actually three meetings on Wednesday night. First up though is tomorrow night, Planning Commission meets here at City Hall at 7:00 p.m. I've already mentioned the Water Task Force meeting right here at City Hall that starts at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday night. The Front Range Passenger Rail Town Hall also at City Hall at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday night, and then our Environmental Advisory Board, it's regularly scheduled meeting here at City Hall at 6:30 p.m. So, fun night at City Hall on Wednesday, you can catch at least two of those meetings with with a little bit of overlap. On Thursday, April 30th is our Rental Housing Committee meeting right here at

City Hall, that's from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. And then on Saturday, May 2nd, is our annual Spring Pottery Sale right at our own City Park Recreation Center at 10455 Sheridan Boulevard, and that will run all the way from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at City Park Recreation Center. Next slide, please. Our next meeting of City Council is a study session meeting next Monday, May 4th. That starts here at City Hall at 6:30 p.m. There will be two presentations that night, Luminaria Community Collective Project update, also an overview of procurement process and proposed updates to the City Manager's procurement approval authority. So, this was raised first by Council Johnson, and Next that night will be a Westminster Economic Development Authority meeting, and that will be an executive session item only that night regarding Block B5 in downtown Westminster. So, there's a development prospect for the block titled B5 in downtown Westminster. Next slide, please. All right, in terms of contact, this is the time I want to plug Pothole-palooza again. Residents can report potholes through Access Westminster, so get that app if you don't have it yet. You can phone us at 303-658-2400. And of course, our website is your best place to go to get anything you need to know about the City of Westminster, and that's at westminsterco.gov. Also on that homepage, you can click right into our transparency portal and find out where our money is being spent in Westminster. That's all I have, Mayor. Thank you so much. Are there any questions on the City Manager's report? Okay, with that we will move on to City Council comments. Oh, sure. We're going to call a quick five before we move on to City Council comments. We will reconvene at 8:06.

All right, thank you all so much. That brings us back to our regularly scheduled meeting and council comments. Counselor Brahaus. Thank you, Madam Mayor, and thank you to the speakers who came tonight. Particularly thank you to I know we have a few members left for the environmental advisory board that came out. So, thanks for your work in drafting and receiving that proclamation. Also, I would just like to note I was reading some commentary around small businesses and they they made an analogy that small businesses are like pollinators. So, I know on this on this um on this council we we love kind of pollinators and pollinator gardens and small businesses in a very real way are like that kind of large population of foundational keystone species. So, thank you to the small businesses who are here present today. A few updates that I wanted to share out loud for this meeting. I wasn't able to make it, but I tried to. They they kind of moved the ribbon cutting up for the dog park at the San Marino community and it just remind you know I I got a chance to pull up and see the dog park itself even though no one was there anymore cuz the ribbon cutting had ended, but it reminded me of the importance of infrastructure. So, you know, this dog park allowed for residents there to have a space for their animal animal companions to kind of join them in this phase of life and you know, as we talk about important infrastructure particularly around affordability and people aging in place. You know, we have to be I guess in that um the commentary from Jeremy about different perspectives. We have to kind of be imaginative around those perspectives and and different needs that we might not understand and this was a moment for me to realize that something as simple as a dog park is important infrastructure for particularly for those who might want to you know, age in place or age within this community.

[snorts]

I want to give a special shout out to the top I was ranked 33 I believe on the the last count for Westy Restaurant Week. But the top three winners Corey Smith, Catalina I I wrote the last name and I can't read what I wrote. Catalina and then Devin McCollum. Congratulations on being the top winners. I could not keep up with them, but I tried my best and really enjoyed a lot of the restaurants. So, thank you for those who participated. I'm curious for uh staff particularly in our economic development team. You know, what you know, I would love kind of some feedback on how that went and you know, ways that the city is looking to improve for next year. But super grateful for the work that went on and and would love to kind of continue hearing more about it. And I am not a legal expert and so I would I would be um

