HomeMy WebLinkAboutStudy Session Notes 06/06/2011
STUDY SESSION NOTES CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE, COLORADO Council Chambers 7500 W. 29th Ave. June 6,2011 Mayor DiTullio called the Study Session to order at 6:35 p.m. Council Members present:
Davis Reinhart, Karen Adams, Tracy Langworthy, Wanda Sang, Mike Stites, and Joyce Jay. Also present: Deputy City Clerk, Bruce Roome; City Manager, Patrick Goff; Administrative Services
Director, Heather Geyer; Community Development Director, Kenneth Johnstone; Information Technology Manager, Michael Steinke; Gerald Dahl, City Attorney; Staff and interested citizens.
Council Members Berry and DeMott were absent. APPROVAL OF AGENDA .L Staff Report(s) Mr. Dahl informed the Council the appointment of the municipal judge is a two year contract which
has come due. For the June 13th Council meeting Mr. Dahl will provide a Council Action Form that renews the contract for Judge Randall which reflects requested changes per Mr. Randall's
memo. The main request is an increase of $87.00/hr to $99.00/hr. The Judge's last increase was in 2007. Mr. Goff has directed staff to put together a brief salary survey of other Municipal
Judges that will accompany the action form. Council requested Judge Randall be in attendance at the June 13th meeting to answer questions. 2.. Presentation from Golden Sustainability
Coordinator Theresa Worsham, the-City of Golden's Sustainability Coordinator, provided a presentation on Golden's process for creating their sustainability program. Handouts were provided
and amended to this packet. .1. Discussion of Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Jefferson County for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. Mr. Johnstone stated that Jefferson
County is currently in the process of requalifying for entitlement status as an Urban County. This status entitles them and participating jurisdictions to receive Community Development
Block Grant (CDBG) and Home Investment Partnership Program (HOME) funds from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the next three fiscal years, including September
1, 1, 2011 to August 31, 2013. In order for Jefferson
County to expend any of these funds they are required to have a cooperation agreement in place with the jurisdictions that wish to participate. Jefferson County is now asking if the
City of Wheat Ridge wishes to continue to participate as part of the program through the year 2013. Staff is recommending the City continue its participation in the program. The IGA
has been forwarded to the City Attorney for review and comment and any City Attorney comments will be addressed prior to any consideration for final execution of the agreement. Council
unanimously agreed to consider approval of a Resolution for the IGA at the June 13, 2011 Council meeting. 4. Discussion of Lutheran Medical Center use tax agreement Mayor DiTullio gave
a brief history of the agreement which the City of Wheat Ridge and Exempla, Inc. entered into on January 1, 2002. The agreement provides for a Sales and Use Tax exemption on all purchases,
use and consumption of medical supplies and medical equipment provided that Exempla makes ongoing payments to the City relating to the mutual services provided by and between the City
and Exempla. Since 2002, Lutheran has built a large addition which has increased their services and number of beds. This most likely has increased the need for City services such as
roads, police, etc. Mr. DiTullio suggested it might be in the City's best interest to decide if the contract should be renegotiated to reflect the increased costs to the City. Council
was unanimous in support of staff analyzing the potential cost increases to consider if the City should attempt to renegotiate the contract. Results will be presented and discussed at
a future study session. 5. Discussion of Laserfiche online process Mr. Goff discussed that the City uses Laserfiche to permanently store all city documents. The Laserfiche system is
web based which makes these records searchable through the internet. Some of these documents, such as building permit applications, can contain personal information that can easily be
accessed through internet searches. A recent building department customer was concerned in finding his personal information was easily accessed on building permit documents in Laserfiche
through a Google search . While all of this information is available per the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA), Council discussed if it is in the City's best interest to have it so readily
available for anyone to find. Council discussed options such as (1) remove the records from the internet and make the requestor come to the City of Wheat Ridge offices to get the records;
(2) leave the information on-line but redact the private information. However, per CORA there is a limited amount as to what information can be redacted; (3) decide on a list of possible
documents that should and shouldn't be accessed via the City website.
Council was unanimously agreed for staff to research option #3 and present the results at a future study session. Meeting adjourned at 8: 12 PM. Bruce Roome Deputy City Clerk