HomeMy WebLinkAbout20020924.tiff TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
WELD COUNTY, COLORADO
FEBRUARY 11, 2002
2002-0924
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2
INDEX
COMMISSIONERS:
Commissioner Glenn Vaad, Chair
Commissioner David E. Long, Pro-Tem
Commissioner M.J. Gelle
Commissioner William H. Jerke
Commissioner Robert D. Masden
ALSO PRESENT:
Bruce T. Barker, County Attorney
Carol A. Harding, Acting Clerk to the Board
Donald D. Warden, Director of Finance and Administration
3
1 PROCEEDINGS
2 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Good morning. It' s
3 February 11th; it' s 9: 00 a.m. I ' ll invite those of you in
4 the audience to join the Board of County Commissioners in the
5 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
6 (Whereupon, the pledge was stated. )
7 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you. You may be
8 seated.
9 I 'd like to call to order the Board of Social
10 Services and ask the clerk to call the roll, please.
11 THE CLERK: Mike Gelle?
12 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Here.
13 THE CLERK: Bill Jerke?
14 COMMISSIONER JERKE: Here.
15 THE CLERK: Rob Masden?
16 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Here.
17 THE CLERK: Dave Long?
18 COMMISSIONER LONG: Here.
19 THE CLERK: Glenn Vaad?
20 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Here.
21 Let the record show that all five
22 Commissioners are present. The first item of business is the
23 minutes of the meeting of February 6th.
24 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Move approval.
25 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Second.
4
1 (Motion seconded. )
2 COMMISSIONER VAAD: It' s been moved by
3 Commissioner Gelle and seconded by Commissioner Masden to
4 approve the minutes of February 6th. If there' s no further
5 discussion, all in favor signify by saying aye.
6 (Voting. )
7 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Opposed?
8 It' s passed unanimously.
9 (Motion passed. )
10 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Warrants (inaudible) .
11 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes, Mr. Chair. I have
12 warrants of $30, 392 .89 . Recommend approval of today.
13 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Move to approve.
14 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Second.
15 (Motion seconded. )
16 COMMISSIONER VAAD: It' s been moved by
17 Commissioner Masden, seconded by Commissioner Gelle to
18 approve the warrants. If there are no further questions, all
19 in favor signify by saying aye.
20 (Voting. )
21 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Opposed same sign.
22 It passed unanimously.
23 (Motion passed. )
24 COMMISSIONER VAAD: There is no further
25 business before the Board of Social Services, so we are
5
1 adjourned, and I will call to order the Board of County
2 Commissioners.
3 Let the record show that all five
4 Commissioners are present.
5 The first item of business is the approval of
6 the minutes of February 6th.
7 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Move to approve.
8 COMMISSIONER LONG: Second.
9 (Motion seconded. )
10 COMMISSIONER VAAD: It's been moved by
11 Commissioner Gelle and seconded by Commissioner Long to
12 approve the minutes of February 6th. If there is no further
13 discussion, all in favor signify by saying aye.
14 (Voting. )
15 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Opposed, same sign.
16 It passed unanimously.
17 (Motion passed. )
18 COMMISSIONER VAAD: The next item is the
19 certification of hearings conducted on February 6, 2002 . A
20 Site Specific Development Plan and Use by Special Review
21 Permit No. 1339, Rocky Mountain Energy Company, LLC, David
22 Perkins.
23 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Move to approve.
24 COMMISSIONER LONG: Second.
25 (Motion seconded. )
6
1 COMMISSIONER VAAD: It 's been moved by
2 Commission Masden and seconded by Commissioner Long to
3 certify the hearing. If there is no further discussion, all
4 in favor signify by saying aye.
5 (Voting. )
6 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Opposed, same sign.
7 Passed unanimously.
8 (Motion passed. )
9 COMMISSIONER VAAD: There are no further
10 additions, or requested additions to the agenda. Let me tell
11 you that it is the prerogative of the Chair, because of the
12 business that we have, I will rearrange the agenda and put
13 the item of old business to follow immediately after the new
14 business. We suspect that that will be -- take some length.
15 So that 's the only modification.
16 Is there a motion to approve the consent
17 agenda?
18 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Mr. Chairman, I would
19 move.
20 COMMISSIONER LONG: Second.
21 (Motion seconded. )
22 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you.
23 You've heard the motion. All in favor,
24 signify by saying aye.
25 (Voting. )
7
1 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Opposed, same sign.
2 That passed unanimously.
3 (Motion passed. )
4 COMMISSIONER VAAD: All right. We are now at
5 a time on our agenda that we have provided for public input.
6 Is there anyone in the audience who would like to address the
7 Board of County Commission on any item that is not on the
8 agenda?
9 (No response. )
10 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Let the record show that
11 there was no indication that anyone wanted to address the
12 board, so I will close that portion of our meeting.
13 Warrants. Don?
14 MR. WARDEN: Yes, Mr. Chairman, I have
15 warrants of $504 , 847.98 . Recommend approval.
16 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Move approval of the
17 warrants.
18 COMMISSIONER LONG: Second.
19 (Motion seconded. )
20 COMMISSIONER VAAD: It' s been moved by
21 Commissioner Gelle and seconded by Commissioner Long to
22 approve the warrants.
23 Further discussion or questions?
24 (No response. )
25 COMMISSIONER VAAD: All in favor, signify by
8
1 saying aye.
2 (Voting. )
3 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Opposed, same sign.
4 It passed unanimously. Thank you.
5 (Motion passed. )
6 COMMISSIONER VAAD: The first item of new
7 business is to consider the intergovernmental agreement for
8 services by Americorps Program Volunteers and authorize the
9 Chair to sign, City of Greeley.
10 Good morning, Walt.
11 MR. SPECKMAN: Good morning, Walt Speckman,
12 Weld County Human Services.
13 This is an agreement between the County and
14 the City, and it regards how the Americorps Volunteers will
15 work, you know, in conjunction with the City on a variety of
16 projects and what rate they would be reimbursed hourly for
17 doing so.
18 We 've done this for four or five years. It' s
19 a standard annual agreement we have with the City because
20 they do a lot of projects utilizing the Americorps youth.
21 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Are there any questions of
22 Walt? Commissioner Gelle?
23 COMMISSIONER GELLE: The only question I had
24 Walt, how old -- what is the age limit or the basic age
25 limit? Less than 16; isn't that correct?
9
1 MR. SPECKMAN: No, it' s like 14 to 22 , or
2 something like that, Mike.
3 COMMISSIONER GELLE: But it does get some of
4 those kids, those young people less than 16 into the
5 employment to do so?
6 MR. SPECKMAN: Right. Yeah, it is to have a
7 diversity of kids in the group so they can work and learn
8 from each other. Some of them actually completed college or
9 some of them dropped out of junior high school literally. So
10 it 's a nice mixture.
11 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Commissioner Jerke?
12 COMMISSIONER JERKE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
13 A couple of questions, Walt. You say that the
14 pay is like five dollars an hour?
15 MR. SPECKMAN: Yeah. It ' s a voluntary kind of
16 thing, yeah.
17 COMMISSIONER JERKE: So I believe that' s under
18 minimum wage, isn't it?
19 MR. SPECKMAN: Right.
20 COMMISSIONER JERKE: If the Federal Government
21 writes the rule, they can pay less?
22 MR. SPECKMAN: You've got it.
23 COMMISSIONER JERKE: Okay. The other thing I
24 wanted to find out about, too, is whether or not there' s any,
25 what I would term political correctness, education that goes
10
1 on in the Americorps project? It seems to me I 've heard in
2 the press before that there might be some of that. Not to
3 your knowledge?
4 MR. SPECKMAN: Not at all. No, this is based
5 much more on, you know, why you should continue through high
6 school as opposed to drop out.
7 COMMISSIONER JERKE: Well, that ' s certainly
8 politically correct as well.
9 MR. SPECKMAN: Yeah. Well, I guess so.
10 COMMISSIONER JERKE: Thank you.
11 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Are there further
12 questions?
13 (No response. )
14 The proper motion would be then to approve the
15 resolution and authorize the Chair to sign.
16 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: So moved.
17 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Second.
18 (Motion seconded. )
19 COMMISSIONER VAAD: It' s been moved by
20 Commissioner Masden and seconded by Commissioner Gelle to
21 approve the resolution and authorize the Chair to sign
22 Americorps Program Volunteers.
23 If there are no further questions or
24 discussion, all in favor signify by saying aye.
25 (Voting. )
11
1 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Opposed, same sign.
2 It passed unanimously.
3 (Motion passed. )
4 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you, Walt.
5 Item 2 is to consider non-exclusive license
6 agreement for the upgrade and maintenance of Weld County
7 right-of-way and authorize Chair to sign, Tyler Gesick.
8 MR. HEMPEN: Good morning, Commissioner.
9 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Good morning.
10 MR. HEMPEN: Frank Hempen with the Department
11 of Public Works.
12 This is a non-exclusive license agreement to
13 use the east 30 feet of Weld County Road, what would be Weld
14 County Road 21 right-of-way, from Weld County Road 96 north
15 one mile.
16 We 've required that the applicant send out
17 notices to property owners adjacent to this right-of-way and
18 have received no replies. That's been over three weeks ago.
19 We'd recommend its approval.
20 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Are there questions of
21 Frank? Is there a motion?
22 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Mr. Chairman, I would
23 move that we approve the resolution.
24 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Second.
25 (Motion seconded. )
12
1 COMMISSIONER VAAD: It's been moved by
2 Commissioner Gelle, seconded by Commissioner Masden to
3 approve the resolution approving a non-exclusive license
4 agreement for the upgrade and maintenance of Weld County
5 Right-of-Way and authorize Chair to sign.
6 If there are no further questions, all in
7 favor signify by saying aye.
8 (Voting. )
9 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Opposed, same sign.
10 It passed unanimously.
11 (Motion passed. )
12 COMMISSIONER VAAD: No. 3 , consider long term
13 road maintenance and improvements agreement and authorize
14 Chair to sign, L.G. Everist, Inc.
15 MR. HEMPEN: As a part of L.G. Everist' s
16 USR 1326 approval for the Lohmann French gravel pit, they
17 were required to enter into an agreement with Weld County to
18 pave a portion of Weld County Road 26 from the entrance to
19 their site, westerly to Weld County Road 13 , and also enter
20 into a maintenance agreement for that road and for Weld
21 County Road 13 from its intersection with 26 North to State
22 Highway 66 and share -- as far as maintenance goes, share in
23 the appropriate cost for the maintenance of 13 and 26,
24 proportional to their truck loadings.
25 This agreement does perform that requirement,
13
1 and we'd recommend its approval.
2 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Are there questions? Is
3 there a motion?
4 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Mr. Chairman, I 'd move
5 approval of the resolution.
6 COMMISSIONER LONG: second.
7 (Motion seconded. )
8 COMMISSIONER VAAD: It' s been moved by
9 Commissioner Gelle and seconded by Commissioner Long to
10 approve the long term road maintenance agreement and
11 improvements and authorize Chair to sign, L.G. Everist.
12 If there are no further questions or
13 discussion, all in favor signify by saying aye.
14 (Voting. )
15 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Opposed, same sign. It
16 passed unanimously. Thank you.
17 (Motion passed. )
18 COMMISSIONER VAAD: No. 4 , consider agreement
19 for reseeding/mulching operation remediation and authorize
20 Chair to sign, Aquatic and Wetland Company.
21 MR. HEMPEN: Commissioners, this agreement is
22 a follow-up to some work that Aquatic and Wetland Company did
23 for Weld County, in particular on Weld County Road 49 between
24 28 and 40, and some work that we did as far as grading and a
25 bridge replacement on Weld County -- near Weld County Road 42
14
1 and 47 . There are some concerns about the mulch and the
2 amount of wheat seed that was involved in that mulch. And
3 what does this agreement does is provide the County with the
4 ability to require that the company follows up and works with
5 the County to ensure that we get a decent vegetated cover at
6 those locations. And we'd recommend its approval.
7 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Any questions?
8 Frank, so this is a carry-on or a follow-on to
9 an existing contract?
10 MR. HEMPEN: That' s correct.
11 COMMISSIONER VAAD: And did we have standards,
12 or we were monitoring that or --
13 MR. HEMPEN: Well, we do have standards, but
14 we just -- as an example, our mulch just -- gives some
15 options for mulch, either hay or wheat straw mulch. We don't
16 do detailed inspections of things, like the mulch. And what
17 we discovered after the fact, and the specifications say that
18 you can't have wheat seed in your straw mulch, but, in fact,
19 that it was frost-killed wheat, which had begun to have some
20 heads on it. And we have concerns about germination. It may
21 or may not be a problem, but this allows us to follow through
22 on it.
23 COMMISSIONER VAAD: At additional cost to the
24 County?
25 MR. HEMPEN: There is no -- I 'm sorry, I
15
1 should have added that as part of my introduction. There is
2 absolutely no cost to the County, and there is actually
3 additional cost to the contractor if, in fact, we have an
4 overzealous crop of wheat as a part of the spring growing
5 season.
6 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you.
7 Any further questions? Is there a motion?
8 COMMISSIONER LONG: Move to approve.
9 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Second.
10 (Motion seconded. )
11 COMMISSIONER VAAD: It's been moved by
12 Commissioner Long and seconded by Commissioner Gelle to
13 approve the agreement for reseeding/mulching operation
14 remediation and authorize Chair to sign, Aquatic and Wetland
15 Company.
16 If there are no further questions or
17 discussion, all in favor signify by saying aye.
18 (Voting. )
19 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Opposed, same sign.
20 It passed unanimously.
21 (Motion passed. )
22 MR. HEMPEN: Thank you, Commissioners.
23 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you.
24 No. 5, consider purchase of services agreement
25 and authorize Chair to sign, ConAgra Beef Companies. Good
16
1 morning.
2 DR. WALLACE: Good morning, Mark Wallace,
3 Public Health and Environment.
4 I have before you a purchase of services
5 agreement on behalf of the Department of Public Health for
6 family planning services that ConAgra wishes to provide to
7 its employees and dependents covered under their health
8 insurance plan.
9 We 've actually been providing this service in
10 a fairly unique arrangement that we've had with the company
11 for a number of years now. It' s been a program that has been
12 successful. It's been enjoyed by their employees and their
13 dependents. Part of this allows us to make some technical
14 changes, changing the name, for example, from Monfort to
15 ConAgra, as well as updating our fee schedule.
16 It ' s essentially the same services that we
17 have been providing to the employees for a number of years.
18 This new contract would run through December 31, 2002 , and
19 then would allow us the option of renewing it automatically
20 on an annual basis with the ability for our fees to be
21 adjusted on an annual basis as well.
22 And then I would encourage approval of this
23 purchase of services agreement.
24 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Are there questions of
25 Dr. Wallace? Is there a motion?
17
1 COMMISSIONER LONG: Move to approve.
2 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Second.
3 (Motion seconded. )
4 COMMISSIONER VAAD: It's been moved by
5 Commissioner Long, seconded by Commission Masden to approve
6 the agreement between ConAgra and the County for purchase of
7 services agreement and authorize Chair to sign.
8 If there is no further discussion or
9 questions, all in favor signify by saying aye.
10 (Voting. )
11 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Opposed, same sign.
12 It passed unanimously.
13 (Motion passed. )
14 COMMISSIONER VAAD: No. 6 is consider task
15 order change order letter No. 1 for family planning program.
16 DR. WALLACE: Yes, this is a change order to
17 our family planning program, contract that we do have with
18 the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
19 What this does is offer us increased funding in the amount of
20 $20, 250 to provide additional services to up to 250 clients,
21 at what they're labeling as an alternative site, and that
22 site would be our Southwest County site.
23 What we realized as we opened that facility is
24 that we were very close to our county lines and centers where
25 women have -- potentially had some difficulty in seeking
18
1 services, partly because of a recent change in a contract
2 that the State has made with family -- excuse me, Planned
3 Parenthood. And we realize that we might be having some of
4 these women seeking services at our southwest site. And so
5 we worked with the State in order to bring us additional
6 funding that would allow us the opportunity to provide
7 service to those women if they would come across to our
8 southwest site.
9 It turns out as our family planning contract
10 is worded, because these are State funds, we would not be
11 allowed anyway to not provide services on the basis of county
12 boundaries. So we actually feel that this is a good outcome
13 for us, that it recognizes that we might be having additional
14 women coming in for services, but also provides us the
15 funding to do that.
16 So I would ask for your approval of this
17 change order.
18 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Are there questions of Dr.
19 Wallace?
20 Dr. Wallace, will these monies be gotten on a
21 reimbursable basis, or this is a --
22 MR. WALLACE: What they' ll be doing is they' ll
23 actually be providing this money to us in the usual manner
24 that we have with our other funding that comes through. It's
25 not on a reimbursement basis. They give us the money. It
19
1 allows us to provide the staffing. We do have to track the
2 numbers and then present to them the data that shows that we
3 have served additional clients.
4 They understand that given the arrangement
5 that is being made here, that many places have stepped
6 forward to try and help fill the gap created by the change in
7 the contract with Planned Parenthood. And so there is a
8 willingness on the part of the State to recognize these
9 numbers might not be reached as quickly as they would like to
10 see it happen. But they're the ones responsible for trying
11 to direct the women to us who are having difficulty.
12 So we will receive the money up front for the
13 services and then simply track them.
14 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you.
15 If there are no further questions, is there a
16 motion?
17 COMMISSIONER LONG: Move to approve.
18 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Second.
19 (Motion seconded. )
20 COMMISSIONER VAAD: It's been moved by
21 Commissioner Long and seconded by Commissioner Masden to
22 approve the task order change order letter No. 1 for family
23 planning program.
24 No further discussion or questions, all in
25 factor signify by saying aye.
20
1 (Voting. )
2 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Opposed, same sign.
3 It passed unanimously. Thank you.
4 (Motion passed. )
5 COMMISSIONER VAAD: No. 7, consider agreement
6 for copies of County records and authorize Chair to sign,
7 Ires, LLC.
8 MR. BARKER: Mr. Chairman, this is an
9 agreement that we've used with the Assessor ' s Office where an
10 individual or a company is asking for information to be
11 downloaded onto a disk.
12 In this case what they want is the Weld County
13 Clerk and Recorder' s Office indexes. We have priced it as
14 $250. That will cover the cost of the time spent and the
15 computer time and also the price of the disk. And so we
16 would recommend approval.
17 COMMISSIONER VAAD: All right. Any further
18 questions? Proper motion would be to approve the resolution.
19 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Mr. Chairman, I would
20 approve the resolution.
21 COMMISSIONER JERKE: Second.
22 (Motion seconded. )
23 COMMISSIONER VAAD: It' s been moved by
24 Commissioner Gelle and seconded by Commissioner Jerke to
25 approve the resolution and authorize Chair to sign for the
21
1 agreement for copies of County records for Ires, LLC.
2 If there are no further discussion or
3 questions, all in favor signify by saying aye.
4 (Voting. )
5 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Opposed, same sign.
6 It passed unanimously.
7 (Motion passed. )
8 COMMISSIONER VAAD: No. 8, consider request to
9 waive bid procedure concerning oil and gas lease and accept
10 offer to lease mineral acres, Patina Oil and Gas Corporation.
11 MR. BARKER: Mr. Chairman, this is a lease
12 request for 2 . 19 mineral acres. It' s located in the
13 northeast quarter, northeast quarter of Section 35-566.
14 You may recall that the Board has a policy if
15 the property is less than five acres, then the Board goes
16 ahead and waives the bidding procedure as long as the amount
17 of $200 is paid in, and that has been done. So we would
18 recommend approval.
19 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Further questions?
20 Commissioner Jerke?
21 COMMISSIONER JERKE: Yeah, I guess I 'd like to
22 just know a little bit more about it. Does this mean that
23 there is going to be a well on the 2 . 19 acres? Is that in
24 the center of a 40? I just don't know what all this really
25 means. Do we have the mineral rights on this property?