[snorts]

you know, I would depend on those who are to to kind of correct or or inform. But around you know, the Rodeo Convention Center I when I moved to Westminster I I lived right across the street from a biker bar that would wake me up at 2:00 in the morning every Saturday and Sunday and Wednesday and Thursday and it was it made it sleeping with the window impossible especially in the nice summer evenings which was frustrating. So, I certainly hear you. I know that So, this is where I I'm not the expert, but when our licensing board offered you know, the license they're kind of the body in the judicial the judicial body that that kind of controls the licensure within or for that institution. The way that that license would be questioned would be from a police standpoint. So, if I just continue you know, I know we've we've spoken with Christine and and Cocopelli. You know, I've had a chance to speak with her and I know our staff has followed up. So, I just want to communicate as well some of that information. If you have incidences where there are violations of existing code or or laws to report those to the police and then the police can bring those reports to the licensing board and that licensing board can then have a judicial hearing around whether or not that that can be allowed. That's the the existing process. You know, I I would you know, if if there's need for this council to kind of meet in executive session for kind of legal information from the city attorney's office and for the police department on any other process or importance. You know, I kind of leave that up to the rest of this council to kind of to ask for. But in terms of existing policy, that is what it is and and I know that Ms. Wears has been advocating for her business and for the community. And so, for those who are kind of joining in the conversation, that's some of the communication that that we've been sending out now to ask you to

kind of continue you know, engage in that process as well while this council kind of looks for ways. You know, it is a kind of a a fair judicial like it needs to go to public hearing for fairness purposes. So, that way you know, we can't just kind of swing our gavel around businesses whether or not they're are being you know, a benefit to this community or not. That's kind of the existing judicial pattern and that is all. Thank you. Counselor Johnson. Thank you, Mayor, and I'll be pretty brief tonight. I wanted to echo the city manager's conversation around Pothole Palooza because it's a great opportunity and really important to our city because we rely on folks in the community to identify the potholes for the city council and for the city staff so that they can be filled and we have all this materials ready to fill potholes and the city staff are ready. And so, please please identify them and report them and we will get them filled. And it is all together we can do a really collective good of improving our city streets which I know we all care about. The the second and and final thing I did want to touch on is something that Councillor Brault has mentioned, which is um that, you know, that we we hear you when we talk about the the concerns about the Rodeway Convention Center. And at the same time, um you know, from one of the speakers who's an attorney tonight, I can understand um people have uh due process rights when you have a license in the city, and due process is uh frustratingly slow. Um and it's frustratingly so for everyone um at every, you know, what whether you're a civil litigator, a criminal prosecutor, or defense counsel, it it it goes slow. Um but those due process rights are really important. And so, while the city is working through the those that individual those individual business owners' rights and making sure their

rights are respected while um you know, any potential action is taken, at the same time, it doesn't mean that we don't hear you. It doesn't mean that we're not trying. And to that end, we really appreciate, you know, our police officers who are out there who are working um to address this issue on the ground. Um and as a council and as a city staff, it's it's a serious issue that we've taken very seriously. Um and the last thing I'd say about due process is there are certain things that we have to discuss in executive session as it relates to the legal rights and responsibilities of the city. And again, that's not that we're not hearing you. It's that we're trying to take every appropriate measure to ensure that every future decision is both just and is not able to be questioned. Um and so, we appreciate we we deeply understand the frustration and also appreciate the patience as we try to make sure that we do um any any potential action right and appropriate to those ends. Thank you, Mayor. Mayor Pro Tem Nirmala. So, I'm not a lawyer, so I

