HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB Study Session 2012-02-28 Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, February 28,
2012
Minutes of a Study Session meeting of the TOWN BOARD of the Town
of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado. Meeting held at Town Hall in
Rooms 202/203 in said Town of Estes Park on the 28th day of
February, 2012.
Board: Mayor Pinkham, Mayor Pro Tem Levine, Trustees
Blackhurst, Elrod, Ericson, Koenig and Miller
Attending: All
Also Attending: Interim Town Administrator Richardson, Town Attorney
White and Town Clerk Williamson
Absent: None
Mayor Pinkham called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
TOWN BOARD COMPENSATION.
Interim Town Administrator Richardson presented the Board with recommended
changes to Section 2.20.010 addressing the Town Board of Trustee compensation
including: 1) compensation shall be reviewed for changes in conjunction with the
biennial election; 2) compensation recommendations shall be based on comparisons of
other comparable Colorado municipalities; and 3) recommended compensation
changes for the Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and Trustees are $7,500, $6,500 and $5,500
respectively. Staff recommended compensation be reviewed during the preparation of
the even year budgets coinciding with elections, and any approved increase would only
effect the newly elected officials because state statute does not allow current officials to
increase their salaries. The proposed increases would bring the board’s compensation
within the median of the comparable communities.
Comments from the Board are summarized: the proposed language should be updated
to remove possible confusion that increases would be affixed after the election process
rather than prior to the election and increases should be discussed during the budget
process; questioned the need to refer to the 2012 election; questioned whether a
statement should be added to address compensation is based on CML data;
codification of the changes and the process for which compensation would be reviewed
in the future provides clarification for the public; the Board stated the need to review
additional information from other sources and look at other comparables such as
community size, budget, services provided, etc.; the code language should be as
generic as possible and not tie the Town to a certain instrument, timeframe or date;
there should be a stated purpose for the increase such as a COLA or CPI and what the
salaries is to cover such as transportation, preparation time for meetings, meeting
attendance, home office space and supplies, etc.; salaries for the Board are an attempt
to recognize the time, effort and additional costs incurred in fulfilling the duties of a
board member; a discussion followed on the use of recognition versus compensation,
however, staff would need to investigate any impact changing the terminology may have
on benefits; and concern was raised that the Board may see a greater increase by
percentage than the employees have see over the same timeframe.
The Board requested proposed language be sent out to the Board for review prior to the
March 13th Town Board meeting.
Town Board Study Session – February 28, 2012 – Page 2
MISCELLANEOUS DISCUSSION ITEMS
The Board requested staff review Municipal Code Chapter 2 to determine items that
need to be updated and identify items that are not currently being addressed by the
Town.
The Board discussed the upcoming Capital Asset Management Plan (CAMP) review to
be discussed during the March 13th and March 27th Town Board Study Sessions.
Questions were raised on the appropriateness of discussing the CAMP at a study
session; the Board should only discuss the 2012 CAMP issues because of the
upcoming election and the need for the new Board to make the decisions for the 5 year
outlook. Trustee Blackhurst stated the current Board members with the knowledge and
experience should set the course for the upcoming Board and provide the staff with
direction.
Trustee Miller suggested the Board have a discussion at a future meeting on the
purpose and the need of study sessions. A number of the discussion at the study
sessions should be discussed at Board meetings with public comment. Mayor Pinkham
stated the study session meetings are a good forum for discussion and debate.
Trustee Elrod questioned when the Town Board would receive additional information or
take action on the volunteer manual, electric rate study and community service grants.
Interim Town Administrator Richardson stated a number of items would be coming
forward; however, he requested additional comment from the Board members on the
direction for the employee handbook. He stated an all-inclusive employee handbook
has been drafted and includes much more than the employee benefit handbook drafted
at the end of 2011. He stated a draft Board governance policy document has been
drafted and could be forwarded to the Board for review.
There being no further business, Mayor Pinkham adjourned the meeting at 6:40 p.m.
Jackie Williamson, Town Clerk