HomeMy WebLinkAbout851437 I MAY 61985
MINUTES l.2_.5°
WELD COUNTY COUNCIL
April 1 , 1985 coLo.
Tapes 85/147-148-149
The Weld County Council met in regular session in full conformity with
the Weld County Home Rule Charter at 341 5th Street, Frederick, Colorado,
on Monday, April 1 , 1985, at 7:05 p.m.
ROLL CALL
The following members were present in person: President Bill Rupp,
Vice President Doris Williams, Sid Morehouse, Nels Nelson and Ralph Waldo.
Also present for all or part of the meeting were Commissioner Frank Yamaguchi ,
the mayors of Frederick and Dacono, three citizens, two members of the press,
and the Council secretary.
MINUTES
Nels Nelson made a motion that the minutes of March 4 be approved as
written. Ralph Waldo seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
ADDITIONS AND/OR DELETIONS
A discussion of exit interviews was included in Unfinished Business rather
than as a worksession.
Attorney Ron Lambden's bill of $15.00 was deleted.
RESOLUTION SIGNED
A correction in the Charter citation was made on Resolution number 51
prior to signature at this meeting.
APPOINTMENTS
Nels Nelson volunteered to attend the Elected Officials Meeting on April 8.
Doris Williams will attend the Road & Bridge Advisory Committee meeting on
April 10.
CORRESPONDENCE
The President made the Correspondence File available to the individual
Councilmen for their review. Mr. Rupp highlighted a memo from the Director
of Personnel regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act. He reported that he had
attended a meeting on this subject on the morning of April 1 . The mayors of
Frederick and Dacono requested copies of the information.
REPORTS
* Doris Williams reported on the Elected Officials Meeting of March 11 .
However, she had been unable to attend the Road & Bridge Advisory Committee
meeting on March 13.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill Rupp reported that he had met with Don Warden, County Finance Director,
and Lee Morrison, Assistant County Attorney, concerning conflicts of interest.
They concluded that specific guidelines are virtually impossible to determine.
Instead, each allegation must be decided on its own merit.
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MINUTES, WELD COUNTY COUNCIL PAGE 2 APRIL 1 , 1985
A letter from the League of Women Voters was read to the Council .
The Council had asked if their organization would be interested in sponsor-
ing a worksession for the purpose of defining the intended role of the
Council . The League declined to participate due to a lack of available
personnel for such a forum.
The Council continued deliberation of a requested ruling on an alleged
conflict of interest involving the Chairman of the Weld County Planning
Commission, Bob Ehrlich. Mr. Ehrlich's written response to the allegation
was reviewed by the Council . Mr. and Mrs. Carlson of Pine Lake Village
indicated in a telephone conversation with Mr. Rupp that they would like the
Council to pursue the matter; however, to date, they have not submitted the
additional written evidence requested of them. Sid Morehouse moved that
since no written request has been received from the Carlsons, the issue be
tabled. Doris Williams seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Ralph Waldo stated that he felt the Council should take this opportunity
to set a policy which might prevent failures of disclosure in the future.
The Council directed the President to write a letter to Mr. Ehrlich stating
the Council 's concern that he did not abstain from voting on an issue which
involved a potential conflict of interest. The Council further directed Mr.
Rupp to write a letter to the Carlsons explaining why the matter was tabled
and inviting them once again to produce adequate documentation of their
allegation.
Discussion continued as to suggesting a policy for exit interviews with
county employees. Mr. Rupp reported on his meeting with the Kodak Director
of Personnel . Kodak's representative indicated that the company feels exit
interviews improve the company's productivity, save money, and boost the
morale of employees. The Council decided to determine how they should
proceed with this matter at a later worksession. A worksession scheduled to
follow this meeting was postponed due to a lack of time.
NEW BUSINESS
Councilman Ralph Waldo reminded the public that state lottery money is
allocated by the Weld County Board of Commissioners. He encouraged agencies
throughout Weld County to be more aware of applying for these funds.
Doris Williams moved that the next Council meeting be held on Thursday,
May 2, 1985, in the Council meeting room in Greeley. Sid Morehouse seconded
the motion and it passed unanimously.
Sid Morehouse moved that the March Council bills be paid, with the
exception of the $15.00 bill from Attorney Ron Lambden. Ralph Waldo seconded
the motion and it passed unanimously. Mr. Rupp said that Mr. Lambden was
willing to cancel his bill to the Council . The Council felt this would be a
good time to state a Council policy that, except in the case of an emergency,
the Council attorney would be commissioned only by the President.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
The Council was informed that the President of the Tri-Town Senior
Citizens group may be interested in arranging a presentation by a Council
member. The President recommended that she be advised to present a written
request and the Council would try to accommodate her organization.
