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MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
CITY OF LAKEWOOD
7:00 P.M, October 27, 2008
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
Adam Paul
Ed Peterson
Tom Quinn
Vicki Stack
Absent: Debbie Koop
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.
ITEM 3 - PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited and a moment of silent prayer was observed.
ITEM 4 - PRESENTATION - CITIZEN'S COMMENDATIONS
Kevin Paletta, Police Chief, said it was a pleasure to recognize some very special citizens and commend them for the acts of bravery. The Lakewood Police Department's Citizen Commendations were awarded to:
Raquel Elliott and Ross McAfee for their alertness and willingness to become involved with resulted in saving the life of a two-year old child.
Mark Puumala, David Slawson, Frank Tamburelli, Eric Barclay for their quick, calm and efficient manner of reacting to an emergency that undoubtedly saved the live of a four-year old little girl.
Alexis Vigil and MiKayla Lieggi for their willingness to become involved in a dire situation and their attempts to save a man's life.
Eric Snyder and Tyler Snyder for their calm, immediate attention and use of sound judgment while assisting an elderly citizen and neighbor in the face of an extreme emergency.
Mayor Murphy said it's always good to see the citizens of Lakewood helping to be the "eyes and ears" the Police Department. He commended all for jobs well done.
ITEM 5 - PRESENTATION - LAKEWOOD LEGACY FOUNDATION GRANT AWRDS
Kevin King, President of the Lakewood Legacy Foundation, said they've been serving the Lakewood Community since 1987 helping to enrich the lives of the citizens of Lakewood.
Jason Shade, President of the Denver West Kiwanis's Club, said their main objective is to help enrich the lives of young people. This is done through fundraising and volunteering with such programs as Youth Leadership of Jefferson County. The Denver West Kiwanis's Club and the Lakewood Legacy Foundation presented a check for $1500 to Youth Leadership Jefferson County.
Representatives from the Youth Leadership of Jefferson County were present to accept the grant award. They extended a 'thank you' to the Lakewood Legacy Foundation and the Denver West Kiwanis's Club, and stated that this is a program that was developed to help high school students throughout Jefferson County develop their leadership potential and to learn about various careers.
ITEM 6 - PUBLIC COMMENT
Beverley Barnett, 10370 W. 13th Place, Lakewood, CO, asked that Council help citizens of Lakewood get a fair deal from RTD. The revocation of the noise wall between Kipling and Nelson Street is unacceptable. All the promises made by RTD have not come true, i.e. noise walls, amount of money spent, safety regulations, beautification of areas around the rail, etc. She asked why has the Mayor and City Council allowed RTD to abuse the citizens of Lakewood of the things promised. She suggested that Council use some of the "strong financial conditions" (funds as noted in Looking At Lakewood) allocated to keep businesses in Lakewood, to support the cost of the noise walls for tax paying citizens.
Larry Tannenbaum, 2331 S. Fia Street, Lakewood, CO, spoke about the plan for Coyote Gulch Ballpark, and said as citizen, he is opposed to having a ballpark at this location. The quality of life, prime reason for moving to the area some 17 years ago, is slowly deteriorating, and increased traffic will cause even more decline. Additionally, he feels there was not adequate notification to the citizens in the area regarding the ballpark. Recently, he attended a meeting and reviewed three different plans for the ballpark, and no alternatives were available. He is one of a number of distressed citizens who did not get notice of the public hearing.
Tom Birney, 10400 W. 13th Place, Lakewood, CO, said he would like help from the City of Lakewood with RTD in regards to the sound wall along 13th Place. He's not opposed to the light rail, but disappointed in the 'let down' by RTD, who has lied to the citizens and the City of Lakewood has done nothing to help the residents. There have been errors made by RTD and its contractors and the residents of Lakewood are paying the price for their mistakes. RTD claims they want to be fair and consistent in how they apply the noise mitigation policy. It is not consistent that the section of the noise wall along 13th Place is the only one that's been revoked due to errors on the part of RTD and its contractors. The residents should not be punished because of their errors. He feels that the City should come forth and help the residents in this regard.
Nicole Birney, 10400 W. 13th Place, Lakewood, CO, said the aerial photos of the property on 13th Place clearly showed two separate buildings on the property at 10320 W. 13th Place. The design plans for the light rail track also show that there are two separate buildings on the property. Also, the noise study engineers for RTD placed a cluster of instruments exactly on that location for their study, and they should have been able to tell a house from a garage. Once RTD re-evaluated the property, they advised the residents that the cost to build the wall had jumped 60% in one year. She wanted to know who is standing up for the residents of Lakewood-City Council members are to help the citizens and do what's right, and the residents along this corridor need Council's support to get RTD to do what is right.