22
1 MR. BARKER: We do, and I 'm not certain if
2 they' ll be drilling on that property. I think the mineral
3 acres, they're leasing that as being a part of a pool that
4 they are leasing. And so as a result, it came up under their
5 title work that the County had that number of acres that they
6 needed to do a lease on.
7 MR. WARDEN: Actually, when the Board adopted
8 this policy, we actually worked with the industry. The
9 problem is, with all of our road right-of-ways, we oftentimes
10 have the minerals under those right-of-ways, and as a
11 practical matter, they really aren't biddable in and of
12 themselves because they can't be big enough to do anything.
13 So they're usually a pooling of adjacent properties, and
14 that 's why there' s a waiver of the actual bid.
15 But with all of our leases, there' s up to
16 three years to actually drill, and then they have to start
17 producing to hold the lease. If they don 't drill and produce
18 within the three years, they lose the lease at that point.
19 So, but they do have a three-year period to drill.
20 COMMISSIONER VAAD: We've heard a legal
21 description physically. Can anybody tell us more or less
22 where this is?
23 MR. BARKER: I ' ll need to double check. I
24 didn't take a look to find out exactly where it is.
25 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Further questions? Is
23
1 there a motion?
2 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Move to approve.
3 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Second.
4 (Motion seconded. )
5 COMMISSIONER VAAD: It' s been moved by
6 Commission Masden and seconded by Commissioner Gelle to
7 approve waiving the bid procedure concerning oil and gas
8 lease and accept the offer to lease mineral acres, Patina Oil
9 and Gas Corporation.
10 Further discussion or questions? All in favor
11 signify by saying aye.
12 (Voting. )
13 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Opposed, same sign.
14 It passed unanimously.
15 (Motion passed. )
16 COMMISSIONER VAAD: The next item is connected
17 with our old business, but it is a different item. So I
18 think we' ll go ahead and deal --
19 MR. BARKER: Mr. Chairman, actually I believe
20 that it's something that' s different. It' s the Club
21 Romance/Lucky Star.
22 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Oh, that 's right. Okay,
23 I 'm sorry.
24 No. 9 is to consider application for license
25 to conduct public dance or dances for 2002 , Romance, Inc. ,
24
1 d/b/a as Club Romance/Lucky Star.
2 MR. BARKER: Mr. Chairman, you may recall that
3 the license was renewed by the Board of County Commissioners
4 for that location. I believe it was back in early January.
5 And this is typical where we have a renewal, and then also a
6 request for a dance hall license. They've paid the requisite
7 fee, and we'd recommend approval.
8 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Are there questions?
9 Commissioner Gelle?
10 COMMISSIONER GELLE: I was looking through the
11 -- I think it 's the Sheriff ' s statement. I 'm not sure what
12 it is. Have we had any follow-up by the Sheriff ' s Department
13 as far as violations or problems or any issues they've had
14 out there? Number 2 , what is the number of times they've had
15 to respond to situations or instances at the place?
16 MR. BARKER: Usually we don't do that on the
17 dance hall licenses; we do it on the renewals, the liquor
18 license. I believe Ken Poncelow is here, though, and he can
19 answer that question.
20 MR. PONCELOW: Ken Poncelow with the Weld
21 County Sheriff ' s Office.
22 They've been doing a real good job up there.
23 We have a community resource officer, Vickie Harbert, who
24 comes up and meets with them once per week. They have
25 followed through with everything that we ask in the contract
25
1 when we did the (inaudible) with them. I know that their
2 business has been a little bit dropped off, but we haven't
3 had any problems, haven't had really any calls up there to
4 speak of. They had a fight up there the other day, but
5 that ' s usual for a bar. We're going to have some of those.
6 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Okay. Further questions?
7 Is there a motion.
8 COMMISSIONER LONG: Move to approve.
9 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Second.
10 (Motion seconded. )
11 COMMISSIONER VAAD: It' s been moved by
12 Commissioner Long and seconded by Commissioner Masden to
13 approve the license to conduct public dance or dances for
14 2002 Romance, Inc.
15 Are there any further questions? All in favor
16 signify by saying aye.
17 (Voting. )
18 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Opposed, same sign.
19 It passed unanimously.
20 (Motion passed. )
21 COMMISSIONER VAAD: No. 9, consider -- better
22 call this up.
23 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Mr. Chairman, if I may?
24 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Commissioner Gelle?
25 COMMISSIONER GELLE: I would make a motion
26
1 that we approve the appointment of Donovan Ehrman to the
2 Northeastern Colorado Area Trauma Advisory Board. That is
3 the retack that functions with all the counties kind of in
4 the northeast part of the state.
5 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you.
6 COMMISSIONER JERKE: Second.
7 (Motion seconded. )
8 COMMISSIONER VAAD: It ' s been moved by
9 Commissioner Gelle and seconded by Commissioner Jerke to
10 approve the appointment of Donovan Ehrman to the Retack
11 Board.
12 If there are no further questions or
13 discussion, all in favor signify by saying aye.
14 (Voting. )
15 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Opposed, same sign.
16 It passed unanimously. Thank you.
17 (Motion passed. )
18 COMMISSIONER VAAD: That concludes the new
19 business. We' ll now go to the old business. And this is to
20 consider the application for tavern liquor license and
21 authorize Chair to sign, RJML, LLC, d/b/a as El Reventon
22 Night Club, continued from February 4th.
23 Counsel, do you start this?
24 MR. BARKER: Yes, I will. Mr. Chairman, as
25 you said, that the original hearing date was set February
27
1 4th, and it was noticed as such.
2 The item today is a request for tavern liquor
3 license pursuant to the State Liquor Code by RJML, LLC, d/b/a
4 El Reventon Night Club, and I believe you already stated the
5 location of this proposed tavern.
6 At this point what I would suggest -- and I
7 believe that Commission Masden was the individual who went
8 down to do an inspection. He has provided as part of your
9 packet that you have a letter, which includes some of the
10 things that he found, but he may also have some other things
11 to state with respect to his investigation.
12 I believe that the applicant is here today.
13 He is represented by counsel. And you may want to go ahead
14 and open it up after you hear from Commissioner Masden to the
15 applicant and then go ahead and open it up to public hearing,
16 public comments regarding this application.
17 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you.
18 Commissioner Masden?
19 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Yes, I did do an
20 inspection on that facility and found out -- and Officer
21 Spalding also was down and reviewed the premises with me, and
22 Bethany Salzman from Planning. And we did walk through the
23 premises, talk to the owner, look at the facility. There
24 were -- there is no licensed premises directly connected with
25 this facility.
28
1 The diagram of the facility was something that
2 was just -- I know there was a question on that from when it
3 originally was submitted. Do you know if that was changed?
4 MR. BARKER: Yes, sir, it has been. The
5 applicant came in, I believe it was either last Monday or
6 sometime last week, to include in -- the premises now
7 includes the restaurant area, and I believe that that was a
8 question that was raised initially by you, and they've
9 resolved it to include that.
10 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Okay, because I know
11 originally on the date of inspection, I asked about the
12 restaurant, whether it was going to be included, and they
13 said no. So, okay, I see where it has been included here.
14 So that is a correct diagram.
15 The sign noticing the place and date and time
16 of the hearing for this liquor license application was
17 posted, and it was conspicuous, plain sight for general
18 public to see in the window on the facility. Okay, and
19 whether the building in which the liquor is to be sold is
20 located within 500 feet of a public or parochial school,
21 campus college university, no, it is not.
22 And they did show me around where the security
23 cameras -- they have security cameras inside and outside, the
24 lighting for the inside and outside in the parking lot, and
25 we did go through that. Showed where the septic system is,
29
1 and they're going to have their own sprinkling system set up
2 in there. I believe their security system -- I don't
3 remember if it was tied in with the Sheriff ' s Department or
4 not, but they will be monitoring that. They have a security
5 room in there.
6 And in that area there were also in the
7 neighborhood -- there were other liquor establishments in
8 that neighborhood. There were four -- there are four hotel
9 -- or tavern liquor license establishments in that area, one
10 hotel and restaurant with optional premises and three other
11 hotel and restaurant liquor license establishments in the
12 area, two club liquor license in the area, two 3 . 2 beer
13 retail licenses off-premises, one 3 . 2 beer retail licenses on
14 premises and three retail liquor stores in the area of the
15 designated neighborhood.
16 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you, Commissioner
17 Masden. All right.
18 MR. BARKER: Mr. Chairman, one other thing I
19 might mention, that the applicant, through his attorney,
20 provided me with an update to the application. I believe
21 that was received last Friday by fax, or maybe Thursday or
22 Friday.
23 One thing, that there is a change. Item 7.B,
24 it says, "Has the applicant, including the partners,
25 partnership members and the manager, et cetera, ever" -- and
30
1 then (b) had an alcoholic beverage license suspended or
2 revoked?" The previous answer was no. The updated answer is
3 yes. And the explanation is, "Suspension imposed by the town
4 of Platteville, Colorado, on October 4 , 1994 . " Ruben and
5 Maria Rodriguez were the licensees, d/b/a Escaramuch. And
6 you may want to ask the applicant about that.
7 Also, there was an update to the individual
8 history record for Mr. Rodriguez showing some amounts, and I
9 believe that this letter is included in the information that
10 you have, but it does state that -- the amounts that he has
11 used for the nightclub is 22 , 000 in savings account, 3 , 000 in
12 checking account, and 100, 000 from the Valley Bank in
13 Brighton. Those would be the sources of funding for the
14 establishment.
15 COMMISSIONER VAAD: All right. Thank you.
16 All right. If the applicant or the
17 applicant' s representative is present, if you'd please --
18 I ' ll give you your choice. You may use the table, or if
19 you'd like to use the lectern, whichever is more convenient
20 for you, that will be fine.
21 And I would ask you on your comments to
22 address the revocation in 1994 when you feel it' s
23 appropriate. Welcome to the Board of County Commissioners.
24 MR. MARTINEZ: Good morning. Manuel Martinez
25 from Holme, Roberts & Owen, Registration No. 9454 , on behalf
31
1 of RJML, LLC' s application for a tavern liquor license.
2 And just to give the Commission a little bit
3 of an update, I think it's important to note that the
4 application was originally filed on December 28th of 2000,
5 nearly 24 months ago. Immediately after the filing of the
6 application, the Weld County Department of Planning and
7 Services send out referrals to the various County and related
8 City agencies for a site plan review. They did so realizing
9 that this building previously had been used for a car
10 dealership, and the change of use was going to be radically
11 different from a car dealership, if, in fact, this Commission
12 approves the application for the liquor license.
13 As a result, in order for the application to
14 get to the point where a hearing would be held in front of
15 this Commission, the various County agencies required that
16 certain development and improvements be made to the area or
17 to the building itself.
18 The Traffic Engineering Department reported in
19 their response to the referral of January 10th of 2000 --
20 their referral is dated January 21st of 2001. The Traffic
21 Engineering, they asked that three things be done in order to
22 allow this application to go forward to you all . They asked
23 that there be compliance with ADA requirements, parking
24 requirements. They asked that a study showing that adequate
25 drainage be conducted, and they asked for a traffic impact
32
1 study.
2 All of those things, the number -- the study
3 showing that the drainage was adequate has been completed.
4 The traffic impact study has been completed. And there will
5 be compliance with ADA parking requirements. In fact, we
6 will have approximately 200 spaces there, and all of the
7 parking lot should be re-striped by late next week.
8 The Fort Lupton Fire Department on January
9 15th of 2001 requested that sprinkler and fire alarm systems
10 be installed. This has been done, and it' s been done in a
11 superior manner. Every improvement that has been made to the
12 building has been done at Code or greater than Code.
13 The Zoning Department on January 17th of 2001
14 reported that there were no conflicts with County interest in
15 their response to the referral.
16 In the referral provided by the City of Fort
17 Lupton, the City of Fort Lupton -- because Fort Lupton was
18 asked if they were interested at sometime in the future of
19 annexing this property. Fort Lupton' s response was that
20 the City is not currently interested in annexing the
21 property.
22 The Colorado Department of Transportation in
23 its referral, in its response to the referral, indicated that
24 direct access to -- they said that the person who had
25 possession of this property should know that direct access to
33
1 and from Highway 85 will at sometime in the future be closed,
2 and all access will come by way of Denver Avenue.
3 Commissioners, we have been trying to -- we
4 are sensitive to the concerns of the law enforcement people
5 from Fort Lupton. We have attempted to work with the State
6 to expedite that closing. So far we have had a deaf ear from
7 CDOT.
8 On January 22nd of 2001, the Environmental
9 Health Services Department of Weld County asked that certain
10 conditions be imposed prior to being able to go forward with
11 this application. They asked -- they had nine conditions
12 that they asked for compliance with. Among them they asked
13 that the adequacy of the septic tank system be established,
14 and that's been taken care of. In fact, improvements have
15 been made to that. They asked for adequacy of the water
16 supply system. That' s been done. In fact, all of those nine
17 conditions that the Environmental Health Services asked be
18 complied with, that's all been done.
19 The Sheriff ' s Department on February 1st of
20 2001 asked for -- asked for numerous commitments regarding
21 public safety. We have done all of those things, or will do
22 all of those things. And in short, RJML, LLC, is ready to
23 enter into the same type of agreement that the owners of Club
24 Romance entered into with the Sheriff ' s Department
25 previously.
34
1 The Planning and Building Department on
2 February 2nd of 2001 asked that eight conditions be complied
3 with in order for the application to go forward. It' s my
4 understanding that all of those conditions have been complied
5 with; otherwise, this application would not be -- would not
6 have been set for hearing.
7 Landscape requirements have also been imposed,
8 and the RJML, LLC, is committed to making those landscaping
9 improvements. It has done what it can, what it' s limited to
10 up to now because of the weather, but upon the springtime
11 coming in, it will comply with all of the landscaping
12 requirements, including the planting of trees, establishment
13 of islands and all of the other things that are required by
14 the County.
15 Commissioners, what I would like to do, with
16 your permission, is I would like to inquire -- make some
17 inquiries of Mr. Rodriguez at this point. Do you want to
18 swear him at this point, or is that necessary?
19 MR. BARKER: We don't have a process for
20 swearing in on these hearings.
21 MR. MARTINEZ: Okay. Mr. Rodriguez, please
22 state your name and spell your last name for the record.
23 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Hello, I 'm Ruben Rodriguez ,
24 Ruben J. Rodriguez. My last name is R-O-D-R-I-G-U-E-Z.
25 MR. MARTINEZ: And, Mr. Rodriguez, where were
35
1 you born?
2 MR. RODRIGUEZ: I was born in Chihuahua,
3 Mexico, on .
4 MR. MARTINEZ: And how long have you lived in
5 the United States?
6 MR. RODRIGUEZ: I 've lived here since 1979 .
7 MR. MARTINEZ: And are you a citizen of the
8 United States?
9 MR. RODRIGUEZ : Yes.
10 MR. MARTINEZ: And when did you become a
11 citizen?
12 MR. RODRIGUEZ: In '85, December 6th of 1985.
13 MR. MARTINEZ: And where did you attend high
14 school?
15 MR. RODRIGUEZ : Longmont High School.
16 MR. MARTINEZ: And did you graduate from
17 there?
18 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes, I did, in 1981.
19 MR. MARTINEZ: And have you attended college?
20 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes, I have. I attended Front
21 Range, Aims Community College, Regis University, and I also
22 attended Mountain States, which I have a certificate in
23 business management.
24 MR. MARTINEZ: And where do you presently
25 live?
36
1 MR. RODRIGUEZ: I live in Fort Lupton,
2 Colorado.
3 MR. MARTINEZ: And what' s your address?
4 MR. RODRIGUEZ: It's 232 Elizabeth Court, Fort
5 Lupton.
6 MR. MARTINEZ: And what is your relationship
7 with the applicant, RJML, LLC?
8 MR. RODRIGUEZ: The owner.
9 MR. MARTINEZ: Mr. Rodriguez, what type of
10 business will RJML, LLC, be?
11 MR. RODRIGUEZ: RJML is going to be a
12 restaurant, a nightclub, with an event center as well. The
13 main part of the restaurant or the building -- or the main
14 part of the building is going to be a restaurant. In the
15 back side of the building is going to be a nightclub with an
16 event center facility.
17 MR. MARTINEZ: Mr. Rodriguez, please tell the
18 Commissioners the hours of operation of the restaurant
19 itself.
20 MR. RODRIGUEZ: The restaurant is going to
21 open at 10: 00 a.m. and will close at 8 : 00 p.m.
22 MR. MARTINEZ: And will the restaurant be open
23 daily?
24 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes, it will .
25 MR. MARTINEZ: And as for the event center, or
37
1 the club, which is directly east of the restaurant or the
2 back part of the building, what days will that part of the
3 facility be open?
4 MR. RODRIGUEZ: That facility is going to be
5 open on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night.
6 MR. MARTINEZ: And do you plan on having the
7 building available for other community purposes, such as
8 training and educational classes?
9 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Oh, yes, that' s one of the
10 things that we want to include and one of the things that
11 I 've been talking to Mr. (inaudible) , is the representative,
12 and a person from the Mexican Consul, to have different
13 activities for training on different subjects. And, also, it
14 will be open to the Sheriff 's Department, Police Department
15 and City Hall. They have different activities on a weekly
16 basis.
17 MR. MARTINEZ: And will these activities be
18 cost free?
19 MR. RODRIGUEZ: They would be cost free to
20 anyone that wants to have some kind of training on a weekly
21 basis.
22 MR. MARTINEZ: Okay.
23 MR. RODRIGUEZ: I would like to have at least
24 one or two of these sessions once a week.
25 MR. MARTINEZ: Okay.
38
1 MR. RODRIGUEZ: And I would like to post them
2 in the Fort Lupton Press or Greeley Tribune so that everyone
3 knows about this. And, also, it will be open for anyone who
4 wants to have some kind of training or some kind of school
5 dance or such things like that.
6 MR. MARTINEZ: And where is the building
7 located?
8 MR. RODRIGUEZ: It is 13 -- the address is
9 13015 Weld County Road 16, and it' s about one mile north of
10 Fort Lupton.
11 MR. MARTINEZ: And what type of food do you
12 plan to serve in the restaurant?
13 MR. RODRIGUEZ: The plan is to have American
14 Food, some Mexican, some Italian, and in the future, maybe
15 some Chinese food as well.
16 MR. MARTINEZ: And what will be the hours of
17 operation of the event center portion of the building or the
18 nightclub portion of the building?
19 MR. RODRIGUEZ: The event center would open --
20 it depends on what kind of activity we're having, like if
21 it' s some kind of a high school or middle school or depending
22 on the activity. But the closing time is going to be at
23 1: 30, if it' s an area where there is adults involved. And as
24 you know, this is going to be separated, one area for minors
25 and one area for adults. So if it' s to do with adults, it' s
39
1 going to be closing at 1: 30. If it' s related with minors, it
2 will be probably closing earlier, 11: 00 or 12 : 00 midnight.
3 MR. MARTINEZ: And according to the Colorado
4 Liquor Code, during what hours may liquor be sold?
5 MR. RODRIGUEZ : It' s 7 : 00 a.m. until 2 : 00 --
6 or 1: 30 a.m.
7 MR. MARTINEZ: Well, the Liquor Code actually
8 says 2 : 00 a.m.
9 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Right.
10 MR. MARTINEZ: But what you're saying is that
11 you are going to stop liquor sales at your establishment at
12 1: 30?
13 MR. RODRIGUEZ : Yeah, usually you leave a half
14 an hour for people to, you know, get their things, their
15 coats, or whatever, and be able to leave the
16 building/facility by 2 : 00.
17 MR. MARTINEZ: When do you expect to open for
18 business Mr. Rodriguez?
19 MR. RODRIGUEZ: The beginning of March.
20 MR. MARTINEZ: And does RjML, LLC, have a
21 right to possession of the premises?
22 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes, by a way of lease.
23 MR. MARTINEZ: And please tell the
24 commissioners what type of liquor license you are applying
25 for here today.
