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Minutes are not a verbatim transcription, but rather an attempt to capture the intent of the speaker by the City Clerk.

ITEM 1 - CALL TO ORDER

Mayor Murphy called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers, Lakewood Civic Center South, 480 South Allison Parkway, Lakewood, Colorado.

ITEM 2 - ROLL CALL

Those present were: Mayor Bob Murphy, Presiding

Diana Allen
Doug Anderson
Cindy Baroway
Karen Kellen
Sue King
Debbie Koop
Adam Paul
Ed Peterson
Tom Quinn
Vicki Stack

Others in attendance: Mike Rock, City Manager
Tim Cox, City Attorney

Full and timely notice of this City Council meeting had been given and a quorum was present.

Mayor Murphy thanked all in the viewing audience for choosing to participate in today's Council Meeting.

ITEM 3 - PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited and a moment of silent prayer was observed.

ITEM 3A - REPORT - MAYOR'S AD HOC COMMITTEE ON SALES TAX ON FOOD

Mayor Murphy introduced Bill Marino, Chairman of the Mayor's Ad Hoc Committee that was formed to do an in-depth study of the ramification of sales tax on grocery food items in the City of Lakewood and to recommend any alternatives.

Bill Marino said the Mayor's Citizens Ad Hoc Committee on Grocery Tax, met for the first time on February 19, 2008, and for the next three months. They reviewed the issue of sales tax on grocery food items, evaluating it from many perspectives. In looking around the State of Colorado and across the country, it became very clear of a societal trend away from taxing groceries. With assistance from the City Staff and after careful considering the income levels of Lakewood citizens, it was determined by the committee to repeal the grocery tax, bring it back in line with what they believe is the direction of society. Also, they looked at ways to replace that revenue, i.e., something that would provide a temporary waiver of 1% sales tax, to recoup somewhere between $2.9 to $3.1 million of the $4.05 million worth of estimated sales tax in groceries every year. It was suggested that the City reinstate the 1% sales tax at the Creekside Development and at Colorado Mills. The Committee consisted of very spirited individuals, thus, a lot of different opinions were presented, and a lot of data was considered. Nevertheless, the Committee of seven came forth with an unanimous recommendation.

Mayor Murphy said the first reading of that ordinance will be read at today's meeting to schedule the date of the public hearing, which will be May 12, 2008. He said if Mr. Marino is available on that date, a more detailed report would be appropriate

Mr. Marino said the Committee would be delighted to make such a report.

ITEM 3B - PRESENTATION - AMERICAN PUBLIC WORKS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

Mrs. Suzanne Moore, APWA Spokesperson, presented two awards to Mr. Alan Searcy. Storm Water Quality Coordinator for the City of Lakewood. The first was an award for Drainage and Flood Control for large communities, presented to the City of Lakewood for the Coyote Gulch Stream Restoration at Bear Creek Lake Park. This restoration project included realigning the gulch and improving the quality of water entering Bear Creek Lake from Coyote Gulch. Team Members included the Bear Creek Water Shed Authority, the City of Lakewood Department of Public Works, and Department of Parks and Recreation, Jefferson County and Urban Drainage and Flood Control District, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. As Project Manager, Mr. Search accepted the award on behalf of the Committee.

The second award was in the category of environmental design and maintenance. This award was given to the Statewide Municipal Separate Storm Water Sewer Permit Holders, in the formation of the Colorado Storm Water Council, which is comprised of 39 municipal permit holders. Mr. Searcy is one of the founding members. The Council has provided an unified voice of legislative regulatory technical and educational purposes, and is a recognized stakeholder in storm water issues statewide. Mr. Searcy graciously accepted both awards and noted that both achievements were received because of group efforts and the hard work done by all.

ITEM 4 - PUBLIC COMMENT

Calvin Hardwick, 856 S. Van Gordon Court, Lakewood, CO, extended thanks to the Councilman Anderson for his advice, and to Councilman Paul for his concerns. He will take and use advice accordingly.

Bob Zachman, 13182 W. Jewel Circle, Lakewood, CO, representing the Heritage Culture and Arts Alliance, gave an update on their fundraising opportunities. He mentioned their concert series and other events that will begin on June 25, 2008, and gave an invitation to all to attend.

Paul Ditson, 1305 Garrison Street, Lakewood, CO, speaking as a citizen, whose opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Eiber Neighborhood Association or his neighbors, said the Eiber Neighborhood Association has tried for many years to work with RTD to minimize the impact the light rail will have on this neighborhood. Regrettably, it appears that this line will physically sever the northern quarter of the neighborhood segregating it from the south, along its entire length. He feels that the decision to determine the height and location of sound walls has been delegated to a few, but the impact will negatively affect many. He concedes to this decision, but he does not agree that higher sound walls will benefit the entire neighborhood. The noise levels will be greater on one side than on the other, and will extend well beyond the first row of houses along the line. Also, the voice of other stakeholders (i.e., bikers, pedestrians) was not considered. He opposes adding height to a wall that he feels is an imperfect solution from the start.

