Trustee Diane Bruce Chosen as Mayor Pro-Tem at Nov. 15 Town Meeting

Lake City Board of Trustee’ regular workshop and meeting commenced at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 15, with trustees Diane Bruce, Henry Woods, Jesse Kendall and Trip Horn present in the Armory‘s multi-purpose meeting room. Also present were Town Manager Lex Mulhall and Town Clerk Heather Kuellenberg, as well as Public Works Director Jameson Johnston. Mayor Dave Roberts tuned in via Zoom, and trustee Landon Whinnery was absent, as he was out of the country.
The meeting offered a diverse agenda spanning a variety of topics, the highlights of which were the appointment of a new Mayor Pro-Tem, now that the previous pro-tem, Doug Hamel, has resigned from the board. During the action items segment of the regular meeting, little discussion was needed before a motion was made by Horn and seconded by Woods to appoint Bruce as Mayor Pro-Tem. The motion passed unanimously. Bruce was also selected, again in the wake of Hamel’s resignation, to represent the Town on the DIRT (Downtown Improvement and Revitalization Team) Board, with the motion made by Horn and seconded by Kendall, and again passing unanimously.

Two pertinent correspondences were received by Town staff and included in the meeting agenda packet; the first from local realtor Danielle Worthen, addressed to Town Manager Lex Mulhall and also to Hinsdale County Administrator Sandy Hines, which read:

^{Good afternoon Sandy & Lex, Please share this email with the Hinsdale County Board of Commissioners and the Town of Lake City Board of Trustees with regard to the Colorado Department of Transportation Commission renewal application for Resolution TC-2021-03- 10. Hall Realty is receiving inquiries from some of our vacation renters and real estate clients as to whether Highway 149 will continue to allow OHVs on the existing route from Memorial weekend thru September 30th in 2024. Vacation renters are especially anxious to confirm the highway status to determine whether they proceed with booking in Lake City or consider vacationing elsewhere. Time is of the essence on this issue for my business, and I am respectfully asking that you consider proceeding with the highway renewal application as soon as possible.
Regards, Danielle}

The second letter was in recognition of hard work done and care given by Town of Lake City Public Works employees and cohorts:

^{Dear Lake City Town Trustees, We wanted to take a moment to thank the town for the excellent work that Jamison, Mad Dog, and Evan Milski did to repair our sewer line issues at 203 N. Gunnison and adjacent properties. The issue was a real threat to our small business, and Jamison and his team were on top of things, considering all possibilities, and had thought through all the issues. The clean-out was done professionally and in a timely manner. Thank you to Jamison and his team as well as the Town Trustees, for providing such important service to our community!
Sincerely,
Laurel Crawley and Matt Dewalt
Iron Kettle Cabin}

It is budget season at the Town of Lake City, with the deadline to submit an approved budget December 15, and first on the agenda for the November 15 workshop prior to the regular meeting were donation requests from community organizations. These included Hinsdale County Wildfire Mitigation Program, Hinsdale County Historic Society, Lake Fork Valley Conservancy Earth and Sky Center, Wee Care, Hinsdale Marketing Committee, Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Improvement and Revitalization Team, Girl Scout Troop #19140, and Hinsdale County EMS.

A preliminary draft of the 2024 budget has now been submitted to the Board of Trustees and is available for public inspection at Town Hall. There will be a special Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday, December 13 at 6:30 p.m. for consideration and possible approval of the budget draft.
The full revised copy of Ordinance 13-2032 concerning Short Term Rentals ran in the November 24 issue of WORLD, and workshop agenda item 2 was discussion of the changes to that ordinance. Highlights of those changes include the Town placing a cap on the total number of permits allowed within Town residential zones, which trustees decided to cap at a total of 43. The 43 Short Term Rental permit cap represents 15 percent of the total number of residential units in the Residential Zones at the time of passage of this ordinance.

The Short Term Rental cap may be adjusted with approval of the Board of Trustees. Also, anyone wishing to operate a Short Term Rental has to reapply annually with a fee of $375 per permit per rental and no more than three short-term rentals are allowed per renting party. A new application fee is $100.
Also new, to be submitted with application, Town will require each short term rental property to provide a fire department inspection report. This matter was discussed at length in workshop, and voted on in the regular meeting, with a motion being made by Kendall and seconded by Woods. The item did pass, but not unanimously; Trustees Kendall, Woods, Horn and Mayor Roberts voting yes, and Trustee Bruce voting no.

Former Town of Lake City Mayor and local contractor Bruce Vierheller submitted a letter of application to fill a vacancy on the Planning and Zoning Commission Board. He appeared on Zoom to discuss his qualifications with the Board of Trustees, and was unanimously voted onto the board by the trustees during the regular meeting.

Finally, there was discussion of re-instituting the recital of the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of each regular Board of Trustees meeting during workshop, and the item passed during the regular meeting with a motion being made by Kendall, and a second being made by Bruce. The matter did not pass unanimously, with Woods voting no on the matter.