40
1 MR. RODRIGUEZ: A tavern liquor licenses.
2 MR. MARTINEZ: And how many tavern liquor
3 licenses may a person have an interest in pursuant to
4 Colorado law?
5 MR. RODRIGUEZ: It ' s three tavern licenses.
6 MR. MARTINEZ: Do you understand that the
7 Colorado Liquor Code requires that you have sandwiches or
8 light snacks available for consumption on the premises during
9 business hours?
10 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes.
11 MR. MARTINEZ: After the restaurant is closed,
12 how will you make sandwiches and light snacks available
13 during those period of times that the club is open in the
14 back?
15 MR. RODRIGUEZ: They will be pre-made, and
16 there will be chips and snacks.
17 MR. MARTINEZ: So you will have food
18 available?
19 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Oh, yes, there will be food
20 available at all times.
21 MR. MARTINEZ: And where will you purchase
22 your alcoholic product from?
23 MR. RODRIGUEZ: All the alcohol is supposed to
24 be purchased from a wholesale license.
25 MR. MARTINEZ: And do you understand that
41
1 Colorado allows you to purchase a certain amount of liquor
2 from a liquor store?
3 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes, it' s $500 a year, and
4 you're supposed to keep all your receipts in your office or
5 in the facility.
6 MR. MARTINEZ: Does Colorado law allow you --
7 if you have an interest in a tavern liquor license, does
8 Colorado law allow you to have an interest in any other kind
9 of liquor license?
10 MR. RODRIGUEZ: No, other than the same type
11 of license, like a tavern license -- with a tavern license.
12 And I believe if you're a manager, you can only be a manager
13 at one facility or one business.
14 MR. MARTINEZ: Who is going to be the manager
15 for RjML, LLC?
16 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Myself.
17 MR. MARTINEZ: And have you taken server
18 classes?
19 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes, I have.
20 MR. MARTINEZ: And will you require all of
21 your waitresses and bartenders to take server classes?
22 MR. RODRIGUEZ: This is going to be mandatory.
23 It ' s going to be in the policy of business, that everyone has
24 the servers or the (inaudible) training classes.
25 MR. MARTINEZ: And are you now scheduled to
42
1 take server classes?
2 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes, we have a schedule for
3 February 25th, I believe, at the Sheriff 's training facility
4 here in Greeley, and then we have a second one on March 6th
5 at the El Camino.
6 MR. MARTINEZ: How old do you have to be in
7 order to purchase alcoholic beverages in the state of
8 Colorado?
9 MR. RODRIGUEZ : Twenty-one years old.
10 MR. MARTINEZ: And how do you plan to assure
11 that alcoholic beverages are not sold to minors?
12 MR. RODRIGUEZ: With I .D. s.
13 MR. MARTINEZ: Okay.
14 MR. RODRIGUEZ: And there are five different
15 types of I.D.s, passport, alien registration card, military
16 identification, driver' s license from any state and
17 identification card from Colorado or other state.
18 MR. MARTINEZ: And what is your policy about
19 checking I.D.s in the restaurant section?
20 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Anyone that looks younger than
21 30 years old is going to need an I.D. We're going to have
22 to -- he' s going to have to show the I.D.
23 MR. MARTINEZ: And in the club section, the
24 adults will be separated from the minors?
25 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Adults and minors are going to
43
1 be separated.
2 MR. MARTINEZ: And what would you do if you
3 have a customer who appears to be intoxicated?
4 MR. RODRIGUEZ: First of all, I would call the
5 cab to take him home, to drive him home. And that 's one of
6 the things, that this business is going to have a policy
7 where we 're going to have a van or a cab on the busiest
8 nights on the facility.
9 MR. MARTINEZ: And you indicated earlier that
10 all of your bartenders and waitresses are going to undergo
11 alcohol server training. Are you going to do the same thing
12 for your security personnel?
13 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Everyone; security, waitress,
14 bartenders. Everybody is going to have to have this
15 training.
16 MR. MARTINEZ: And how old --
17 MR. RODRIGUEZ: It' s mandatory.
18 MR. MARTINEZ: How old will your waiters be?
19 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Over 21 years old, all of
20 them.
21 MR. MARTINEZ: And what type of relationship
22 do you have with the Weld County Sheriff ' s Department?
23 MR. RODRIGUEZ: I have a real good
24 relationship with everyone in that department. I work well
25 with them, and I hope they feel the same way towards me.
44
1 MR. MARTINEZ: And have you met with the
2 Sheriff 's Department previously to formulate an operation or
3 cooperation plan?
4 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes.
5 MR. MARTINEZ: And when did you meet with
6 them?
7 MR. RODRIGUEZ: I believe it was early last
8 year; January, I think, of 2001 I met with Mr. Ken Poncelow
9 and other staff, and we went through some of the concerns
10 that they have towards the -- you know, regarding the
11 building itself. And we listed some of the items, and one of
12 the things was, you know, having one parking space for every
13 four patrons. Another one was a security officer for every
14 50 people in the facility.
15 MR. MARTINEZ: And how many parking spaces are
16 you going to have available?
17 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Close to 200, a little over
18 200.
19 MR. MARTINEZ: And when are you going to
20 complete the re-striping of the parking lot?
21 MR. RODRIGUEZ: We started working on that
22 already. It will probably be completed by the end or early
23 next week, end of this week, early next week.
24 MR. MARTINEZ: And the Sheriff ' s Department
25 asked that your security officers be equipped with radios or
45
1 an electronic communication system?
2 MR. RODRIGUEZ: It would help. Yeah, they
3 suggested that, and that's one of the things that we are
4 going to have, including having some of that equipment in the
5 bars of our areas as well.
6 MR. MARTINEZ: Okay. And have you installed
7 cameras?
8 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes, there is seven cameras on
9 the outside of the building and four cameras on the inside of
10 the building.
11 MR. MARTINEZ: And the Sheriff ' s Department
12 asked that there be significant illumination of the parking
13 areas. Have you done that?
14 MR. RODRIGUEZ: We 've done some work on that.
15 We 're still working on that. We have some more scheduling
16 for the outside. There ' s going to be quite a bit of light
17 outside.
18 MR. MARTINEZ: And are you going to also
19 provide a parking space for a Weld County Sheriff 's vehicle?
20 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes. In fact, I have a sign
21 that Ken provided to me, and I have ordered one more as well.
22 MR. MARTINEZ: And how do you plan to divert
23 the traffic away from Highway 85 and from the intersection of
24 Highway 85 and County Road 16?
25 MR. RODRIGUEZ: At the end of the dance,
46
1 around 12 : 00 midnight, we 're going to have -- I 'm going to
2 have a security -- or more than one security directing the
3 traffic towards the light, which is going south on the road
4 to the light.
5 MR. MARTINEZ: So in other words, instead of
6 letting the traffic go through the intersection there to get
7 on Highway 85, you will divert them south on the frontage
8 road to a traffic control signal?
9 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, I feel that the time and
10 hour that traffic is going to have more impact is going to be
11 when people are, you know, leaving the facility, and they' ll
12 probably -- a lot of people start even around 12 : 00 midnight.
13 And what we're going to include are those orange cones
14 covering or closing out that side of the road and directing
15 the traffic over. So we're going to have -- I 'm going to
16 have three different securities, one at the exit of the
17 entrance, or the exit of the entrance to the facility, and
18 one on the left side where you would have to turn left in
19 order to go into Highway 85.
20 MR. MARTINEZ: And, Mr. Rodriguez, are you
21 committed to working with law enforcement to make that
22 intersection as safe an intersection as possible?
23 MR. RODRIGUEZ : Yes. In fact, I am also
24 trying to -- I asked for help from Mr. Valentine Vigil, he's
25 a State representative, to see how we can go about getting
47
1 some lights on that intersection.
2 MR. MARTINEZ: Mr. Rodriguez , do you know of
3 any other liquor license establishment in this area that
4 provide a buffet restaurant in combination with an event
5 center?
6 MR. RODRIGUEZ: I don't believe there is any
7 in that area, and I don't think there is too many in Greeley.
8 I know there is the big building they made at the Island
9 Grove Park. But I think this facility is a lot smaller, but
10 it' s going to provide a lot of opportunity for a lot of
11 people who wants to train in different topics and is going to
12 be free, you know, for anyone who wants to schedule say a
13 meeting there or have a class test-taking. And, in fact, I
14 have talked to the principal at the Limon High School a
15 little bit about having, you know, some test-taking there and
16 also have some kids coming and training and doing different
17 activities with the facility during, you know, the days that
18 the bar section is not going to be open.
19 MR. MARTINEZ: Okay. So are you saying that
20 your -- the facility that you are attempting to get licensed
21 would be unique in relation to all the liquor license
22 establishments in the area?
23 MR. RODRIGUEZ: I believe so. I think given
24 the opportunity, I think this could be really beneficial for
25 a lot of people in the community, as well as Weld County.
48
1 MR. MARTINEZ: Therefore, Mr. Rodriguez , in
2 your opinion, are the reasonable requirements of the
3 neighborhood for alcoholic beverages currently being met by
4 the liquor license facilities that already exist there?
5 MR. RODRIGUEZ: I don't believe there is a
6 facility like this in Fort Lupton, so I don't think the needs
7 and desires are met at this time.
8 MR. MARTINEZ: So do you think the
9 neighborhood needs a facility such as the type that you are
10 proposing?
11 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes.
12 MR. MARTINEZ: And do you personally desire
13 that this application be approved?
14 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes.
15 MR. MARTINEZ: Mr. Rodriguez, is there
16 anything else you'd like to tell the Commission about this
17 proposed application?
18 MR. RODRIGUEZ: I think there is a lot of
19 things that I 'm proposing, and I may not think of all of them
20 at this time. But one of the things that I 'm going to
21 implement if the license is granted, is I 'm going to have a
22 designated driver program where if there is a couple people
23 in this group and they come into the nightclub, and the
24 designated driver would have all the soft drinks free
25 throughout the night.
49
1 Another thing that I want to do that I don't
2 think a lot of people have is, like I said earlier, have a
3 taxi there available, you know, for the people when they get
4 ready to leave, go home, and if they had too much to drink.
5 Hopefully, it won't happen too often because we're all going
6 to have this training in which is very helpful. It' s helped
7 me a lot. I know that it has helped a lot of the people that
8 I have worked with at Club Romance tremendously. So, but in
9 any case, it' s going to be available for anyone that wants to
10 use this program.
11 MR. MARTINEZ: Are you planning on maintaining
12 a maintenance log?
13 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, there will be a
14 maintenance log, and what this is, is the maintenance log is
15 a schedule of checking out the exit lights, the fire
16 extinguishers, you know, the cables to make sure you don't
17 have any cables that are not supposed to be in an area where,
18 you know, it 's too long or, you know, things like that. When
19 you have bands, live bands, a lot of times you tend to have a
20 lot of cables floating all over the dance -- or the stage.
21 So you want to make sure that you have this, so, you know,
22 you go away from having all this.
23 And one of the other things that I want to
24 implement is having an incident report log. And what this
25 is, is we' ll have a Polaroid camera, and anyone that comes in
50
1 and causes any problems at the bar or the restaurant,
2 anywhere in the facility, we' ll take a picture, and we ' ll
3 take his name, write it down, and we ' ll write down what kind
4 of problem he has caused, so that the next time he comes in
5 we already know what the problem is. You're 86 'd; you can't
6 come into the facility.
7 So that's one of the things that keeps trouble
8 from coming into your door, as well as, you know, some of
9 these cameras are going to be recording 24 hours a day, seven
10 days a week. So we can always go back to that time and date
11 and hour and look at this person who caused trouble before.
12 MR. MARTINEZ: Mr. Rodriguez , can you tell the
13 Commissioners how you have used local businesses in Fort
14 Lupton in making all the improvements to the building?
15 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes. What I have done is in
16 all the improvements made to the building, first I get all
17 the bids from the buildings in Fort Lupton. And 80 percent
18 of the businessmen from Fort Lupton have done the work at
19 this establishment at this point. Do you want me to mention
20 names?
21 MR. MARTINEZ: Mr. Rodriguez, I think the last
22 thing I would like you to tell the Commission is, can you
23 explain the situation that took place in Platteville in 1994
24 regarding the suspension of the Escaramuch license, and
25 that' s E-S-C-R-A -- C-A-R-A-M-U-C-H license.
51
1 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Right. The problem there is
2 that there was a security company that was not training
3 properly, and we served a suspension for, I believe, 14 days.
4 And what happened at the time is that they put a requirement
5 that we would change the security company, in which I did, as
6 well as having the service training at that time.
7 Fortunately, before we had the renewal license application
8 renewed. We were not able to have the training. And the
9 only thing that was applied at that time was changing the
10 security company.
11 MR. MARTINEZ: Mr. Rodriguez, that license --
12 that license eventually expired; is that correct?
13 MR. RODRIGUEZ: That is correct. The
14 application was submitted to an attorney, and he did not --
15 he failed to turn it in. And so the license was expired, and
16 so we had to go back to the Board with a new license, and the
17 license was not approved.
18 MR. MARTINEZ: Mr. Rodriguez , in spite of the
19 fact that you felt that there was a breakdown in security
20 that evening, you, nevertheless, want to express to the
21 Commission that you take full responsibility for what
22 occurred regarding that suspension; is that correct?
23 MR. RODRIGUEZ: No, I take full responsibility
24 on my acts, although I was not involved with this incident.
25 It was all the security company' s doing.
52
1 MR. MARTINEZ: And this happened in September
2 of 1997?
3 MR. RODRIGUEZ: No.
4 MR. MARTINEZ: 1994?
5 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Right. Actually, the
6 incident, I believe, happened sometime in November of the
7 year previously, in 1993 , I believe.
8 MR. MARTINEZ: Okay. Mr. Rodriguez , I have a
9 copy of the findings and order of the Platteville Commission,
10 and perhaps you might want to look at the date as to when the
11 violation occurred and refresh your recollection.
12 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Okay. Okay, it was on July
13 16th of 1994 .
14 MR. MARTINEZ: And the suspension itself
15 occurred in October of --
16 MR. RODRIGUEZ: That' s correct.
17 MR. MARTINEZ: Okay.
18 MR. RODRIGUEZ: In October of 1994 .
19 MR. MARTINEZ: And if the Commission feels
20 it' s appropriate, we would submit the findings and order of
21 the Platteville licensing authority.
22 At this time, we have collected signatures in
23 support of this application, and they are all from residents
24 of Fort Lupton. We have six businesses who have expressed
25 support for this application, and we have approximately 68
53
1 residents who have expressed support for this application by
2 way of these petitions, and we would also submit the
3 petitions.
4 And Mr. Barker, do we mark these in any way?
5 MR. BARKER: I will.
6 MR. MARTINEZ: Okay.
7 MR. BARKER: As Exhibit A.
8 (Exhibit A was marked for identification. )
9 MR. MARTINEZ: And would the Commission like
10 to see the findings and order of the Platteville licensing
11 authority?
12 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Please.
13 MR. MARTINEZ: Okay. It' s B?
14 MR. BARKER: Make that Exhibit B.
15 (Exhibit B was marked for identification.
16 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Can I add just one more thing?
17 One of the things that I 've been trying to, you know, explain
18 to some of the residents in Fort Lupton is that this is not
19 just going to be a Hispanic nightclub. This is going to be a
20 multi-cultural place where we're going to have not just
21 events for the Hispanic community or the Mexican people or,
22 you know, the Latino people or the Central America. The plan
23 is to have these activities that everyone can come in and
24 feel comfortable, feel at home.
25 And I 'm going to set up a suggestion box in
54
1 front of the building so that if anyone has any suggestions
2 to have some kind of activity or to have some kind of DJ from
3 any of the other radio stations in the community or even in
4 Denver, we can bring them in, like Lewis and Floor Wax, or,
5 you know, some kind of activity like that, as well as having
6 activities for the school and, you know, the county. And
7 anyone that wants to have an activity, I will be open to
8 listen to and help them out and support them 100 percent.
9 I have talked to, like I said earlier, with
10 Mr. Vigil, who is the State representative, and the Mexican
11 Consul, and we're going to have some training for some of the
12 Hispanics that don't know how to speak English, and we're
13 going to help them out to know that a little bit more. We're
14 going to bring in different speakers every week to help them
15 out with that as well.
16 So these activities -- this establishment is
17 not going to be open just Monday through Sunday on the
18 restaurant from 10: 00 a.m. , but the facility in the back,
19 which is the dance area, is probably going to be open pretty
20 much every day as well just with the different activities.
21 And I am planning to post those with the Denver -- or the
22 Greeley Tribune or the Fort Lupton Press. And I ' ll probably
23 have a schedule of all the activities for the following month
24 posted five days previous to the starting of the month.
25 MR. MARTINEZ: We also have a letter written
55
1 by State Representative Val Vigil, which basically is a
2 letter of recommendation on behalf of Mr. Rodriguez. And
3 there's one letter for each of the Commissioners, and perhaps
4 we can mark that.
5 MR. BARKER: I believe that that 's already
6 marked --
7 MR. MARTINEZ: Okay.
8 MR. BARKER: -- as part of their packet.
9 MR. MARTINEZ: And lastly, we have witnesses
10 who have appeared in support of this application in addition
11 to Mr. Rodriguez, and the witnesses are Jesus Silva and Leo
12 Manriquez , Jackie Manriquez , Jorje Silva (phonetic) , Escar
13 Acosta (phonetic) and Fernando Canjos (phonetic) .
14 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Very well. Let me pause
15 here for a minute. Are there any questions of just specific
16 nature right now of what 's been presented, not necessarily
17 philosophical, but I ' ll start there. Okay, Commissioner
18 Jerke?
19 COMMISSIONER JERKE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
20 I just had one question regarding how you get
21 people out of the club at night and have them actually drive
22 towards the stoplight at -- I guess that' s at 14 1/2
23 because --
24 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Okay. Yeah, let --
25 COMMISSIONER JERKE: Let me finish the
56
1 question.
2 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Sure.
3 COMMISSIONER JERKE: Because it occurs to me
4 that if you try to make that flow straight south along what
5 would become Denver Avenue, I guess, later on, but I 'm not
6 understanding how that happens without working with Weld
7 County Public Works and the State Patrol because other
8 citizens that might want to access Highway 85 right there at
9 14 , if you're creating a barrier, not letting them do that,
10 I 'm not sure how that works. Can you explain that better?
11 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, this is only for the
12 people who are exiting or leaving the facility and the people
13 who are going, it would be from east to west at that time,
14 which it probably won't be too many people from, you know,
15 the other community or other residents driving through at
16 that time of night. But if there is, we are going to direct
17 the traffic to the light as well.
18 And I have suggested that with the State CDOT
19 and also the Weld County Traffic Transportation person, Diane
20 Hotelle (phonetic) . She doesn't no longer work there, but
21 she' s the one that was in charge when she came out and looked
22 at this proposal, and she thought that was a good idea for
23 the time being, and, you know, give it a try and see how it
24 would work. And she specifically suggested that we do
25 something about try to have the State set up lights in that
57
1 intersection.
2 I 'm not sure if I answered the question
3 correctly, but what we're going to have -- what I 'm going to
4 have is, as you know, we are closing the two entrances, the
5 old entrances to the parking area, and there is only going to
6 be one entrance to the facility, which is going to be located
7 on the south side -- actually it ' s going to be the south side
8 of the building, south middle section of the parking area,
9 and so there will only be one entrance. So it ' s going to be
10 a lot easier to direct the traffic by just having one
11 entrance.
12 COMMISSIONER JERKE: Okay. But to be clear,
13 then, you would, I guess with the cooperation of government,
14 and I 'm not sure how that fits in -- I 'd want to find out
15 along the way sometime --
16 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Okay.
17 COMMISSIONER JERKE: -- from Road & Bridge or
18 State Patrol or somebody --
19 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Sure.
20 COMMISSIONER JERKE: -- to actually allow a
21 private business to go ahead and direct traffic off of what
22 would be a normal transportation route for people to simply
23 be able to access 16 there and be able to drive as they
24 normally would because here we 've got a private business that
25 is asserting that they have the ability to go ahead and make
58
1 cars go the way they want them to go.