Brian Waring, Applewood, spoke about a company who, in the process of cleaning out an estate, came across an original copy of the Declaration of Independence. Recently, the home of Carole Tarpley was invaded for the purpose of taking away her treasures. In so doing, the armed invaders robbed her of possessions and then billed her for $1,700. When she asked for evidence of the amount in inventory of said items, she was told to pay $286.76 to obtain a listing of inventory of her treasures, which were stolen. He feels that it is very pathetic for the thieves to bill Mrs. Tarpley for items they stole. Additionally, he wanted to know where he could get the certified consent of the City of Lakewood to allow a street trolley to come through its territory. He has not heard about or seen any documentation where the City of Lakewood has given consent to allow this to happen. The City has to be careful and make certain that its citizens are kept abreast and safe from the RTD taking of their properties.

Carole Tarpley, 333 S. Pierson Street, Lakewood, CO, wanted to know why City employees were allowed to traumatized and permanently damaged her and her property. They should be held accountable for stealing her valuable items, destroying her property and violating her rights. Her property does not belong to the City of Lakewood, and City employees deliberately destroyed her property, inflicted extreme emotional distress, and destroyed her hopes for a peaceful retirement at her home of more than 30 years. She feels that a property owner should be the only one to dictate what is in or on said property-not the City of Lakewood or anyone else. Persons should be able to use their property as they want without interference.

Public Comments were closed.

Mayor Murphy asked Tim Cox, City Attorney, to briefly comment on the concerns made by the last two speakers.

Tim Cox, City Attorney, City of Lakewood, in giving an updated status of the situation/case, noted that an anonymous complaint was made several months ago, a number of inspections were done by Code Enforcement personnel in an effort to work with the property owner to find a resolution to the complaint. Suggestions were made regarding the involvement of volunteers to help with the cleanup of the property-none of those measures worked. Ultimately, City Code Enforcement staff obtained a warrant from Municipal Court allowing entry onto the property and removal of what was characterized under the City code as trash/debris. Those city employees, along with a private contractor, went to the property on April 2, 2008 and executed the warrant. Some items were left behind by agreement with the property owner with the understanding that they would be removed voluntarily. One week later, city employees returned to the property and the items were still not removed as agreed. No further attempts of enforcement were made. The costs of paying the contractor to remove items from the property that are in violation of the City Code, are assessed against the property owner, who was recently given notice of said costs, which include the actual amount paid to the contractor, plus City administrative fees.

Councilwoman Kellen wanted to know why there is a cost associated with getting the list of items taken.

Mr. Cox said on Thursday, the City received a written request from Mrs. Tarpley for certain documents, characterized as a Request for Production of Documents and things under Civil Procedure Rule 34, which only applies when you're in active litigation. The City interpreted it as an Open Records Request, and the usual procedures were followed-Code Enforcement and other departments compiled the requested documents. According to State law (under the Open Records Act) there is a charge for copies. There were several dozen pages of color photos requested and Staff research/administrative time is calculated based on their hourly rates, benefits, etc., according to the formula allowed by State law. The costs calculated totaled $286.76 as referenced earlier, and was told to Mrs. Tarpley when the documents were presented to her for review.

Councilwoman Kellen further asked if it was possible to get the listing without the entire package, and could Mrs. Tarpley come in and view the documents without getting copies.

Mr. Cox said under the Open Records Act, the City is obligated to produce documents that exist. One of the items requested was an itemized list of each and every item removed from the property. There was no such list. Documents from the contractor were made available to Mrs. Tarpley, which was as close as the City had to anything itemizing a list of items. Also, a memorandum from Code Enforcement summarized by certain category, the types of things that were removed, but there was no specific list. (The memorandum was also made available.) He said it would be possible for Mrs. Tarpley to come and view the documents-copies have been made per the request.

On a different topic, Councilwoman Allen provided a response to a questioned asked some two weeks ago. The Colorado Municipal League, a group whose membership consist of almost all cities in the State of Colorado, provide a number of functions, legislative monitoring/lobbying, and other resources that are beneficial to all municipalities. Fees are paid to the League based on the value of the City (i.e. sales tax collected, etc.) The City of Lakewood is the fourth largest city in Colorado; dues paid for 2008 was $74,668.

CONSENT AGENDA

Consent Agenda Items 5-9 were read into the record by the City Clerk.

ITEM 5 - RESOLUTION 2008-37 - ACCEPTANCE OF BID AND AUTHORIZING A CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE 13TH AVENUE SANITARY SEWER REPLACEMENT (HARLAN ST. - CARR ST.)

