City Council Acts on New Contracts for 2016

The council approved a motion to ratify an earlier phone poll to authorize the acceptance of a JAG grant of $236,952 to purchase communication radios to be used by various law enforcement agencies within the 15^th Judicial District.  Lamar’s share of the grant match is $9,081.51.  Lamar Police Chief, Kyle Miller told the council during a previous meeting, the cost to the city is roughly ten cents on the dollar for the value of the radios, estimated at around $4,000 each.  About 13 different law enforcement agencies in southeast Colorado will pay their share of funding for their own equipment.

The council renewed three contracts for the Lamar Public Library; the Transparent Language Online program, costing $2,000, helps users memorize words and phrases in a new language, OneClickdigital offers digital audio books and products to supplement the increasing use of tablets, smart phones and E-book readers by library patrons. The annual subscription is $2,500.  The MyHeritage website was also approved for $1,695.  This offers online, mobile and software platforms for world-wide historical records, as well as comprehensive information on family tree profiles and similar information.

The council, following a public hearing, adopted a supplemental budget for 2015 to transfer funds between agencies to comply with state budget laws. The areas impacted were the city’s general fund, the Conservation Trust Fund and the Fairmount Investment Fund.  The transferred funds represented legal fees for litigation costs as well as the purchase of a tractor and lawn mower.

Some start-of-the-new-year housekeeping items were on the January 11^th agenda, including liaison and board appointments, as well as the designation of places for posting notices of meetings for the council.  The council re-appointed the firm, RubinBrown to act as the city’s financial auditor and approved a letter of engagement with the legal firm, Felt, Monson and Culichia to continue to represent the city in various water rights issues.

By Russ Baldwin