2 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Well, I think this is a little
3 bit unique in the way that -- that is, since it' s going to be
4 at, you know, 12 : 00 midnight and 1: 30 in the morning, you
5 know, it' s going to be unique in that respect, that it' s
6 going to be so late, not too many people are going to be
7 driving through those roads through that time of day, you
8 know, or night.
9 MR. MARTINEZ: Commissioner, I would also like
10 to express that the entrances that were located onto the
11 property on the west side of the property are being closed
12 off, and an entrance -- there would only be one entrance onto
13 the property from the southern part of the property, and that
14 is being done at the suggestion of Weld County Government.
15 Weld County Government felt that that would be a safer
16 situation.
17 And secondly, Mr. Rodriguez, in this
18 application process has been a great example of cooperation
19 with Weld County Government. Everything that Weld County
20 Government has asked him to do, he has done, hasn't
21 complained about it, and has done so in a timely fashion.
22 MR. RODRIGUEZ: And plan to continue doing so
23 in the future as well.
24 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Commissioner Long?
25 COMMISSIONER LONG: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
59
1 Can you talk about the capacity of the dance
2 floors or the restaurant because I know you have it in
3 different segments, and what are the capacities of each one
4 of those?
5 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Sir, I believe the capacity
6 that was given to the dance area, which is the nightclub
7 area, is around 700, and I believe the capacity on the
8 restaurant part is about 150 to 169, if I 'm correct.
9 COMMISSIONER LONG: So 700 is inclusive of
10 both the licensed and the non-licensed --
11 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Right, right.
12 COMMISSIONER LONG: -- dance floors?
13 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Right.
14 COMMISSIONER LONG: So that would be split,
15 I 'd imagine --
16 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes.
17 COMMISSIONER LONG: -- kind of in half, 350
18 for each side?
19 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Right. Yeah, it' s about 300
20 minors and a little over 300 adults.
21 COMMISSIONER LONG: Okay. And I 'm looking at
22 the diagram now of the facility, and it appears, and I just
23 want to clarify with you, that there' s a solid wall around
24 the stage?
25 MR. RODRIGUEZ: There is not a wall in there.
60
1 There will be a six-foot wall around -- separated into two
2 sections.
3 COMMISSIONER LONG: Oh, okay. So you 're
4 saying that the band or the entertainment will be up on the
5 stage?
6 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Um-hum.
7 COMMISSIONER LONG: So there won't be
8 accessibility between those, but there will be open air?
9 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Right, there will be open air
10 in that area, but there will be security in that area --
11 COMMISSIONER LONG: Okay.
12 MR. RODRIGUEZ: -- at all times. And, you
13 know, the stage is about 36 inches, or a little over 36
14 inches high. So it' s close to 40 inches. So it' s pretty
15 high itself.
16 COMMISSIONER LONG: Okay. When you speak of
17 training, can you elaborate a little bit on that, what you're
18 going to offer?
19 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Okay. What kind of training
20 is there going to be?
21 COMMISSIONER LONG: Well, yeah, you talked
22 about different classes or different things as a multi-
23 cultural facility.
24 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Sure.
25 COMMISSIONER LONG: And I just ask you to
61
1 elaborate what kind of classes you're talking about, age
2 groups and how you're going to regulate that --
3 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Sure.
4 COMMISSIONER LONG: -- or pay for that even.
5 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Right. The classes are going
6 to be -- most of them are going to be free because they're
7 going to be from the State. And again, Mr. Vigil and one of
8 the representatives from the Mexican Consul is going to help
9 out. So there probably won't be -- there won't be no fees
10 for the people who want to attend these classes. The idea is
11 to have these people come in and train on the different
12 subjects, such as, you know, like if a person doesn't know --
13 he or she is from Mexico or another country and they don 't
14 know what kind of rules -- you know, because the rules here
15 are different from any other country. So a lot of times they
16 think that, hey, we can roast a pork in the backyard, that's
17 not necessarily true.
18 You know, a lot of communities don't allow a
19 person to have a car parked on the grass or they can fix the
20 engine right in front of their house. And those kind of
21 trainings we want to have, you know. And that' s just an
22 example, a really small example of things that we want to
23 train people.
24 Like I said, we want to get involved with the
25 high schools. We want to get involved with the recreational.
62
1 And all these activities are going to be funded. I 'm going
2 to provide the facility and the food, and the schools, the
3 State or Sheriff ' s Department, or anyone who wants to hold a
4 training, is going to provide the training for the people.
5 MR. MARTINEZ: Commissioner, I think Mr.
6 Rodriguez ' s vision for making this facility available for
7 community meetings and classes is providing a location where
8 such things as hygiene classes or nutrition classes, which
9 are put sometimes by county government or by the local
10 university, English, learning how to speak English, how do
11 you go about filling out an application to get a job, his --
12 I think that' s his vision.
13 I don't think that what he is telling you is
14 that he, himself, is going to be the initiator of these
15 classes, but what he is telling you is, he wants to provide a
16 facility where local county government and city government
17 can have a place to -- actually a very nice facility to stage
18 those types of classes and training sessions. And what he's
19 also saying is he is happy to do that without any cost to
20 local government.
21 COMMISSIONER LONG: Thank you. One more from
22 me.
23 And you said you're going to open this to
24 different organizations. They' ll be able to come in here and
25 have celebrations, or whatever.
63
1 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes.
2 COMMISSIONER LONG: Is there a threshold -- is
3 there a number where somebody is going to have to pay or not
4 pay? Are they going to have to buy their food from the
5 establishment in order to have a function there?
6 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, this is -- what I 'm
7 going to have is, I 'm going to set up some kind of a price
8 list, and what that 's going to be is for people who want to
9 have like private parties, like a wedding, you know, or
10 celebrate a birthday. Those type of things, we 're going to
11 have -- I 'm going to have to charge for that because they're
12 going to use a lot of food, you know.
13 What I am willing to do is put out the food at
14 no cost, is for the training sections. But all the
15 activities, like bringing in Lewis and Floor Wax is
16 expensive, so you'd have to have some kind of cover charge
17 for that.
18 COMMISSIONER LONG: Thank you.
19 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Commissioner Gelle?
20 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Yeah, a couple questions.
21 The petition that you passed, how did you go
22 about passing that? Did you go door-to-door, or did you --
23 how did you go about doing that?
24 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Door-to-door.
25 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Door-to-door. The other
64
1 question I had, it kind of relates back to the lease. I want
2 to make sure I understand who the parties in the lease are,
3 Counsel.
4 This is the Ruben Rodriguez that ' s stated in
5 the lease?
6 MR. MARTINEZ: Yes.
7 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes.
8 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Also, in the lease we
9 have Manuel Martinez (sic) and Jose Silva?
10 MR. RODRIGUEZ : Manriquez , Manuel Manriquez .
11 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Yes.
12 MR. MARTINEZ: Commissioner, Manriquez and
13 Silva and Rodriguez have formed a partnership, and they
14 are -- they have an option to purchase the building if, in
15 fact, the liquor license were eventually approved by the
16 Commission. That partnership has an extended lease to a
17 limited liability company of which Mr. Rodriguez has all the
18 equity in, and that limited liability company is RJML, LLC.
19 So in other words, what we have here is there
20 -- the partnership has a pending contract on the property,
21 which will be closed upon the approval of the liquor license.
22 That partnership has extended -- the partnership also has a
23 lease with the Formby family to use the property. The
24 partnership has sublet the place to Mr. Rodriguez with a
25 consent of the Formby family.
65
1 So once the -- if, in fact, the Commission
2 approves this application, the tenants -- the partnership,
3 which is both tenant and has a contract to purchase the
4 property, will become the owners. And Mr. -- RJML, LLC, will
5 go from being a sub-tenant to a tenant. And all of these
6 documents have been provided in the application.
7 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Yes, I know that. I 'm
8 just trying to understand the documents, Counsel.
9 The lease between Formby and Manuel Manriquez,
10 Ruben Martinez (sic) and Jose Silva, I couldn't find any
11 option to purchase, but there is an option to purchase in
12 there and there is a valid contract pending if this were
13 approved?
14 MR. MARTINEZ: Yes, yes.
15 COMMISSIONER GELLE: So that is in there?
16 MR. MARTINEZ: Yes.
17 COMMISSIONER GELLE: The other thing, in the
18 lease that -- in the lease it mentions 500 parking spaces.
19 As a matter of fact, it says parking -- and this is the one
20 between Manuel Manriquez , Jose Silva and Ruben Rodriguez .
21 It' s dated October 1, 2000, on the first part. Under parking
22 it says, "Tenants shall be entitled to use 500 parking spaces
23 for the parking of the tenants ' , customers' , guests ' motor
24 vehicles. And that kind of ties back to -- I think the
25 testimony has been two or three hundred parking spaces that
66
1 you were going to make available.
2 MR. MARTINEZ: Yeah -- excuse me.
3 COMMISSIONER GELLE: And then -- if I could,
4 and then maybe we could just handle the whole question.
5 MR. RODRIGUEZ: I think part of the other
6 spaces, and I 'm not sure, I think it was a rough estimate at
7 that time, but I think some of the spaces come by using the
8 facility, the railroad facility, which is just east of the
9 end of the parking area for RJML. There is almost two acres
10 of land which is not paved, which is just east of the end of
11 the parking area.
12 And I think when Mr. Formby wrote those
13 numbers, I think he wrote it with the intention that there
14 was space for 500 cars. I don't know if he had 500 cars
15 parked in there when he had the dealership, you know, using
16 the two areas, the railroad and the facility, the parking
17 area for RJML.
18 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Okay. The other thing,
19 tying that forth, when we talk about a capacity of 700, do
20 you ever anticipate there ' s going to be 700 people in the bar
21 end or the dancing area --
22 MR. RODRIGUEZ: You know --
23 COMMISSIONER GELLE: -- which gets back to the
24 number of vehicles it takes to --
25 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, I don't know. At this
67
1 time I hope it' s a good business. I don't know how many
2 people to expect.
3 COMMISSIONER GELLE: All I 'm trying to do is
4 to get the numbers straight, and I 'm having a little trouble.
5 MR. MARTINEZ: Commissioner, we have committed
6 to the Sheriff ' s Department that we will not allow any
7 more -- we will not have any more than four people per
8 parking space. And, so technically, we could have as many as
9 800 people pursuant to that agreement. However, because the
10 capacity has been capped at 700 people by the Fire
11 Department, I think we' ll have plenty of parking for the
12 people that do come, and we will be in compliance with our
13 agreement with the Sheriff ' s Department, which is to have at
14 least one space per every four people.
15 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Okay. One last question.
16 What is the total value of the improvements you anticipate
17 making in the property?
18 MR. RODRIGUEZ: At the end of the project?
19 Yeah, it 's going to be around 250, 000 .
20 COMMISSIONER GELLE: 250, 000?
21 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yeah.
22 COMMISSIONER GELLE: And when you opened,
23 Counsel, you were talking about taking a loan through the
24 Valley Bank for 100, 000?
25 MR. MARTINEZ: He is in discussions with the
68
1 Small Business Administration to try to get loans, and he' s
2 also been talking with, I think, Valley Bank.
3 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, but also, the discussion
4 about the 125, 000, that's just what I 'm going to be putting
5 into the business. But remember, this is -- there are three
6 investors in this property.
7 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Okay. That' s my
8 question. Are the only investors in the property the --
9 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Well, when I 'm talking about
10 investors, is just on the property itself, not so much on the
11 -- not the business part, but the property itself.
12 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Counsel, let me -- the
13 LLC that forms RJML --
14 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Is myself.
15 COMMISSIONER GELLE: It' s just yourself?
16 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Right.
17 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Are Ruben -- or excuse me
18 -- Manuel Manriquez or Jose Silva investors in this property?
19 MR. RODRIGUEZ: They are investors on the
20 property.
21 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Okay.
22 MR. RODRIGUEZ: And remember, I 'm leasing from
23 these people, from this partnership.
24 COMMISSIONER GELLE: And they would be the
25 only ones with a financial interest in this property?
69
1 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Right.
2 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Has there been background
3 checks conducted on Manuel Manriquez and Jose Silva?
4 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Well, see, they are not part
5 of the business; they're just part of the property. I 'm
6 going to be leasing from this partnership.
7 COMMISSIONER GELLE: And one last question.
8 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Sure.
9 COMMISSIONER GELLE: On the dance hall, it' s
10 open Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday?
11 MR. RODRIGUEZ: And Sunday, correct.
12 COMMISSIONER GELLE: And what are the hours
13 again? I got the 1: 30, but I didn't get the starting hour?
14 MR. RODRIGUEZ: The starting is 7 o'clock,
15 7 : 00 p.m. And now remember, we're going to have different
16 activities, so it's going to be opened up at different hours
17 during the week for the dance area, depending on the
18 activity.
19 MR. MARTINEZ: And, Commissioner, if the
20 Commission feels that it would be appropriate to provide
21 individual history forms on the other members of the
22 partnership who will own the property, we have no problem
23 doing that. In fact, Mr. Manriquez, I think, who has an
24 interest in Club Romance, has already previously supplied an
25 individual history to the licensing authority.
70
1 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Thank you.
2 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Commissioner Masden?
3 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
4 Yes, Ruben, I had a few questions.
5 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Sure.
6 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Are you going to provide
7 like a cab or a van --
8 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes, yes.
9 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: -- to drive people?
10 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes. And I 've been talking to
11 different companies right now. I think the unfortunate thing
12 is that Brighton had a cab company, and they went out of
13 business just recently. But I 've been talking to the company
14 here in Windsor, which I use, or we used at Club Romance at
15 different times. When I say yeah, it' s because I used to
16 call them a lot of times for, you know, to come in and pick
17 people up. But there is also companies in Northglenn and
18 Thornton that I have been talking to, and one of those
19 companies, depending on who gives me the best rate, would be
20 used for this. And they're all excited. They all want this
21 business, so --
22 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: I was just kind of
23 curious, too, how that would work -- how responsive people
24 are -- are they to that situation when you try to tell them,
25 no, you can't drive, or give me your keys.
71
1 MR. RODRIGUEZ: You know, they are getting
2 more accustomed to that because they don't want to be in
3 trouble with the law. They want to go out there, have fun
4 and drink, but they just don't want to -- they don't want to
5 find themselves in jail or have their cars taken away or have
6 a DUI or any problems. So they're getting more -- they're
7 accepting the idea a little bit more.
8 Also, I think one of the things that is going
9 to help them out a lot, making themselves feel more
10 comfortable, is that since there are so many cameras in the
11 property, and they're going to be operating 24 hours a day,
12 and they're going to be posting on that all through the
13 building, they're going to, you know, accept the idea a lot
14 more because they're going to feel comfortable leaving the
15 cars in the facility.
16 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Okay. How many security
17 individuals are you going to have inside and outside, total?
18 MR. RODRIGUEZ: It will depend on the amount
19 of people that we have. It' s going to be one security for
20 every 50 patrons. And on the outside, there will be two
21 security personnel at all times. Even though we have all the
22 -- I have all the cameras set up around the building, there
23 will still be two security officers outside.
24 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Okay. You say one per
25 50, but depending on how many people you get.
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1 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, like if you have 200
2 people on say a Friday night or a Thursday night, there will
3 be four security that are concentrated on just those 200
4 people, and then there will be two security, two additional
5 security outside in the parking area.
6 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Yeah, but how are you
7 going to know? Are you going to sell tickets ahead of time
8 for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, for Thursday, Friday?
9 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Well, I think at the beginning
10 it 's going to be hard to do that. What I 'm going to do is
11 have more than the necessary security. So at first, I might
12 have eight security on a Friday night when I only need two or
13 four, but I 'm going to have extra just to make sure. And
14 when the business kind of levels down a little bit, then
15 you ' ll have an idea of how many you need. It will probably
16 take a month or so. So the first month, there is going to be
17 a lot more security as I need it, but then after the first
18 month, you' ll kind of have an idea of what you need so you
19 have them there.
20 MR. MARTINEZ: And, Commissioner --
21 MR. RODRIGUEZ: I 'm sorry. The owner of the
22 company, which is Union Colony, he 's willing to send out
23 security as needed. So like, I have eight security on a
24 Saturday night and I have more than that many people, then
25 he' ll send a couple more security right away. So it will
73
1 take him, you know, 20, 25 minutes to get there, or if
2 they're in Fort Lupton, you know, it will just take them a
3 few minutes to get there.
4 MR. MARTINEZ: And this figure, this ratio of
5 1 to 50, is something that has been suggested to us by the
6 Sheriff ' s Department, which we have no objection to.
7 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Okay. On another part
8 of the security, I guess, are you going to have kind of metal
9 detectors or anything for people walking in?
10 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, we ' ll have metal
11 detectors at the main entrances.
12 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: On --
13 MR. RODRIGUEZ: On the entrances to the --
14 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: On the entrances to
15 the --
16 MR. RODRIGUEZ: To the facility, yeah.
17 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: To the -- just to the
18 dance area?
19 MR. RODRIGUEZ: The dance area. Yeah, just to
20 the dance area. The restaurant, you don 't -- you know, you
21 don't want to do that to them, or you usually don't do that.
22 You don't see that. You know, you don't see metal detectors
23 in the restaurant area since this is more of a place to go
24 out and eat.
25 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Okay. And you're not
74
1 going to have any, I guess, up over on the juvenile side,
2 then?
3 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Oh, yeah, they will be on the
4 juvenile side and they will be on the dance area. I guess
5 what I 'm trying to explain, it will be -- there will be metal
6 detectors on both sides where the dance area is going -- you
7 know, the activity for the dance area, not the restaurant.
8 MR. MARTINEZ: And, Commissioner, there' s no
9 access from the restaurant to the dance area except by going
10 outside and coming in through the outside entrances.
11 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: I beg to differ with you
12 on that because when I made the inspection, you can go
13 through the bathrooms from the restaurant area into the dance
14 area.
15 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Right. No, I 'm sorry, he has
16 a --
17 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: And that was another
18 question I wanted to ask because you can access the dance
19 area from the restaurant, so --
20 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Right, you can access the
21 dance area from the restaurant on the adult side.
22 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Right.
23 MR. RODRIGUEZ: You cannot access it through
24 the minor area --
25 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: So --
75
1 MR. RODRIGUEZ: -- because the minor area has
2 their own -- they have their own restrooms, and they have --
3 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: And they're enclosed.
4 MR. RODRIGUEZ: -- their own bar, which is
5 just to serve soft drinks and water and juice.
6 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Right. So are you going
7 to have metal detectors on the restrooms, I guess, on the bar
8 area then?
9 MR. RODRIGUEZ: See, once the restaurant
10 closes at 8: 00 p.m. , these three doors in the bathrooms -- I
11 don't know if you can see them here -- these three doors will
12 be locked. They' ll have a key, and the only access would be
13 through these doors. So the only area where patrons are
14 going to be allowed is just going to be this area after
15 8 : 00 p.m.
16 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: But that ' s -- so you can
17 access, though, the restaurant into the dance area --
18 MR. RODRIGUEZ: From the adult side, yeah.
19 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: -- from the adult
20 side --
21 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes.
22 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: -- and bypass the metal
23 detectors then?
24 MR. RODRIGUEZ: You're not going to be able to
25 because the doors are going to be locked up again. They're
76
1 going to be locked up with a key. So these doors after
2 certain hours, they're going to be locked up.
3 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Okay. So you're going
4 to close the restaurant before you open the dance area?
5 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes. See, the restaurant is
6 going to be closed at 8: 00 p.m. Usually people don 't start
7 coming for the dance until about 8 : 30 or 9 : 00 . Even though,
8 you know, we have it set up at 7 : 00, I have it opening at
9 7 : 00, the actual dance, the music won't start 'till 8 : 00 p.m.
10 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: And you won't let
11 anybody into that area?
12 MR. RODRIGUEZ: No. And that' s why, you know,
13 security are going to, you know, do their part. That' s where
14 they're going to come in and say, okay, well, let' s keep
15 track of these people coming in.
