---
date: "2015-10-14"
title: "Council Meeting Minutes 2015-10-14"
source: "2015-10-14-minutes-council-monthly.pdf"
---

City of Prairie City

                   Carole Garrison, Councilor
         Les Church, Councilor
         Butch Goslin, Councilor

1.                   CITY COUNCIL MEETING
2.                                October 14th, 2015
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6. Attended:   Jim Hamsher, Mayor
7.
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10.                   Viola Rose, Councilor
11.                   Georgia Patterson, Councilor
         Dottie Miller, Councilor
12.
13.                   Taci Philbrook, City Recorder
14.                   Kathy Smith, Museum Director
15.                   Chris Camarena, PWD Director
16.
         Marvin Rynearson, PC Fire Chief
17.                   Cheryl Hoefler, BME
18.                   Frances Preston, resident
19.                   Malachi Wilson, resident
20.                   Kevin Dahlen, resident
21.                   Julie Gruczynski, School Superintendent
22.
23. The Mayor opened the regular meeting at 6:00pm. Roll Call taken. All present.
24. Pledge of Allegiance.
25.
26.The minutes of September 9, 2015 regular council meeting was considered for
27. approval. MSP: To approve the minutes with corrections. Councilor Church
28. / Councilor Goslin. All in favor. Councilor Rose and Councilor Miller pointed
29. out spelling and grammatical errors.(see attached)
30.
31. Mayor Hamsher recognized Taci Philbrook, the City Recorder, to speak on behalf
32. of Fernando Ponce, the owner of El Concinero. Mr. Ponce is asking for his
33. Liquor License to be approved by the City Council. Taci spoke about his previous
34. location, his new location in Prairie City, and his hours of operation. MSP: To
35. approve El Concinero's liquor license. Councilor Goslin / Councilor Church.
36. All in Favor.
37.
38. The Mayor recognized Marge Walton who came to speak to the Council about
39. forming a task force to create an Emergency Response Plan. She first spoke of
40. the lack of communication during the “lock down” at Prairie City's School last

41. year. She has heard Prairie City evacuees were not notified during the Canyon
42. Creek Complex Fire. This happened due to a lack of communication. Marge sees
43. a need to better that communication using an All-Call Emergency System.  She
44. and the School Superintendent, Judy Gruczynski will assist with contact
45. information and costs for the Call System.
46.Marge went on to speak about the concerns people in the county are voicing about
47. the impending floods that may result from the Canyon Creek Complex Fire.
48. Marge is asking this Council to be proactive, and create a committee to do the
49. research and find solutions for impending issues that may arise should we have
50. another emergency, specifically flooding. She is volunteering to be on the
51. committee. She feels we have 6 weeks to come up with a plan and present it
52. to the Sheriff and The County.
53. Frances Preston was recognized. She stated she has been attending the County
54. Court and hears them making plans for Canyon Creek but not Strawberry. She is
55. asking if the City can do anything to reinforce the culverts on Indian Creek and
56. Pine Creek. The Mayor said we should definitely check into that.
57. Mayor Hamsher said he would contact the judge and ask what, if any, plans are
58. being made for this end of the County. Kathy Smith spoke on behalf of GPCCA
59. noting that the Community Center is being prepared for disaster relief. The
60. Mayor asked Julie Gruczynski if the school would be an evacuation center? She
61. answered that she would have to check with the School Board, but thought if it
62. didn’t impact the students any it wouldn't be a problem, if it was temporary
63. not permanent. Councilor Rose stated the Teen Center has been appointed as an
64. evacuation center.
65.The Mayor asked who would volunteer to be on the Emergency Response Team.
66. Councilor Miller, Councilor Patterson, Councilor Rose, Frances Preston, Marge
67. Walton and Chris Camarena agreed to hold their first meeting Tuesday the 27th at
68. 1:00p.m. in the City's council chambers.
69.
70.The Mayor asked for Reports:
71.
72. Fire Department: Chief Rynearson gave a list of intended road closures that may
73. increase the traffic flow in Prairie City. We should be seeing increased traffic on
74. County Road 62 for about 10 days due to the changing of two culverts on Hwy.
75. 395. Depending on the snows this year they are going to try to maintain Laycock
76. Creek and County Roads 16 & 62 so they can stay open as long as possible.
77. They are going to try to keep them open all winter. USFS says if there
78. is snow on County Road 15, which runs into County Road 65, they won't allow
79. anyone to use it as it is too dangerous when it is covered in snow and ice. Either
80. way, all of this will affect the traffic in Prairie City. The Chief says depending on
81. the weather we get, it is very likely we will see increased water on Pine Creek
82. and Indian Creek because there is not a lot of retention there.