Ben Herrera, 1380 S. Depew, Lakewood, CO, expressed accolades regarding employees in the Code Enforcement Department, who he finds to be fair and firm. Also, he noted that members of the Police Department also deserve commendations for being courteous, fair and firm.
Brian Wareing, Applewood, CO, said he attended his 15th RTD meeting last week, and "if lies were flash bulbs, we all would have been blinded". The RTD Board and Agents are completely incapable of telling the truth, and for the residents who thought that they would get some sort of sustenance from having a sound wall erected, there is bad news. RTD is so completely under budgeted and over expensed that the object is to take away your property and flip it for the purpose of selling it to some Starbucks or other organization which will give them some kind of return and therefore continue to justify their reasons. The line of attack is to get rid of RTD fast track. Also, he asked that everybody at this Council help Carol Tarpley, as it is their responsibility to do, to recuperate her losses - both in privacy and in property rights for the illegal, armed invasion of her home and sanctuary. Ms. Tarpley could not be present tonight because she is ill. He thanked Councilman Paul for his courageous comments to the City Attorney, who has completely misrepresented the idea that so far Ms. Tarpley, or any of her representatives, has a claim against the City of Lakewood. This is not true and never has been. Ms. Tarpley is asking for compensation for the unconstitutional abridgement of her life, and it is the oath of office of Council members to protect this. He asked the Council to adhere to their duties to the City of Lakewood and its citizens and to make sure they are not mistreated.
Linda Sasenick, 181 S. Deframe Way, Lakewood, CO, wanted to express her continued disappointment in government bodies and officials endorsing issues put forth for the public to decide. In addition to the Council's endorsement of Referendum "O" and JeffCo Ballot issues 3A and 3B, the mayor of Lakewood and other JeffCo mayors, have been cited as publicly endorsing 3A and 3B. She said there is no semantic slant by which endorsement can be seen as a neutral posture-it is advocacy. Using the stature and forms available to government office to advocate a position, is at best inappropriate. These endorsements are used to enhance the perception that a "yes" vote is the right vote. You are elected to make difficult judgments-you can't take the position that you expect the public to only trust you in some judgments and not in others. Government endorsements are not substitutes for well-reasoned debates.
Jeff Sacco, 181 S. Deframe, Way, Lakewood, CO, said he's joining with those who are voting "NO" on 3A and 3B. The reason so many are choosing to vote "NO" on this issue is that there is a lack of results - JeffCo only has a 76% graduation rate. In November 2004, the superintendent of JeffCo schools committed to voters not to return for five years (that would be 2009) for more money, and he wants to hold her to that promise. He wanted to know how could you make sense out of a $7 billion agenda that has been proposed. He challenged anyone to debate him on this issue.
Michael O'Beirne, President of Colorado Foreign Trade LLC, said the communications he sent to Council should not be considered as inducements for service. He noted that the mission of Colorado Foreign Trade is to remove companies from Colorado and to help them do business outside of Colorado. There's been a complete lack of interest in Colorado in foreign trade zones other than property owned by Pat Brow in Windsor. Colorado does not have a inland port authority or a disassociated business non-profit 501 (c) 6. He had information about foreign trade zone operators in South Carolina and Windsor, if the Council wanted to make contact. He said Colorado insists that there is no business activity in foreign trade zones, but we all know different. We will exceed half a trillion dollars in trade zone activity. There are companies in Colorado that could use this. At this point, as president of the Colorado Foreign Trade, LLC is informing Colorado on the pros and cons of foreign trade zones, but we will not actively seek foreign trade zones designation or participation in the State of Colorado.
Daniel Bernt, 10405 W. 13th Place, Lakewood, CO, said the subdivision he lives in is over 50 years old, and some 18 homes, between Kipling and Nelson, would be affected by RTD. The trains would be in their back yards. Presently, they have trees, privacy fences, and the homes close to Kipling have chain-link fences. Backyards of these homes are quiet and peaceful -- the residents now enjoy quality of life. However, when the trains start to run in 2013, this peace and quiet will be disrupted. RTD now says they won't build a wall. These people need help from the Council.
Public comment was closed.
Mayor Murphy responded to the issue regarding RTD and sound walls along 13th Place, by noting that the decision on where to build sound walls is made by RTD based on strict federal guidelines. There was misidentification of a piece of property that was first determined to be a residence but was in fact a garage, and that changed the qualifications. In a conversation with Mr. Birney, he (Mayor) pledged to get a clear concise answer to the sequential questions raised regarding those issues and he will seek answers from RTD.
In reference to comments made by Mr. Wareing (regarding Ms. Tarpley's situation) he asked Mr. Cox to respond.