16 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Having that ratio, I
17 guess, of guards, are any of your guards in there going to be
18 armed?
19 MR. RODRIGUEZ: We can have them -- they're
20 licensed security. Union Colony is an armed, licensed
21 security. I don't expect for us to be armed, no.
22 MR. MARTINEZ: Commissioner, I apologize. I
23 wasn't aware of that setup, so I apologize.
24 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: That' s no problem.
25 How many guards are you going to have on the
77
1 adult side and how many on the underage side?
2 MR. RODRIGUEZ: There will probably be more on
3 the adult side, since, you know, people, when they drink,
4 they tend to be a little bit more -- at times a little bit
5 more aggressive or a little bit more wild, I guess. On the
6 minor side, you tend to not have any problems usually.
7 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: So that 's --
8 MR. RODRIGUEZ: So the rest is going to vary,
9 just depending on, you know, what the situation is or, you
10 know, how many patrons you have because if you have a night
11 where, you know, you have 200 minors and you have 50 adults,
12 then, you know, you' ll probably have most of the security on
13 the other side rather than the adult side.
14 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Okay. On the wall
15 separating the two, are there going to be windows or
16 anything?
17 MR. RODRIGUEZ: It' s going to -- what I 'm
18 proposing is fans, that is about six-foot fans. So there
19 won't be no windows. It will just be an opening on the top
20 part, you know, from the end of the fence to the roof, toward
21 the ceiling.
22 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Okay. And then where
23 that fence goes, that will be a permanent fence?
24 MR. RODRIGUEZ: It will be a permanent fence,
25 yeah. You won't be able to move it, you know, every day or
78
1 anything like that. It will be permanent there.
2 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: It shows where it goes
3 to the -- it' s basically slitting the stage, and I know when
4 I was in there and did the inspection and talked to Tony --
5 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Right.
6 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: -- he said that it was
7 actually going to go off more towards the juvenile side.
8 MR. RODRIGUEZ: The fans was going to go --
9 the stage was going to go more to the juvenile?
10 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Well, no, the fence was
11 going to go more over on --
12 MR. RODRIGUEZ: No, it' s actually going to be
13 the same size all the way through. It ' s just where the stage
14 starts is just going to be a little smaller because the stage
15 is only a 40 -- I believe it ' s a 40-inch height. But there
16 will be security patrolling that area there, so they' ll make
17 sure, you know, no one would try to jump over the stage area.
18 I don't think they' ll jump over a six-foot fence, but if they
19 try to jump over the stage area, I don't think they 're going
20 to be allowed to because security is going to be watching
21 that.
22 MR. MARTINEZ: Okay, thank you.
23 COMMISSIONER VAAD: All right. We will be in
24 recess for 15 minutes, and we ' ll start right at five minutes
25 'till 11: 00 when we come back. And I ' ll announce the rest of
79
1 the procedure at that time. So, thank you.
2 (Whereupon, a recess was taken. )
3 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Oh, I do have a question,
4 Mr. Martinez , if I may, that I would like to have addressed.
5 And I guess, Mr. Rodriguez, too, if you would come back. I
6 apologize for that, but we do have two continuing questions.
7 The first is of an operational or a physical
8 nature. Would you address how patrons in the restaurant will
9 be served alcohol physically? I mean, will someone have to
10 go to the club side to bring alcohol, or will there be
11 alcohol served?
12 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, they're going to have to
13 go to the club side to get the alcohol. The waitress or the
14 serving person, the server, is going to have to go to the bar
15 section to get the alcohol.
16 COMMISSIONER VAAD: And there' s a passage
17 provided specifically for that? This won't be going through
18 bathrooms or --
19 MR. RODRIGUEZ: No, there' s an entrance --
20 there' s an entrance on this section -- in this area. There' s
21 a door in there (indicating) .
22 COMMISSIONER VAAD: All right. And,
23 Commissioner Gelle, you had one additional question.
24 COMMISSIONER GELLE: I did. I want to make
25 sure, again, I understand the financial abilities, especially
80
1 as it 's associated in the documents that we have in front of
2 you, and I did pull up the contract to buy and sell real
3 estate. And I 'm in the addendum to the agreement where it
4 talks about the purchase price, and it 's actually blanked
5 out. But the purchase price was $474 , 000. It ' s blanked out
6 so there can be another number there. But before we get
7 there, let me finish the question.
8 The contract also includes an option, the
9 contract which buyer agrees to pay seller $50, 000 on November
10 10th, which is non-refundable. And then it goes on to say
11 and 100, 000 -- excuse me, that ' s November 10, 2000 . And then
12 $100, 000 on November 10, 2001. Both of these are non-
13 refundable.
14 Plus, is going to have the obligation of being
15 able to come up with $474 , 000, and it goes over that, we' ll
16 have to provide cash for this whole thing to work as far as
17 the option to purchase.
18 And again, I want to make sure that the only
19 ones involved in this in order to finance -- I want to make
20 sure that there isn't other money involved in this. So could
21 I have some assurances from you, Counsel, that -- or from the
22 applicant, Mr. Rodriguez, that you're the only ones that have
23 a financial -- because we're talking about a lot of money --
24 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Right. I 'm the --
25 COMMISSIONER GELLE: -- and a lot of
81
1 obligations.
2 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, we are the only actual
3 owners of this property, Manuel, Jesus and myself, the actual
4 owner, the only owner of the business.
5 So the way the contract was structured is that
6 this is a purchasing -- a lease with an option to purchase.
7 And what we have done -- when I 'm saying we, I 'm talking
8 about the partners on the property. We have put in $150, 000
9 as a down payment so far. So if you deduct -- from the
10 750, 000, if you deduct 150, there is still a pending 600, 000
11 towards the principal.
12 There is a reduction every month on the
13 payment, so the rent payment so much a month is going towards
14 the payment and so much a month is going to the principal.
15 So at the end of the first five-year lease, there will be a
16 reduction. And I think the price, like you said, is 474 at
17 the end of the five-year lease, so that ' s the time frame that
18 they gave us to find a financing company to do this, to
19 finance this.
20 COMMISSIONER GELLE: I just want to make sure,
21 Mr. Rodriguez, because we talk about the 474 and the 250, 000
22 to go ahead and make improvements. Plus, I mean, you're
23 already up to about 700, 000, maybe pushing 800, 000. I just
24 want to make sure that the only -- that there' s not other
25 interests involved with this who are providing financial
82
1 support to be able to make this.
2 MR. RODRIGUEZ: No, this is the only interest.
3 COMMISSIONER GELLE: So the only three would
4 be you and the other two partners?
5 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes.
6 COMMISSIONER GELLE: And that ' s it?
7 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes. Yeah, the way the
8 contract is structured is a little different than you would
9 normally see on a mortgage, and the reason for that is
10 because Emit Formby is financing this property.
11 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Okay. Thank you.
12 COMMISSIONER VAAD: All right. Let me
13 announce how we' ll proceed from here. Commissioner Jerke?
14 COMMISSIONER JERKE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
15 And kind of in that line of questioning, too,
16 I wanted to ask just a question or two regarding ownership
17 and how this works. I 'm not an expert on liquor law by any
18 means, but as I recall, there' s something that says in State
19 liquor laws that you're not supposed to own more than one bar
20 I guess at a time.
21 I guess I 'm just curious with respect to this
22 business lease between the three parties of Manuel and Ruben
23 and Jesus and how that equates to how that works. And I
24 guess I 'm asking the counsel maybe to help me understand.
25 When you lease -- it says right here a
83
1 business lease. When you lease something specifically for
2 that purpose and one of the signers of that lease, to my way
3 of thinking, is one of the owners of that business, then
4 it 's a business lease to those people. How does that work,
5 then, with State liquor laws, or am I misunderstanding State
6 liquor laws?
7 MR. MARTINEZ: Councilman -- I mean, I 'm
8 sorry. I 'm used to dealing with Denver City Council.
9 Commissioner, about a year or so ago, within
10 the last 18 months, the Colorado Legislature changed the law
11 regarding taverns to allow individuals to have an interest in
12 more than one tavern liquor license. So as we now stand, you
13 can have an interest in as many as three tavern liquor
14 licenses.
15 And the reason the Legislature did that is
16 because the Legislature had allowed gaining retail tavern
17 liquor license to have an interest in three gaining
18 establishments. So the owners of taverns said why is it okay
19 for gaining establishments to have as many as three interests
20 and we can't. So in response to that, the Legislature about
21 18 months or so ago changed the law to allow an individual to
22 legally have an interest in more than one tavern liquor
23 license, but no more than three.
24 Secondly, I guess you could say that Mr.
25 Rodriguez is in effect paying rent to himself because the way
84
1 this is structured is you have Mr. Formby, who is carrying
2 the note, who has a contract to sell. Well, it ' s a lease.
3 It' s basically a lease with an option to buy. And it' s the
4 partnership that Mr. Rodriguez with Mr. Manriquez , and I
5 think it' s Mr. Silva --
6 MR. RODRIGUEZ: Right.
7 MR. MARTINEZ: That entity, or those three,
8 have sublet their interest to RJML, LLC, which is an LLC,
9 limited liability company, of which Mr. Rodriguez owns and
10 controls all of the equity interest.
11 And this is -- I mean, I -- this is not an
12 unusual type of relationship. I mean, I 've been involved in
13 a number of these. And State liquor enforcement' s policy on
14 these types of matters is if the local licensing authority in
15 such a transaction feels it ' s important to require the owners
16 of the property in such a transaction to provide individual
17 histories, fine, but usually the State isn't going to ask for
18 individual histories. The State looks at this kind of like
19 you have a person who they can sign on the checks. They have
20 no equity interest, but they can sign on the checks. Most
21 licensing authorities require that individual histories be
22 conducted and provided on all of those individuals also, even
23 though they don't have an ownership interest.
24 And as I indicated earlier, if the
25 Commissioners feel that they would feel more comfortable with
85
1 us providing individual histories on those individuals, we do
2 not have an objection to that.
3 COMMISSIONER JERKE: Thank you.
4 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Are there any other
5 questions?
6 (No response. )
7 COMMISSIONER VAAD: All right. Let me
8 again -- and that ' s how we' ll proceed from here. I will
9 invite staff to address their particular concerns.
10 Mr. Martinez, I might ask you to stay there, I
11 think for your convenience.
12 MR. MARTINEZ: Okay.
13 COMMISSIONER VAAD: It will easy for you to
14 use the table to write and work here.
15 And then after staff, I ' ll ask the Sheriff ' s
16 Office for their comments. And then after that, we will ask
17 those people, Mr. Martinez , that you mentioned who would like
18 to testify on behalf of this. And then subsequent to that,
19 we ' ll do the balance of the public.
20 In all the case, I would remind the public
21 that your testimony is to the Board of County Commissioners,
22 and we won't have a dialogue between the witnesses and the
23 applicant. However, I would like the applicant to keep notes
24 and be ready to respond to the issues brought up by the
25 people as they come forward.
86
1 And then after that, we' ll ask the applicant
2 to make their final summary comments and responses to what
3 you've heard, and then we ' ll go into the deliberation of the
4 Board of County Commissioners.
5 So I hope that' s clear. With that, let me ask
6 Public Works for your comments, and then following that will
7 be Planning Service and the Sheriff 's Office.
8 MR. CARROLL: Good morning, Commissioners.
9 Don Carroll, Department of Public Works. I 'd like to comment
10 on a couple of items.
11 We had asked for a traffic study, which they
12 have supplied to us. In that traffic study there is a couple
13 of items that were identified, closing the two entrances off
14 the existing frontage road, which they've agreed to do, and
15 create a new access onto Weld County Road 16, which they have
16 completed.
17 The other item which was brought up this
18 morning was once the traffic is being released from the
19 parking lot, say at 12 : 00 or 12 : 30 or a little later, they
20 had mentioned that they would be setting up some cones and
21 directing traffic onto Denver Avenue south towards the
22 intersection, then basically disperse towards the light
23 there.
24 I 'm not real sure that Public Works has
25 control over that. I believe that would be more of a
87
1 Sheriff 's Department type item, and Ken Poncelow is here with
2 the Sheriff 's Department and could probably address that.
3 The other item I had was on the parking lot,
4 just to give you a little bit of information on that.
5 They're proposing somewhere around 200, plus or minus, spaces
6 on the paved portion, and they do have an overflow lot which
7 would accommodate about 140 people at the location there. I
8 do take a look at this when I 'm down in the area there. They
9 are progressing along. Things are shaping up a little bit
10 down there. I think I 'm comfortable with what they're doing.
11 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you. Any questions
12 of Public Works?
13 (No response. )
14 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you, Don.
15 Planning Services.
16 MR. OGLE: Good morning, Kim Ogle, Department
17 of Planning Services.
18 The applicant did submit his site plan review
19 for processing. It was approved back in late December of
20 2001. We did take collateral for the improvements agreement
21 in early January, and they are in compliance as far as
22 Planned Services is at this time.
23 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Are there any questions of
24 Kim?
25 (No response. )
88
1 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you. Weld County
2 Sheriff ' s Office.
3 MR. PONCELOW: Good morning again, gentlemen;
4 Ken Poncelow with the Weld County Sheriff ' s Office.
5 You're all aware of the philosophy of the
6 Sheriff ' s Office that does run a legitimate business within
7 our communities, and so we support those, and that 's probably
8 the reason why we started the tips training law and the other
9 things.
10 I have had the opportunity to work with Mr.
11 Rodriguez extensively with the Club Romance thing that went
12 on. He has done everything that we've asked him to do, as
13 well as (inaudible) done everything that we've asked him to
14 do.
15 It would also be very nice if we had someplace
16 where we would be able to train people, especially those
17 people from coming outside the country, as to what our laws
18 are and our customs and those sorts of things so that they
19 were not doing some of the things that they do in Mexico
20 which are not permissible here.
21 As far as the blocking the roadway, that ' s not
22 unheard of. We have several funeral companies that do the
23 same thing when they're doing funeral escorts. However, I
24 believe to close a county road, that takes something from the
25 County Commissioners and a resolution from you. You might
89
1 check with that with counsel.
2 All of that being said, any time you put 600
3 people in a bar and you serve them alcohol, there are going
4 to be problems, and that would be a real stress on our
5 resources that we have available. So a lot of that would
6 have to go, and we would be calling for mutual aid from one
7 of our sister cities, Fort Lupton down there, and I don't
8 know how their resources are. That doesn't fit into our
9 comprehensive plan that we submitted to the County
10 Commissioners several years ago, so this would be an extra
11 for that.
12 Are there any questions?
13 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Are there questions of the
14 deputy?
15 (No response. )
16 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you very much.
17 MR. PONCELOW: Thank you, sir.
18 COMMISSIONER VAAD: All right. Mr. Martinez,
19 you had mentioned some names from a list. If you would like
20 to call them up in that order, that would be fine. And I
21 would ask all of you to come to the lectern, to give your
22 name and address, and I might ask you to spell those if it's
23 not clear for the record because we do keep records.
24 MR. MARTINEZ: I would ask Jessie Silva.
25 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Welcome to the Board of
90
1 County Commissioners. If you'd just step to the microphone
2 there, please.
3 MR. SILVA: Yeah, my name is Jose Jesus Silva,
4 S-I-L-V-A. I live in Fort Lupton. The address is 930 South
5 McKinley, 80621 -- Fort Lupton, Colorado 80621.
6 So the reason why I came this morning is
7 because I want to ask all of you Commissioners to approve
8 this license because this is not only going to be only a
9 dance place. Like Mr. Rodriguez says, it' s going to be a
10 place for a lot of activities. You know, I hear a lot of
11 rumors in Fort Lupton, you know, talking about only a Mexican
12 place. But it' s not only going to be a dance place, it' s
13 going to be a great place. There' s going to be a lot of
14 activities, and it's going to be a good thing.
15 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you, Mr. Silva.
16 Are there any questions of Mr. Silva?
17 (No response. )
18 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you very much.
19 MR. MARTINEZ: Commissioners, there are some
20 individuals who are here from Greeley, that I don't know how
21 far -- I don't know how far north the neighborhood extends.
22 I would assume that maybe they would -- if they live in
23 Greeley, they're outside of the neighborhood?
24 COMMISSIONER JERKE: This is correct. The
25 neighborhood extends north approximately one mile.
91
1 MR. MARTINEZ: Okay. I would then call Jorje
2 Silva (phonetic) .
3 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Welcome to the Board of
4 County Commissioners. If you'd give us your name and address
5 from the microphone, please?
6 MR. SILVA: Hello. My name is Jorje Silva. I
7 live at 930 South McKinley, Fort Lupton, Colorado.
8 I believe that this establishment would be
9 beneficial to the community in several ways, including
10 entertainment and functionality as far as those classes that
11 could be provided at that location. Just the fact that
12 they're going to provide the facilities to the community, I 'm
13 for it.
14 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you, Mr. Silva. Are
15 there questions of Mr. Silva?
16 (No response. )
17 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Seeing none, thank you
18 very much for your testimony.
19 MR. MARTINEZ: Mr. Commissioners, we have
20 other supporters here, but, unfortunately, since many of them
21 are from Greeley, I think they 're outside of the area. We
22 did have Fernando Canjos (phonetic) , who was here earlier,
23 who has a restaurant in Fort Lupton and is also a resident
24 there; Patricia ' s Mexican Restaurant.
25 MR. RODRIGUEZ: That is correct
92
1 MR. MARTINEZ: But I think he had to leave.
2 We have no other evidence to present to the
3 Commission at this time.
4 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you.
5 All right. This is a public hearing, and I
6 will now invite those of you who would like to speak for or
7 in opposition to this application to please come forward and
8 do so at this time.
9 Again, if you would step to the microphone at
10 the lectern and give us your name and address for our
11 records, I 'd appreciate it.
12 All right. Welcome to the Board of County
13 Commissioners.
14 MR. CLARK: Good morning. My name is Ken
15 Clark. I 'm the Mayor Pro-Tem of the City of Fort Lupton,
16 Colorado. Mayor Jensen extends his regrets that he is unable
17 to attend this hearing. He simply couldn't arrange his
18 schedule around the continuance of this hearing. My office
19 address is 130 South McKinley Avenue, Fort Lupton, Colorado
20 80621.
21 The City of Fort Lupton previously has
22 communicated to Weld County several concerns about the
23 proposed establishment. In regards to traffic safety, the
24 intersection of Weld 16 with the railroad and U. S. Highway 85
25 is hazardous under the best of conditions. At night the
93
1 intersection is more dangerous, even without the addition of
2 alcohol, to drivers attempting to navigate it.
3 The Colorado Department of Transportation' s
4 U.S. 85 Access Control Plan would eliminate this
5 intersection, but that is not likely to happen for many
6 years.
7 Weld 16 itself is not designed to accommodate
8 the volume of traffic entering and leaving the site during
9 peak periods, and traffic congestion is likely to be a
10 serious problem.
11 The public safety, the proximity of the
12 proposed nightclub impacts adversely on public safety in Fort
13 Lupton. Substantially increased traffic along the frontage
14 road to Denver Avenue and 14th Street, which is Weld County
15 Road 14 1/2 , comprised of drivers who are expected to have
16 been drinking, creates a safety hazard to all citizens.
17 Because of the City's mutual aid agreement
18 with the Weld County Sheriff Department, it is likely that
19 for most incidents, Fort Lupton police officers will be
20 called upon, if not as first responders, then at least to
21 back up sheriff ' s officers. When called upon to provide aid
22 outside the city limits, Fort Lupton police officers
23 obviously are not available to protect and assist our own
24 citizens.
25 In addition to these concerns, there is no
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1 indication from citizens of Fort Lupton that such a facility
2 as proposed is even needed or desired. On the contrary,
3 citizen comments to the City Council and staff clearly
4 indicate that the additional traffic hazards and demands on
5 our police department are not at all desirable.
