Anne Scarffe, Central City. The Central City Council met remotely on November 3, 2020, at 7 p.m. with all Council members in attendance.

Though Mayor Jeremy Fey was not in agreement with the Council, after the second reading of the ordinance, the Council approved an ordinance clarifying concerns with special event noise, clean-up, fees and road closures. The Council also approved an ordinance concerning fees for special events applications and cleanup deposits. 

Mayor Pro-Tem Judy Laratta said, “I hope that we have a lot of events and make lots of money.”   

The Council approved an ordinance extending the City’s Local Emergency Disaster Declaration until November 18, 2020. 

During a work session before the regular meeting, and again during the public meeting, the Council discussed City Hall department staff availability since the schedule change of Monday through Thursday began on May 29, 2020. No complaints have been received to date about any residents being inconvenienced by the scheduling, but Mayor Fey suggested that the voicemail that is in place can help most take care of their concerns in a timely fashion. Emergency services, including public works, are available 24/ 7.

Alderman Jackie Johnson mentioned she will be one of the speakers at the free Clear Creek Economic Development classes starting November 11, 2020, at 5:30 p.m. in which small business assistance resources will be discussed. Gilpin County has been added to this to help with things like utility bills.

Alderman Jack Hidahl wanted to make sure that the Central City Opera property improvements were positively mentioned.

Joe Behm of the Central City Business Improvement District (CCBID) asked about the possible increases in speed limit in two locations on the Central City Parkway that two studies have shown as being safely possible. CCBID has offered to pay for new signage. 

City Manager Dan Miera said that this discussion started back in 2004, and suggested paying for new signs and getting an engineer to agree with the project.

At the end of this meeting, Mayor Jeremy Fey congratulated the newly elected Council members Jeff Aiken and Kara Tinucci from today’s vote. 

(Originally published in the November 12, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)