Alexander Joseph, Central City. The regular meeting of the City of Central Council began at 6 p.m. on December 15, 2020. In attendance were Mayor Jeremy Fey, Mayor Pro-Tem Judy Laratta and council members Jeff Aiken, Jackie Johnson and Jack Hidahl. The Pledge of Allegiance was said. There were no additional agenda items nor conflict of interest with listed agenda items. The consent agenda, consisting of Regular Bill lists through December 1; City Council minutes for December 1, 2020; and City Manager Employment Agreement (Fifth Addendum), passed unanimously. During the public forum, there were no comments. The council then moved onto agenda items. 

The first agenda item was the Central City Opera Annual Report which was detailed by Scott Dessens, CFO and Eric Chinn, Director of Historic Properties. This presentation detailed the expenditure of the Central City Opera and other historical investments, a presentation to which the city council described their joy at the amount of visible growth and commitment to recouping the old historical buildings of the area. 

Next on the agenda was the Gilpin Arts Annual Report given by President Eric Miller, part of which involved Mr. Miller giving thanks to the community for their support of this foundation and describing the successes in fundraising and a juried art show. 

The next agenda item was Gilpin History Annual Report given by Deb Wray, which involved detailing how this has been a difficult year for the historical society and the inability to give tours due to Covid-19. 

The next item on the agenda was a presentation on the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests Emergency Protocol Programmatic Agreement - Historic Preservation detailed by Lindsey Flewelling. This programmatic agreement details how declared emergencies in cases like wildfires or floods, would affect Central City and its historic resources. While the Mayor will have to sign off on this eventually, this presentation was merely informational, and the signing will come later. 

The council then moved onto the resolutions, the first of which was Resolution No. 20-48:  A resolution of the City Council of the City of Central, Colorado supporting economic development efforts in Gilpin County. Tracy Philips, Program director of C-Pace, which is designed to help finance improvement projects (including renewable energy) investments in non-residential buildings throughout Colorado. This resolution was carried unanimously. 

The council then moved on to Resolution No. 20-49:  A resolution approving an extension of the Services Agreement with One Way, Inc. for residential trash disposal services. This resolution was carried unanimously. 

The next resolution was Resolution No. 20-50: A resolution approving an agreement for Professional Services with Charles Abbott Associates, Inc. for building plan review and inspection services. This resolution was passed unanimously. 

The next resolution was Resolution No. 20-51: A resolution approving a continued Professional Service Agreement with Complete Business Systems of Colorado, Inc. for information technology services. This resolution was passed unanimously. 

The next resolution was Resolution No. 20-52: A resolution of the City Council of the City of Central, Colorado approving the form of operation, maintenance, and repair easement agreement in extraordinary circumstances along the Central City Parkway and authorizing the mayor to execute the agreements on behalf of the City, which also passed unanimously. 

The council then moved into discussion of Resolution No. 20-53: A resolution approving the form of trails and boundary fencing agreement and authorizing the mayor to execute the agreements on behalf of the City. This resolution passed unanimously. 

The penultimate resolution which is Resolution No. 20-54: A resolution approving extensions of engineering-related Professional Services Agreements (Deere & Ault Consultants, Inc., C&L Water Solutions, Inc., and W2 Engineers, LLC). This resolution was passed unanimously. 

The final resolution on the agenda was Resolution No. 20-55: A resolution extending the City of Central’s Local Emergency Disaster Declaration until January 5, 2020, noting that as of today there are 105 Covid-19 cases in Gilpin County and one related death, which merits the need for this Resolution. 

It was asked when there would vaccinations available, as Colorado was allotted 46,000 vaccinations, to which Sheriff Armstrong described that in a recent meeting he heard from Colorado State Logistics people that first responders could be receiving the vaccines at the earliest in February and that perhaps vaccinations wouldn’t be available for citizens until June. The emergency declaration extension was passed unanimously. 

The staff then moved onto the Second Reading and Public Hearing for Ordinance No. 20-13: An ordinance of the City Council of the City of Central, Colorado repealing and reenacting Article III of Chapter 4 of the City of Central Municipal Code (“Sales and Use Tax”) and amending other sections of the City of Central Municipal Code consistent with the new regulations. This ordinance, after much discussion passed unanimously. 

The second radiance up for second reading and Public Hearing was Ordinance No. 20-14: An ordinance of the City Council of the City of Central, Colorado amending Chapter One of the City of Central Municipal Code by adding a new Article VIII regarding limited gaming to implement the statewide and local voter approval of Amendment 77. This Ordinance passed unanimously. 

During the staff reports there was an update on the funeral and memorial for Cody and Shelby Allen held at Flatirons Community Church in Golden on December 18th. The county will provide two large screens, by the Gilpin County Fairgrounds, which will live stream the funeral. More detailed information will be posted on the Central City Website. There will be a funeral procession after the funeral and some of the details about road closures were detailed. It was then described that Xcel has committed to donating 250 carbon monoxide detectors to the City of Central with potentially more for the county to come. 

Each of the council members shared wishes for light and love during this dark time and shared their condolences for the families affected by the recent local tragedy. 

The meeting was adjourned at 9:19 p.m. The next Council meeting is Tuesday, January 5, 2021. 

(Originally published in the December 24, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)