Kirk C. Watkins, Jamestown. On August 3, 2020, the town of Jamestown held its monthly board meeting.

In attendance at the meeting were elected town of Jamestown Trustees Joe Brancato, Allan Mueller, Courtenay Bedell, Heather Yahnke, Michael Box, Roger Loving. Also attending were Mayor Tara Schoedinger, Town Clerk Kristi Rutledge, former mayor Ken Lenarcic, and Jessica Olson, the Executive Director of the Left Hand Watershed Center in Boulder.

The agenda was approved, with an amendment to approve last month’s meeting minutes at the next month’s meeting in order to allow time for guest presentations.

The first topic was an update from Jessica Olson concerning the proposed MOU, Memorandum of Understanding, with the Forest Service and the surrounding agencies. Olson requested the Board to sign the MOU with the Forest Service and Boulder County to be part of the Left Hand Watershed Initiative, which was approved.

Next, Jim Hinkle gave a summary of the 2019 independent audit conducted by his company, Hinkle and Company, PC, located in Greenwood Village CO. Due to the amount of funds received for the flood recovery, the town is required by the State to have an independent audit.

Announcements were made following these presentations. According to town meeting protocols:

OPEN FORUM:

Anyone may speak for five minutes or less on any subject. No vote may be taken during the open forum. If the issue(s) are worthy of resolution, they may be added to the agenda of a future meeting. If a resident desires an immediate formal action by the Board, they may put their issue in writing, in an email, or written note and ask that it be placed on the agenda prior to close of business on the Thursday before the regular board meeting.

In person reports were given by the Town Clerk / Treasurer, Kristi Rutledge, Floodplain Administrator Mark Williams, Water System Operations Jon Ashton and Roger Loving, a James Creek Watershed Initiative update from Colleen and Mark Williams, and finally from the Land Use and Housing Committee (LUHAC) Barb Lenarcic.

Next was a discussion to approve the 2019 audit results, followed by a discussion to approve ordinance 08-04, 2020, which is an Ordinance involving updating the Rules and Regulations for the town cemetery. This was followed by a proposal to adopt Resolution 08-23, 2020, which would adopt an Interim Policy for Managing Best Practices relating to the spread of the Coronavirus within the Town of Jamestown. Finally, a discussion was held regarding ideas for the 2021 Sustainability Grant, overseen by Ken Lenarcic.

Next on the agenda were the Board Committee Reports. 

The following board committees submitted reports: The Water Committee report was ITEM D4. Ken requested a brief discussion with the board about possible projects for the 2021 Sustainability Grant, Streets and Bridges was reported by Allan Mueller, and supported by new member of the committee, Courtenay Bedell. A report including updates on Elysian Park and the Town Square was reported on by Michael Box, followed by an update on the town cemetery by Heather Yahnke.

Joe Brancato reported on the community garden, followed by a report by Heather Yahnke on Town Hall maintenance. This was concluded with a report by Roger Loving and Ken Lenarcic concerning the Lefthand Watershed Center.

BOARD ACTION ITEMS:

ITEM D1. Jim Hinkle is with Hinkle and Company. They performed the audit for the Town and Recovery accounts for 2019. He will give a brief overview of their report. The Board will need to approve it, subject to any changes.

ITEM D2. Proposed updates to the Cemetery Ordinance for the Town.

ITEM D3. This is a resolution to document Jamestown’s concern about the COVID19 pandemic and list some actions that we can take to better protect our community. It formalizes a process for documenting and tracking changes in the Public Health Orders (PHO) and provides guidance for creating and managing activities to allow Jamestown residents to make informed decisions about their personal safety. The resolution also encourages the Board to take steps to adjust community safety standards as guidance for dealing with the pandemic changes. It specifically states that there are to be no punitive actions and no penalties. If adopted, this resolution would become a framework to help the town develop an adaptive and flexible COVID19 policy.

ITEM D4. Ken requested a brief discussion with the board about possible projects for the 2021 Sustainability Grant.

Meetings are generally on the first Monday of the month at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall. If you have an item, concern or issue, please put it in writing to be placed on the Agenda. All agenda items are due to the Town Clerk the Wednesday prior to the meeting.

(Originally published in the August 20, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)