The Edgewater City Council met Tuesday, October 18th for a work session. All council members were in attendance with just one member joining virtually. Despite the brief agenda, the work session would prove to be quite lengthy, clocking in at over at 3 hours.
The first agenda item of the night was an affordable housing presentation. A 3 person panel was present to discuss the housing issues facing Edgewater, and the greater region beyond. The panel consisted of Lori Rosendahl, Aaron Foy attending in person, and Brian Rossbert joining virtually. Ms. Rosendahl is the CEO of the Jefferson County Housing Authority. Mr. Foy is the owner of BLVD builders, the company developing Edgewater Crossing behind the old Terra Village. Mr. Rossbert is the executive director of Housing Colorado. All 3 members spoke on questions of affordable housing provided to them by the city council prior to the meeting. It was a lengthy and informative presentation and all were in agreement that Edgewater, and the entire region, is facing a crisis in affordable housing. Presently, in order to afford the average rent in Edgewater, one would need to earn at least $32 an hour as Edgewater’s rent averages at least $1600 per month and may be closer to $1900. Although the panel stressed that this was a regional issue that would require regional solutions. Some of the factors adding to the lack of affordable hosing are zoning issues, land prices, building material prices, and losing naturally occurring affordable housing stock to redevelopment. All agreed there is no single answer to our affordable housing issues, but the general consensus was that more density and urban infill would be needed to ease the problem.
The council then moved on to discuss a possible increase in minimum wage in the City of Edgewater. City Manager Maples again brought up the lack of engagement with local stakeholders, so he hit the pavement to discuss the possible change with local businesses. Mr. Maples shared some of the comments he had received, with the general feeling among them being concern about remaining competitive, having to raise prices, and the loss of sales tax revenue for the city that may come along with that.But most also mentioned that their employees make well above the current Colorado minimum wage of $12.56 per hour. A letter was also read from a teacher at Jefferson Junior/Senior High School expressing support for the increase, and talking about the positive impact it would have on her students families. There had been some urgency to decide on this issue with the City Council as the end of the year is quickly approaching, but in light of the general lack of engagement among local stakeholders, and the prevailing views in the comments they did receive, it was decided not to rush the decision before years end but instead continue the conversation. Not all on the council were in agreement with that decision.
City Council is next scheduled to meet Tuesday, November 1st 2022 at 6:30 P.M. You can join in person at the Edgewater Civic Center or join the meeting virtually. You can watch the recording of the October 18th meeting here:
Why is the City Council being continually asked to spend more time and money to look at more affordable housing? Edgewater is a square mile community with 5000 residents surrounded by bigger cities. We already have a high rise on Eaton street run by brothers Redevelopment, which is affordable housing, and multiple apartment complexes. How much more do we need for such a small community? I’m sure that there are more pressing topics for the city to deal with.