Edgewater City Council Recap: June 4th, 2024

Edgewater City Council convened last Tuesday, June 4th, 2024. All members of the body attended the meeting, either in person or virtually. The consent agenda was adopted unanimously and the meeting was off and running.

First came the public comment portion without any public comment. There were, however, communications from the city staff. First up was Communications and Events Director Kalah Hardt. Director Hardt updated the staff on the city’s efforts to bring the city into compliance with ADA digital accessibility standards. All new digital documents from the city, as well as critical ones from the past, and many others will be updated to be more accessible to members of the community that may have a disability preventing them from using any current documents. Hardt also mentioned how great the Pride Parade was and gave a big thanks to Edgewater Pride and the Edgewater Police Department. Hardt finished with upcoming events including a summer concert series and the Hometown Festival.

City Clerk Lenore Pedroza also informed the council that future City Council packets will be ADA compliant and they may see some changes.

Lastly, City Manager Maples had a few updates. First, the Back on the Block party to get the main street businesses together and celebrate the re-opening and brand new streetscape on 25th between Sheridan and Benton. Maples also mentioned a Being Seen event showcasing their work with homelessness on 9/19 and mentioned they hope members of the council will be able to attend.

Before Maples finished, Councilwoman Iten had a question, “Is there an open date for 25th?”  Mr Maples answer, “No.” There’s an issue with the subgrade and it apparently needs to be much more durable. However, Mr. Maples said you may see the patios opening soon, and was confident it will be open before the Back on the Block event.

Next was Xerxes Steirer with an update from the Sustainability Board. Steirer stressed that the next steps of the Urban Forestry Master Plan were the most important. He also mentioned an upcoming Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) event about pest prevention on 6/20 and said Xcel is now offering basic home energy audits for free and more in depth audits for $50.

Mayor Conklin gave membership organization updates for Metro Mayors, DRCOG, and C4CA.

Next came Resolution 2024-09, a resolution adopting the City of Edgewater Urban Forestry Master Plan. Deputy City Manager Mills spoke first saying this was the final draft for possible adoption and introduced Dana Karcher of Davey Resource Group. Karcher gave an in depth presentation, the slide deck should be available at the city website. The Urban Forestry Master Plan was adopted unanimously.

The first reading of ordinance 2024-05 followed. This ordinance would appropriate funds to have the 2022 budget match expenditures. There were be a 2nd reading and public hearing at the July meeting. The first reading of the ordinance passed unanimously.

Next was the re-appointment of Nicole Lang to the Edgewater Redevelopment Authority. This is an appointment by the mayor, but ERA appointments must be approved by council. Mayor Conklin brought Lang to the podium and asked a few questions, stressing it wasn’t an interview. After all, she was already appointed, and with City Council’s unanimous approval, she will serve four additional years on the ERA board.

Given a second chance to comment, the public yet again declined and the meeting moved on to the final portion, comments from council and mayor. The general themes of the comments were a welcome back to Director Hardt, congratulations to Nicole Lang, shoutouts to Lily and Xerxes Stier and the Sustainability Board for all their hard work on bringing the Urban Forestry Master Plan to fruition. And there was high praise all around for Edgewater Pride.

Normally Edgewater City Council meets twice a month, however there is a city council retreat on 6/15 so no other meetings in June. The next meeting will be July 16th at 6:30. Members of the public can attend in person at the Civic Center or virtually through the city website.

Jimmy Jones