6 Responding to these concerns, the Fort Lupton
7 City Council adopted the following resolution, No. 2002-008 .
8 I would like to read that at this time.
9 "A resolution of the City of Fort Lupton,
10 Colorado, expressing concerns regarding the proposed
11 establishment known as El Reventon Night Club, located at
12 13015 Weld County Road 16; whereas there is currently a
13 request before the Weld County Commissioners to issue a
14 liquor license for a nightclub, known as El Reventon Night
15 Club, located at 13015 Weld County Road 16, and whereas the
16 proposed use of the site is more intent than the previous use
17 and without mitigating the impact, is not appropriate in this
18 area for urban level services, such as centralized sewer and
19 police protection are not available, and whereas the proposed
20 use will generate many customers where virtually all will
21 come and go by motor vehicle because of the remote location.
22 Many of those driving will also have consumed alcoholic
23 beverages. Public transit does not serve the site, and taxi
24 service is extremely limited.
25 "And whereas the close proximity of the site
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1 to a heavily traveled highway, Highway 85, combined with
2 dangerous left turning movements onto such highway and the
3 lack of a signalized intersection, create a serious traffic
4 safety problem, and whereas all southbound traffic from the
5 club and Road 16 is proposed to be diverted through the City
6 of Fort Lupton, and whereas the Weld County Sheriff has
7 primary jurisdiction in their ability to respond to a
8 disturbance with a peak capacity crowd of 600 patrons is a
9 concern. The ability of the Fort Lupton Police Department to
10 respond and handle such disturbances at this location is
11 minimal.
12 "Now, therefore, be it resolved that the City
13 Council hereby formally expresses its concerns regarding the
14 proposed nightclub and strongly encourages the County
15 Commissioners to ensure that all these conditions are
16 addressed and mitigated before issuance of a liquor license. "
17 This was approved and passed by a majority
18 vote of those elected at the City Council on the 23rd day of
19 January, 2002 , signed by Mayor Phil Jensen and attested by
20 the City Clerk.
21 In conclusion, there are no apparent benefits
22 to the citizens of Fort Lupton that can offset the risks and
23 burdens that would be placed upon our community by the
24 proposed nightclub. If this tavern license were approved,
25 Weld County would get a bar, but the City of Fort Lupton
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1 would get the tab.
2 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That concludes my
3 testimony. I ' ll be happy to make myself available to the
4 Commission for any questions, including questions about the
5 extensive facilities for any number of activities that are
6 already available in the City of Fort Lupton.
7 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you, Mayor Pro-Tem
8 Clark.
9 Commissioner Gelle?
10 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Mayor Pro-Tem Clark, one
11 quick question.
12 One of the referrals when the town of Fort
13 Lupton submitted its referral, it said it was not interested
14 in annexing the property, or had something to that effect.
15 And my question is, maybe it' s not contiguous. I don't know
16 how far it is from the city limits. But the question is, is
17 why wouldn 't you be interested in annexing the property?
18 MR. CLARK: Right now the location of the
19 property would not satisfy the state law established
20 requiring 1/6 contiguity. Okay, so it would satisfy that.
21 Additional property would have to be annexed. There are
22 several businesses and residences between -- on the east side
23 of the frontage road that are not currently within the city
24 limits, while that is within the city's planning and urban
25 growth area. For those properties to be annexed would
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1 require the full cooperation and coordination with those
2 property owners. We could not do a forced annexation, nor
3 would that be desirable.
4 The city limits does extend up the west side
5 of U. S. 85, but only barely to Road 16, and my understanding
6 that that would not satisfy that contiguity requirement.
7 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Do you currently serve
8 water or sewer in this area?
9 MR. CLARK: No, sir, we do not.
10 COMMISSIONER GELLE: So you're pretty well
11 confined or contained within the city limits of Fort Lupton?
12 MR. CLARK: Yes, sir. Under actually federal
13 regulation, we are a member of the Northern Colorado Water
14 Conservancy District, Special Municipal District. We are not
15 allowed by federal law to provide services outside of that
16 district. And inclusion in that district is dependent upon
17 annexation to the city. So, no, we cannot. We do not and
18 cannot.
19 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Are there other questions?
20 (No response. )
21 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Mayor Pro-Tem Clark --
22 first of all, if I may ask the applicant, do you have a copy
23 of Resolution 2002-8?
24 MR. RODRIGUEZ: No.
25 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Could you make a copy of
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1 that available to the --
2 MR. CLARK: I have a copy, and I have
3 additional copies of my testimony and attachments, including
4 the correspondence to the county, available for the
5 Commissioners.
6 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Okay. If I could ask you
7 -- so that they have an opportunity to respond to the points
8 that you made. Thank you for that.
9 MR. CLARK: Yes, sir.
10 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Now, as I listened to you
11 read the resolution, it doesn't say that you're requesting
12 denial. It says, "Please don't approve this if these items
13 are not addressed and mitigated. "
14 MR. CLARK: That' s correct.
15 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Okay.
16 MR. CLARK: The City does not oppose this or
17 any other such type of business. We worded that very
18 deliberately. We have, as stated, very serious concerns for
19 safety, and those, we believe, should be mitigated to the
20 City' s satisfaction before approval of a liquor license.
21 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Okay. And I believe I
22 understood you to say that as a result of several citizens
23 coming to the City Council, that generated the resolution?
24 MR. CLARK: Yes, sir.
25 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Was there any systematic
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1 approach to getting a petition so that you have a number of
2 your citizens who you would represent?
3 MR. CLARK: These were routine and frequent
4 contacts, direct contacts by citizens, with myself and other
5 members of the council and the mayor at our homes, at the
6 grocery store, gas station, the usual --
7 COMMISSIONER VAAD: I understand.
8 MR. CLARK: -- public hearing locations in a
9 small town, yes.
10 COMMISSIONER VAAD: All right. Thank you very
11 much. Thank you for your testimony.
12 MR. CLARK: Thank you. I have copies of this,
13 of the original resolution, and additional copies for the
14 Commission. I ' ll submit them to the clerk.
15 COMMISSIONER VAAD: I think if you would give
16 those to Cousel, they' ll mark them as an exhibit and
17 distribute those. Thank you very much.
18 MR. CLARK: Thank you, sir.
19 (Exhibit C was marked for identification. )
20 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Next, please. Welcome to
21 the County Commissioners.
22 MR. SHARON: Thank you. My name is Al Sharon,
23 S-H-A-R-O-N. I am the Chief of Police for the Fort Lupton
24 Police Department. My work address is 130 South McKinley
25 Avenue in Fort Lupton, and some will say I also live there.
100
1 First of all, I would like to commend Mr.
2 Rodriguez for his security plan. Having the ratio of guards
3 to patrons is commendable in that respect. My primary
4 concerns involving this proposal, however, is all of around
5 traffic issues. If I could just review that for just a
6 moment.
7 The intersection of County Road 16 and U. S.
8 Highway 85 is a very dark intersection. There are no street
9 lights there. There a few lights from local businesses, but
10 they do not direct light on the traveled portions of the
11 roadway. The speed limit on U. S. 85 is 65 miles an hour,
12 which is not often complied with in this area.
13 The proposal to put security staff members on
14 County Road 16 to divert traffic south on Denver Avenue to
15 14th Street, also known as County Road 14 1/2 , has some
16 issues we need to review.
17 First of all, having security staff members
18 with flashlights and traffic cones on an unlit street
19 directing traffic southward from that location presents
20 problems with legitimate users of County Road 16 attempting
21 to access County Road 16 from 85 eastward. It would be a
22 traffic hazard in my opinion, unless there was traffic
23 barricades available, prior warning for the users on Highway
24 85 and sufficient illumination to give the security staff
25 members some measure of protection at that particular
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1 point.
2 Secondly, having a large number of vehicles
3 coming southward on Bender Avenue into the city limits of
4 Fort Lupton would create traffic enforcement problems within
5 the city that my police officers would have to address.
6 Presumably at this point, we would have some opportunity to
7 engage in traffic enforcement if some of those drivers are
8 intoxicated, and this would stretch our resources and also
9 create a public safety hazard.
10 In terms of responding to the facility in the
11 event of a disturbance, in a worst-case scenario if you had
12 600 patrons and there was a disturbance, Fort Lupton Police
13 Department is the closest police agency available next to the
14 Sheriff ' s Office. If there was a disturbance involving
15 patrons there, our maximum resources at this point in time
16 would be two to three officers that we could send, and that
17 would deplete our entire street strength at that time on an
18 average night. So we could easily send two or three once in
19 awhile, but we would not be able to stay very long because
20 we're very busy and we don't have excessive staff members, so
21 it could create a significant problem. Our primary objection
22 upon responding would be to try to contain the issue pending
23 the arrival of the Sheriff ' s Office and other available
24 units.
25 So these are some concerns that I have as the
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1 Chief of Police of Fort Lupton.
2 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you, Chief Sharon.
3 Are there questions? Commissioner Masden?
4 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
5 Yes, Chief, I guess a question I have for you,
6 do you know -- Weld County does have a substation in Fort
7 Lupton. Well, approximately, at that time in the evening
8 when this establishment would be emptying out, do you know
9 how many officers are stationed in the Fort Lupton substation
10 for Weld County Sheriff ' s at that time?
11 MR. SHARON: It's my experience that the
12 deputies assigned to that area are on the road answering
13 calls for service, and they would be responding from variable
14 locations in the southern part of Weld County. So I don't
15 think they're actually stationed there at that late hour.
16 I 'm not able to answer that precisely though.
17 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Okay. So your
18 observation, then, is there are no officers in Fort Lupton at
19 that point in time?
20 MR. SHARON: Not stationed at the building.
21 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Okay. And you have you
22 said approximately two to maybe three officers on shift at
23 that time of the night?
24 MR. SHARON: On average circumstances, yes,
25 sir.
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1 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: All right. Thank you.
2 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Further questions?
3 (No response. )
4 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you for your
5 testimony, Chief.
6 Welcome to the Board of County Commissioners.
7 Please give us your name and address.
8 MR. WALLACE: Good morning. Bill Wallace,
9 W-A-L-L-A-C-E, Attorney Registration 5631. I am the City
10 Attorney for Fort Lupton. I also have had a business office
11 for many years at 415 Denver Avenue in Fort Lupton. I 've
12 been the prosecuting attorney in the Fort Lupton Municipal
13 Court for 28 years and know something about people' s behavior
14 and know something about the outlets for alcoholic beverages
15 in our community.
16 Kids of all ages, younger kids, have their
17 jealousies and their passions, and they get into scuffles
18 with one another, and they like to have fun. Adults have
19 their jealousies and passions, and they get into scuffles
20 with one another and like to have that fun. You put that
21 together, you put the adults and the youths together, and you
22 have a whole other issue. That' s one of the features of this
23 outlet that is of great concern.
24 The outlets available in Fort Lupton for the
25 serving of alcoholic beverages are Patricia' s Mexican
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1 Restaurant that has a large lounge area, a large restaurant
2 area. It' s been there for years and years. It was Zadel ' s
3 before that. Mr. Zadel is in the audience. That 's an adult
4 place.
5 There's the Silver Moon Bar, which is a modest
6 size place, but serves the need of the community. There' s
7 the Station 3 , which has a large lounge area, tavern, adult
8 place. And La Familia is a large restaurant that serves
9 alcoholic beverages.
10 The fact is very plain and very true. The
11 needs of the neighborhood and the adult inhabitants of this
12 neighborhood are being well and fully and adequately served
13 for the service of alcoholic beverages by the existing
14 outlets. And anyone who says they're not is not credible.
15 Now, I recognize that this facility proposed
16 here will meet a different need. No, there are no huge dense
17 places in Fort Lupton. So, indeed, it will be a unique
18 facility. But it is the scope, the size of this, that raises
19 the concern.
20 The facilities that we have, that I spoke of,
21 and I 'm not picking on anybody -- I ' ll pick on Station 3
22 because Sam Grab (phonetic) lets me pick on him, it' s okay.
23 There' s fights in there, and there's been fights in the
24 parking lot. There' s been drugs and alcohol in the parking
25 lot. The reason that we 've been able to contain that and
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1 control it and deal with it is the scope of the fights and
2 drugs and the alcohol have been small and incidental. When
3 we send two officers over there to corral somebody or corral
4 a problem, it's one or two people that are causing the
5 problem. They can't control everybody. People get out of
6 hand, and there might be 30 people in that facility at one
7 given time. I don't know how many times that is to 700 or
8 600 people, but that' s the problem. That' s the problem.
9 You add kids to that mix -- and there' s no way
10 that you can keep the kids and adults from mixing in that
11 parking lot. You can't put up enough fences, you can't have
12 enough guards that those people aren't going to interact with
13 each other, and there' s going to be drugs, and there 's going
14 to be alcohol.
15 Now, my position, my goal for the outlets in
16 the City of Fort Lupton is that no place is going to be
17 anything but safe and comfortable for people to go into in
18 Fort Lupton. We will not have control over that with this
19 new facility. You have been through control of these kids of
20 places. You understand what I 'm talking about. You're the
21 ones that are going to be responsible as the local licensing
22 authority to enforce whatever conditions you put on this and
23 put the people on it to govern it and regulate it from that
24 distance away. We have no control of that.
25 We see here that a great amount of effort has
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1 been put into mitigating. A great amount of plans have been
2 put into mitigating the dangers, the obvious risks that are
3 inherent with this many people and adults and youths
4 together.
5 The real question here is, is can that be
6 mitigated from Greeley? Perhaps it can. That ' s the decision
7 you're making. Does the control that' s necessary for this
8 kind of a situation, can it occur?
9 I, we, are not against people having a good
10 time and an enjoyable place to go, a safe place to go, and
11 enjoy yourself and have a couple of drinks; that' s wonderful.
12 You know, it's an addition to any community. The reason
13 that' s worked so far in Fort Lupton is the size of the
14 facilities we have, which meet the needs of those people,
15 which meet the needs of the neighborhood. We already have
16 what we need in Fort Lupton.
17 This huge and youth/adult oriented is far, far
18 beyond the needs and requirements of this modest size
19 community. And I appreciate your listening.
20 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you, Mr. Wallace.
21 Are there questions?
22 (No response. )
23 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you very much for
24 your testimony.
25 Welcome to the Board of County Commissioners.
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1 MR. FUNDERBURK: Thank you, sir.
2 My name is Brian Funderburk, F-U-N-D-E-R-B-U-
3 R-K, 704 Copper Avenue, Fort Lupton, Colorado. I do reside
4 within the neighborhood as established by this Board.
5 Firstoff, I have no concern with the
6 restaurant portion of this, even if it was to sell alcohol as
7 a part of the restaurant business. My concern, quite
8 honestly, is the inappropriateness I see with the adult
9 establishment and the youth establishment residing together.
10 In addition, I truly believe the parking is just going to be
11 inadequate.
12 There was a place back where I 'm from in
13 Louisiana that had a very large establishment similar to this
14 without the restaurant portion, and people just parked along
15 this county road parish back in Louisiana, with no lighting.
16 I think you're going to have those kind of problems. I
17 sincerely do.
18 The second thing, or the next thing, safety
19 condition. Right now the intersection at County Road 14 is
20 one of the more dangerous intersections along the U. S. 85
21 corridor. When we did the U. S. 85 access corridor plan, that
22 U. S. County Road 14 intersection was identified as one of the
23 most unsafe intersections along 85. That is in our city
24 limits, pretty much, more or less, the northern border of our
25 community. And while it has a light, the combination of
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1 speed of 65 miles an hour up to about County Road 16 has been
2 a real safety hazard for us, and there have been fatalities,
3 and there have been many accidents.
4 I am very concerned that trying to force the
5 traffic to go down from this location on 16 to 14 is going to
6 create additional safety hazards, not just a response from
7 the police and the paramedics, from our fire department. I 'm
8 just talking about the sheer number of accidents that are
9 going to occur. I do feel that not doing that would create
10 more accidents. And so I do have to admit, I do applaud
11 Mr. Rodriguez ' s efforts to address all the concerns from the
12 County Department, but I have the concern with the sheer
13 volume of the traffic. And honestly, that ' s the biggest part .
14 of it.
15 Mr. Wallace said it very well. I think that
16 it is the scope, it is the sheer volume of traffic that is
17 going to be the biggest concern to me. I have a 17-year old
18 daughter who is driving now. She dates, she has a couple of
19 different boyfriends in Brighton. She drives from the
20 Safeway she' s been working at in Firestone, coming in on 52 .
21 There are times that both my wife and I and my
22 daughter have had occasion to go to Greeley and come back in
23 the evenings; thank goodness, never at 1: 30 in the morning,
24 but even so, late in the evening. And, you know, there are
25 enough bars in town, but quite honestly, people in town when
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1 they go to these bars and they leave, they're driving 25, 35
2 miles an hour until they are out of town. From there, you're
3 going to allow people from almost the moment they leave to
4 accelerate to high speeds, and that 's just a huge concern.
5 I also have a concern with using the
6 community's public safety resources, stretching those
7 resources. I do believe you' ll see some of that.
8 I am hazarding a guess, but I do believe that
9 the City's first response will be in the upper percentages.
10 I would not be surprised to see it 90 percent or more. I do
11 believe the City of Fort Lupton' s Police Department and/or
12 the Fire Department's paramedics will be the first respondent
13 90 percent of the time. I know there is a substation there
14 with the Sheriff 's Department, but they patrol the entire
15 south Weld County area. On any given night, sure, they may
16 be there and beat our cops there, but I do believe that 90
17 percent of the time you're going to see the City being the
18 first responder.
19 I don't know if truly all these concerns can
20 be mitigated. I am not opposed to a business out there. I
21 am not opposed to a restaurant, even one that sells alcohol,
22 but I think that unless the -- my direct comment and
23 testimony is this: That unless the scope is toned down, I
24 think that you' ll put both the City and the County in an
25 unattainable position regarding safety.
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1 And that is my testimony. Thank you, sir.
2 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you very much. Are
3 there questions?
4 (No response. )
5 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Seeing none, thank you for
6 your testimony.
7 Welcome to the Board of County Commissioners.
8 Please give us your name and address.
9 MR. HALLEY: My name is Richard Halley. My
10 address is 13373 Weld County Road 16. I sort of carry two
11 hats here, and I ' ll ask you how you wish me to handle that; a
12 letter from Fort Lupton Fire Department, which I can read for
13 you or I can give to you and then you can read it in your
14 time because I am a member of the fire department, and then I
15 have a statement, of course, living within a half mile of the
16 establishment itself.
17 COMMISSIONER VAAD: If you just have one copy,
18 why don't you read it and then give it to the attorney for
19 putting it in the record.
20 MR. HALLEY: Okay. I ' ll read the Fort Lupton
21 Fire Department letter first to Weld County Commissioners.
22 (Exhibit D was marked for identification. )
23 "To Whom It May Concern: The Fort Lupton Fire
24 Department opposes the issuance of a liquor license to the El
25 Reventon at the intersection of County Road 16 and Highway
111
1 85. The Fort Lupton Fire Department is a volunteer fire
2 department with 40 volunteers covering a 76 square mile area,
3 including the City of Fort Lupton. Our call volume in 2001,
4 782 calls, an increase of 100 calls from the year 2000. The
5 department estimates the call volume will increase an
6 additional 5 percent by the issuance of a liquor license to
7 the El Reventon.
8 "The County Road 15, Highway 85 intersection
9 is not controlled by a traffic light. The increased traffic
10 at this intersection will cause an increased number in
11 traffic accidents alone and will be compounded by drivers
12 affected by alcohol.
13 "The department opposes the issuance of a
14 liquor license due to the number of increased medical calls
15 caused by too much consumption of alcohol. Alcohol
16 consumption is a contributing factor for breathing
17 difficulties, fights and falls.
18 "The call volume will also be increased to
19 stand by to assist the Sheriff and Police Departments when
20 they are called to respond to fights and crowd control
21 acerbated by alcohol consumption.
22 "The department is also very concerned about
23 the traffic congestion at this intersection. County Road 15
24 is the main arterial for the department to use to respond to
25 Aristocrat Ranchettes, a rural housing community of more than
112
1 400 homes.
