Bicycle route, employee insurance, eminent domain
By Lynn Volkens
Black Hawk City Council met the afternoon of April 23, 2013. Mayor Spellman and Council members Linda Armbright, Paul Bennett, Diane Cales, Jim Johnson, Greg Moates and Benito Torres were present. They heard the latest on the Brannan Sand & Gravel litigation, added chiropractic care to the employee insurance plan, expanded the municipal complex on Church Street, instituted a new economic stimulus measure and revisited the bicycle-traffic safety issue.
Golden Gates/Golden Gulch Signs
The Aldermen approved an amendment to the Comprehensive Sign Plan for the Golden Gates/ Golden Gulch Casino and their parking garage. The approval included a Certificate of Appropriateness so the casino can relocate two electronic message signs from the Golden Mardi Gras casino to the Golden Gates casino. Previously, the Mardi Gras, Golden Gates and Golden Gulch had been included in one Comprehensive Sign Plan. At their last meeting, the Aldermen had approved dividing that plan so that the Mardi Gras signage was governed by one plan and the Golden Gates/Golden Gulch and parking garage were governed by a separate plan.
Enhanced Sales Tax Incentive Program
The Aldermen revised the Municipal Code to adopt the Enhanced Sales Tax Incentive Program (ESTIP), an economic stimulus measure designed to encourage retail sales tax generating businesses to locate in Black Hawk and, for those already established, to expand. Such businesses, which are likely to generate sales tax revenue of $20,000 or more in their first year of operation, are eligible to apply for ESTIP participation. The Council will review the applications, case by case. With their approval, a business will have a share of the sales tax revenue (up to 100%) provided the funds are used for public or public-related improvements. These improvements include streets, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, pedestrian malls, streetlights, drainage facilities, landscaping, statuaries, fountains, traffic safety devices, identification signs, bicycle paths, off-street parking facilities, benches, off-site sewer lines, lift stations, improvements and relocation of utility lines, and other similar improvements that benefit the economic health of the City. A benefit for the City with this program is that such improvements are made and paid for by private business owners with no debt incurred by Black Hawk. City Attorney, Corey Hoffmann, described the ESTIP as “another tool in the toolbox” for economic stimulus. “This ordinance only authorizes the City, at its discretion, to share back the sales tax. It does not ever require you to do anything at all.” The ordinance does not require the City to treat all applicants the same, Hoffmann further advised. “So it could be only on new hotel rooms,” Mayor Spellman clarified, “and we can set the percentage over the base amount to collect,” he added, “and the timeframe.”
Alternative Bike Route
Bicyclists wanting to ride from Highway 119 to the Central City and the Parkway via Black Hawk (and vice versa) will now have an alternative route that bypasses the City’s commercial area. The Aldermen amended the City’s traffic code, prohibiting bicycles and other non-motorized traffic on Main, Black Hawk and Selak Streets, and on the portion of Gregory Street that is east of the intersection of Gregory and Bobtail Streets. The alternative bikeway routes the cyclists onto Bobtail Street if they are coming down the hill from Central City. They can then connect to Miners Mesa Road, Mill Street and Highway 119.
Bicycle Event Permits
A new Article VII of Chapter 8 of the Municipal Code was added with the Council’s approval. It requires a permit to be applied for at least 15 days prior to a “bicycle event.” The Code defines “bicycle event” as “Any organized bicycle ride, event or activity, whether competitive or recreational, including but not limited to a road race, touring ride, club ride or charity ride, and regardless of the number of bicycles or participants,” as well as “any group of twenty (20) or more persons engaged in a bicycle ride for any purpose.” Provided all of the City’s conditions are met for the event to proceed, the City Clerk will issue a permit. In addition to the cost of the permit, the event sponsors may be liable for the costs of providing peace officers, emergency medical responders, other City personnel, bathroom facilities and other necessary accommodations. The Aldermen are to set the permit price by resolution at a future meeting.
City Manager Spending Authorization
With the Council’s adoption of Resolution 19, the City Manager now has the authority, without seeking Council approval, to manage contingency spending of 10% for the City’s contracted design and/or construction of public improvement projects. Hoffmann said this authorization ends the practice of the City Council automatically approving a contingency amount as part of a project and eliminates the perception contractors may have had of entitlement to that amount.
Employee Health Insurance
Kaiser Permanente is the City’s provider for 2013-2014 employee health insurance. The Aldermen approved Kaiser’s quote to provide services with an annual cost to the City of $693,284-a 6.24% increase ($41,012) over last year’s cost. The new contract includes chiropractic care. The City pays 50% of eligible employees’ HMO deductibles and contributes $125 per month to individual employee Health Savings Accounts. For those who do not participate in the HSA’s, the City deposits the same amount to their 457 Plans.
Ancillary insurance benefits (disability and life insurance) will be provided by Lincoln Financial in 2013-2014 at an annual cost to the City of $74,931. The premiums increased by 11.4% for life insurance benefits and 3% for long-term disability benefits. There was no increase in the rate for short-term disability benefits.
The rates are guaranteed for a period of two years. City Manager Jack Lewis cautioned the Council that the rate increases “compound every year.” He noted that a 6% increase was conservative but that in some prior years increased rates had been in the double digits. “At some point in time, a future Council will have to decide if they want to change it,” he said.
City Manager Report
City Manager Lewis informed the Council that the new fuel storage tanks had been installed at the City’s shop facility and that a potential buyer had been found for the old tanks. The buyer will pay $10,000 for the two tanks, Lewis said, provided the tanks pass a pressure test that shows they are in working order. Consensus of the Council was to sell the tanks.
Attorney’s Update
The oral arguments for the Brannan Sand and Gravel litigation had been heard in the Colorado Court of Appeals on April 17th, Hoffmann told the Council. The Judges asked some hard questions of the Brannan attorney, he said. Black Hawk joined Gilpin County in fighting Brannan’s suit, which goes back to 2008 when Gilpin County denied the quarry operators a special use permit. At issue now is whether Brannan has any standing in the matter, as the landowner they had been working with lost the property in foreclosure. Hoffmann said it would probably be at least a couple of weeks until the Court issues a decision.
Public Comment
Mary Tansey and Lisa Faronia thanked Mayor Spellman for meeting with them and the Council for working with them regarding Tansey’s home at 201 Church Street. In July, 2012, the City had begun action to acquire the home via eminent domain, stating that a private residence at that location was an incompatible use with the municipal complex of public buildings, generator, heavy traffic, etc. Tansey has relocated and the City will proceed with total rehabilitation of the historic home before incorporating it into the municipal complex as offices for the Information Technology Department.
Executive Session
Following the business meeting, the Aldermen met with their attorney in Executive Session to discuss matters relating to potential legislation, potential litigation and legislation regarding employee policy issues. The Council reconvened long enough to set a special meeting for an Executive Session on Wednesday May 1st. They took no further action.
Heads Up
Black Hawk City Council meets next on May 8, 2013.