MEEKER | Lt. Tom Dietrich and Officer Matt Spangler were sworn in to the Meeker Police Department on Tuesday. Dietrich brings 20 years of law enforcement experience, including with the Colorado State Patrol, and Spangler is returning to the Meeker department after about five years.
Town trustees heard the annual financial audit report from Colorado CPA accountant Marlo Coates. Coates gave the town’s finances a clean bill of health.
Aug. 2, 2022 is officially proclaimed as National Night Out. The community-driven safety and awareness event will be held from 5-8 p.m. at Town Park.
Trustees opted out of a Colorado Opioid Settlement agreement that would have disbursed $720 a year for 18 years to the town. Trustees instead chose to redirect the funds to the regional committee, where the combined funding could be more effective.
Trustee and Mayor Pro Tem Travis Day presented the board with a proposal to install 12 different types of water measuring devices at Circle Park to bue used for training and educational purposes.
“This is kind of Walt Proctor’s brainchild,” Day said, adding that the state is excited about the idea. NRCS, the soil and water conservation districts, and the Colorado River District are all involved. “We haven’t gone to the basin roundtable yet,” Day said. He expects they can get full funding for the project from interested parties.
Day will provide a brief presentation at the coming joint meeting with the recreation district board on Aug. 16.
In other business, trustees approved an agreement with SWCA for the Circle Park Phase 2 project, approved a draft amendment to the Memorandum of Understanding with ERBM for Circle Park Phase 2, and approved a new grant application for the Office of Just Transition Round 1 funding for $220,000. If awarded, the funds would be used as leverage to apply for a larger GOCO (Great Outdoors Colorado) grant to apply to the Circle Park project.
The public works department spent last weekend working on a water leak at the intersection of Fifth and Cleveland, and were hopeful to have those repairs completed soon.
Obsolete and unsupported software at the bulk water loadout will be replaced on Tuesday, Aug. 2. Bulk water will not be available Aug. 2 and 3. Active bulk water customers will need to receive new keys.
Police Chief Ed Thompson said the department had 300 calls for service last month, with four arrests, nine citations, and four trips to the Moffat County Jail.
Town Clerk Lisa Cook gave the second quarter financial report and said “sales and use tax is holding really strong so far this year.”
The board went into executive session for the purpose of “Determining positions relative to matters that may be subject to negotiations; developing strategy for negotiations; and instructing negotiators.”
By NIKI TURNER – editor@editorht1885.com
