by Nanci Wendland
From the Town of Wellington website: The purpose of this board is to provide outstanding municipal services for the community of Wellington both today and tomorrow.
Meeting Summary*
Muhs, Town Clerk, and Garcia, Town Administrator, presented to the board a need for creating a policy for the appointment of board and commissions members.
Town Clerk Muhs presented two alternatives to the current process for making board and commission appointments. One alternative is used by the City of Berthoud, who assign a special board to review and interview applicants; and the other alternative is used by the city of Severance, who adds applicant interviews to their regular meetings and vote at that time on the best applicant.
Wellington’s current process is to have an applicant interview with available board/commission members, members then discuss applicant interviews in private and decide the best applicant, the mayor signs a final consent for appointment.
All board members agreed to continue using the current method of appointment. Town Clerk Muhs will create a policy that includes the requirements of the position.
Other Meeting Notes:
Wellington Community Housing Authority
Town Administrator Garcia and Julie Brewen, Housing Catalyst Chief Executive Officer presented the town auditor’s concerns over 42 HUD units’ real estate assets currently under supervision by the Wellington Housing Board. The Housing Board has five (5) members appointed by the Board of Trustees. The Housing Board is a 501(c) (3) and they can approve real estate transactions. According to Don Rhodes, Finance Director, the auditor would like to know how much control the Board of Trustees has over the Housing Board and whether the town Housing Authority should have its own financials or should the HUD unit assets be included with the town’s financials. What is the liability to the Board of Trustees appointing and controlling the Housing Board along with controlling the 42 HUD units’ assets? The auditor is going to research best practices and report back to the Finance Department later. All board members agreed to wait for the auditors’ final findings and recommendations.
Action Items
2024 Fireworks contract – potential increased costs
Wellington is well-known in Northern Colorado for its annual 4th of July events and fireworks show. It is the biggest revenue-producing event for the city each year. Brian Erlich, the fireworks contractor, presented his potential increased costs for the 2024 show. Brian said he could have final numbers at the end of January or early February of 2024. Since it is still early, the board agreed to wait and review actual costs when Brian has them. The board also agreed on a cost cap at $52,750 while several Trustee’s suggested setting a baseline cost and approve increases on a yearly basis. This will be discussed in early 2024.
Providing a letter of support for Safe Routes to School grant funding application
As a follow up to the September 12th Board meeting regarding transport and Safe Routes to school, two (2) Planning Commission members, Lisa Chollet and Lowrey Moyer decided to assist the Board of Trustees and start the application to the Colorado Department of Transportation for grant funding. They requested a Letter of Support this evening from the Board of Trustees to include with their application to the state. The funding would cover safe transport projects such as repair of the current pedestrian tunnel under I-25 on the south side of town; possibly add an additional pedestrian tunnel further north; and expand the I-25 overpasses to accommodate increased vehicle traffic from east to west. All board members thanked them for their efforts and voted unanimously to provide a Letter of Support. The application is due by Saturday, September 28th.
At approximately 8:35 p.m. the regular meeting adjourned and the board went into Executive Session. All the public were dismissed.
The Executive Session was to receive legal advice from an Attorney for the town relative to pending litigation related to the appeal of a site plan approval. The executive session will not be recorded and any discussion with the Attorney will constitute privileged attorney-client communications.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, October 10, 2023 @ 6:30 p.m. The Leeper Center, 3800 Wilson Avenue, Wellington, CO
Agency Website: | |
Date & Meeting Time: | October. 10, 2023; 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. |
Members Present: | Trustees – Jon Gaiter, Rebekka Daily, Brian Mason, Shirrell Tietz, David Weigand: Mayor Calar Chaussee, Mayor Pro Tem – Ashley Macdonald |
Members Absent: | None |
Others Present to Note: | Ethan Muhs, Town Clerk; Sargeant Cherry from the Larimer County Sheriff’s office; Patti Garcia, Town Administrator; Julie Brewen, Housing Catalyst Chief Executive Officer; Brad March, previous Housing Catalyst Chief Executive Officer; Darin Roberson, Sage Homes; Hallie Sheldon, Sr Management Analyst; Don Rhodes, Finance Director; Cody Bird, Planning Director; Brian Erlich, fireworks contractor; Lisa Chollet and Lowrey Moyer, Planning Commission members; approximately 7 town residents. |
*Citizen Observers further the commitment of the League of Women Voters to its principle of Citizens Right to Know, however, we are not acting as journalists. Omissions and errors are possible. It is assumed that users of this information are responsible for their own fact-checking. This could include contacting a government clerk, conversing with an elected official or staff, and/or asking us to speak to the Observer who attended.