“See you next year,” Mayor John Graham said at 10:35 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 14, after a four-and-a-half-hour City Council meeting.
Council heard an update from the Manitou Springs Police Department, a report on the mask mandate, an update on the fire training facility and a presentation on mobility and parking.
Deputy City Administrator Roy Chaney’s mobility and parking report covered topics affecting all residents, as well as visitors and businesses.
“There’s a lot of components and everything affects everything else,” Chaney told council as he reviewed 2021’s accomplishments.
In the area of transit, they include a shuttle stop with a shelter and crosswalk at the Cog Railway and many enhancements to the Hiawatha Gardens parking lot, which are ongoing.
Parking accomplishments include real-time parking availability information at wayfinding locations, the ability to pay for parking by cell phone without an app, parking rate increases and greater use of parking ambassadors for enforcement and assistance, and increased capacity in the Hiawatha Gardens lot.
Improvements in pedestrian safety include updated crosswalks and signage, a “mobility boulevard” on El Paso Boulevard and street art aimed to reduce speeding.
Improvements for cycling include updated signage, the new bike-safety stop regulation and a free pedi-cab service, to which residential service will be added.
Neighborhood street improvements include updated signage, re-striping, crosswalks and work on Becker’s Lane, El Paso Boulevard, Old Man’s Trail, Ruxton Avenue, Manitou Avenue and Crystal Hills Boulevard.
Parking and mobility goals for 2022 include adding an electric shuttle, which may be available through a Mountain Metro grant, creating and expanding mobility hubs, permitting cheaper parking in Manitou Avenue’s 400 block for business employees and implementing new parking rates.
Council also discussed means of regulating or limiting the use of the center lane on Manitou Avenue.
Chaney said that parking proposals will come before Council in January, and Councilor Judith Chandler praised him for the year’s accomplishments.
Interim Police Chief Bill Otto delivered the update on the police department.
Otto told council that the department now has and uses two e-bikes. Chandler noted the positive feedback she’s received on the e-bikes; Otto also noted the positive feedback and increased positive interactions with the public.
The department is authorized to have 11 patrol officers and now has eight, with two in the hiring process. The department also has one school resource officer, two sergeants, one commander, a full-time civilian employee and a part-time civilian employee. The detective position is unfilled since Otto, who was hired for that position, stepped up to lead the department until a permanent police chief can be hired.
“We’re in a competitive market,” Otto said, adding that pay is important to both hiring and retention. “We’ve got some fantastic officers and I want to keep them.”
City Administrator Denise Howell said that salary assessments for the police and fire departments will be made in 2022; each received cost of living increases this year.
Otto described the department’s use of the Behavioral Health Connect Unit, in which an officer is paired with a behavioral health clinician for emergency responses that are mental health-related. A Colorado Department of Human Services grant funds the BHCON unit.
Otto told council that the department’s community and business meetings, Coffee with a Cop program, school visits and displays and the Hot Dog Socials will continue to foster community relationships.
Manitou Springs School District 14 School Superintendent Elizabeth Domangue reported on the district’s efforts concerning COVID-19.
“The trend is going in the right direction,” Domangue said, adding that quarantines will not be required after the holiday break.
Students return to schools Jan. 6. Masks will be strongly recommended but not required starting that date as well.
Graham said that council will re-visit the city’s mask mandate at its Jan. 4 regular meeting.
Fire Chief John Forsett addressed Council concerning the fire-training facility, which council approved Sept. 7 for a site to be shared with the water treatment plant.
Access to the training facility requires travel through the adjacent neighborhood. Forsett told council that only seven people attended a community meeting regarding the site and that the main concern had been traffic.
Chandler said that she had expected a set of standard operating procedures and Forsett replied that the document he was presenting was an SOP.
Chandler felt it was too vague. Councilor Julie Wolfe called it a “good start” and Councilor Steve Bremner thought it was complete. Graham characterized it as well-crafted and “fundamentally useful.”
Councilor John Shada asked that Forsett’s document be sent to those neighborhood residents for feedback. After further discussion, councilors decided to send the document to the 50 to 60 people Howell thought would be necessary.
It would not be intended to solicit feedback but rather inform the residents about the anticipated policies and procedures. Wolfe asked that Graham write an introduction to the mailing.
City Council will not meet the rest of December.