[laughter]

um I um I have no patience. And so, for, you know, I know due process must occur, and I am I work for a city, so I understand how long it can take. But um I think it's a little confusing for residents to understand what the actual process is because when I hear that there's a um a need for the police to be able to take a complaint theoretically to the special permitting and licensing board, um do the police actually do that? I mean, I'm assuming the police have been out there and hanging out there quite a bit, so at what point does action start to happen and the you know, the at what juncture is the board, the special permitting and licensing board, actually review re-reviewing this license? Can you City Attorney, can you enlighten me? Thank you, Mayor Pro [clears throat] Tem. And yes, the police are uh the investigating agency, and uh they will take complaints and investigate the complaints and look into them. And if the police believe there's a basis to pursue action against a license, they will bring that action to the special permit and license board, and that's the board that reviews licenses, and the owner gets a chance to have notice and an opportunity to be heard, and that evidence is presented to the board, and the board then makes a decision as to whether or not there should be action taken against the license. So, I I would urge people to file reports with the police if they're concerned about what's happening. Uh the police are really in the best position to investigate those concerns, and they can then take action to the special permit and license board as appropriate. Thank you, City Attorney. And do it is the state involved at all with liquor licensing, or is it just us?

Yes, the state is involved with liquor licensing. Um they but it is separate, so they have their own investigative arm. Um they and and they also have the power to to revoke a license, so it can be revoked at the municipal level or the state level. Um but their enforcement arm is a little different. It's not like the state patrol. They do their own investigations, so it does act in a different way. Yeah, that's it cuz I had heard other stories of um other issues with liquor licenses held by folks, and um the state had um I guess you know, pulled the you know, done the enforcement. So, is that's a is that another way that residents can pursue action?

They are certainly welcome to call the Department of Revenue, which is where liquor and tobacco licensing um it is sits within the state, and um and talk to them about how they enforce. Okay. I hope that's helpful to the residents. Thank you, staff. Councillor Ireland. I want to thank Mayor Pro Tem for that. I'm frustrated like these people are hearing your your plight. No one would want that near their house. Um I want the downtown to thrive, and we're having issues with a business that should have never got a license in the first first place. Anyway, I'm glad to hear some you know, at least frame of reference of what we do here. Um How many I I just want to know, maybe we need executive session. How many people have to complain before the police will take it to the liquor license? Cuz we've had complaint after complaint. We have a stack of complaints. I don't know how many we need. So, maybe we do need executive session on that. So, I would be in favor of that if rest of my counselors would agree to that. Um I want to thank our city manager for bringing up a memorial plaque for John Palmer. He was a resident in our city that never missed anything. He came to more things than most city councilors, and he really loved our city. And you'll notice his plaque is back on the back chair to remember him. That's where he sat every meeting. Um I appreciate his family members that came out, and I I feel bad that his wife's health is such that she couldn't come, but we know that she's in my prayers, and I appreciated

John a lot, and I appreciate my fellow councilors for allowing that plaque to go there. Um I appreciate everyone that came out to speak and inform me about traffic lights and other things, and um I appreciate everyone that comes out because that's how I find out what you want, so thank you so much. Thank you. And uh Councillor Azadi, I realize that it's difficult to speak, but I wanted to call on you as well. Um Thank you. Um okay. Well, my own comments uh were on the same theme. It sounds like we have somewhat of a path forward here, but I'm not sure that it's as clear as we'd like it to be. So, um just following up on some of Mayor Pro Tem's questions, could we also be calling the Better Business Bureau? Would that be a path that makes any sense um to complain about a specific business? Thank you, Mayor, for the question. I'm not aware of the Better Business Bureau issuing licenses or regulating operations. I mean, they may well have rec- rec- recommended businesses or businesses that are not recommended, but I would uh urge people to report concerns like the ones we're hearing uh to the police because they have people trained to investigate those concerns, and they're trained to bring those to those cases to the special permit and license board. Okay. And they are a site a statewide that keeps a record of businesses in good standing. Um I would echo Councillor Ireland's question as to, you know, how do we