ITEM 6 - RESOLUTION 2008-38 - FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY RESOURCES MASTER PLAN AS AN AMENDMENT TO THE LAKEWOOD COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

ITEM 7 - ORDINANCE O-2008-11 - ELIMINATING THE SALES TAX ON FOOD FOR DOMESTIC HOME CONSUMPTION AND RESCINDING THE TEMPORARY SALES TAX WAIVER WITHIN CERTAIN AREAS OF THE CITY

ITEM 8 - APPROVING MINUTES OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Regular City Council Meeting, April 14, 2008
Special City Council Meeting, April 21, 2008

ITEM 9 - ACCEPTING MINUTES OF THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
Lakewood Commission for an Inclusive Community Meeting, February 20, 2008
Lakewood Commission for an Inclusive Community Meeting, March 19, 2008
Lakewood Head Start Meeting, February 12, 2008

Prior to Public comments, Kathy Hodgson, Director of Community Resources, gave a brief presentation on the Community Resources Master Plan, to be approved by the City Council. The Community Resources Master Plan, is the product of two years of community dialogue in regards to parks, recreation, cultural facilities and services. Surveys, focus groups, and public meetings were the tools used by the Department to provide a "road map" (guide) as they move forward with fundraising for capital projects/programs. She noted that this is the first time the Planning Commission has adopted the Community Resources Master Plan. The presentation consisted of three presenters.

Chris Trapenski, did a PowerPoint presentation that in part, noted the efforts made to "tweak and refine" things that will make the most of limited resources in today's economic times. The Master Plan represents the values from the community as expressed to the Committee, in regards to indoor and outdoor recreation, from both City and privately owned facilities that are used by the community. Also in the plan is consideration for environmental eco systems, more detailed management plans for forestry, creating streets landscape standards, life cycle replacement programs for equipment structures, overall maintenance, continuing environmentally friendly practices, and focusing on partnerships with schools, civic groups, neighborhood groups, etc. In regards to planning and sustainable funding, the biggest message from the community was to be strategic and maximize funding sources. John Plotkin, Chairman of the Planning Commission, spoke in support of the City Council adopting the Master Parks Plan. The Planning Commission unanimously adopted the plan on April 16, 2008, as part of the City of Lakewood's Comprehensive Plan. Some 25% of the City of Lakewood is open space and parks. The survey conducted indicated that the citizens are happy with the parks and quality of thereof. The values included that the parks be maintained at their current level. He commended the Parks Department and the Planning Department in their coordination of efforts on this project.

Jon Fox, Committee of Parks Trails and Open Space (Advisory Commission for an Inclusive Community) said the charge to this Committee was to review and provide input on parks, trails and open-space master plans. Comments from this Committee were presented to the City Council and the Planning Commission, and were adopted and made a part of the Master Plan. Said comments suggested other partnerships and community resources that can expand upon what's in the Master Plan and the role of some of the partners. He said the proposed plan fits well, and the Committee recommends that it be adopted/ approved as part of the Comprehensive Master Plan.

Mayor Murphy asked Tim Cox to comment on Consent Agenda Item 7, (Sales Tax) regarding the ordinance to eliminate sales tax on grocery food items and to rescind the waiver on the one percent tax. Earlier discussions included adding some clarifying language into the ordinance, and adding an informational memo to City Council about the non-severability aspect.

Mr. Cox said Section 3 of the Ordinance, is called the Non-severability Clause. For the sake of clarity, there was a question that if the ordinance or any provision thereof, is deemed invalid or unenforceable, and by whom? Thus, for clarification, it should be 'shall be for any reason held by a court of competent jurisdiction' is the legal way we would use in that situation-making sure it would be a court order. Also, in regards to that same provision, questions have come up as to why that non-severability clause appears where it not typically contained in the City ordinances. In an earlier discussion with Mayor Murphy, it was agreed that he (Cox) would prepare before the second reading, a non-confidential memorandum that would help to explain the reasons behind it, and he would be happy to do that.

Mayor Murphy further commented that to the question as to what could possibly happen down the road in terms of re-implementing the sales tax on groceries, is that it could not be done without the vote of the people.

Mr. Cox said that is the City Attorney's interpretation, that any tax increase would require the vote of the people. Therefore, to reinstate a tax that's been repealed, an election would be required.

Councilwoman Stack asked if it (election) would include the ordinance, should it be nullified by one or more portions of the ordinance. If the entire ordinance would be invalidated by some mechanism by a court?

Mr. Cox said it's somewhat hard to look into the future and understand what would lead to that result. There's no anticipation that this would happen, but if the tax were not repealed, -- if the ordinance was not valid -- then we're not talking about reinstating anything.
Mayor Murphy asked for public comments on the proposed resolutions contained in the Consent Agenda.

