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MINUTES
WELD COUNTY COUNCIL
December 1, 1976
The Weld County Council met in regular session in full conformity
with the Weld County Home Rule Charter at 401 N. 15th Avenue,
Greeley, Colorado, on Wednesday, December 1, 1976 at the hour of
two o'clock.
ROLL CALL: The meeting began with an invocation by John T. Martin. On roll
call the following were present:
President, John T. Martin
Vice President, Nancy Clark ,
Councilman Floyd Oliver
Councilman Bob White
Councilman Robert Martin
Also present: Secretary, Bonnie Hickman, four members of the press,
and one guest.
MINUTES: The minutes of November 17, 1976 were approved unanimously by
motion of Nancy Clark and second by Robert Martin.
REPORTS
SPECIAL LEGAL COUNSEL: Robert Martin mentioned that special legal counsel
still exists and that over a thousand dollars was charged to
this account for the month of October.
ELECTION PROBLEMS & CONCERNS: Mr. Martin read a copy of a letter written
to Mary Ann Feuerstein by the League of Women Voters. In this
letter the LWV offered their assistance to the election department
in helping to improve the uses of the system. A copy of another
letter was attached, written in December of 1975 by the LWV to
Mr. Lee Shehee, former County Clerk and Recorder, which made
recommendations similar to this year's recommendations to alleviate
election . problems.
Robert Martin felt the current system will disinfranchise the
handicapped. He suggested a simpler system of using soft lead
pencils to mark the voter's choice. Bob White added that a pencil
mark can easily be erased.
Nancy Clark suggested taking a survey among the judges of their
concerns with the election results. She felt the system should
be salvaged.
Floyd Oliver suggested reviewing a sampling of the voter cards
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760695
County Council Minutes^ Page 2
• December 1, 1976
and checking to see how many cards were not punched in the
correct space provided.
Council members then reviewed and revised the preliminary
election report. The Council made it clear they were not
"closing the book" on this matter. They will investigate the
problems more completely and prior to the next election will
review their study and see if their suggestions have been
considered. A motion by Robert Martin and second by Bob White
added a closing statement to the report to that effect. The
1976 Election Problems and Concerns report will be finalized
and approved at a special meeting on December 8. Upon approval
of this report, copies are to be sent to Mary Ann Feuerstein,
Leon Dlug, LWV, the party chairmen and the news media.
The Council scheduled a special meeting on December 8 at 1:30
with Mary Ann Feuerstein and Leon Dlug at Mrs. Feuerstein's
office for the purpose of presenting and discussing the report
with them. The Council will meet after this to approve the
report.
COUNTY ATTORNEY VISIT: Mr. David, County Attorney, was invited to
present the concerns he has developed through a recent thorough
study of the Charter. He suggested that perhaps the Council
could set up study groups to study these concerns.
Section 3-2 Districts: Mr. David indicated many people felt the
county should go all at-large or else to five districts.
Section 3-3 Qualifications of Members: He suggested that from
the standpoint of grammar it might be better to refer back to
Section 3-2-(3), except as provided.
Section 3-8-(4b) Powers and Duties: It was felt that this was
the real problem area. The Charter required the board act by
ordinance in matters of contract. Contracts involve a 40 to 50
day period of advertising and the large amount of contracts
handled each day makes it an impossible situation. Mr. David
suggested omitting the word "contract" from the ordinance clause
and inserting another statement - "Approval of contracts under
sub section (n) below shall be accomplished by resolution of the
board. In other matters the board shall act by ordinance
resolution or motion as may be appropriate."
Floyd Oliver discussed the subject of the necessity of resolutions
every time the commissioners take an action. Is this necessary?
Mr. David thought that a motion would be enough in some cases,
but a resolution is necessary in matters such as planning, zoning
or closing of roads.
Bob White referred to Charter Section 3-10, Rules of Procedure.
He asked if the commissioners had yet adopted a policy of procedures
and if it included resolutions. Mr. David was not sure.
County Council Minute's, Page 3
December 1, 1976
Section 3-8-(4j) Powers and Duties: Mr. David felt a clause
"where permitted by law" should be added to the statement
"Establish and levy taxes, charges, fees and licenses. "
Section 3-13 Majority Required: Mr. David felt there might be
a possible problem if three commissioners were in attendance and
then a resolution would require a unanimous vote. He wondered
if in case of the attendance of three commissioners, should
two persons be able to pass a resolution. Councilmenbers felt
the section was alright as it read.
Section 3-14-(6) Ordinances: Mr. David was concerned if an
emergency occured and two commissioners were gone, then how
would they receive a four-fifths vote. Suggested changing it
to three votes required.
4-4-(A)-(4f) Department of Planning Services: The county attorney
felt this section seems to be in conflict with Section 3-8-2 which
actually confers on the commissioners all the power to enact
legislation. The establishing of rules and regulations for
governing application for utility transmission by the planning
commission seems to be more amatterof of legislation rather than
simple procedural rules. He suggested writing into the Charter
that the planning commission work only as an advisory commission.
Mr. David also suggested defining what was meant by "utility
transmission".
5-3-(3) Duties of County Attorney: Mr. David questioned the
advisability of maintaining all legal opinions as public documents.
He felt that some confidentiality should exist between his clients
and himself.
5-2 Qualifications for County Attorney: Bob White asked if Mr.
David saw the use of the word "for" in this section as any problem.
Mr. David said that perhaps adding "having been licensed and
practiced in the state for. .. " would alleviate this problem.
14-7 Limitation on Annual Tax Levy: Mr. David did not think the
county should increase the 5% tax limitation to 7%. He suggested
allowing the County Council to review and approve all expenditures
in excess of 5% up to perhaps 7% and then allow the election to
control the increase budgeted beyond that. Floyd Oliver asked if
the 5% limitation was on the budget as a whole or on individual
department budgets. Mr. David assumed it meant the budget as a
whole.
Section 14-9 Bidding - Procedure: Mr. David was concerned that
this section did not include any provision in the case of an
emergency. Suggested adding new section defining an emergency,etc.
He also suggested cutting down the time for initiatives and
referendums. He felt that five to seven months to enact or repeal
a simple resolution was too long and makes it quite meaningless.
•
County Council Minutes e-- Page 4
December 1, 1976
SPECIAL LEGAL COUNSEL: The Council addressed Mr. David regarding the
October expenditures for the special legal counsel. Mr. David
offered to go over the last vouchers with the council item by
item.
There being no further business the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
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Bonnie Hickman APPROVED
Secretary
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