ensure that this is going somewhere because it has been several months, and I don't get the feeling that it is going anywhere. And so, um I guess my first question is, would an executive session shed any further light than we already have? So, the liquor licenses are regulated by the special permit and license board. Um City Council doesn't necessarily have a role in uh liquor licensure, but I think we can absolutely investigate and ask the police uh the status of their investigation. That feels more like a a request that could be made not requiring any kind of an executive session, but uh just simple communication with the police as to the status of, you know, the complaints that they've received, and uh what's what's next. Thank you. I guess that hands things off to you, City Manager. Mayor, thank you. I'll confer with the police chief tomorrow, and uh we'll we'll discuss and propose the best the best method to communicate the status. Um it is, as Councillor Johnson noted, we we do want to be careful around due process and public comment on, particularly, anything that's a police investigation. So, I just want to be cautious there um about the nature. We can probably bring data in, but I wouldn't necessarily think that the chief will be commenting on investigative matters and nor would the city manager, but I sure I want to assure folks who have come in tonight and the owner of of the Kokopelli business, Christine Wears, this is on the top of our priority list at staff um as is as is due process and so those two don't often result when they're worked on together with with weight to each in in a speedy process

but they always result in the right outcome. So I I would say that I'll confirm with the chief and we're able to provide you with the current status from a data perspective and then the other matters I think will be in process. Thank you and I realize this is tricky and difficult to exactly update as to where we are when this is essentially a private matter between a business and the city and individual complaints and concerns between perhaps victims at this point and I want to ensure that the community knows that we are making progress and following up. The council has been following up weekly if not daily sometimes on a lot of what's is been happening down there and so just know we will continue to push um and to Ms. Wears just to you personally I'm very sorry that this continues to be such a burden on your shoulders with your business and to all the businesses there and again to the homeowners as well. We will keep after this. It's not right that the moment that they opened in February everybody knows that date, right? It is imprinted in our minds at this point because it has been a constant burden um and I thank you to staff because they did uh attempt to you know make a difference immediately in regards to future event centers. I want to make that knowledge if you weren't here for those meetings you know staff immediately paused all event centers. We've taken a look at our ordinance language. We are trying to make changes going forward. It doesn't help the situation at hand and so at this time keep calling the police. I also want to make a note to staff that I heard a rumor. I don't have any evidence of this myself but that May 22nd is going to be a very big day there. So [snorts] I will say that publicly so that we can have our police ready. So um

Okay, I'm going to move on to a few other things which is this coming Wednesday. I'm just going to go through it. I know our city manager went through it but it is a very busy day and we are going to have two town halls and these are town halls that are external stakeholders are coming all the way to our city to make sure that our residents have accurate and timely information on. So to that end the Little Dry Creek flood plain map update if that affects you if you live next to Little Dry Creek please come to the town hall at the Mac and that starts at 5:00 and I will be there to help speak to that point and then we have again the Front Range Passenger Rail Town Hall and that will be happening here at City Hall and that is an update on transit that this whole city and state has been waiting on for 20 or so years, no big deal. And so I encourage you to come here at 6:00 p.m. for that and I also ask that you please give me a little grace as I run around between all these town halls that are stacked on top of each other. Um and then of course we have the water task force which is also happening here and so it's a very busy night. So I want to outline those because I ask that you please be present. The last thing we want is to have a low attendance and then folks asking for inquiries on these topics when we have the experts themselves here to deliver information about the maps, about the stations, what's going to happen in the future. We're not the experts, we're just the messengers. Um so please be ready to spread the word on that and I just want to say a big thank you to staff. They've been really busy lately. We're we've we just launched pothole palooza yesterday. Report your potholes at Access Westminster, download that app and Earth Day was a huge success. I'm really grateful we finally got to do a proclamation tonight. It's the first time we've celebrated it and with that you know some people who know me know there's a lot to come in the city around that and uh you know if we aren't good stewards for the planet the planet can't be a good steward for us. So I'm really grateful

