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TC Minutes 07-13-2021 AVON REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY JULY 13, 2021 SETUP AS A HYBRID MEETING; IN-PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL OR VIRTUALLY THROUGH ZOOM 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Video Start Time: 00:00:01 The meeting was hosted in a Hybrid format, in person at Avon Town Hall and using Zoom.us. Mayor Smith Hymes called the Liquor Authority meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. and the Council regular meeting to order at 5:13 p.m. A roll call was taken, and Council members present in person were Lindsay Hardy, Scott Prince, Amy Phillips, Tamra Underwood, and RJ Andrade. Councilor Chico Thuon joined virtually via Zoom. Also present were HR Director Lance Richards, Deputy Chief of Police Coby Cosper, Town Attorney Paul Wisor, General Government Manager Ineke de Jong, and Town Clerk Brenda Torres. 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Video Start Time: 00:14:45 Part One Mayor Smith Hymes commented that an updated agenda was posted at least 24 hours before the meeting, to include the Town Manager’s report. Councilor Prince moved to approve the agenda as presented. Mayor Pro Tem Phillips seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. 3. DISCLOSURE OF ANY CONFLICTS OF INTEREST RELATED TO AGENDA ITEMS Video Start Time: 00:15:31 Part One Mayor Smith Hymes made a comment about the recall and the much bigger issue this presents in terms of voter suppression. She expressed she should be able to participate in this discussion. Councilor Underwood also commented about the recall and the votes and expressed she does not have a conflict of interest and should be 1 of the 7 votes of this very important agenda item. Mayor Smith Hymes then read a letter into the record from their legal counsel. Town Attorney Paul Wisor commented on the "appearance of impropriety" under section 2.30.060(8). He said there is no action item on this agenda, and this is just a discussion so it is up to Council to decide if Mayor Smith Hymes and Councilor Underwood should be allowed to participate in that discussion. Councilor Prince moved to recuse Mayor Smith Hymes because of a conflict of interest on the recall discussion. Councilor Thuon seconded the motion and the motion passed with a vote of 3 to 2. Councilors Hardy and Mayor Pro Tem Phillips voted no. Mayor Smith Hymes was recused and Councilor Underwood, per the Avon Ethics Code, was not entitled to vote in this matter. Councilor Prince then moved to recuse Councilor Underwood on a conflict of interest on the recall discussion. Councilor Thuon seconded the motion and the motion passed with a vote of 3 to 2. Councilors Hardy and Mayor Pro Tem Phillips voted no. Councilor Underwood was recused and Mayor Smith Hymes, per the Avon Ethics Code, was not entitled to vote in this matter. Councilor Hardy asked to disclose she would like to be involved for agenda item 5.3, but she does work for Zehren and Associates. She clarified she has no financial interest, and she will disclose her employment every time this matter is discussed. Mayor Pro Tem Phillips moved to allow Councilor Hardy to fully participate in this discussion. Councilor Andrade seconded the motion and the motion passed with a vote of 6 to 0. Councilor Hardy abstained. AVON REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY JULY 13, 2021 SETUP AS A HYBRID MEETING; IN-PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL OR VIRTUALLY THROUGH ZOOM 4. PUBLIC COMMENT Video Start Time: 00:53:07 Part One Mayor Smith Hymes explained to the public that comments in person will be taken first, then those via Zoom. No in-person comments were made. Tom Ruemmler joined virtually and commented. He expressed it was interesting to hear the conflict of interest discussion and he believes people should have a say and be allowed more than 3 minutes to discuss an issue. Ruth Stanley joined virtually and commented on the behavior of Councilor Thuon on camera. Jake Wolf joined virtually and commented that on September 9 there will be community concert at the Ford Amphitheater, and he is looking for a guitarist and wondered if Council can volunteer Town Manager Eric Heil for this. He wanted to apologize to Councilors Hardy, Andrade and Thuon about the animosity level amongst Council and expressed there were opportunities in the past to mitigate this. He suggested Council to revisit the idea of group therapy. 