Tim Cox, City Attorney, said the question raised by Mr. Wareing was if Ms. Tarpley had filed a claim. One of the reasons we gave in declining to provide certain information to Ms. Tarpley is that she had filed a Notice of Claim threatening a lawsuit against the City. The claim was served to an incorrect party, but the City did receive a copy of the Notice of Claim sometime ago threatening several claims arising out of the execution of an entry warrant on her property in April 2008. He has been communicating with Ms. Tarpley answering her questions via email. A response is pending to her most recent request. We are doing what we can to provide information. At this point, he feels it's clear that they will not agree on the legality of the City's actions and it's up to Ms. Tarpley to decide her options. He recommends that the Council continue to treat this as a legal matter and allow his office to handle it.
Mike Rock, City Manager, responded to the Coyote Gulch Ballpark. He said Coyote Gulch is the fourth largest non-open space park and has always been planned for a mix of schools and ball fields-it was never designated as passive open space. On August 28, 2008, City Council conducted a public meeting and many people spoke on that topic. After hearing that testimony, Council gave the o.k. for staff to go forth with the final design and to pursue funding for the project. All legal requirements for this project have been met. We are in the final design stage, and we've received 90 responses and it appears that the bulk of said responses are in favor of Alternative B. Alternative A was second, and staff is now working to see if they can incorporate some of the issues that bridge the two designs. It's anticipated that construction of the ball field will begin in 2009.
Councilman Anderson said on the issue of the sound wall, he wanted to know if there was a commitment from the City of Lakewood that should all else fail from RTD's side of things to build the sound wall, that it will be built for the citizens who clearly want it.
Mayor Murphy said no, there is no commitment from the City of Lakewood to build a sound wall. At the Budget Study Session, Revised 2008 and, 2009 Budget was adopted and there have been discussions regarding sound walls, however, building new sound walls, at this point and time, has not been a part of that discussion.
Councilman Anderson stated that there are opportunities to get RTD to stand up to its commitments made to the neighborhood, and he hopes the Mayor will pursue said opportunities and RTD will honor said commitments. He feels Council should revisit this issue in view of the quality of life for those impacted by the sound walls, and that the City has a whole, owes some measure of compensation to these citizens.
He expressed thanks to persons who attended the meeting regarding Coyote Gulch. He's committed to the ball field but has concerns regarding the process that did not 'step up to the highest level of what the City could do'.
Mayor Murphy said a Study Session is scheduled for November 3, 2008 regarding sound walls, and the agenda is specifically designed to look at the process that has been approved to date.
Mr. Rock said the guidance Council provided at the Budget Study Session and
was adopted, was to set aside money to supplement the RTD sound wall program
to provide for either additional landscaping or additional height for sound
walls. Council did not
discuss building sound walls. Staff has put together a program based on guidance
from the Council and it will be presented to Council next week.
He does not agree with the suggestion that the City failed in the process regarding Coyote Gulch. The language discusses a public meeting and on August 20, 2008, very detailed discussions were presented. In October 2006 a meeting was held where more than 3000 notices were sent out. Additionally, Ward 4 conducted a meeting and finally, City Council held a meeting and many people spoke. There has to be a point when a project moves forward-this has been lingering since 1995, and if we go on the basis of we don't move forward until every person who suggests they didn't know about it or doesn't agree with it, is satisfied then we wouldn't have any projects completed. Council was unanimous in the vote and the letter and spirit of the requirements were met.
Councilwoman Allen, in response to Councilman Anderson's comments regarding sound walls, said she does not feel that Councilors don't want to help the residents affected by the sound walls. Also, as policy makers whenever other organizations may not come through with their promises, if the Council steps in and takes over, it sets a precedent. Thus, it's not a decision to be made lightly. Of course we would love to help them, but we need to look at the implications that could result.
Councilman Quinn said it's important to get a clear and concise answer for the residents on 13th Place about the sound walls. After reading some of the material in this regard, he's confused and can imagine how the residents feel.
Mayor Murphy said he will ask for a response from RTD.
CONSENT AGENDA
The City Clerk read consent Agenda Items 7-12 into the Record.
