The Salida City Council (SCC) will hold its regular meeting tonight at 6:00 p.m. in Council Chambers at the Touber Building, 448 East First Street. A complete agenda packet, including instructions for remote access, can be found here.
Consent Agenda includes special events and contracts
Image courtesy of the City of Salida.
Among the major impact consent agenda items are approval of a $650,000 professional services agreement for Artspace Projects, Inc., (paid for by two grants) for redeveloping the blighted property at First and D Streets for affordable housing and artist live-work spaces.
In addition, council members will consider approval of a contract for construction of an Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS) at Harriet Alexander Field, with the county as joint owner bearing half the cost.
Citizen Comment considers food carts on F Street Plaza
During this period, general citizen comments on any topic will be heard first.
However, a separate citizen signup list concerning the prospect of food carts on the F Street Plaza is likely to get the lion’s share of the council’s attention. At their last regular meeting on May 2, the SCC expressed preliminary support for food carts while considering and approving the annual resolution for the summer pedestrian plaza on F Street. At that time, City Administrator Drew Nelson suggested passing the resolution “as is”, and amending it later if warranted, to consider allowing small food carts.
Council members agreed then that they wanted to give F Street restaurants, merchants, and other Salida residents a chance to share their needs and wants. While the views to be expressed may be at odds, the overall intent is to enliven the sometimes underutilized F Street plaza and refresh it, in this its third year. An amendment is not on the agenda for this evening, but with the opening of the plaza fast approaching, a clear sense of future direction is needed.
New Business/Actions items
A public hearing will be held for a June 3 amplified noise permit for High Side! Bar and Grill, followed by consideration of Resolution 2023-26, adopting a policy statement for the Colorado Communities for Climate Action. As an outcome of discussions during a recent council Sustainability Committee meeting, a first reading and setting of a public hearing for Ordinance 2023-08, will be considered, concerning vehicle idling within city limits.
Monthly reports
Rounding out the public session will be reports from the mayor, council members and the treasurer’s report of sales taxes collected from the month of March. Included at the end of the packet is the 2022 Annual Report from the Salida Department of Public Works, a colorful recap of their activities which are often some of the most visible and impactful to Salida residents.
Executive Session considers Poncha Springs sewer expansion negotiations
A council member may then move to go into executive session to consider Sewer System Intergovernmental Agreements and related negotiations and next steps with the Town of Poncha Springs. The City of Salida owns and operates the wastewater system that the Town of Poncha Springs depends on.
The need to expand the system to accommodate rapid growth in that town dates back nearly four years. The system will be reaching safe capacity soon and caps on growth in that town might be imposed unless financial agreement can be reached with Poncha Springs.
The question remains as to Poncha Springs paying the majority of costs of expansion driven by their growth.
To watch the meeting as it unfolds, with enhanced audio and video, “LIVE”, click on the City’s broadcast channel.
Featured image: Springtime arrives at City Hall (Touber Building) in Salida. Merrell Bergin photo
I hope some action is taken on the vehicle idling. It causes me to avoid downtown and not spend money there because the exhaust that is present continually is very unpleasant to be subjected to.