5. BUSINESS ITEMS 5.1. DISCUSSION OF EAGLE DISTRICT COURT RULING ON RECALL PETITIONS (TOWN ATTORNEY PAUL WISOR) Video Start Time: 01:03:26 Part One Mayor Smith Hymes and Councilor Underwood left the room at 6:04 p.m. Mayor Pro Tem Phillips took over this agenda item and read the Town Manager Report which included a recommendation about the recall election. Town Attorney Paul Wisor then presented the arguments for the appeal. Councilor Hardy asked if Council could discuss a legislative fix, Town Attorney Paul Wisor explained this is not a possibility by the Municipality. Councilor Thuon made a motion to reconsider the direction for the Town Attorney to file the appeal but rather withdraw the appeal as filed. Mayor Pro Tem Phillips noted the motion and expressed Council should take public comments first. Rosan Casey, Eagle resident, summarized the letter she sent to the Town and said the recall is a waste of taxpayer dollars and staff time and that the Judge's ruling violates the Constitution. Rich Carroll, former Council member and Wildridge resident, expressed this recall is a huge issue for not just Avon but the region and the State and it is critical that we get answers to the questions that the Town raised in court. He expressed that this has far reaching consequences and the Judge's ruling should be appealed. He then said there is no more important business for Council to focus on right now and he does not understand Councilor Thuon changing his vote. He expressed that if Mayor Smith Hymes and Councilor Underwood get recalled, there will be another recall coming soon thereafter and this will not stop. AVON REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY JULY 13, 2021 SETUP AS A HYBRID MEETING; IN-PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL OR VIRTUALLY THROUGH ZOOM Kristi Ferraro, former Council member and Avon resident, expressed the City of Westminster is going through a similar recall situation right now and she rejects this recall as it is the waste of taxpayer money. She urged the Council to unanimously support their fellow Councilors. She said this recall makes a thankless job even harder and the negative impact of failure to act now will be the longest lasting impression that Councilor will leave during their time in office. Jennie Fancher, former Avon Mayor and Avon resident, said that a vote that was taken previously has to stand. She highlighted the accomplishments of Council over the last several years and said Council has to be bold and instill integrity in our community and she asked Council to please give careful consideration about revoking the appeal. Tom Ruemmler, Avon resident, commented virtually. He expressed that the Town Attorney is wrong and urged Council to please go check with another attorney and fire current Town Attorney Paul Wisor. He said that the recall committee got 48% of the total votes that that elected council member received and that suppression of a recall and a petition is a misdemeanor. Bette Todd joined virtually but had audio problems and Council could not hear her clearly. Council went back to the discussion. There was a motion on the table made by Councilor Thuon and Councilor Prince seconded that motion. Councilor Andrade feels Council should honor the vote of the people and listen to the 450 people that signed the petition. Councilor Hardy would like to see the drama go away and believes the Charter is written in a way that is not clear and would like to see a definite decision on the Town's arguments. She said Council took a vote and should not flipflop that vote as it does not give the public faith in Council. Councilor Prince said he does not personally support the recall and will vote to reelect Mayor Smith Hymes and Councilor Underwood, but this is a moral case compared to a legal case. He said it is a settled law since 1913 and it is not Council’s job to go tweak the law. He said it pains him to vote not to appeal but that is not what Council was elected to do and he said it is fine for Council to disagree. He spoke about Council focus on housing, economic development, and other very important items. Councilor Thuon agreed with Councilor Prince and suggested Council should spend money on training to get the Council together. He said thereneeds to be censorship and everyone needs to adhere to that. He got yelled at last week and that affirmed he is making the right decision by letting this go to recall. Mayor Pro Tem Phillips feels Council has been courteous and said the most efficient way to get to a resolution is to see the appeal through. She called this checkers versus chess. She said the Town has been forced to spend time and money on this, whether that is the right thing to do or not. She said this is not about fiscal responsibility but about an interpretation of the law and not standing by the former decision will make the Council look foolish. Councilor Hardy expressed that the public should not