Kirk C. Watkins, Jamestown. The Jamestown Board of Trustees (BOT) held their monthly meeting on Monday, January 4, 2021. The meeting was convened at 7:03 p.m. and was called to order by Mayor Tara Schoedinger. The current agenda was approved by the board, and the minutes from the December 14th and 21st meetings were approved. 

Schoedinger announced that January is National Radon Action Month in Colorado. Radon is a colorless, odorless gas that is the nation’s eighth leading cause of cancer mortality. The Colorado Rocky Mountain region is a “zone 1” area, with the highest level of naturally occurring Radon possible, and that most of Colorado is above the EPA recommended standards. It is recommended to get homes tested regularly and for new homes to be built using Radon resistant methods. 

Ken Lenarcic shared updates from Boulder County Public Health (BCPH) regarding COVID-19. On the date of the meeting the county was downgraded from level red to level orange. Lenarcic presented a video created by BCPH which gave updates for Boulder County. It showed a statistical timeline of Covid-19 cases in the county and the area’s most affected by age, location, and ethnicity. It included statistics for hospitalization numbers, as well as travel trends. Overall, the trends are positive, and county wide compliance has led to decreasing infection numbers, to include social distancing, masking, and testing, as well as installing the Exposure Notification App on people’s cell phones at www.addyourphone.com. 

Board Action Items

C-1: Discussion and Approval to consult with the Town Attorney about a suggested Ordinance to remove criminal penalties and imprisonment language from Growth and Development Ordinances and other applicable Ordinances.

Questions were submitted to the Colorado Municipal League (CML) which were approved for the language updates. Barb Lenarcic is reviewing other local ordinances to find models for our modified ordinances but has not found appropriate ones, so she recommended consulting with the town attorney to help compose proprietary ordinances.

Schoedinger confirmed that was the original solution and added that all ordinances needed to be updated, as they have not been thoroughly reviewed in decades. An interim ordinance will be written to address the language that will be removed from all town ordinances. 

C-2: Selection and approval of the Official Posting Place for Town Business per Colorado Open Meetings Act.

Kristi Rutledge, Jamestown Town Clerk, stated that the town hall had been the posting spot before Covid-19, but town information was now sent to residents by email blasts. Posting pertinent information at the town hall and including links to the BOT Zoom meetings was recommended. A motion was passed to post town business on the window of the town hall. 

Board Committee Reports 

The Land Use and Housing Advisory Committee (LUHAC) summarized its earlier presentation on consulting with the town attorney to replace old criminal and imprisonment language. Drafting “Good Neighbor” guidelines was approved at the December 14, 2020, BOT meeting. Those guidelines were sent to Jamestown residents after the December 21, 2020, meeting. LUHAC will continue researching short term rental regulations in local municipalities.

The Water Operations and Water Committee reported that the water operation report was still in work. Mayor Schoedinger requested that the report be prepared monthly. 

Jamestown Volunteer Fire & EMS reported that training for that month had been cancelled. 

Jamestown Wildfire Safety reported that a wildland firefighter’s safety group would be meeting in the next month. Seth Strickland will be taking the open seat.

The Cemetery Committee is compiling lists of who is buried in the cemetery. A list will be uploaded to the town website when complete.

The Garden Committee reported that a meeting would take place with membership to discuss uses for residual grant money.

Town Hall Maintenance reported that the town hall is being prepared for possible reopening for town staff. Mice removal continues. Business hours will be emailed to the community.

Lefthand Watershed Center reported that Colleen Williams received the “Water Steward Award” for 2020, for her work on the James Creek watershed. Work will be done around town by state workers, possibly in burn areas by Balarat, and by the upper Fairday A.M. Mine outside of the Bar-K. The meeting was adjourned at 8 p.m. 

The next Jamestown BOT meeting will be on February 1, 2021, at 7 p.m.

(Originally published in the January 14, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)