The mayor of Frederick thanked the Council for bringing its meeting
to his area. The Council in turn thanked the Town of Frederick for hosting
its meeting.
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MINUTES, WELD COUNTY COUNCIL PAGE 3 APRIL 1 , 1985
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. The time
of adjournment was 8:55 p.m. , on April 1 , 1985.
The next scheduled Council meeting is Thursday, May 2, 1985, at 7:00 p.m. ,
in the Centennial Center, room 339, in Greeley.
hitiAtud
William A. Rupp, re ent
Vic y Spr gue Se etary
Date p oved
S /'N
004 mEmoRAnDum
hit t To Elected Officials DBte June 7, 1985
COLORADO From County Council
soboc„Report to the People
In accordance with the Home Rule Charter, Section 13-8-(6) ,
the Weld County Council is sending you copy of the enclosed
Report to the People.
WEIR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
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JUN 1 01985 vs
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WELD COUNTY COUNCIL NEWS RELEASE
P. 0. BOX 758 REPORT TO THE PEOPLE
GREELEY, CO 80632
356-4000, ex. 4780 JUNE 6, 1985
Pursuant to provision of the Home Rule Charter, the Weld County Council
reports to the people of Weld County. During 1984, the Council was involved
in the following discussions and activities. This is a general report covering
activities of the County Council since the last general report was issued in
February of 1984.
County Council initiated exit interviews for employees leaving county
jobs. The Engineering Department performance audit arose partially from exit
interviews but primarily reinforcing an earlier decision of Council to audit
Engineering. Subsequently the Personnel Department notified the County Council
that it would no longer issue blank copies of the interviews to employees who
were leaving county work.
The County Council is presently reviewing an appropriate and acceptable
method of refining the exit interview process to parellel what area employers
are using in an effort to improve the performance of their employees. Council-
men have contacted personnel departments of Kodak, Hewlett-Packard, Monfort,
Storage-Technology, Inc. , and a local school district for information as to
how the private sector utilizes exit interviews.
The County Council entered into a contract with Hyland Associates for the
fiscal year 1984 to serve as performance auditor for the Council .
County Council received and followed up on a building complaint regarding
non-compliance with zoning/planning/inspection in Roggen. The Planning
Department conducted a review and forced compliance with the county regulations.
Considerable controversy arose regarding the audit authority of Council as
provided for by Charter Section 13-8-(6) and 13-8-(7) . Discussion between
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REPORT TO THE PEOPLE PAGE 2 JUNE 6, 1985
Council and the Board led to the recommendation that a court declaratory
judgment should be sought jointly by the Commissioners and Council . Such
action is still pending. As an assistance in determining how performance
audits should be conducted within governmental agencies, the Council acquired
a book entitled, Performance Auditing in Local Government.
There was continuing discussion throughout early 1984 regarding proposed
Charter amendments. County Council researched 23 proposals and narrowed the
list of proposals to 3 which were presented to the Blue Ribbon Charter Study
Committee. No Council member was represented on the Blue Ribbon Charter Study
Committee.
A major problem was solved with agreement of the Commissioners to repay
some $17,000 in salary which had been mistakenly made on the basis of a letter
purporting to be from County Council to the Personnel Department. It was deter-
mined that the letter was a fake without a determination of the originator of
the letter. A grand jury finding later led to an indictment of one of the
former Commissioners. The indictment was subsequently dismissed in District
Court. Members of the Council voted to release a report to the people in the
form of questions and answers regarding the Commissioner salary problem and
that report to the people was given to area media for publication.
County Council set the Commissioners salaries for 1987 and 1988 at $28,000
annually. A resolution to that effect was signed and submitted to the Board of
County Commissioners to preclude salary changes for the years 1987 and 1988.
A review of the county's health and accident and life insurance programs
led to a request to the Insurance Underwriters in Weld County that they help
us with a review. The Underwriters felt it was inappropriate and that such a
review probably should be commissioned at a later time by the Commissioners.
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REPORT TO THE PEOPLE PAGE 3 JUNE 6, 1985
County Council expressed a concern about the county participating in
facilitating a building loan for Colorado Counties, Inc. That concern led to
a request to have a complete explanation for County Council and for the general
public of Weld County. The explanation was given and County Council concurred
in the activity.
County Council received and voted on a conflict of interest question
involving a bid submitted by Steve Ley in behalf of Edwards Chevrolet. The
alleged conflict of interest came about because of Mr. Ley's chairmanship of
the Road and Bridge Advisory Committee. Council voted 3-2 that Mr. Ley's bid
and participation did not constitute a conflict of interest.
