MEEKER | On Aug. 5, the Meeker Town Board held a regular meeting at Town Hall. Trustees Jessica Browning, Jeff Madison, Amanda Smith and Christopher Lockwood attended the meeting. Trustee Kathleen Sizemore was upriver and unable to attend due to the fire, while Trustee Charles Day was off fighting the fires.
Mayor Pro Tem Christopher Lockwood ran the meeting in Mayor Travis Day’s absence, as Day was attending a fire debriefing meeting. The board started the meeting by approving the agenda with no changes. They then moved to approve the previous meeting minutes, with some changes requested.
Trustee Jeff Madison noted a couple of changes to the previous meeting minutes. First, during public participation, he pointed out that Sept. 22 is Founders Day. Next, in the regular meeting section, the third sentence of the second paragraph refers to a police department officer. Madison explained that the officer had received compliments from the district attorney and believed it appropriate to name the officer.
The officer receiving compliments was Officer Wylie Hetzel.
In the last paragraph on the same page, the third sentence from the bottom says, “town funding by opening the account with CSLIP,” and mentions “my thinking.” Madison wanted to clarify who “my” referred to.
Town Administrator Mandi Etheridge clarified that the minutes were prepared by Lisa Cook and that the “my” statement was from her, offering to alter the language.
Madison said, “I think we should just identify that.”
He then pointed out a grammatical issue in the last paragraph. After reading it, he said, “So engineer Hale is out until the first of August, and we should have this information by then. Also, I have not heard that from the energy audit yet. Who is ‘I’?”
Etheridge confirmed the “I” was her and offered to rephrase the sentence to make it clearer.
After the changes, the board approved the minutes from the last meeting.Next, they approved the monthly disbursements. Town Administrator Mandi Etheridge highlighted some items.
She noted a new pay application, number 35, on the third page under the water fund — pay application number four for the Garfield Street water line to CRC, covering work done in July. Etheridge said the project maintains a 10 percent retainage and that the final payment, currently advertised, is scheduled for Aug. 19. At that time, the final retainage will be considered and the project potentially declared complete.
Line item 42 refers to the UNCC line in the water fund and water line. Etheridge explained that the town pays an umbrella company for utility locates and that these represent all utilities located and requests handled in July.
After the information was presented, the board approved the monthly disbursements.
During public participation, Annie Long spoke to the board about concerns related to the water load-out facility. She said the load-out is nice but has made her home unreasonable, especially her bedroom.
“I sleep on the couch, especially in the winter when they’re down there banging on their tanks,” Long said. “It happens from 11:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. They don’t turn off their headlights, they don’t turn off their engines. It’s horrible.”
She suggested not keeping the load-out open 24 hours a day, recommending a 10 p.m. closure and the adoption of a noise ordinance.
Lockwood responded, “People work different shifts. I’m sure they wonder why they’re there also.”
Long’s other concern was traffic between Second and Third streets on Water Street, describing it as “ridiculous except during the lunch hour.”
She suggested closing the street below the alley to allow Wendll’s parking and closing it on Water Street. Trustee Amanda Smith asked if any input had been given regarding a noise ordinance at the water load-out. Etheridge said the town does not have a noise ordinance specific to the load-out and follows the regular noise ordinance, which covers construction noise from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“As far as a barrier, I think there’s been a few things tried because of previous issues with people driving across Annie’s property off the water load-out,” Etheridge said.
After public participation, the board appointed a new Planning Commission member. Candidates Michael Selle, Jan Zuber, and Lukas Trout. After hearing from all three candidates and asking them questions, the Board of Trustees appointed Jan Zuber to become a planning commissioner member.
Next, Chamber Director Sara Stephenson requested a donation for UpLift Meeker. She explained the goal of bringing two live reindeer, each with a handler, to the Merry Meeker Christmas event. The donation request was for $2,500.
Etheridge presented a budget breakdown, noting, “Currently, we have over $20,000 in our discretionary fund budget. We’ve only spent $4,310, so we have a little over $15,000 still remaining for availability, unless you want to consider it a marketing or economic development expense, in which case we have $10,000 remaining.”
The board approved the $2,500 donation from the discretionary fund.
The board then heard a donation request from Mindy Finley, secretary of the Rio Blanco Golf Association and member of the Love of the Course fundraising committee.
She explained it’s their first annual fundraiser, which began by sending letters to about 200 people asking for donations. As thank yous donors will be served lunch, which will also be provided to golfers in the tournament. Northwest Auto agreed to sponsor a hole-in-one prize — a vehicle — requiring $1,200 insurance coverage. Meeker Fertilizer, Mark and Naomi Etchart, helped cover part of that cost.
Other prizes include a $500 MasterCard and Omaha Steaks for a year. Space will be limited and they plan to do two flights that day about 24 in the morning and fewer in the afternoon — with play ending before sunset.
After hearing this, Mayor Pro Tem Lockwood asked about the golf course’s financial condition.
“This is the love of the course, it makes me wonder how you guys are doing financially,” questioned Lockwood.
Finley replied, “It’s been a struggle, although this year has been really good. We’ve heard compliments repeatedly about the condition of the course and what shape it’s in. Members of Brett Young’s band played golf here over the Fourth of July and said it’s the best they’ve played all year, and they play all over the nation.”
She added that the fundraiser will help upgrade equipment, including mowers, the irrigation system, and kitchen equipment. The tournament is set for Sept. 14, 2025. The board approved a $3,000 donation to the Rio Blanco Golf Association fundraiser.
The board then considered Resolution No. 08-2025 supporting expedited review for affordable housing projects under Proposition 123. Etheridge explained that the resolution is largely dictated by Colorado’s Department of Local Affairs and Division of Local Government and complements Proposition 123, which the town joined two years ago.
“The affordable housing definitions for Prop 123 are all outlined in Colorado Revised Statutes. One of the things they are asking towns to do is adopt a resolution explicitly stating that affordable housing projects will receive expedited review,” she said.
After discussion, the board approved the resolution. Near the meeting’s end, Town Administrator Mandi Etheridge and Mayor Travis Day gave their reports. The board’s next meeting will be Aug. 19, beginning with a joint work session with the Eastern Rio Blanco Metropolitan Recreation and Parks District board at Town Hall at 5:30 p.m.
