The Salida City Council will meet in regular session at 6:00 p.m. on Tues. April 2 in City Council Chambers at 448 East First Street in Salida. A wide-ranging agenda is planned with something impactful for nearly everyone.
Consent Agenda includes major public works contracts
It’s the time of year for the annual Public Works Department contracts. Council may award 2024 Asphalt Maintenance ($388,00 budget) and 2024 Sewer Reconstruction Project ($392,000 budget). While these are routine, it’s always interesting to look at the maps (pages 9 and 12 respectively) in the packet and see where these will take place.
Additionally, a contract for a Professional Service Agreement for SH291 West Entry Streetscape Improvements ($380,000 budget) is on the docket. These long-awaited improvements to the western gateway between the hospital and M Street in Salida will also receive $2.1 million in grant funding. According to Public Works, “This project is planned to be designed in 2024 and 2025 with construction construction in 2026 but subject to design schedules and the [gating item] of CDOT clearances to perform the work.”
A proclamation declaring Arab American Heritage Month will close out the first part of the agenda.
New Business: parking, parks/dogs and a land use emergency moratorium, oh my.
Annual parking stall striping on North F Street, in May 2022. Merrell Bergin photo
- Resolution 2024-08 seeks to amend the contract with Interstate Parking. As previously reported, the current intent is to consistently enforce existing time limit and no-parking regulations downtown.
In addition, a second need is for a better understanding of how the downtown parking areas are used, by whom and when.
Since the city is not proceeding with paid parking at this time, there is no revenue-sharing possible. Instead, if approved, outsourcing the planned enforcement and data gathering will cost taxpayers $45,000 for the summer season, which begins on May 24.
While that is some seven weeks ahead and will be well-publicized in addition to warnings, locals should start now to scope out a Plan B for longer-term parking in alternate locations.
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Centennial Park. Photo courtesy of City of Salida Recreation.
Ordinance 2024-05 proposes to amend Municipal code Chapter 11 – Streets, Sidewalk and Public Areas, Article VI – Parks and Recreation Areas in an effort to “develop new code language that is more easily interpreted, applied..enforced and used to develop standard operating procedures.
Of note: as part of this First Reading, the ordinance seeks to amend Sec. 7–5–220. – Animal nuisances of the Salida Municipal Code. This section, together with Sec. 7-5-230. – Sanitation are key to Salida being a “dog-friendly” city for everyone.
While the majority of dog-owners are caring and responsible, there are some who seem to be unaware of existing ordinances or who simply choose to ignore them. These lead to preventable conflicts with people, other dogs and wildlife in City parks, on trails and in the downtown.
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July 17, 2023 Future Land Use Map (FLUM)
Ordinance 2024-06 completes the trifecta of key topics for this meeting. “Staff is requesting that Council impose a temporary (6-month) moratorium on certain land use application types in order to complete the ongoing land use code (LUC) rewrite, comprehensive zoning conversion process, relevant public engagement, and other related administrative measures.”
“The land use application types proposed to be covered by this temporary moratorium (mostly limited impact reviews and major impact reviews) are some of the most time-intensive.” Property owners and developers are encouraged to carefully review pages 85-90 of the packet for this meeting to determine any impact.
If approved tonight and declared (as noticed) as an emergency, the moratorium would go into effect immediately upon adoption and run to Oct. 1, 2024 unless repealed sooner or extended at a later date.
Attorney Report and Executive Session
Closing out the evening after Council, Mayor, and Treasurer reports, the City Attorney will address a Court of Appeals decision on amplified sound lawsuit brought against the City and High Side! in which the City’s right to grant such permits was upheld.
Of widespread interest to the public will be an update and summary regarding the lawsuit brought by the Town of Poncha Springs, Tailwind Group LLC and Full Views Matter, LLC against the City of Salida. The pending legal action refers to interpretation of an existing intergovernmental agreement concerning wastewater generated within the Town of Poncha Springs and system capacity limits trigged by rapid housing growth in that town.
Finally, the council may move to go into Executive Session to conduct “related negotiations, discussions and next steps” regarding the above lawsuit.
The meeting agenda and complete packet are here.
The public is welcome to attend in person or to attend remotely, please register for Regular City Council Meeting here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Or, to watch this meeting in real time, on “Live” streaming, click here.
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