Alexander Joseph, Central City. The regular meeting of the City of Central Council began at 7:01 p.m. January 5, 2021. Roll call was taken and in attendance were Mayor Jeremy Fey, Mayor Pro-Tem Judy Laratta and council members Jeff Aiken, Jackie Johnson, Jack Hidahl as well as Alderwoman elect Kara Tinucci. The council immediately moved onto conducting the oath of office for both the newly elected Alderwoman Tinucci as well as the reelected Alderman Jeff Aiken. After some technical difficulties, the Pledge of Allegiance was said and the floor was opened for amendments/additions to the agenda. 

Next, the consent agenda, consisting of Regular Bill lists through December 22 and City Council minutes: December 15, 2020, was passed unanimously. During the Public Forum, Joe Behm congratulated the councilmembers on their peaceful transition of power and commended them on their hard work and taking on responsibility. 

The council then moved onto the first agenda item which was Annual Appointments, the first of which was the appointment of Mayor Pro-Tem to Judy Laratta again, which was passed unanimously. The Weekly Register Call was then confirmed as the Legal Publication for 2021. 

The council then moved on to electing the DRCOG Representative, which Alderwoman Tinucci was approved to take on. Alderman Aiken was chosen as The Gilpin Ambulance Authority Representative and Daniel Miera was chosen as the alternate. Alderwoman Jackie Johnson volunteered to be the I-70 Coalition Representative and Daniel Miera was chosen as the alternate. 

Finally, the council moved to the Local Emergency Planning Committee, A committee to which Mayor Pro-Tem Laratta remained as the representative with Alderwoman Johnson as the alternate. 

The next action item was the Historic Preservation Commission Appointments, and those appointed included Alex Thome, Ernie Van Deuchen, and Casey Saltness. 

The next action item was the Planning Commission Appointments, appointments which went to Barbara Thielemann, Dena Hunter, and Michele Roussel. 

The council then moved onto the discussion of a 5 Star State Certification Program which would allow five starred businesses to continue operating during restricted times based on past performance. This program increased the safety measures that businesses would be taking, while at the same time enabling staff of these businesses to continue to be able to work. The Council then moved to signify support and this movement passed unanimously. 

The next agenda action item was Resolution No. 21-01, A resolution designating the public place for posting of notices of regular and special meetings of local public bodies of the City, this public place being the council website as well as the local offices and post offices. This Resolution passed unanimously. 

Next, was Resolution No. 21-02:  A resolution of the City Council of the City of Central, Colorado supporting the City’s Certified Local Government (CLG) Subgrant Application for an intensive-level survey of a residential neighborhood and supporting the completion of said project upon award of the CLG Subgrant. This resolution was passed unanimously. 

The next item on the agenda was Resolution No. 21-03: A resolution awarding a Professional Services Agreement to IMEG Corp. for on-call engineering services. This resolution was carried unanimously. 

The council passed Resolution No. 21-04: A resolution extending the City of Central’s Local Emergency Disaster Declaration, a declaration which was amended to last until time to the July 7, 2021. 

Finally, in regard to, the action items, the council heard the first reading of Ordinance No. 21-01: An ordinance of the City Council of the City of Central, Colorado, vacating portions of the Central City Parkway. The ordinance was approved unanimously. 

The council then moved to staff updates, at the beginning of which Daniel Miera detailed that Gilpin County has completed phase 1a of the vaccination rollout plan and is moving onto phase 1b, which includes first responders, front line workers, those over seventy as well as other high risk groups. There is a phone number to call located on the website of the county which can register you for vaccinations. 

Miera also detailed the ongoing rollout, in partnership with Xcel Energy, of carbon monoxide detectors to be given out to the community in response to the recent local tragedy. 

The Council Comments followed the staff updates and there was nothing of note shared during this time. There were no comments during the public forum. 

The meeting adjourned at 9:04 p.m.

The next City of Central Council meeting is January 19, 2021. 

(Originally published in the January 7, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)