ITEM 7 - RESOLUTION 2008-70 -- ACCEPTING TWO COMMISSIONER'S DEEDS FROM THE JEFFERSON
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS TO THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD FOR THE SOUTH SHERIDAN FIELD PARK
LOCATED AT 5445 WEST OHIO AVENUE WITH THE CITY LIMITS OF THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD
ITEM 8 - RESOLUTION 2008-71 -- AUTHORIZING AN AMENDMENT TO THE 2003 INTERGOVERNMENTAL
AGREEMENT AMONG THE TOWN OF MORRISON, THE MOUT CARBON METROPOLITAN DISTRICT
AND THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD
ITEM 9 - ORDINANCE O-2008-28 - AUTHORIZING CONVEYANCE OF TWO EASEMENTS TO THE
FOSSIL RIDGE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT NO. 1; ONE FOR A SANITARY SEWER AND RELATED
APPURTENANCES AND THE SECOND ONE FOR IRRIGATION LINS AND RELATED APPURTENANCES,
ACROSS PROPERTY OWNED
BY THE CITY, LOCATED WITHIN TRACTS H, K, J AND L, SOLTERRA SUBDIVISION FILIN
NO. 2
ITEM 10 - ORDINANCE O-2008-29 - AUTHORIZING CONVEYANCE OF AN EASEMENT TO CONSOLIDATED MUTUAL WATER COMPANY FOR A WATER LINE AND RELATED APPURTENANCES ACROSS PROPERTY OWNED BY THE CITY, LOCATED WITHIN TRACT H, SOLTERRA SUBDVISION FILING NO. 2
ITEM 11 - APPROVING MINUTES OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING
Regular City Council Meeting September 8, 2008
Regular City Council Meeting September 22, 2008
ITEM 12 - ACCEPTING MINUTES OF THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
Lakewood Liquor and Fermented Malt Beverage Licensing Authority Meeting, September
11, 2008
Lakewood Liquor and Fermented Malt Beverage Licensing Authority Meeting, September
25, 2008
Mayor Murphy asked for public comments.
There were no public comments.
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.
VOTE: Ayes: 10 Nays: 0 Absent: 1 (Koop) The motion passed unanimously
ORDINANCES ON SECOND READING AND PUBLIC HEARINGS
ITEM 13 - ORDINANCE O-2008-27 - AMENDING CHAPTER 3.01 OF THE LAKEWOOD MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO SALES ANDUSE TAX BY THE ADDITIONOF A NEW DEFINITION FOR QUALIFIED HOSPITAL ORGANIZATION AND CERTAIN EXEMPTIONS RELATING THERETO
Mayor Murphy asked for comments.
Larry Dorr, Finance Director, said this ordinance is another step in the process in the development of St. Anthony's Hospital. It will allow the City's taxation code to accommodate and make way for licensing the first and only hospital in the City of Lakewood. This does not include non-hospital activities that may occur on the site, such as prescription sales, pharmacy activities, gift shop, etc, and it does not have to do with property taxation, which is managed at the county tax assessor's office. This ordinance makes way for defining what is a hospital, how it is licensed within the City, how the taxation works, and some amendments related to it.
Michael O'Beirne said as a member of the St. Anthony's West Community Task Force, he feels it would have been appropriate to notify the Task Force of the City's involvement with taxation issues relative to the community and the coming of St. Anthony's Hospital. The competitiveness of this hospital is very important. Certainly the phase development of the hospital is important to all the private practitioners on Union Boulevard. He wanted to know, on a competitive basis, if we are evaluating the hospital relative to other hospitals throughout Colorado or whether or not it's competitive relative to other practitioners along Union Boulevard.
Public comment was closed.
Councilwoman Stack, wanted to know the category of the current surgical clinics in Lakewood in regards to the City's taxation code.
Mr. Dorr said there are a number of clinics operating in Lakewood that do a variety of things-surgical and non-surgical (outpatient), and this ordinance will not affect them. It will only have an impact on activities St. Anthony's Hospital. The State's definition of what constitutes a hospital is very clear--a major facility that conducts a variety of activities.
Mr. Rock also noted that if any doctor offices or surgical clinics move onto the St. Anthony's campus and occupy the physician office buildings, their tax status does not change. It's only the hospital itself and only one hospital is being proposed.
Mr. Dorr continued and stated that during the process, he, Mr. Cox, and Laurie Burns, Revenue Division Manager, were in consultative discussions with representatives from St. Anthony to ensure that we were reading/understanding what was happening in other communities and to make sure the competitive aspect was properly addressed. Representatives from St. Anthony's Hospital have reviewed the proposed ordinance and it makes sense in terms of what they are seeing in other communities throughout the State of Colorado.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Allen and seconded by Councilman Peterson, to adopt Ordinance 0-2008-27 for second and final reading.
VOTE: Ayes: 10 Nays: 0 Absent: 1 (Koop) The motion passed unanimously.
ITEM 14 - GENERAL BUSINESS
None.
ITEM 15 - REPORTS
Mayor Murphy and City Council Members reported their attendance at previous meetings and events and announced upcoming neighborhood meetings and events.
ITEM 16 - ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the Council; Mayor Murphy adjourned the meeting at 8:15 p.m.
Submitted by:
Margy Greer, City Clerk
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