be cut off and be given 3 minutes to express their first amendment rights. Mayor Pro Tem Phillips requested a roll call for the motion made by Councilor Thuon, to reconsider the direction for the Town Attorney to file the appeal but rather withdraw the appeal as filed. Councilor Prince seconded the motion and the motion passed with a vote of 3 to 2. Councilor Hardy and Mayor Pro Tem Phillips voted no. AVON REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY JULY 13, 2021 SETUP AS A HYBRID MEETING; IN-PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL OR VIRTUALLY THROUGH ZOOM Town Attorney Paul Wisor explained the next steps, which will include the Town Clerk issuing a certificate of sufficiency to the Recall Committee and going to a recall within 180 days at the regular election on November 2, 2021. Mayor Smith Hymes and Councilor Underwood returned to the room at 7:00 p.m., Council then took a 10-minute recess. 5.2. PRESENTATION: CIP PROJECT UPDATE (TOWN ENGINEER JUSTIN HILDRETH) Video Start Time: 00:00:01 Part Two Town Engineer Justin Hildreth presented the CIP update including the Recreation Center repairs, pickleball court improvements, restrooms, Metcalf R oad Culvert repairs, Avon Road I - 70 Underpass safety improvements, digital displays, Buck Creek Road repair, Mikaela Way paving project and others. Councilor Thuon asked staff to consider making some streets one - way and offering angled parking on those stree ts to relieve some parking concerns. Town Engineer Justin Hildreth said he could bring that back to Council in August with the 5 -year CIP plan. 5.3. WORK SESSION: EAST HARRY A. NOTTINGHAM PARK IMPROVEMENTS (PLANNING DIRECTOR MATT PIELSTICKER & P EDRO CAMP OS, ZEHREN & ASSOCIATES) Video Start Time: 00:21:55 Part Two Planning Director Matt Pielsticker presented. He explained this went through PZC and the CASE committee. He highlighted the Town Manager ’s recommendation to move forward with schematics for restrooms, a retaining wall and a picnic shelter. CASE Manager Danita Dempsey presented a high -level overview of where special events could go in 10 years. She said t his will require support in infrastruc ture, staffing, etc., and this vision is not adopted by Council or the CASE committee but a draft vision of what it could be. She expressed she is presenting this info rmation now to keep in mind as Council starts to make decisions on the direction for the restrooms and the old Town Hall site. Pedro Campos presented the design schematics. Council was polled on their comments on the 10 -year plan and design concepts for the space. 5.4. PUBLIC HEARING: SECOND READING ORDINANCE 21-05 CONCERNING THE MANAGEMENT OF PLASTIC P RODUCTS (TOWN ATTORNEY PAUL WISOR) Video Start Time: 01:50:10 Part Two Councilor Underwood moved to continue this item to the August 10th agenda. Mayor Pro Tem Phillips seconded the motion and the motion passed with a vote of 6 to 1. Councilor Thuon voted no. 5.5. PUBLIC HEARING: SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE 21-09 APPROVING CODE TEXT AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 7 OF THE AVON MUNICIPAL CODE (PLANNING DIRECTOR MATT PIELSTICKER) Video Start Time: 01:50:51 Part Two Councilor Underwood moved to continue this item to the August 10 th agenda. Mayor Pro Tem Phillips seconded t he motion and the motion passed with a vote of 6 to 1. Councilor Thuon voted no . AVON REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY JULY 13, 2021 SETUP AS A HYBRID MEETING; IN-PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL OR VIRTUALLY THROUGH ZOOM 5.6. RESOLUTION 21-16 SUPPORTING THE AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL INITIATIVE (GENERAL GOVERNMENT MANAGER INEKE DE JONG) Video Start Time: 01:51:21 Part Two Councilor Underwood moved to continue this item to the August 10 th agenda. Mayor Pro Tem Phillips seconded th at motion. The motion failed with a vote of 6 to 1. Councilor Thuon voted yes. Council decided to discuss 5.7 and 5.8 first and then come back to this item. Video Start Time: 02:48:31 Part Two Ineke de Jong introduced the topic and explained the Mountain Pact is encouraging city/town Councils and County commissions to join other communities in the Mountain Pact Network . There were no Council questions . Mayor Smith Hymes called for public comments and no public comments were made. Councilor Hardy moved to approve Resolution 21-16 thereby declaring the Town of Avon’s support of the America the Beautiful Initiative . Mayor Pro Tem Phillips seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. 