2 "Thank you for responding to the Fort Lupton
3 Fire Department' s concerns for the issuance of a liquor
4 license to the El Reventon. Sincerely, Alan Stanford, Fire
5 Chief, Fort Lupton Fire Department. "
6 My wife and I live at 13373 Weld County Road
7 16, about one-half mile east of the proposed El Reventon
8 Club. I live just off the road of Weld County Road 16 where
9 people currently use the property in front of my home as a
10 place to turn around and leave their vehicles at any time of
11 the day and night. People also have come to ask to use our
12 phone and to ask for assistance.
13 Up until my retirement in January, 2000, I was
14 a Colorado State Patrolman at that time. Most people reduce
15 their speed when they cross County Road 16. I have, of
16 course, had a State Patrol car parked in my driveway or was
17 on duty. Speeding cars now -- or cars now pass two and three
18 cars at a time speeding along 16. They also become airborne
19 crossing the railroad tracks just east of the proposed
20 business.
21 My wife, being an employee of the government
22 entity and me being a retired of the government entity,
23 realize the limited resources available to both Colorado
24 State Patrol and the Sheriff 's Office, which would be called
25 upon to respond to these problems. With the issuance of a
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1 liquor license to the establishment at this location, there
2 will be an increased demand on these two agencies, as well as
3 the Fort Lupton Police Department and the Fire Department;
4 again, agencies with limited resources.
5 I much emphasize the fact that Weld County is
6 number one, leads the state in fatal traffic accidents, and
7 this past year is not the first year that they've done this.
8 Weld County and the State of Colorado
9 officials have both stated that Highway 85 is a dangerous
10 highway, and plans to make it safer are plans set in the
11 distant future, not in the immediate future.
12 Weld County Road 16 is a primary arterial to
13 Aristocrat Acres, Thermal Carbonics, Colorado Greenhouse, and
14 with increasing truck-back traffic both day and night by
15 those avoiding the route through Fort Lupton.
16 It is my understanding the El Reventon Club
17 could have as many as 600 people there in a night. Colorado
18 Department of Highways stated that an average of two people
19 per vehicle is what they are using to figure their traffic
20 with. That would be equate to 300 vehicles. These vehicles
21 would have to use Highway 85 or travel eastbound on County
22 Road 16 or go into the town of Fort Lupton in order to get
23 back on the highway or to their residences, the only traffic
24 control in that area being the stop sign for westbound County
25 Road 16 entering Highway 85.
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1 While I was a Colorado State Patrolman, I
2 worked areas that had bars outside the cities, such as this
3 one being proposed. There were accidents, assaults, calls
4 for assistance from other agencies and also from the security
5 agents that were working these establishments. These
6 problems will continue to exist and increase with the
7 issuance of another liquor license.
8 Another concern we have is the idea of having
9 an area for teens and an area for adults. In clubs that have
10 tried this in the past, it has been difficult to prevent
11 alcohol from filtering from one section to another. Underage
12 drinking adds to the many problems that already exist as a
13 result of having an establishment serving liquor. Issuing a
14 liquor license to the El Reventon is adding to a serious
15 problem that will continue. A place encouraging people to
16 stay and dance while consuming alcoholic beverages
17 contributes to the problems mentioned above. Their ability
18 to make good decisions and drive safety is impaired by the
19 consumption of alcohol. This causes problems for innocent
20 people who happen to be on the roadways with them.
21 While working as a trooper, I found that most
22 of the people arrested for DUIs and related offenses were
23 those that were going to or leaving establishments which
24 served alcoholic beverages.
25 In conclusion, my wife and I object to the
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1 issuance of a liquor license for the El Reventon Club on Road
2 16, the main reasons to include alcohol-related driving
3 offenses, increased traffic and the problems that have been
4 witnessed in other locations with similar establishments.
5 I would also indicate that it ' s been discussed
6 and will come out, we have some concerns over the noise that
7 will be produced. While Formby Ford was there, their alarm
8 system would go off. We're concerned about the music that
9 will go, the paging system that we could hear to our
10 residents. We still have that problem with another company
11 that' s not too far away. We just have a problem with the
12 establishment all together. I 'm open to questions.
13 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you, Mr. Halley.
14 Are there questions?
15 Mr. Halley, referring back to the letter from
16 the fire department, do you know what the basis of, I guess,
17 that 40 different -- 40 additional calls. I use 780 and 5
18 percent of that, which is what they said would be the
19 increase in calls. Am I clear? What was the basis of that?
20 MR. HALLEY: What was the basis that the Chief
21 used? Just going on the fact that our rescue calls have
22 increased a minimal amount, or I should say that amount, and
23 he' s given to me a minimal amount. I figured it would
24 increase more than that because we have had our responses to
25 alcohol problems, not only if you look at the fact of
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1 establishments, bars, lounges, but also alcohol problems
2 within residences. And I 'm sure what he probably did was
3 look to see, try to come up with some idea as to what was
4 alcohol related.
5 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Okay. Thank you. There
6 are no further questions. Thank you for your testimony.
7 MR. HALLEY: Thank you.
8 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Welcome to the Board of
9 County Commissioners.
10 MR. TEDFORD: Thank you.
11 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Please give us your name.
12 MR. TEDFORD: My name is Forrest Tedford, F-O-
13 R-R-E-S-T, T-E-D-F-O-R-D. Address is 14013 Weld County Road
14 16. We 're just east of the proposed establishment here.
15 We 've heard a lot of testimony and people to
16 talk about the ingress and egress off of 85, so I won't talk
17 a lot about it, but I will share an experience that happened
18 with us coming up here today. We were headed west on Weld
19 County Road 16. There was a full-size semi that came off of
20 the frontage road headed north. He stopped at the stop sign
21 there, went to the stop sign to go north on Highway 85, and
22 he effectively blocked the whole intersection. And there was
23 nothing that that semi could do with the traffic pattern and
24 the two stop signs that were there to get out of the road.
25 If there had been anybody coming south and wanting to turn
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1 onto Weld County Road 16, they couldn't have turned that way.
2 If there was somebody heading north wanting to turn onto Weld
3 County Road 16, they were completely blocked.
4 A very dangerous intersection. You have three
5 roads coming into one. There is no lighting there. There is
6 no barrier between the frontage road and Highway 85 headed
7 north. So if somebody comes across there, all they're going
8 to have to do is go through probably a small ditch that' s
9 about two feet deep, possibly some fencing that is basically
10 nominal when you're talking about running through it with a
11 vehicle.
12 We have lived in the area 24 years, in the
13 same house. Our yard is right where Road 29 -- well, it Ts
14 into Weld County Road 16. We've had people miss the T on the
15 road, wind up in our yard. I 've had two tractors hit on Weld
16 County Road 16. I 've had gaited pipes smashed by cars
17 leaving Weld County Road 16 airborne. A lot of this we never
18 got paid for. A lot of the people driving that road don't
19 have insurance.
20 Also, we have seen Aristocrat Acres, and
21 testimony from one of the other people, grow to 400 homes.
22 When we moved out there, there weren't nearly that many
23 people up there. We also have currently four businesses on
24 Weld County Road 16, all of which have gone in within the
25 last, probably, five to six years. You have the co-
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1 generation plant, the carbonics plant. You have Colorado
2 Greenhouses. You have a gas plant that is currently being
3 built up there, and you also have a water treatment plant
4 going on up there.
5 In the 24 years that we 've been there, we have
6 called in a lot of accidents that have happened on Weld
7 County Road 16. We have had to wait for up to 30 minutes for
8 the three agencies involved to see who 's going to even
9 respond to the accident. Fort Lupton say, no, it' s outside
10 of my jurisdiction. The Sheriff 's Department will tell you,
11 we don't have enough personnel to respond, they're out of
12 position to cover that, or that's not our area. And the
13 State Patrol come back and they say, well, that' s a county
14 road, that' s the Sheriff' s problem.
15 So within that half an hour they're busy
16 calling each other trying to figure out who ' s going to cover
17 this accident. In the meantime, we're out in the
18 intersection of 29 and 16 with flashlights, trying to slow
19 people down coming over the top of the hill right there so
20 that they don't run into the accident.
21 At one point, a rollover that we heard roll
22 and heard the tin coming down the road, by the time I pulled
23 on my pants, got a shirt on, a pair of boots and found a
24 flashlight, got out to the car, the individual had left the
25 scene, and before anybody decided to cover the accident, he
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1 was already home. And he was not charged with drunk driving
2 because they could not put him at the scene of the accident,
3 even though he was drunk when they arrived at his residence.
4 Some of the things that Mr. Rodriguez talked
5 about in his report looked very good on paper, and he did a
6 very nice job, but I have some concerns about that, one of
7 which is the cab company. Currently, I don't believe that
8 Fort Lupton has a cab company, do they? Does Brighton have a
9 cab company?
10 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Please direct your
11 comments to us, and we' ll get answers for you.
12 MR. TEDFORD: Okay. I am not aware of a cab
13 company that is close enough that would be able to respond
14 quick enough to take somebody home.
15 Also, security guards. He had mentioned that
16 he was going to provide traffic control in the middle of Weld
17 County Road 16. With the lighting that' s happening there and
18 the amount of traffic that' s running up and down that road,
19 with the traffic that' s coming off of 85, northbound and
20 southbound, I would hate to be the security guard in the
21 middle of that intersection.
22 He mentioned that he was going to have one
23 security officer for every 50 people that. That means that
24 he could at one time possibly have up to 14 security guards.
25 What does a security guard cost? I don't know. At about
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1 roughly 20 bucks an hour, you're looking at almost $300 an
2 hour for security guards. Can a business withstand that kind
3 of expense?
4 One other question I would ask for the
5 Commissioners to respond to is, the other two partners that
6 Mr. Rodriguez has, do any of the other two partners have
7 liquor licenses?
8 The six-foot fence that is to divide the two
9 dance floors in between, I am six foot, three, so a six foot
10 fence is going to come to about here. When the establishment
11 is somewhat dark, as typically a bar is and the dance floor,
12 what would keep me from handing a beer over the fence to
13 somebody else on the other side?
14 Also, the stage is not secured. From what I
15 am hearing, I haven't seen any of the plans or anything else,
16 but the wall goes up -- or the fence goes up to the stage,
17 but then the stage goes to both sides. Is that correct? I
18 have concerns about that.
19 My wife, who is also in the audience, and I
20 are opposed to this establishment, not so much as to the
21 restaurant, but as to the liquor license that is trying to be
22 attached to it.
23 Are there any questions?
24 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you. Are there
25 questions?
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1 (No response. )
2 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you very much for
3 your testimony.
4 Is there anyone else who would like to --
5 welcome to the Board of County Commissioners.
6 MR. NORCROSS: Good morning, my name is David
7 Norcross. That' s N-O-R-C-R-O-S-S. I reside at 400 2nd
8 Street in the City of Fort Lupton, Apartment No. 29 . I 'm
9 here as a citizen of the city now. I am no longer on the
10 governing board.
11 I want to address the event center, a place to
12 have classes and things like that. I believe you people had
13 the opportunity to have a meeting at our brand new 9, 200 foot
14 community center in the multi-purpose room with all the other
15 rooms for meetings. We have plenty of room for any kind of
16 training, whatever that might be, because it' s not only a
17 community center; it ' s a conference center. There 's other
18 places in town. The bingo hall, the old bingo hall, has
19 dances over there all the time. Many of Mayor Pro-Tem
20 Clark' s constituents call and complain about the noise all
21 the time.
22 We also have a quality school system with
23 plenty of meeting facilities there. We have meeting
24 facilities at different buildings in the town. We have more
25 than enough places that serve alcoholic beverages in the
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1 valley.
2 In my opinion, alcohol has become a major
3 problem in our low-to-moderate income town. We have an
4 overabundance of domestic violence cases stimulating from the
5 use of alcohol. We have an overabundance of DUI arrests
6 stimulating from the use of alcohol which lead to the death
7 of many people.
8 If you come off the northbound ramp into the
9 City of Fort Lupton, you will see a cross there right across
10 from the Motel 6. A gentleman rolled his car there and hurt
11 quite a few people, killed his girlfriend. His three-year
12 old nephew was laying on the off ramp in a pool of blood.
13 The mother of that boy was in the back seat severely injured.
14 And he was more concerned with throwing the beer bottles out
15 into the drainage area to the south of the Motel 6 .
16 If you're like the fire department, the
17 paramedics that have to respond to these things, when it
18 takes you an hour-and-a-half to cut a body out of a car
19 that' s no longer alive, you get to see it all the time.
20 Last night is a good example of responding to
21 a problem. The fire department and the paramedics, Paramedic
22 3 , were responding to a call -- on a medical call for an 80-
23 some year old female in Aristocrat on Lamm Avenue. Well,
24 when they got there, it was more than a medical; it was a
25 domestic violence call. And they had a little problem or
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1 two. They finally got the Fort Lupton Police Department out
2 there. On the way out there, the one policeman said, well,
3 here comes the Sheriff. Well, no, he goes on out east
4 somewhere. They had to send a car out of Greeley. Both of
5 our units that were on patrol in the town were out there for
6 almost an hour, and the town of Fort Lupton was unprotected.
7 I just am absolutely against having another
8 alcoholic -- alcohol-dispensing entity in the town. We have
9 too many as it is. Thank you.
10 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you, Mr. Norcross.
11 Are there any questions?
12 (No response. )
13 COMMISSIONER VAAD: I guess not. Thank you
14 very much for your testimony.
15 Is there anyone else who would like to address
16 the Board? Welcome to the Board, and please give us your
17 name.
18 MR. ZADEL: Thank you. My name is Franklin
19 Zadel, and you spell that last name Z-A-D-E-L. I live at 305
20 10th Street, Fort Lupton, Colorado.
21 My concern is that I have to present to the
22 Commissioners today that in the late ' 60s I was in front of
23 the County Commissioners in the courthouse in the biggest
24 room that you had. I do sympathize with Mr. Rodriguez .
25 The conclusion that I want to bring to the
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1 Commissioners is that after 40 years of operating a liquor
2 license and also a restaurant and a bowling center in Fort
3 Lupton, I recently retired from that. All the experiences
4 that I have gained through all of those years, and I did sit
5 on the Liquor Association Board, which was our association,
6 for a couple years, and, yes, Mr. Rodriguez, it takes a lot
7 of education to keep your people all in order. We had
8 classes that I had promoted, and we invited all the liquor
9 establishments to our facilities. We had all those meetings
10 over -- gee, I don't know how many years we did that, but
11 there was quite a bit. We try to get all of our people
12 certified so that they could understand how to serve liquor,
13 no how to read people when they have too much to drink.
14 One of the experiences that I had, we had a
15 mixture of -- in our lounge area, we had a nice little Pizza
16 Hut in there, and we were patronized by the community. The
17 problem was, we had to actually take that Pizza Hut out of
18 there because you cannot mix adults and kids on the same
19 premises. It 's pretty hard to do.
20 The educational point that we, in operating
21 the bowling center along with the restaurant and with the
22 liquor, is that the bottom line is that the parents have to
23 come with those kids. They must come with those kids in
24 order to -- because you can't get enough security to cover
25 all that. Now, the parents, they can help control it if
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1 they're there. So that' s a very big problem.
2 The other thing that I see as a taxpayer of
3 Fort Lupton, which they are also, is that our tax dollars in
4 Fort Lupton that we -- are going to be spent out there, like
5 you heard from the police department and the fire department,
6 those tax dollars are going to be spent out there, but the
7 city will not be getting any revenue back in, which takes me
8 back to the mid- ' 60s when I applied for the license here.
9 The County Commissioners did me a very good
10 favor by turning it down, and the reason is that we went
11 back, we worked with the City. We annexed all the land from
12 Highway 85 east to Fulton Street. And we went -- we put in
13 sewer and water, which gave us a better rate as far as the
14 insurances were concerned for our fire insurance. We had
15 police protection then, which we only had maybe three
16 officers at that time.
17 But the big problem, and the thing that I 'm
18 really thankful for, but I was turned down on that license,
19 was the fact that I had a well on the facility because Fort
20 Lupton would not furnish me any water. And I did not have
21 the sewer. And at that time we had a construction company we
22 built in (inaudible) to take care of our sewage. But as we
23 all know, eventually that well is going to get polluted from
24 that sewer system.
25 So this was a big plus for me when they turned
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1 me down, and I went to the City and we worked all of those
2 out. We spent time in doing it all . It took us a year or
3 two to do that, but we got our sewer and we got our water.
4 We formed a special district to pay for this. And all of the
5 people between the line, the City line, got to pay for all of
6 that. And today it 's a very good thing. The City has
7 prospered by our business there over 40 years, and Fort
8 Lupton has been very, very good. I can't thank them enough
9 for what I did and what they did for me.
10 So this is all I 've got to say about it. Yes,
11 there' s problems with liquor. If you handle them correctly,
12 and that takes a lot, a lot of work, if you handle them
13 correctly, you can be prosperous. If you don 't, you're not
14 going to be in business very long because as I heard some
15 figures that were put out on the amount of money that is
16 being spent on this project, you know, it takes a lot, a lot
17 of people to fill those seats in a restaurant or a bar to pay
18 the bills.
19 If you can't reach that goal as an operator,
20 and I 've seen it happen in a lot of our people throughout the
21 state when I served on the committee with the Liquor
22 Association, you go to other things, and those other things
23 will not stay in business very long. And I 'm talking about
24 drugs. And whenever you start into that area there to make
25 the bills and make the payments on your facilities, sooner or
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1 later you're going to get caught.
2 In our place of business, we had -- when we
3 seen the inkling coming in, and they do, we called the Drug
4 Service in Weld County or Fort Lupton Police Department, and
5 we would set that thing up so we got rid of it.
6 So it's there, and I was there on the
7 property, and I had very good employees, and it was very
8 difficult to operate. But if you operate it correctly,
9 you're going to make money at it, and you're going to be able
10 to pay the bills. But if you don't, you're done.
11 Thank you very much.
12 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you. Are there
13 questions of the witness?
14 (No response. )
15 COMMISSIONER VAAD: I guess not. Thank you
16 very much for your testimony.
17 Is there anyone else who would like to speak
18 to the application?
19 (No response. )
20 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Seeing no such request, I
21 will close that portion of the hearing.
22 Mr. Martinez , I propose to give you about 10
23 minutes to prepare your response to these, and then we' ll
24 deliberate.
25 MR. MARTINEZ: Okay.
128
1 COMMISSIONER VAAD: So we ' ll be in recess for
2 10 minutes.
3 (Whereupon, a recess was taken. )
4 MR. MARTINEZ: -- that the application should
5 be denied, and they seem to concur with what the position of
6 the Sheriff 's Department, which is this is a business, and we
7 don't oppose a business, and if they run the business
8 correctly, everything will be fine. So they say that
9 strongly encourages the County Commissioners to ensure that
10 all these conditions are addressed and mitigated before
11 issuance of a liquor license.
12 Commissioners, that' s exactly what Ruben
13 Rodriguez has been doing since January 1 of 2001 when the
14 referrals were issued by the Planning Department. Everything
15 that the County has asked for, he has cooperated willingly
16 and gone above and beyond many times what the County has
17 asked for.
18 And I think the other thing that 's significant
19 about Mr. Rodriguez is the testimony that we heard from
20 Deputy Weld County Sheriff Poncelow this morning when he said
21 everything that Rodriguez has agreed to in the past, he' s
22 kept his word.
23 And there seemed to be some objection to the
24 mixing or having minors and adults in the same place, but I
25 think it' s important for the Commission to remember that it
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1 is the Sheriff ' s Department that suggested a number of years
2 ago that this is perhaps a better -- as opposed to mixing
3 them all together and having it be very, very difficult to
4 keep people from -- to keep an older person from passing
5 alcohol to a younger person, who are all in the same room, it
6 makes a lot better sense to separate them.