Following release of the Road and Bridge survey conducted by Council , a
hearing was sponsored by County Council with any interested parties within the
county being invited to attend and to present ideas regarding roads and bridges.
Transcripts of the proceedings were made available to interested parties.
The Council prepared and released 48 questions which arose out of the
Road and Bridge audit. Council was also the recipient of answers furnished by
the Board of Commissioners. Subsequent court action filed as a complaint by one
of the former Commissioners led to a release of all of the documents collected by
Hyland Associates in the performance audit of the Engineering Department.
Sid Morehouse, one of five candidates to apply to replace Patricia Anderson,
who resigned, was appointed by the Council to fill the District 3 seat until 1986
when Mrs. Anderson's term would be expired.
Ballot issues were determined by the Blue Ribbon panel for the November
election. The County Council discussed all items and recommended defeat of all
in the election.
Because there was some concern about the definition of Council 's role in
county government, opinions were sought from some framers of the original Charter.
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REPORT TO THE PEOPLE PAGE 4 JUNE 6, 1985
Norm Brown, president of the Weld County Ag Council , submitted a letter that
outlined the role of the Council as visualized in the original Charter. Consid-
erable discussion arose from this letter and County Council proceeded to study
how it might more effectively serve the people of the county in future years.
Because it was felt that the official county newspaper (currently the
Johnstown Breeze) was determined on a bid basis and that publications with rela-
tively small circulation would not be available in general to many Weld County
citizens, Council discussed as to how legal publications could be more generally
distributed among voters of the county. The topic is one for further study
in the future.
County Council released to Dollarhide and Schwartz a copy of the Purchasing
Department performance audit conducted in late 1983 and early 1984.
In its January 1985, meeting, the County Council was informed of an alleged
conflict of interest of the chairman of the Weld County Planning Commission with
a proposal for development of Pine Lake Village northwest of Windsor. Council
was unable to take any action because no hearing had been held by the Planning
Department and no decision had yet been made by the County Commissioners.
Subsequent to a recommendation by the Planning Commission 9-1 not to allow
the Use by Special Review and a determination by the County Commissioners on a
vote of 3-2, the issue was again referred to Council . Council researched all
allegations and determined that because there was no monetary gain, as the
Charter outlines, this did not constitute a conflict of interest.
At the January meeting; it was determined that County Council could be more
effective by changing some of its procedures. Among those decisions was to have
the Council meet by invitation of out-county agencies in various communities around
the county. Additionally, Council will meet evenings to provide more opportunity
for citizens to attend the meetings. The first out-county meeting was held in
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REPORT TO THE PEOPLE PAGE 5 JUNE 6, 1985
Frederick on April 1 . Another meeting was conducted in Grover on June 6.
Subsequent meetings have been and will be scheduled in other communities
within the county.
Council agreed that it would serve its purposes to publish an agenda and
minutes of all meetings so that the Weld County media could notify all citizens
of the activities of Council and they could participate more fully in the process.
Approximately 28 agencies accepted the invitation to receive these and Council is
providing agendas and minutes to those agencies, towns, and cities requesting them.
County Council is presently in the process of attempting to clarify the
Charter provision regarding conflicts of interest. County Council will attempt
to develop a new statement and to determine how best to handle future conflict
of interest allegations.
County Council has purchased and placed into use a telephone answering
device that will allow better communications within the county.
County Council requested a sponsor for an open forum to inform citizens
of the county regarding the functions of Council . The League of Women Voters
was unable to participate due to time and energy limitations and the Ag Council
indicated that because it was an umbrella organization, it was improper at the
moment for them to speak for a number of agriculturally related committees with
widely varying interests. It is hoped that such a forum will be held in the
near future.
County Council noted that one of its recommendations regarding Road and
Bridge had been implemented by the Board of County Commissioners as they separated
the Engineering and Road and Bridge Departments. Responsibilities were divided
into two separate functions with two different administrators. The Road and
Bridge Department appears to be functioning more smoothly.
Council Rules of Procedure were amended in the May 1985, meeting to allow
more flexibility in meeting times and places and to provide for expenses incurred
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REPORT TO THE PEOPLE PAGE 6 JUNE 6, 1985
by Council members as they travel to activites held in conjunction with
County Council business. Several other housekeeping changes were made to
reflect greater activity on the part of the Council and communicating
county government functions to citizens.
THE WELD, COUNTY COUNCIL
/St'
William A. Rupp, Pre ent
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