MEEKER | Meeker’s Board of Trustees approved a resolution opposing Proposition HH on Tuesday. The resolution states, in part, “…the Town of Meeker relies on property tax revenue to provide street maintenance, snow plowing, infrastructure improvements, police protection, and code enforcement. Fire, ambulance, health, and other critical services in Meeker are also provided by property tax collecting revenues.” And, “…the long-term fiscal impact and complexity of Proposition HH on the Town of Meeker and other local governments that serve our community is unclear and will cause uncertainty in our budgeting process as well as impose unnecessary administrative burdens on the tax collecting entities within the Town of Meeker.”
During public participation, Regas Halandras shared the recap of the 2023 Meeker Classic. “We had a pretty busy year,” Halandras said. “By all counts we had over 10,000 people this year.” According to the recap, the direct economic impact to the community is conservatively estimated at $1.3M.
In staff reports, Police Chief Thompson said his department had 226 calls for service in September, including two trips to the Moffat County Detention Center and 10 citations.
Town Clerk Lisa Cook reviewed the Town’s third quarter financial report, noting that “every department is under budget,” and that sales and use tax is up, along with an increase in interest revenue and water tap fees. The Town does not expect to use budgeted reserves to balance the general fund, but will need to access budgeted reserves to balance the water fund.
Town Planner Carly Thomson shared a report on real estate transactions indicating the total volume of sales was $1,424,000 in July 2023, $1,342,500 in August, and $3,944,500 in August.
Carly – planning update. Thomson said she’s been working on a “large application” that will come before the Board in a public hearing on Nov. 7, 2023.
Three bids were received for the Circle Park Riverfront Project, one from Craig and two from the same firm in Basalt. Staff will review the bids for a recommendation to the board.
At the last meeting, trustees opened 10 bids for the downtown streetling project. After review, and discussion, the board agreed to request two sample lights from two of the bidders to compare the quality of the lighting before making a final decision.
The project will replace the globe fixtures on the downtown streetlights with Dark Sky compliant, LED fixtures, thanks to a $150K Colorado Department of Transportation grant with a required $16K match.
Town Administrator Mandi Etheridge told trustees participating entities met regarding the Ride the Rockies event set for June 11, 2024, that will bring up to 1,500 bicyclers into Meeker for one night. Logistics are being discussed.
The bulk of Tuesday’s meeting was a discussion about public safety and public parking on Seventh Street. At an earlier meeting, Trustee Travis Day suggested that the Town needed to identify additional reserved parking on Seventh Street for fire and EMS volunteers. Parking pressure on the block between Market and Main streets has increased with the opening of Caroline’s Louisiana Kitchen across the street from the fire department, presenting concerns about distance, safety and time for fire and EMS volunteers responding to emergency calls. After lengthy discourse between trustees, property owners, and members of the fire department trustees approved a compromise to reserve all of the parking spaces on the east side of the block for the fire department, to be marked with no parking signs and painting the curb red.