83.The Mayor asked Taci to explain the Liability Release Form intended for the
84. parents of the Jr. Firefighters aged 16-18 to sign. She first reminded everyone
85. that all volunteer Firefighters including the Jr. Firefighters are covered under the
86. City's Workmen's Comp; and that the the form would protect the City from
87. liability should potential litigation arise out of a Jr. Firefighter getting hurt. Taci
88. explained that she contacted CIS and they referred her to a gentleman in their
89. organization that worked with Bend, Oregon, building a Liability Release Form.
90. He not only offered a form to use for our needs, but he also referred her to a
91. couple of websites that might assist the Chief in his training program. All the
92. information was passed on to the Chief. The Mayor asked Chief Rynearson to
93. review the information and get back to him at the next meeting. Chief Rynearson
94. agreed. Marge Walton spoke of two students that started out as Jr. Firefighters
95. who liked it so much they have furthered their futures in EMS and
96. Firefighting fields.
97.
98. Museum Report: (see attached) Kathy Smith was told “yes” when she asked if
99. she had to go through the formal hiring process (again) to fill Mr. Ranseen's
 position as Museum Operations Supervisor. While speaking about the
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 Intergovernmental Agreement with the County and its revisions, Taci asked
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 to see it before it went to the County. Kathy agreed to let Taci review it.
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Public Works Dept: Chris began by explaining to the Councilors that he
found a schematic of the roof on City Hall and it says it's just under 6000
sq. feet. He asked for guidance from the Council: He has one bid (Tyler
Sheedy) that talks about replacing the old roof at about $2.00 a sq. foot
with either shingle or metal. Tyler quoted $3000.00 to $4000.00 to remove
the existing roof. His bid wasn't much more to just repair the old roof. He
asked for guidance on which way to go. Chris expressed urgency due to
winter weather coming and would like to get moving on this.
Chris went on to explain the bay's roof at the Public Works Bldg., intended
to be used for the ambulance, only needs to be raised about 8 inches. If he
had to put a different door on it, they can order one where they got the new
shop door. Mike Voigt will be coming to “take a look” at the job. The
Councilors discussed the RFP process and thought that the 10 year work
warranty was too long a warranty, and that it may have scared off
potential roofers so maybe we should reconsider that part of the contract.
Councilor Church endorsed Tyler Sheedy as one of his own ex-employees
and that, if he is willing to guarantee his work, we should consider him.
Several councilors think Mr. Sheedy's bid is underbid. Chris explained we
need to get moving on this as, with all the new construction on Canyon
Creek, all the Contrators are going to be too busy for our roofing project.
Tyler Sheedy has said he has some jobs coming up and needs to

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know about this one soon. Mayor Hamsher stated he would rather see the
tile roof repaired for a lower cost than replaced with a metal roof that will
only last 30 years. It would also be more timely just to repair it he said.
Chris stated we have more than 100 tiles left over that we can use. The
Mayor asked Chris to get ahold of Mike Voigt to get a quote without the 10
year guarantee.
Chris again explained the urgency in finding a location for the Ambulance.
He says it has added substantially to their response time;
and if it snows or we get a heavy rain, it will add more time getting it out of
the shop where it is temporarily housed. Councilor Patterson
suggested we use the bay area in the Texaco, temporarily through the
winter. Everyone agreed that the Fire Dept. would have to agree to that; and
perhaps they would agree to it, if there was an actual plan in place. The
Mayor asked Chief Rynearson what he thought about temporarily housing
the ambulance at the Texaco. There was some discussion about heating and
whether or not the door would have to be raised. It was decided the door
was high enough, and there was sufficient heating as the ambulance heats
itself and does not require much exterior heat. Councior Goslin asked Chris
when the Washington St. project will start. Chris explained that once he gets
the hot patch, they will start it. Right now they are not running the hot plant
so they are having to create their own material out of some found at the
dumping site. Chief Rynearson suggested Chris contact Alan at the County
and get some from the County. Chief says it will be a little stiff, but if you
get it on an 80 or 90 degree day and stir it up real good it should work.

Ratify bills: The Mayor asked for a motion to Ratify payment of the bills.
MSP: To approve payment of the bills. Councilor Garrison / Councilor
Church. All in Favor.

