Council Says “No Sale” on Proposed Yard Sale Ordinance

A public hearing was not needed to review a proposed ordinance prohibiting Perpetual, Prolonged and Extended Yard Sales in Residential zoned areas of the City of Lamar. The proposal died for lack of a motion from the council.   Additional discussion and definition will be needed before the council comes to a conclusion on the final wording of the proposed ordinance. City Administrator, John Sutherland, explained some of the regulations during the October 12^th meeting, as several city council members had their own take on the regulations. Mayor Roger Stagner stated, “This idea has prompted more telephone calls from residents than I’ve ever gotten on most other issues before the city, and the callers were not happy with this proposal.” He added that one area of concern should focus on weekend yard sales held out of storage rental units, commenting, “These are not held in a residential setting and as far as I can see they’re operating as a business.” There was also confusion on just how many days a year, or consecutive weekends a residential yard sale would be permitted under the proposed ordinance.

Lamar Water Tank

Two of the city’s wells, #12 and #13, are being re-purposed from municipal potable water to non-potable municipal irrigation use because surface water is mixing with the piped water. The volume is expected to be 3.44 acre feet per day during irrigation season. The council received word that the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) approved a loan and grant request for the project. A pipeline will be needed to connect with the city’s current non-potable municipal irrigation infrastructure at a total estimated cost of $400,000. This includes connecting the two wells to each other with 1,175 linear feet of new piping which will be connected to the existing irrigation system infrastructure with 1,975 of new piping. The loan is offered at $101,000 and the grant is $161,625. The city will match the funds with $86,700 for in-kind labor and equipment and $51,675 in cash. The council approved the arrangement.

Condemned House Leveled by City

Lamar Police Chief, Kyle Miller, told the council the city received two bids for the clean-up of derelict houses and properties within the city limits. Carrigan Excavating provided the low bid of $5,900 for the program. The agreement will run until the end of the year and the agreed upon price will be the cost of cleanup, per-house.

A public hearing was set for October 26, 2015 for the transfer of ownership and the Retail Liquor License for The Olive Street Station LLC. Don Compton and T.J. Sanders have purchased the property at 403 East Olive Street in Lamar. They are currently operating the business under a state-issued, temporary permit pending approval of the request.

Roy Gueswel was appointed to replace Todd Schaefer on the Lamar Library Advisory Board. As Schaefer is now the library director, his position on the board became open. The term will expire February 1, 2016.

Two executive sessions were held by the council following the regular meeting, one to discuss strategies regarding negotiations regarding ARPA and Economic Development and the second dealt with a personnel matter.

By Russ Baldwin