John Scarffe, Black Hawk.   The Black Hawk City Council filled its four positions to be vacant in April and canceled the April elections during its regular meeting on Wednesday, February 10, at 3 p.m., at 211 Church Street. The Council also approved a land exchange and sales agreement.

The Council approved a resolution canceling the April 5, 2016, election and declaring candidates for the City Council elected. The City has received the same number of candidate petitions and write-in affidavits as the number of offices to be filled at the April election as of the sixty-third day before the election, according to the request for Council action.

City Attorney Corey Hoffmann said that prior to the 63rd day before an election, the Council has the authority to cancel the election and deem the candidates elected. The four Council members being elected are still serving current terms, Hoffmann said, so they will be sworn in during the first meeting in April.

Candidates deemed elected to four-year terms, according to the resolution, are Mayor David D. Spellman and Aldermen Paul G. Bennett, Gregory D. Moates and Benito Torres.

Before the meeting, Alderman Bennett said he has been serving on the Council for 12 years. “I really enjoy it,” he said. “I learn something every time I sit down here.”

The Council approved an exchange of real estate in Gilpin County between the City and Sandy Hoffman of Central City. Sandy Hoffman and Stephanie Kalafsky will exchange the mine at 497s Orion, 2.78 Acres in Gregory Gulch, with the City’s mine, 321 xL, 5.16 acres in the Russell Gulch Area.

The purchase price for the respective properties will be the exchange of one for the other with closing costs to be split evenly between the City and Hoffman, according to the contract.

City Manager Jack Lewis said the City acquired the land in the Blake transaction, and this trade is a good deal all around. Hoffman said, “You guys are too easy.”

The Council also approved buying real estate from AA&S for $12,400. The description of the lots are S: 6T: 3SR: 72W Subd: GOVT Lots 064 through 070. Lewis said the property is a series of very small claims, and the trail goes by them.

False Fire Fees

In 2015 after reviewing fire alarm response data for 2013 and 2014, the City of Black Hawk Fire Department re-instituted fees for responding to false fire alarms, according to the request for Council action. This was done to recoup expenses derived from responding to these alarms and also to entice the property owner to maintain or upgrade their systems to reduce the number of false alarms received and responded to by the fire department.

An audit of the 2015 data has demonstrated that the 2015 fee schedule has shown no reduction in false fire alarm responses. The fire department requested a modification to the established fee schedule to achieve the above goals, and the Council agreed, canceling the false fire alarm fees.

The next meeting of the Black Hawk City Council will be at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, February 24, 2016, at 211 Church Street.