Trustees approve Town Park and Shop improvement projects planning
topics:
Historical . . Park . . Roads . . Town Shop . . Trustees Meeting
Rico Town Park
Ore Cart photo
August 21, 2022
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Consultants will explore Park grant funding options and prepare initial Shop site plans
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Rico Board of Trustees
regular monthly meeting
August 17, 2022
Contents
- Town Park upgrades
- Election ordinances approved
- Town shop planning update
- Maintenance equipment future purchase & budget amendment
- Van Winkle Headframe leaning
1. Town Park upgrades
The Rico Board of Trustees approved an agreement (contract) with Fischer Project Management and Consulting Services (FPM) for soliciting and managing grant funding for Rico Town Park improvements. If grant funds sources are identified, FPM will propose a funding strategy, project goals, a detailed project schedule, and project budget.
Rico’s interest in Town Park improvements are the result of discussions with the Dolores County School District Superintendent, explained Rico Town Manager Chauncey McCarthy in a followup conversation with Ore Cart on August 22. DC School District was aware of a recent recreational upgrade by Montezuma-Cortez School District which included grant funding, suggesting a similar opportunity for Rico’s park. DC School District owns the Rico park site, he added. Town of Rico uses the site according to terms of a long-term lease.
Purpose of the FPM agreement is:
(excerpt from Agreement)
". . . for managing a turnkey approach to all aspects of the Rico Town Park Project from concept through completion/closure, to include:"
- research and identification of funders to inform funding strategy and project goals,
- development of a master project plan and schedule,
- employing project management as related to grant funds and schedule/terms of funder(s),
- managing comprehensive community engagement process,
- development of a fundable project design with component and vendor(s) selection as informed by the community input process,
- completion of application(s) for funding,
- coordination of all funding related to project, including partner and CLIENT funding, management of project buildout with turnkey vendor(s), and
- final reporting and project closeout
Above list is edited from the original paragraph text in the Agreement. Underlines added by Ore Cart.
. . .
FPM and Town of Rico responsibilities are divided into two tasks.
Task ONE: Research (search for grant funding - FPM)
Schedule
September-November, 2022: Research
December 15, 2022: Present findings, recommendations and proposed budget Town of Rico.
Task TWO: Project Management
If Town approves the results of Task One and chooses to continue with the project, Task Two will proceed:
Town duties - Task 2
Select 3-5 team members for both the Community Engagement Team (CET) and CORE team in consultation and with approval of FPM.
FPM Duties - Task 2
- Permitting and Engineering
- Comprehensive Community Input Process and Project Design
- Town and FPM will engage the community to select project design and budget for the proposed grant application.
- Submit Application(s) for Funding
- Construction - (if application(s) for grant funds is/are approved by funders). FPM will oversee and manage a turnkey vendor, which will acquire materials and build the project.
- Grand Opening Ceremony, Project Activation and Final Reporting.
. . .
Payment schedule
Town will pay FPM a $10,000 retainer to begin Task ONE work, and another $10,000 Task 1 when Task ONE is completed. If Town chooses to proceed with Task TWO, FPM and its turnkey vendor will proceed with 1, 2, 3 and 4 above at no expense to Town of Rico, with payment to follow when grant funding is received. FPM and turnkey vendor assume financial risk funding requests will not be approved, explained Chauncey McCarthy, Rico Town Manager, in a discussion of the proposed Rico Town Park project with Ore Cart, August 22.
2. Election ordinances approved
Rico Board of Trustees previously approved the first reading of these two ordinances at the August 8, 2022 special meeting:
Ordinance 2022-08, Second Reading
Designates November 1, 2022 as Rico municipal election date. This ordinance was approved on first reading at the August 8 meeting. Town charter requires municipal elections be held on the first Tuesday of November:
Ordinance 2022-09, Second Reading
An election question to change future Rico municipal election dates to coincide and coordinate with County, State and National Elections. Board of Trustees unanimously approved the second reading. Rico registered electors (voters) will decide a question at the November 1, 2022 municipal election asking whether Section 11 of the town’s home rule charter (reprinted below) shall be amended so that Town may participate in coordinated elections.