5.7. RECEIPT OF 2020 ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT (FINANCE DIRECTOR SCOTT WRIGHT & MCMAHAN & ASSOCIATES AUDITOR PAUL BACKUS) Video Start Time: 01:52:33 Part Two Paul Backus, CPA with McMahan & Associates joined the meeting. His firm conducted the 2020 audit, and his report is included in the packet. Finance Director Scott Wright took Council through the main findings of the audit. Councilor Hardy asked about the strategy for debts versus reserves. Mayor Smith Hymes said Council can discuss further during the 2022 budget process. Councilor Prince moved to accept the 2020 Annual Financial Report. Mayor Pro Tem Phillips seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. 5.8. PRESENTATION: USE TAX (TOWN MANAGER ERIC HEIL AND ASSISTANT TOWN MANAGER AND FINANCE DIRECTOR SCOTT WRIGHT) Video Start Time: 02:14:20 Part Two Finance Director Scott Wright took Council through the Use Tax PPT included in the packet and explained the PPT is a high-level summary, and the details are laid out in the memo. Councilor Prince would like to get a more thorough understanding of the issue and asked him to bring back different scenarios to use as examples of what would happen if a Use Tax passes. Councilor Underwood asked for a postmortem report on why it failed before. She wondered if this is really needed this fall or if it can wait until the 2022 ballot. Council discussed that a dedicated revenue source for housing is important and asked how long use taxes in other communities have been in place. Finance Director Scott Wright explained he will bring back the analysis from the Finance Committee and these questions for the August 10th meeting. AVON REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY JULY 13, 2021 SETUP AS A HYBRID MEETING; IN-PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL OR VIRTUALLY THROUGH ZOOM 6. MINUTES 6.1. APPROVAL OF JUNE 22, 2021 REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES (TOWN CLERK BRENDA TORRES) Video Start Time: 02:50:42 Part Two Councilor Underwood moved to approve the minutes from June 22nd regular meeting as presented. Mayor Pro Tem Phillips seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. 6.2. APPROVAL OF JUNE 24, 2021 SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES (GENERAL GOVERNMENT MANAGER INEKE DE JONG) Video Start Time: 02:51:19 Part Two Mayor Pro Tem Phillips moved to approve the minutes from June 24th special meeting as presented. Councilor Prince seconded the motion and the motion passed with a vote of 5 to 0. Councilor Underwood and Mayor Smith Hymes abstained as they did not attend this special meeting. 7. WRITTEN REPORTS 7.1. Quarterly Update on 2021 department goals (Town Manager Eric Heil) 7.2. Musical Instruments Update (Public Works Director Gary Padilla) 7.3. Rec Center Parking Status Update (Interim Recreation Director Michael Labagh, Chief of Police Greg Daly and Mobility Director Eva Wilson) 7.4. June 29, 2021 Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Abstract (Planner David McWilliams) 7.5. Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority June 24, 2021 Meeting Summary (Mayor Smith Hymes) 7.6. Town Manager Report (Town Manager Eric Heil) 8. MAYOR AND COUNCIL COMMENTS & MEETING UPDATES Video Start Time: 02:51:58 Part Two Councilor Hardy commented she is glad that community housing is on Council's radar. She had a thought to allocate some of the Real Estate Transfer Tax funds to housing. She encouraged Council to think about parking in Town and Council may need to further discuss the issue. She thanked Town Manager Eric Heil, CASE Manager Danita Dempsey, Town Attorney Paul Wisor, the Police and Public Works departments, and everyone on Avon staff for the Salute event. Mayor Pro Tem Phillips commented that there is a great property for sale in Wildridge which is eligible for the Mi Casa Avon program. She likes Council to keep focused on this and other community housing programs. 9. ADJOURN There being no further business before Council, Mayor Smith Hymes moved to adjourn the regular meeting. The time was 10:31 p.m. AVON REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY JULY 13, 2021 SETUP AS A HYBRID MEETING; IN-PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL OR VIRTUALLY THROUGH ZOOM These minutes are only a summary of the proceedings of the meeting. They are not intended to be comprehensive or to include each statement, person speaking or to portray with complete accuracy. The most accurate records of the meeting are the audio of the meeting, which is housed in the Town Clerk' s office, and the video of the meeting, which is available at www.highfivemedia.org. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: Brenda Torres, Town Clerk APPROVED: Sarah Smith Hymes ___________________________________ Amy Phillips Chico Thuon Scott Prince Tamra Underwood Lindsay Hardy RJ Andrade