Bob Zachman, 13182 W. Jewel Circle, Lakewood, CO, encouraged City Council to adopt the Community Resources Master Plan, which is an extensive quality plan that continues to maintain a large variety of programs for the residents of the City of Lakewood. He invited any who wanted to become involved with the arts program, to go to their website and www.alliancehca.org to get additional information and a membership form.

No further comments were made.

A motion was made by Councilwoman Allen and seconded by Councilman Peterson, to approve Council Minutes, accept all minutes for Boards and Committees, order all ordinances introduced on first reading to be published into the Rocky Mountain Newspaper for public hearing set for dates included in the ordinances, and to adopt resolutions, all of which are included in the Consent Agenda Items, for the record and introduced by the City Clerk.

Regarding the Community Resources Master Plan, Councilman Quinn asked Mrs. Hodgson to describe what the mechanics as to what's to be done with the plan in order to implement it.

Mrs. Hodgson said the Community Resources Master Plan provides guidance, and from the information obtained, they will put together a department work plan, that has a lot of "moving parts", and the City Council will be included especially in relations to the budget. As the work plan comes together, they will also look at potential alternative funding opportunities. Having this plan in place allows the group to move forward and talk to potential groups and/or individuals who can fund some of the projects in the Master Plan.

Councilman Peterson congratulated Mrs. Hodgson on the cooperative effort she displayed between Planning and Community Resources Department-that has never happened before with respects to this type of planning. He also congratulated the Planning Commission for administering the Comprehensive Plan, in which the CR Plan will become a part.

Mayor Murphy also thanked and congratulated all involved in this successful collaboration.

Ayes: 11 Nays: 0 Motion passed unanimously.

ORDINANCES ON SECOND READING AND PUBLIC HEARINGS

ITEM 10 - ORDINANCE O-2008-9 - AUTHORIZING ALCOHOL BEVERAGE TASTINGS IN RETAIL LIQUOR STORES AND LIQUOR-LICENSED DRUGSTORES PURSUANT TO STATE LAW

There were no public comments on this item.

A motion was made by Councilwoman Allen and seconded by Councilman Peterson, to adopt Ordinance 0-2008-9 on second and final reading.

Margy Greer, City Clerk, noted that some four or five retail liquor stores in the City of Lakewood have asked about this in the past year or so, and The Alameda-Gateway Association brought it forward. State law allows municipalities to opt in, via resolution or ordinance, to do this. It is supported by the Police Department, and in other jurisdictions they checked, there have been no problems.

Councilman Quinn feels that this is great, particularly for those who entertain a lot.

Ayes: 11 Nays: 0 Motion passed unanimously.

ITEM 11 - ORDINANCE O-2008-10 - AMENDING CHAPTERS 5.38 AND 5.40 RELATING TO LIQUOR LICENSING AND CHAPTER 5.46 RELATING TO ARCADE LICENSING AND CHAPTER 5.52.030 RELATING TO MASSAGE PARLORS OF THE LAKEWOOD MUNICIPAL CODE

There were no public comments on this item.

A motion was made by Councilwoman Allen and seconded by Councilman Peterson, to adopt Ordinance 0-2008-10 on second and final reading.

Margy Greer, commented that this proposed ordinance is asking to change our seven member community Liquor Authority Board to a one member hearing officer. During a Study Session conducted several weeks ago, it was presented to the Council. At that time, a letter was to be sent to all liquor licensees. Some 260 letters were mailed and about 10 responded. The majority was in favor of the proposed ordinance and in favor of day time meetings for they felt they should be at their establishments at night. However, some meetings will be held in the evenings, depending on neighborhood needs/desires. In regards to the massage parlor, the Liquor Authority currently is the same board for public hearings regarding massage parlors, arcade licensing, and pawnbrokers. So this is a change to all of those specific ordinances in our municipal code.

Councilwoman Allen said the Community Board that currently serves, also recommended that we go to a hearing officer.

Councilman Anderson extended thanks to Ms. Greer and her staff for sending out letters to the retail liquor establishments. He feels that it is important to get in touch with people who will be affected by any change from the City Council. Also, he asked if it would be possible for staff to give this a one year review, to see if it would save dollars in regards to Staff time not being required at nighttime meetings as often.
Ayes: 11 Nays: 0 Motion passed unanimously.

ITEM 12 - GENERAL BUSINESS
No General Business at today's meeting.

ITEM 13 - REPORTS
Mayor Murphy and City Council Members reported their attendance at previous meetings and events and announced upcoming neighborhood meetings and events.

ITEM 14 - ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the Council; Mayor Murphy adjourned the meeting at 8:32 p.m.

Submitted by:
Margy Greer, City Clerk

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