7 And if you look at some of the things that are
8 happening in some of the other jurisdictions, Denver for one,
9 that is what many of the jurisdictions are finding works a
10 lot better, having some type of separation between the minors
11 and the older people in order to assure that underage
12 drinking does not take place. And that' s something that we
13 are -- we all support.
14 The other thing that I think is important to
15 hear from the testimony was the -- Mr. Franklin Zadel. I
16 mean, I think he said something that is significant. He said
17 you can be prosperous in the management of a liquor-licensed
18 establishment. If you don't, you will go out of business.
19 If you operate it correctly, you can do well.
20 Well, Mr. Rodriguez, especially if you
21 listened to the testimony of Detective Poncelow again, Mr.
22 Rodriguez has worked with this County Government and with the
23 Sheriff 's Department in ensuring that particular -- a
24 particular liquor-licensed establishment that he was employed
25 at was correctly operated.
130
1 Lastly, what State law says about whether or
2 not a liquor license should be granted -- the State law is
3 real simple about this. The State law basically says you
4 have to show that the reasonable requirements of a
5 neighborhood for alcoholic beverage are not currently being
6 met by the other licensed facilities. You have to show that
7 the neighborhood, therefore, needs a particular licensed
8 establishment, and you have to show that the individuals in a
9 particular neighborhood desire that the application be
10 approved.
11 There is also case law out there that says,
12 and it 's -- and I don't have the cite at this point, but it's
13 7-11 versus City of Westminster. And that case also says
14 that a licensing authority must base its decision on whether
15 an application is approved based on the needs of the
16 neighborhood and the desires of its residents, and you can't
17 base that decision on speculation. You can't deny, or you
18 shouldn't deny a liquor license based on someone saying this
19 is going to create traffic problems, this is going to create
20 law enforcement problems, this is going to create additional
21 problems for us in lots of other areas. It has to be more
22 specific than that.
23 And again, Commissioner Vaad, I think you
24 asked a really good question when you asked him, well, you
25 say this is going to increase your calls for service to the
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1 fire department by 40. Well, how do you base that? And the
2 only thing that you received as a response is, well, I don't
3 know, ask the Chief.
4 So I guess what I 'm telling -- what I 'm
5 arguing to the Commission is that today you didn't hear
6 evidence as required by the Liquor Code that the neighborhood
7 doesn't need a liquor-licensed establishment and that the
8 residents don't desire that this application be approved.
9 I think Mr. Wallace was the only person that
10 got up here and testified that there is -- that the
11 neighborhood is adequately being served and that he
12 personally desired that this application be approved.
13 Everybody else didn't talk about whether or not there was a
14 need in the neighborhood for an additional establishment or
15 whether they desired that this application be approved. They
16 based their testimony before you today on speculation on what
17 might occur if this application is approved, and that' s not
18 appropriate, and that is not approved of by case law here in
19 Colorado.
20 Finally, in closing, what I would like to say
21 is that State law says that in order to -- once you have
22 established a prima facie case for an application for a
23 liquor license, then if someone wants to object and wishes
24 that the application be denied, that they have to provide
25 sufficient evidence to the licensing authority to justify
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1 overcoming the prima facie presumption.
2 Here Mr. Rodriguez has testified that the
3 neighborhood needs another licensed establishment, what he
4 proposes is unique, and that he personally desires that this
5 application be approved.
6 I think there are at least two other witnesses
7 from the community of Fort Lupton who appeared to testify
8 that they felt that this application be approved, and it
9 would be good for the neighborhood if this application be
10 approved. In fact, Mr. Fernando Canjos, who purchased the
11 establishment from Mr. Zadel, was here to testify on our
12 behalf, but had to leave because he had to go open up the
13 restaurant.
14 And finally, and we think most compelling, is
15 we submitted signatures from residents, from 68 residents
16 from Fort Lupton, who indicated their support for this
17 application, and from I think it was six or seven businesses
18 from Fort Lupton who indicated their support for this
19 application.
20 Therefore, clearly we have established a prima
21 facie case that there is a need and desire for this
22 application. We would assert that the evidence that you have
23 heard or the comments that you have heard from the objectors
24 is not sufficient to overcome the prima facie case that has
25 been established by our evidence, and, therefore, we would
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1 respectfully request that the Commission approve this
2 application for a tavern liquor license.
3 And finally, we want to assure the Commission,
4 as Mr. Rodriguez has shown in the past, that whatever
5 condition this Commission attaches if, in fact, it feels it's
6 appropriate to approve this application for a tavern liquor
7 license, whatever one of those commissions -- whatever one of
8 those conditions are, we are happy to work with the City
9 Government in Fort Collins (sic) , as we have done so in the
10 past with Weld County Government, to make this, as according
11 from Mr. Zadel, a prosperous business.
12 Thank you very much.
13 MR. RODRIGUEZ: He meant Fort Lupton.
14 COMMISSIONER VAAD: We understand. Thank you.
15 All right. Are there questions that you would
16 like to ask the counsel?
17 (No response. )
18 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Seeing no requests, then,
19 thank you for your summary comments. And I ' ll now put the
20 issue before the Board. If you'd like to make comments
21 before a motion, I 'd be happy to -- oh, yeah, and then I
22 would like counsel to run through the specific issues that we
23 need to get or have findings upon.
24 MR. BARKER: The specific criteria that are
25 set forth in Colorado law with respect to liquor licensing
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1 are set forth in a memorandum that I 've given to each of the
2 Board members for their use through this hearing. I 've also
3 given a copy of that to the applicant and his attorney.
4 The liquor licensing criteria are set forth in
5 Title 12 , Article 47 , Part 3 of the Colorado Revised
6 Statutes. And I won't cite the specific citation for each
7 one of the criteria, but I ' ll just go through those rather
8 quickly.
9 Number one, and I think probably the first two
10 are probably the most important. Number one is, whether the
11 reasonable requirements in the neighborhood justify approval.
12 Number two is, whether the desires of the
13 adult inhabitants of the neighborhood is evidenced by
14 petitions, remonstrances, or otherwise justify approval.
15 And number three is, whether the applicant is
16 of good moral character and reputation.
17 Probably those three are the most important.
18 Number four is, whether the number, type and
19 availability of alcohol beverage outlets located in or near
20 the neighborhood under consideration justify approval or
21 whether there are any other -- it's number five, whether
22 there are any other pertinent matters affecting the
23 qualifications of the applicant for the conduct of the type
24 of business proposed.
25 Number six is in regards to the investigation
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1 that is conducted by the Board, and there are four items
2 there. A) is whether the proposed licensed premises is
3 directly connected to a different licensed premises;
4 B) whether the diagram of the proposed licensed premises is
5 correct; C) whether the sign noticing the place, date and
6 time of the hearing for the liquor license application was
7 posted in such manner that the notice was conspicuous and
8 plainly visible to the general public. D) is whether the
9 building in which the liquor is to be sold is within 500 feet
10 of any public or parochial school or the principal campus of
11 any college, university or seminary.
12 Item number seven is whether the proposed
13 location is either the same or is within 500 feet of the
14 location which within two years next preceding the date of
15 the application the State or the local licensing authority
16 denied an application for the same license, class license,
17 for the reason that the reasonable requirements of the
18 neighborhood and the desires of the adult inhabitants were
19 satisfied by the existing outlets.
20 Number eight, whether the applicant will be
21 entitled to possession of the licensed premises under a lease
22 rental agreement or other arrangement for possession of the
23 premises or by virtue of ownership thereof.
24 Nine, whether the proposed location is in an
25 area where the sale of alcoholic beverages as contemplated is
136
1 not permitted under the applicable zoning laws of the county.
2 And then finally, pursuant to Section
3 1247-313 (2) for a tavern or a retail liquor store license
4 applications, an application for the issuance of a tavern or
5 retail liquor store license may be denied if the local
6 licensing authority determines, pursuant to CRS Section
7 1247-301 (2) (b) that the issuance of such license would result
8 in or add to undue concentration of the same class of license
9 and as a result, require the use of additional law
10 enforcement resources.
11 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you. To whittle
12 this down somewhat, let me ask some questions, Counsel.
13 Can we say that number seven does not apply in
14 this case, since there was no license -- I mean, we have
15 established the fact that there was no license revoked within
16 this time period in this area.
17 MR. BARKER: I believe that' s correct.
18 Actually, it' s not that it doesn't apply, but that it 's
19 satisfied.
20 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Okay.
21 MR. BARKER: There is no evidence one has been
22 denied in that area.
23 COMMISSIONER VAAD: And number nine, could we
24 establish that it isn't prohibited by zoning ordinance?
25 MR. BARKER: That' s correct. You heard that
137
1 from Kim Ogle.
2 COMMISSIONER VAAD: And the issues of the
3 report from Commissioner Masden pertaining to question number
4 six, I think the report was in the affirmative on A through
5 D; is that --
6 MR. BARKER: That' s correct.
7 COMMISSIONER VAAD: So those are settled
8 questions for now.
9 All right. Thank you.
10 Commissioner Gelle?
11 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Mr. Chairman, I would be
12 happy to provide some remarks to the Board.
13 First of all, I would like to extend my
14 appreciation to Mr. Martinez, as counsel for the applicant,
15 for the way that you've handled this application today. I
16 mean, Mr. Rodriguez . And, Mr. Rodriguez , thank you for the
17 professionalism which you've brought to the Board today with
18 the application.
19 I would also like to thank those who did
20 provide testimony today because it provided an insight I felt
21 that I needed, and mine specifically deals -- my concerns
22 specifically deals with number one and four of the criteria
23 that counsel discussed, specifically I think as Commissioner
24 Masden did indicate in his opening analysis, or at least
25 summarization of what ' s going on in the area, there ' s -- the
138
1 way I count it anyway, there's 11 establishments and three
2 liquor stores in the area. And I think it was also, in my
3 opinion, presented, very clear to me anyway, that that was
4 probably enough to satisfy the needs of the people of Fort
5 Morgan (sic) or the people in the area, which would be the
6 one-mile radius which we have discussed.
7 The other thing would be in reviewing the
8 application, I had to break it apart. We're talking about an
9 event center. We 're talking about a tavern or dance hall.
10 And we 're also talking about a restaurant, which would also
11 serve drinks.
12 And in doing that, in talking about the
13 tavern, I begin relating it back to the review that
14 Commissioner Masden made of the area. I would have to agree
15 with some of the testimony that was presented, that there is
16 enough -- there are enough establishments in the area to
17 serve the adult needs in the area.
18 However, I would like to carry it one step
19 further, and that is as we go into what counsel related, the
20 last statement. If the local licensing authority determines
21 pursuant to Colorado Revised Statute
22 1247-301 (2) (b) that the issuance of such license would result
23 in or to undue concentration of the same class and as a
24 result, require the issuance of additional law enforcement
25 resources. And I understand that there 's case law which more
139
1 or less dictates how this can be applied and perhaps not
2 applied.
3 The fact of it is, I feel it ' s in an important
4 part in the determinations of what' s going on because we have
5 heard the Sheriff say that it would be a threat to their
6 resources. We have heard testimony, and I 'm talking about
7 the availability of sheriff deputies to the area, when
8 situations arise where they need to be there or respond
9 directly, that the police department, by a mutual aid
10 agreement with Fort Lupton, would be the second line of
11 defense. In essence, the Sheriff would have to call in to
12 provide police protection and support in an essence to
13 protect the safety and welfare of the people, not only that
14 are at the establishment, but also the area, and that in
15 essence would a void because of limited resources.
16 I do think limited resources and the impact
17 that it would place upon law enforcement is something that we
18 do need to consider.
19 So based upon these major concerns, Mr.
20 Chairman, I will be making a motion, if that time presents
21 itself, in asking the Board to deny this request of this
22 application.
23 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Let me presume to correct
24 the record, if it was. I think you inadvertently said Fort
25 Morgan, and I think you meant Fort Lupton.
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1 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Oh, was I at Fort Morgan?
2 Let' s see, counsel was at Fort Collins, and I was at Fort
3 Morgan. So this is Fort Lupton. This is in Weld County.
4 Fort Lupton is in Weld County.
5 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: That ' s where it was
6 this morning.
7 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Commissioner Jerke?
8 COMMISSIONER JERKE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
9 I do appreciate the efforts of the applicant
10 and the applicant's abilities and efforts in working with the
11 Sheriff ' s Department up in Lucerne in that facility. That
12 has been a major improvement I understand.
13 However, that does bring me on to -- number
14 three I wanted to discuss for a minute, and number three has
15 to do with good moral character and reputation, and I
16 wouldn't begin to challenge your good moral character. I
17 have no idea as to your character one way or the other,
18 Mr. Rodriguez, but the reputation is somewhat troubling to me
19 with respect to the fact that there have been some other
20 situations with respect to Dacono, Platteville, and then, of
21 course, we did have to go through a fair amount of effort as
22 well with the Club Romance that you were heavily involved
23 with as well. So I do think there are questions there that
24 do cause me concern as well.
25 Let' s see if there are any others that I
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1 wanted to mention here.
2 I did want to go ahead and also re-emphasize
3 what Commission Gelle said concerning requiring the use of
4 additional law enforcement resources. When you have a town
5 that' s located that close to a facility, proposed facility
6 like this, it really does draw into scenarios that could be
7 very hazardous. Weekend nights, those resources are already
8 tapped very heavily, and I could definitely see situation in
9 which Fort Lupton Police would be called upon to provide
10 assistance at that facility, which actually takes them out of
11 their city limits. Because of mutual aid agreements, though,
12 they have to go where the action is if it' s close by.
13 So I could see that the town of Fort Lupton in
14 and of itself could actually be in an unprotected setting, as
15 I believe the Chief of Police called it, and that causes me a
16 lot of concern as well because Fort Lupton is, obviously, a
17 growing town.
18 The reasonable requirements of the
19 neighborhood, number one, I think it' s been proven to me
20 quite ably that there are a lot of other facilities as well.
21 Requirements is a difficult word. I understand that it 's in
22 the statute. I guess to me it ought to me more like
23 "desires" rather than "requirements, " simply because it
24 appears to me that the requirements are certainly met easily
25 by virtue of all of the other establishments in the town
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1 itself.
2 That would probably be the major items that I
3 would contribute to this that would be in addition to former
4 Chairman Gelle' s comments. And I, too, will be supporting
5 his motion at that point when he gets to it.
6 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Commissioner Masden?
7 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
8 Yes, I also would like to thank counsel and
9 Mr. Rodriguez for doing a very professional job on their
10 application, and also I 'd like to thank everybody in the
11 audience that gave testimony today in presenting themselves
12 very well during this hearing.
13 Going on through these liquor licensing
14 criteria, whether the reasonable requirements of the
15 neighborhood justify approval, listening to the testimony and
16 looking at the list of premises that do serve alcohol in the
17 neighborhood, in the established neighborhood, I don't see
18 where it would justify approval of this, even though there
19 were on number two, adult inhabitants of the neighborhood
20 evidenced by petitions.
21 So, and to go along with Commissioner Jerke on
22 No. 3 , whether the applicant is of good moral character and
23 reputation, yes, I will not question his moral character, but
24 the reputation itself does present itself that there has been
25 questions in Dacono, Platteville and with the Club Romance.
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1 On number four, whether the number of and type
2 of, availability of alcohol beverage outlets located in the
3 nearby neighborhood under consideration justify approval, no,
4 I do not believe that it does.
5 And then to go along with the other for the
6 tavern retail liquor license applications, on the State
7 statute that an applicant for the issuance of a tavern
8 license may be denied if the licensing authority determines
9 the issuance of the license would result in additional or
10 undue concentration, or same class of license as a result
11 would require the use of additional law enforcement
12 resources, I believe it would.
13 So I think with 11 facilities in the
14 neighborhood where you can receive alcoholic beverages and
15 eat, three liquor stores and a couple of retail liquor
16 license off-premises facilities, I believe there are enough
17 to serve the neighborhood, and I will be voting to deny this
18 liquor license application.
19 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Commissioner Long?
20 COMMISSIONER LONG: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
21 Not to repeat anything my colleagues have
22 said, but I 'm pretty much in agreement with the findings on
23 the different issues regarding the criteria.
24 COMMISSIONER VAAD: All right. I will add my
25 comments to the mix.
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1 First of all, I 'm unclear on the figure of 11
2 establishments because of one of the testimonies by someone
3 in opposition, Mr. Wallace, Patricia 's, Silver Moon, Station
4 3 and La Familia as being four establishments that do this.
5 Now, there may be other places where you can buy liquor, but
6 of the same nature, I understood there to be four. So
7 anyway, and I 'm not sure, because 11 obviously is a lot more.
8 As to Items One and Number Four, while I
9 clearly heard testimony from witnesses that their preference
10 was not to have this, the only evidence that I 'm aware of was
11 in the affirmative from 68 people who felt led to sign the
12 petition in support of it and six businesses. So I would
13 have to find that those are met, as I would on the other
14 issues, even with the revocation in the Platteville incident.
15 I think that was explained it was eight years ago.
16 So I find in the affirmative, as the applicant
17 has met those points. Now, having said that, when I do come
18 down to the last item, which wasn't a numbered item, and that
19 was for a tavern -- for the application for a tavern license,
20 which this is, we may deny on the basis of additional law
21 enforcement resources being required by this. I think that
22 point was established, and for that reason, and only that
23 reason, I would have to find in the negative on this
24 application also.
25 So if there are no further comments, is there
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1 a motion?
2 MR. BARKER: Mr. Chairman, one thing about the
3 list I believe that Commissioner Masden was reading from on
4 the number -- a list was provided by the City of Fort Lupton,
5 just if the licensed establishment is in the City, and I
6 believe that' s what Commissioner Masden was referring to.
7 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Oh, okay.
8 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: And that' s what I was
9 referencing.
10 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you for that
11 clarification.
12 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Mr. Chairman, if it' s
13 appropriate, I would offer a motion.
14 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Please do.
15 COMMISSIONER GELLE: I would make a motion
16 that application of RJML, LLC, doing business as El Reventon
17 Night Club, 13015 Weld County Road 16, Fort Lupton, Colorado,
18 for a tavern liquor license be denied.
19 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Second.
20 (Motion seconded. )
21 COMMISSIONER VAAD: It 's been moved by
22 Commissioner Gelle and seconded by Commissioner Masden to
23 deny the application for --
24 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Excuse me, if I may?
25 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Yes.
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1 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Excuse me. Based upon
2 the reasons as stipulated in the comments made by the various
3 members of the Board.
4 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Thank you.
5 Okay. Then the motion by Commissioner Gelle
6 and seconded by Commissioner Masden is for the denial of the
7 application for RJML, LLC, doing business as El Reventon
8 Night Club, for a tavern liquor license and authorize the
9 Chair to sign.
10 Further discussion?
11 (No response. )
12 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Would you please call the
13 roll, Carol?
14 THE CLERK: Mike Gelle?
15 COMMISSIONER GELLE: Yes.
16 THE CLERK: Bill Jerke?
17 COMMISSIONER JERKE: Aye.
18 THE CLERK: Rob Masden?
19 COMMISSIONER MASDEN: Aye.
20 THE CLERK: Dave Long?
21 COMMISSIONER LONG: Aye.
22 THE CLERK: Glenn Vaad?
23 COMMISSIONER VAAD: Aye.
24 Passed unanimously. Thank you, and thank you
25 all for your participation.
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1 (Motion passed. )
2 COMMISSIONER VAAD: If there is no further
3 business before the Board of County Commissioners, we are
4 adjourned.
5 (whereupon at 12 :45 p.m. , the Board of County '
6 Commissioners' meeting was adjourned. )
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1 TRANSCRIBER' S CERTIFICATE
2
3 I, Nancy Wehrheim, do hereby certify that the
4 foregoing recorded meeting is a true and correct transcript
5 to the best of my ability and understanding, before the Weld
6 County Board of Commissioners, on February 11, 2002 , that I
7 am not counsel, not related to counsel or the parties hereto,
8 and not in any way interested in the outcome of this matter.
9 /f / )
10 (UGC -,�{,l W / l.(/Y14CJ
11 Nancy Wehrheim
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Hello