Light agenda allows city council discussion time

by Eric Mullens
WALSENBURG —  With a very light agenda before them, the Walsenburg City Council Tuesday night had plenty of time to talk about recent meetings and the status of future projects.
One of the items mentioned, was the very recent passing of Gerald Sandoval, a city employee with the Streets and Alley Department who had nearly 30 years of service to the community.  City employees will likely get time off from their jobs to attend Sandoval’s funeral if it falls on a regular work day.
Mayor Jim Eccher talked at length during the finance committee work session about two recent meetings he, and other council members attended; the County, City Town session and a CDOT sponsored meeting regarding proposed improvements to the community which includes bridge, sidewalk, lighting, crosswalk and bike lane upgrades.
While most of the city council members are in favor of the majority of improvements presented during the transportation meeting, there were some proposals that didn’t sit well with all.  “Some really goods ideas (were mentioned), but some bad ideas, like bike lanes on Main Street, shutting down some, or all parking on Main Street are bad ideas, this is a real safety issue for me,” said councilman Greg Daniels.  He urged the city council, as a group, to write to CDOT with their concerns.  Some of the welcomed proposals include increasing the size of the bridge near the Moon Glow on the north end of Walsen and add a pedestrian walkway on its east side for the safety of school kids and others who walk there; addition of a sidewalk on the east side of Walsen across from the public library, addition of a controlled crosswalk there, and installation of handicapped accessible curb cuts throughout the Walsen Ave./Main Street corridor.
Eccher’s comments on the County, City, Town meeting mainly addressed the issue of the Walsenburg Police Department being absorbed into the Huerfano County Sheriff’s Office.  This topic, according to the mayor, has been informally discussed by officials and citizens for a decade.  He said he has been told there may be a citizen initiated petition seeking to place that question before county voters across the county, but admitted he had not seen it.
The terms used in the discussions, such as merger or consolidation, are somewhat misleading, as any such action would amount to the sheriff’s office contracting as the law enforcement provider for the City of Walsenburg.
Eccher said a consensus was reached at the CCT meeting to establish a committee to review the general pros and cons, and financial issues, connected with a proposal of this kind.
In regular business:
Council voted 5-yes, 1-no and 1-abstaining to approve Ordinance 1084 that would vacate  and quitclaim 6,253.58 square feet of city owned property along Utah Street to the resident homeowner, Craig Lessar.  There is no dollar amount involved in the transaction, but it will bring a small portion of the easement-free land into the local tax rolls.  Council member Daniels voted against the ordinance on first reading.
• Unanimously approved the 3.2 beer license renewal for First Choice Market.
• Council accepted, as an informational item, the annual report from Dorcas Circle.
Dorcas report:
The group’s annual report said the clothing bank had 11,683 visits in 2015 and the food pantry prepared 1,533 regular food boxes, which served 4,176 people.  The food pantry also gave out 8,952 food give-aways.  The report said the regular food box averages 45 pounds and the give-away has a per day average of 13.5 pounds of bread, dairy, produce, meat, snacks and other available food.  Last year, Dorcas Circle received 143,399 pounds of groceries from the Care and Share Food Bank in Colorado Springs, paying that organization $7,029.  Safeway Grocery donated 35,360 pounds of dairy, bread and other items and donated during the holiday food drive.  Volunteers for Community’s month food drives contributed 2,106 pounds over the past year and Dorcas Circle also received donations of food and funds from Dollar General, First Choice Market, First National Bank-Huerfano Branch and other businesses.
Reminder:
• There will be a public hearing at 5:30 pm, Tuesday, Feb. 9th at city hall concerning the proposed gas utility price increase. Walsenburg natural gas customers are urged to attend and voice their opinion on the rate hike.
Planning and Zoning:
• P&Z Chairman David Roesch reported the commission will be busy with rezone efforts for Martra Holdings, zoning requests from Love’s, reviewing land use and residential codes and reviewing transportation needs in the community in 2016.
Roesch said the Martra review is slated to begin this week and should take anywhere from 45 to 60 days to complete.