HomeMy WebLinkAboutStudy Session Notes 12-7-201
STUDY SESSION NOTES CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE, COLORADO Virtual Meeting
December 7, 2020
Mayor Bud Starker called the Study Session to order at 6:30 p.m.
This meeting was conducted as a VIRTUAL MEETING.
No members of the Council or City staff were physically present at the Municipal
building for this meeting; the public did not attend in person.
Mayor Starker welcomed the Council, other elected officials, staff and interested
citizens.
The Mayor also explained the virtual meeting format, how citizens will have the
opportunity to be heard, and the procedures and policies to be followed.
Council members present: Amanda Weaver, Judy Hutchinson, Zach Urban, Rachel
Hultin, Korey Stites, Janeece Hoppe, Leah Dozeman, Valerie Nosler Beck.
Also present: City Attorney Jerry Dahl; City Clerk, Steve Kirkpatrick; City Manager
Patrick Goff; Community Development Director, Ken Johnstone; Director of Public
Works, Greg Knudson; Mark Westburg, Senior Planner; Sara Spaulding, PIO; Assistant
to the City Manager, Marianne Schilling; Russ Higgins, Construction Manager,
Associate Professor in the School of Education at Metropolitan State University of
Denver, Dr. Rosemarie Allen; Kevin Kullman, Kate Binning and Stephen McQuilkin,
from AECOM, and other guests and interested citizens.
Citizen Comment on Agenda Items –
No one came forward to comment.
Note about Wheat Ridge Speaks:
Citizens may visit the Wheat Ridge Speaks website and enter written comments
of up to 1,000 words on any Council agenda item. The deadline for citizens to
submit comments is 12:00 Noon Mountain Time on the day of a Council session
so that Council members, other elected officials and City Staff have time to
review the comments before the meeting on Monday evening.
The City Clerk’s Office transcribes those Wheat Ridge Speaks comments into
these minutes, placing each comment along with the record for that agenda item,
including items that include a public hearing (verbatim, if the comments do not
contain lascivious language or unlawful hate speech).
No comments appeared in Wheat Ridge Speaks for this Council session.
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1. City Council Equity and Implicit Bias Training
Discussion began at 6:01 pm, approximately 0:06 minutes into the recording of the
session.
Issue
During the September 21 study session, City Council provided consensus to move
forward with the following action items that were brought to Council in June 2020 by
Wheat Ridge for Equity:
1. Frequent and ongoing equity and bias training for city staff and elected officials in
order to understand and recognize patterns of thinking that perpetuate
discrimination and mitigate personal biases.
2. Creation of an Equity Task Force by the City Council to include people
marginalized by oppression, such as people who are Black, Indigenous, and
People of Color, LGBTQ, immigrants, differently abled, people of non-Christian
faiths, young people, and elders in our community. Membership of this Task
Force must represent diverse and multiple perspectives so as not to deny or
minimize our neighbors’ lived experiences.
3. The Equity Task Force will carry out a thorough review of City policies, services,
and ordinances, as well as inequities in community systems and departments
and report recommendations, including ways in which success will be measured
toward becoming a more inclusive and responsive community.
Staff reports
Mr. Goff introduced Ms. Schilling who spoke on this item, and introduced Dr. Rosemarie
Allen, currently an Associate Professor in the School of Education at Metropolitan State
University of Denver, who facilitated the training.
Key topics of the training included implicit biases, microaggressions and systemic
racism.
Councilmembers had questions and comments:
Councilmembers and the Mayor thanked Dr. Allen for her presentation and her ongoing
work.
(Dr. Allen’s presentation is available to the public in the recording of this Council
session.)
2. Wadsworth construction management
Discussion began at 8:15 pm, approximately 1:45 hours into the recording of the
session.
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Issue
Staff provided City Council with an update on the Improve Wadsworth Project on
September 21, 2020 including final estimated projects costs, construction phasing and
status of right-of-way acquisitions. On October 12, 2020, City Council approved
resolutions authorizing the use of eminent domain to acquire necessary rights-of-way
and approving an amendment to the contract with the Colorado Department of
Transportation (CDOT) to administer the federal funding for the Project.
Councilmembers Urban and Hoppe requested that staff provide an update at a future
study session on CDOT’s role in construction management.
Staff reports
Public Works Director Greg Knudson gave some brief background on Wadsworth
Boulevard, State Highway 121, which links the City of Wheat Ridge to the neighboring
cities of Arvada and Lakewood. The Denver Regional Council of Governments
(DRCOG) designates Wadsworth a major regional arterial and a future enhanced transit
corridor.
The City, in cooperation with CDOT, has explored the future of the Wadsworth corridor
in numerous plans, including the Wadsworth Corridor Subarea Plan (2007), Envision
Wheat Ridge Comprehensive Plan (2009), the Wadsworth Planning and Environmental
Linkages (PEL) Study (2015) and the Wadsworth Boulevard Widening Project
Environmental Assessment (2019).
Although Wadsworth is designated a state highway and maintained by CDOT, this
project is considered a local agency sponsored project which has been and will continue
to be managed by the City and its consultant partners.
Additional construction management and project oversight will be in partnership with
AECOM, the current construction management company for the City’s 2E projects.
AECOM is the world’s premier infrastructure firm, delivering professional services
throughout the lifecycle of projects with a diverse group of professional planners,
designers, engineers, consultants and construction managers.
Mr. Stephen McQuilken and Mr. Kevin Kullman presented AECOM’s construction
management qualifications along with the anticipated scope of work for the Improve
Wadsworth Project.
Councilmembers had questions and comments:
Council asked detailed questions about coordination with utilities on the project.
Staff and guests gave answers to the Council’s questions.
The Mayor and Council also asked about the scheduling and keeping things on track
with DRCOG.
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3.Staff Report(s)
Discussion began at 9:02 pm, approximately 2:32 hours into the session.
Nothing new from staff this evening.
4.Elected Officials’ Report(s)
Councilmember Hultin thanked staff for their quick turn around on the third phase of the
Business Revitalization Program.
Councilmember Hutchinson remembered that today Pearl Harbor Day.
Councilmember Weaver thanked District II for their hospitality with her goats and
explained that the herd is in safekeeping.
Councilmember Urban updated Council on the applications for the Business
Stabilization Program.
City Treasurer Miller discussed the sales tax deferment program ongoing for Wheat
Ridge businesses.
Mayor Starker thanked staff for their preparation and participation. Saturday, December
13 at 9 AM is the next Coffee with the Mayor. He also thanked Dr. Allen.
The Mayor reminded all to wear a mask, watch social distancing and wash our hands.
ADJOURNMENT
The Study Session adjourned at 9:06 pm.
APPROVED BY CITY COUNCIL ON December 14, 2020.
Steve Kirkpatrick, City Clerk
Janeece Hoppe, Mayor Pro Tem