Wellington Board of Trustees 2/27/24

For more information (including members in attendance) see the full notes document here.*

View the meeting agenda and packet.

A video recording of the meeting is available here.

From the Town of Wellington website: “The purpose of this board is to provide outstanding municipal services for the community of Wellington both today and tomorrow.”

Key Points

Director of Larimer County Human & Economic Health, Laura Walker, updated the board on the 2024-2028 Community Master Plan. In 2018, Walker’s department was approved for a study of the county’s mental health needs funded by a Sales Tax initiative of 0.25%. The first phase of the project was to design and build the Behavioral Health facility, which opened Dec. 2, 2023.

The second phase was to create a Master Plan 2.0 which is now complete with 14 recommendations resulting from the study (pg. 84 of the meeting packet).

The County sees some challenges to this plan such as cost, funding, transportation, and discrimination. Trustee Daily expressed concern that a Wellington middle-school clinic was cited in the study as needed but has consistently been stalled at the county level. The drive from Wellington to the new Behavioral Health Center is about 45 minutes. If someone is in crisis, that’s a long time to wait for help. Daily then shared that she recently had this experience with a family member, so she knows firsthand the drive, the process, and the stress.

The Boxelder Basin flooding is about to be fixed and the project closed. The Boxelder Basin Regional Stormwater Authority (BBRSA) board, along with appointees from Wellington, Larimer County, and Timnath Attorneys, are working on an agreement that will dry up 90% of the standing water on the east portion of the basin. It will cost an additional $650,000 to add pipes and dry this up, with another $1M for dredging to prevent future standing water. Wellington appointed 2 people, Tim Singewald, and Richard Seaworth, to oversee and make sure this project gets completed. Tim reported they are very close to making a deal and finishing this project. Timnath agreed to pay only 25% of the cost. Singewald said this should not be a Wellington problem since Wellington was removed from the original agreement but is still paying off $6M in loans through 2030-2031.

Sargent Cherry from the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office reported on the 2023 Annual Report. He said Wellington had 6,134 calls: 2,043 were dispatched to officers from residents calling in, and 4,091 were officer-initiated calls. January, August, and September were the busiest months, and Monday, Thursday, and Friday the busiest days of the week.

Some of the largest dispatch calls from residents were:

• Burglary in progress
• Disorderly conduct
• Robbery
• School checks
• Repossessions

Some of the largest Officer initiated calls were:

• Bar checks
• Liquor compliance checks.
• Parking
• Juvenile issues
• Disorderly conduct

Resolution No. 12-2024 Adjusting appropriations for fiscal year Jan. 1, 2023, through Dec. 31, 2023, Jan. 1, 2024, through Dec. 31, 2024. This was a minor clean-up by the Finance department.

Approved 7 - 0

Ordinance No. 04-2024 Authorizing collections and collection fees for Municipal Court Assessments.

Approved 7 - 0

Trustee Tietz requested a statement from the board to defend the truth against negative online comments directed to a resident of Wellington. Tietz said that if the Board knows the truth, then the truth should be defended to help this resident. Mayor Chaussee asked Tietz what she wanted the statement to say. Trustee Tietz said that a negative social media post implied that, at a previous board meeting, someone asked the board to ban books from the library. Tietz wanted to pull information from that board meeting to show that no one had ever come before the board asking to ban books. She wanted everyone on the board to sign a statement reinforcing this truth. Mayor Chaussee and several other Trustees reminded Trustee Tietz and the audience that minutes and recordings of previous board meetings are posted on the Wellington website for anyone to view. Trustee Daily also suggested being cautious about the 1st amendment and the free speech rights of others.

Trustee Gaitor, who was attending the meeting online due to illness, spoke up and said he and his wife, Christine, were asked to have books banned from the library. He didn’t say who asked but did say his wife, Christine, is also concerned about certain content in books at Wellington’s library that children have access to. Mayor Chaussee said he has not heard of a resident or Trustee that wants books banned from the library.

Trustee Mason disagreed with this conversation and read a Facebook post by Trustee Gaitor’s wife, Christine, that said, “Sexually explicit books are in the Wellington library. Who wants to help get rid of these?” Mason then said, “This is banning” and suggested everyone review the Mar. 14, 2023, Board of Trustees meeting on YouTube.

Trustee Tietz said there has been no Trustee or Trustee’s wife that has come before the board to request banning books. She would like the transcript from the meeting on Mar. 14, 2023, to be brought to the next board meeting for discussion and to create a statement of truth from the board. Tietz said, “She is tired of people being ridiculed online. Trustee Gaitor and Christine are being called Nazi’s on public forums. Maybe if we, as a board, have a way to show truth, then we need to show it. We need a working group, everyone together, to provide truth.”

Mayor Pro Tem Macdonald said a meeting dictation or statement is not reasonable. If Trustee Tietz wants to bring a transcript of the meeting, that’s fine. Put it on the agenda.

With no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:52 p.m.

Next Meeting: Mar. 12, 2024 @ 6:30 p.m. online Zoom, or in-person at The Leeper Center, 3800 Wilson Avenue, Wellington, CO

Questions:

1. How will the Master Plan 2.0 from the Larimer County Human & Economic Health department benefit Wellington?
2. Will the board clarify its role in the cost to repair the Boxelder Basin flooding?

Should the board invite an expert who can explain whether there is a role for the board when an individual’s comment in social media draws backlash?

*Citizen Observers further the commitment of the League of Women Voters to its principle of Citizens Right to Know, however, we are not acting as journalists. Omissions and errors are possible. It is assumed that users of this information are responsible for their own fact-checking. This could include contacting a government clerk, conversing with an elected official or staff, and/or asking us to speak to the Observer who attended.