for all the work that's happening there. And with that I think we'll hand it off to our city manager report. Well no, we just did that. I apologize. We're going to go to the consent agenda. Do I have a motion for the consent agenda? Uh Mayor Pro Tem Neremilia I move to approve consent agenda items 8A through 8H. Thank you. Councilor Johnson. I second that. Excellent. Any discussion? Mayor Pro Tem Neremilia Just real quick I wanted to thank staff for the partnership agreement with Hungry App for food rescue and waste diversion. I think this is great and I'm just just thinking it would be fantastic to share it with our school districts. Um I think our student population would definitely be interested not only as advocates for one another but potentially just our our populations in general would would benefit from from knowing about it. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, I'm also going to pile on to that Hungry App. I am so excited about this. You know I had pulled it up earlier and I don't have it open now to read off pieces of what all this app does but you know what? I'm going to take a moment of privilege to call staff up.

[laughter]

If if we have anybody, do we have someone who could explain a little bit? Thank you so much. Would you just talk about this incredible waste diversion tactic? That's one thing it does but it also helps feed hungry people. Yes, good evening Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and council. My name is Bridger Tomlin, sustainability administrator and I'm super appreciative of all your kind words about this app and everything it promises for our community. The the Hungry App is a food recovery and social resilience tool. It allows users of the app whether that be an independent person a large organization, a restaurant, a food bank, really anyone can utilize this app to say hey I have too much excess food. It's Thanksgiving or let's say there's a power outage. Oh my gosh my my fridge is full of frozen pizzas. How am I going to get rid of this and users can log on to the app send out a beacon and then users whether that be a anyone really in our community can then raise their hand say hey I would love to take that food and that's reducing food waste. It's keeping precious food and money and resources out of the landfill and bringing that to people who need it the most. It's done safely and securely through a proper method in the app using a PIN system so there's no concern about kind of fraudulent postings of food making sure that it's a clean and safe way for everyone to access food. There's nothing else like it currently that is on the market so we're really excited to partner with Hungry App and get a lot of that data and information and the Hungry App will be partnering with city staff

to make sure that we're reaching out to schools and other organizations who can really activate this and make sure that we're using it properly and having the most benefit for our community. Thank you. Okay, seeing no further discussion roll call please. Councilor Brauchas Yes. Mayor Carmelia Yes. Councilor Azadi Yes. Councilor Haak Yes. Councilor Ireland Yes. Councilor Johnson Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Neremilia Yes. The motion passes on a 7-0 vote. Thank you. There are no appointments or resignations this evening and there are no public hearings scheduled for this evening. And there is no new business for this evening. So that moves us to old business and we will start with councilor bill number 16. Do I have a motion? Mayor Pro Tem Neremilia I move to pass councilor's bill number 16 on second reading authorizing the city manager to execute a first amendment to the second amended and restated economic development agreement with Westminster Hotel LLC concerning the Origin Hotel located at 8875 Westminster Boulevard in downtown Westminster. Thank you. Councilor Haak Second. Thank you. Any further discussion? Seeing none roll call please. Mayor Carmelia Yes. Councilor Azadi Yes. Councilor Haak Yes. Councilor Ireland No. Councilor Johnson Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Neremilia Yes. Councilor [snorts] Brauchas Yes. The motion passes on a 6-1 vote. Thank you and that moves us to councilor bills number 17. Do I have a motion? Councilor Johnson Thank you Mayor. I move to pass councilor's bill number 17 on second reading to repeal section 11-5-6.5 of the Westminster Municipal Code which establishes the concept plan review procedure for projects requiring council approval.

Thank you. Councilor Brauchas Second. Thank you. Any further discussion? Roll call please. Councilor Azadi Yes. Councilor Haak Yes. Councilor Ireland No. Councilor Johnson Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Nurmela? Yes. Councilor Barajas? Yes. And Mayor Carmelia? Yes.

The motion passes on a 6-1 vote. Thank you so much. The time is now 8:34 and that concludes the business of our open meeting and we I'm shocked. Okay, this is the first time we we don't have a post meeting. I I was reading it four times to make sure that's not wrong. Okay, we are actually adjourned. That's incredible. Time is 8:34. Have a great night. [laughter]