. . .
Rico Town Charter sets the first Tuesday in November for municipal elections:
TOWN OF RICO
HOME RULE CHARTER
§11.2 ELECTION DATE AND TIME
A regular Town election shall be held on the first Tuesday in November commencing in the year 2000, and in each year thereafter. Polling places for all Town elections shall be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Election Day. The Town may also conduct an election on the first Tuesday in even numbered years which shall constitute the biennial local district election for the purposes of Article X, §20 of the Colorado Constitution.
. . .
County, state and national Election Day is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The first Monday of November 2022 falls on the 7th, so Election Day must be the second Tuesday of November, and does not coincide with the Rico municipal election.
Ore Cart graphic
. . .
Benefits of future coordinated elections for Town of Rico and voters are:
- One election date in November, instead of two, always.
- Mail balloting will always be an option for Rico municipal elections. Dolores County has in the past printed and distributed mail ballots which included Rico municipal election candidates and questions to Rico electors in years when Rico and County/State election dates coincided. November 1, 2022 Rico municipal election voting will be limited to in-person at Town Hall.
- Consistent notice of election posting and nominating petitions due dates. These deadlines differ from year to year, as Rico Charter deadlines are not the same as coordinated elections conducted by Dolores County.
- Cost savings for Town of Rico. When Rico must conduct a municipal election apart from Dolores County, as in 2022, Town incurs the costs of printing ballots, legal fees, election judges' pay, and ballot counting. Election judges must be present at Rico Town Hall during 12 hours of voting November 1, from 7 AM to 7 PM, explained Anna Wolf, Rico Town Clerk, August 22.
3. Town shop planning update
Town published a Request for Proposals for site design and initial engineering for a new shop building. Three responses were received. Town will apply to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) for a $25,000 grant to pay for some of the planning cost.
Town Manager McCarthy provided more details in a followup conversation with Ore Cart on August 22. Design work to be included consists of civil sitework such as site and grading plans, and basic structural design. These details will be the basis for developing a cost estimate of the construction project.
more info:
- scroll down to 3) Town Shop section
4. Road maintenance equipment future purchase & budget amendment
Ore Cart photo
August 24, 2022
Town’s annual expense to lease its John Deere loader is $26,000. Purchase cost is $119,000. Options to eliminate this yearly cost are: 1) purchase the loader with cash on-hand, or 2) obtain loan financing. A cash purchase will save $11,000 in interest expense per year for 5 years compared to a 5-year loan.
Town sales tax revenues are growing. Total through July 2022 is about $151,000, exceeding the budgeted revenue forecast for the entire year. Internet sales contributed about 2/3 of the total. Local retail sales have also grown.
Amending the 2022 Town of Rico budget to authorize this purchase may be considered at a future Trustees monthly meeting.
5. Van Winkle Headframe leaning
Van Winkle headframe at Rico, Colorado
Ore Cart photo
August 23, 2022
Trustee Joe Dillsworth stated concern for the structure surviving winter. It is leaning on the surrounding fence. Trustees commented about the need for engineering analysis of the structure before modifications are built, to avoid liability claims.
Mayor Nicole Pieterse offered to provide Rico Historical Society with Atlantic-Richfield contact information. Town Manager McCarthy will attend the next Rico Historical Society meeting.
Atlantic Richfield explained Rico Historical Society and Town of Rico roles in Van Winkle headframe maintenance in an earlier correspondence to the Rico Board of Trustees, which is reprinted here:
- scroll down to 5) Van Winkle headframe repairs section
Vertical timber leaning on fence at Van Winkle headframe in Rico, Colorado
Ore Cart photo
August 21, 2022
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