The Edgewater City Council met for the first time in over a month on Tuesday, June 20th for their bi-monthly business meeting. The entire Council was in attendance and seated at the dais.
The meeting kicked off with the usual communications from City Staff and Edgewater Police. Planning Manager Jocelyn Mills started with an update about neighborhood seasonal campaigns. The current campaign is focused on weeds. Ms. Mills also spoke on the city’s new small business program which will include grants, a welcome program for new businesses and a collaboration with Jeffco to help small business with their needs.
Chief Sonstegard welcomed the two newest members to the Edgewater Police Department, both of whom were sworn in right before the meeting. Joining the force are Melvin Berghahn and Sandy Santti. Berghahn will serve as Police Commander and was the Police Chief in Elizabeth. Officer Santti is a recent graduate of the Aurora Community College Police Academy and is bilingual in Spanish.
Finally, Xerxes Steirer gave an update on the Sustainability Board. Mr. Steirer informed the Council that all vacancies on the board have been filled. He invited the public to a forestry committee meeting from 6-8 P.M. on June 27th at the Vietnamese Baptist Church as well as to an Energy Seminar at the Civic Center on July 29th. He also said Edgewater is working with other local cities towards a solar group buy, giving the community more purchasing power. Keep an eye out for discounted solar through this program in the future.
The meeting was then opened for public comment. Edgewater resident Larry Welshon took the podium and spoke to a comment Mayor Beltrone made during the earlier work session inviting citizens to reach out to the Mayor and Council if they wanted to communicate past the 3 minute limit set by the meeting rules. Mr. Welson stressed the importance of comments being made during meetings at the podium, because they are on the record.
Up next was a resolution that would allow the Edgewater Police Department to use a training facility in Arvada. It passed unanimously.
The meeting then moved to another resolution, this time an update of the city compensation plan, which is necessary due to some internal reorganization of city staff departments.
Next was the first reading of an ordinance that would bring various codes (plumbing, electrical, etc.) in line with state standards. This was the first reading of the ordinance, meaning the Council will vote on whether to pass it later. It passed with 6 votes. Councilman Berg abstained, stating he didn’t have enough information to vote one way or the other.
General Business was next on the docket. First was a “Revocable Permit” for the Edgewater Inn. This is the permit that allows various businesses on 25th to extend their service area out in front of their buildings. The previous owners of the Edgewater Inn had declined to take advantage of the option and this allows the new owners to do so. It passed unanimously, and judging by their Instagram page, the Edgewater Inn has already started installing outdoor seating.
The second piece of business was new appointments to the Edgewater Redevelopment Authority (ERA). Devin Lahtinen and Thea Samson were both appointed unanimously.
As always the meeting wrapped up with comments from the Council and Mayor. Everyone welcomed newest Councilperson Kali Janda as well as Commander Berghahn and Officer Santi. There were also many comments on the success of the Edgewater Pride Parade.
The meeting then moved to an Executive Session to discuss the possible purchase of 5440 W. 25th. Executive Sessions are not open to the public (or press).
Edgewater City Council normally meets every other Tuesday at 6:30 P.M. The meetings are open to the public and can be attended virtually or in person at the Edgewater Civic Center.
I appreciate the author’s attempt at recapping my public comment, inaccurate though it is. What I don’t understand is how he completely failed to mention Karen Hing’s public comment! Karen spoke about the history of the Edgewater city Charter with the passion that only comes from someone who was actually there. Karen was part of the writing of our Charter many years ago. It’s a shame that The Edgewater Echo decided to completely omit her opinions and thoughts. I suggest an edit to correct what can only be described as an intentional silencing of the opinion of an Edgewater citizen.
Karen’s comments begin at 58:38. Here is the link to the meeting.
https://transcripts.gotomeeting.com/#/s/305ce8ea1c671f1b964eeb62282525417edef1410667a8181cc67f71e9bb25ec