Other Business:
Councilor Rose suggested tabling te re-addressing of the houses in Prairie
City until after the Emergency Response Plan gets settled. Councilor
Garrison suggested the “returning of  Right of Way to owner” project could
be combined with the re-addressing of houses.

The Mayor introduced the two stacks of surveys from the Town Hall mtg.
on the table in front of the councilors. One stack was the surveys that voted
to opt-out, the second stack was the surveys that voted to not opt-out.
Because the Town Hall mtg was attended by mostly senior citizens,
Councilor Goslin asked the Mayor what he thought would have happened if
there had been no marijuana leafs depicted on the handouts or if the venue

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had been in the City Park not at the Senior Center. Councilor Rose stated
that Colorado has compiled their revenue and are now getting twice as
much for marijuana sales than alcohol sales. Prairie City now gets app.
$1100.00 a month, that would be $2200.00 a month Prairie City could be
receiving thru tax revenue from marijuana sales. There was some discussion
bout whether or not the issue of lost revenue came up at the Town Hall
meeting. The Mayor reminded the Councilors that even though there were
a lot of senior citizens in attendance, everyone had the opportunity to come
and voice their opinions like the seniors did. Mayor Hamsher reminded the
Councilors that they should look at the election results, “they” said they did
not want it here. Councilor Church feels the community is not recognizing
something that could be beneficial to the community.
Kevin Dahlen was recognized by the Mayor. Kevin thinks that opting
out of a potential revenue source is wrong. He also feels just a select group
was asked about opting out. He asked about it being put on the water bills.
The Mayor explained it was not a hidden Town Hall mtg. It was well
advertised in both the paper and on the radio, and whoever was going to
attend did so. Mayor Hamsher explained to Mr. Dahlen that if we opt out,
and find we are missing out on a ton of revenue, we can put it on the
ballot later and let the voters decide.
Jonathon(?) said we cannot base our numbers of those who wanted to opt
out on a county wide vote. He also felt that we should hold another Town
Hall mtg.. The Mayor explained the Town Hall mtg. held was well
advertised, and the over all County voted against it. When that many
people show up to the Town Hall mtg. it makes a statement on its own.
Jonathon also feels that not having legal resources will heighten the black
market.
Then the Mayor told Jonathon(?) that we have to think of the message we
are sending kids. Just because it's legal doesn't make it right. Jonathon said
he thinks the City should not take on the role of the parent and that
government should not be legislating morality.
Frances Preston asked to be recognized. She explained that at first she was
excited about the potential revenue. But since then, five different people
from the Imperial Triangle have come forward and told her of their
experiences since it became legal. It has brought unsavory people and
families strung out on pot. She asked Kevin and/or Jonathon to speak on
that matter. Jonathon thinks there is not enough “draw” to bring people here
to purchase it when they can get it closer to where they already are. He
doesn't think the atmosphere is going to change much as people who would
smoke pot already do.
Mayor Hamsher again reiterated that the Council needs to take into
consideration what the will of the voters is. There was a total of 67 people

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at the Town Hall mtg. We have 47 completed surveys, or letters from people
in Prairie City. There were 30 surveys at the Town Hall mtg. Everyone of
them was returned and the others were picked up from City Hall and
returned.The availability of the surveys wasadvertised on the radio, in
the newspaper, on our website, and on the City's billing statements. He
stated that we gave people ample opportunity to speak. He did see a few
younger people at the Town hall mtg. that were in favor of having a store in
town. And some of those same people have showed up at the Council
meetings. Whether or not we had the meeting at the Senior Center or the
park, people who were motivated showed up. He reminded the Councilors
that it is their job to do what the will of the voters is, and asked for a
motion to opt-out. He reminded the Councilors of the time constraints
making it essential to vote on it tonight.
MSP: To opt-Out. Councilor Garrison / Councilor Miller. Mayor; yes,
Garrison; yes, Miller; yes, Church; no, Goslin; no, Rose; no,
Patterson; yes. Motion passed.

Mayor Hamsher set the Opt-out Ordinance workshop for the 28th of
October.

School Superintendent asked to be recognized. Julie Gruczynski thanked
the City workers for their help getting the track field ready for the school
year.

Submitted by:

 ___________________________
Taci Philbrook, City Recorder

                                               Approved by the City Council this_____
                                               day of ______________, 2015 and
                                               signed by the Mayor:

                                                _____________________________________
                                                Jim Hamsher, Mayor