OCN Vol. 10 No. 12 - December 4, 2010

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Vol. 10 No. 12

Palmer Lake Town Council, Nov. 13

Trustee presents controversial proposals at forum By Jim Kendrick The Palmer Lake Town Council held a public forum to receive citizen input on town budget issues for 2011 at the Inn at Palmer Divide on Nov. 13. Trustee Bryan Jack started the two-hour discussion of his proposals that he first made publicly at the Nov. 4 council meeting. See page 18 for the list of proposals Jack made at the Nov. 4 Town Council meeting to cut costs and town staff posi-

tions. Some of the points that Jack made were: • He was appointed to the council in Aug. 2007 and elected in 2008. • His job is “not to maintain a seat on the board and maintain the status quo.” • His job is to look “for where we can make significant improvements and also where we can function within

the confines of our current funding mechanisms” because “at our current levels we have some significant flexibility” to make “definite service improvements and reduce the cost of our operations” to “reinvest” savings “back in our community to make some lasting improvements.” The Palmer Lake Volunteer Fire Department (PLVFD) is probably the most controversial budget issue at $142,000 per year, including $30,000 for contract services for a single firefighter on duty during the work day from Monday through Friday, 7: 30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Discussions regarding collaboration or merger with neighboring fire

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districts started in 1974. Palmer Lake’s current volunteer firefighters are “outstanding” and “dedicated” to the community. However the town should determine what alternative contract services can be obtained for $30,000 through a public bidding process, to include a fire truck manned with four firefighters with very specific response criteria. Jack stated, “Is it the best service, is it the best value for what we pay for?” He added, “I think we could do better” to provide improved service at reduced cost “through complete elimination of the department and 100 percent contract services” or a “new cooperative agreement” with another agency. • The PLVFD fire station is probably not sustainable over the long term but may be a historic building, because it was constructed by the Public Works Administration during the Great Depression. • Several issues and recommendations regarding the Palmer Lake Police Department have not changed because they have not been addressed since the results of a 1999 survey of citizens were published. They include the need for neighborhood watch and community involvement programs. • The concerns listed in the summary report of the 2004 committee on citizen awareness have also not changed, again due to not being addressed. • In 2009, the council conducted a comparative study of employee wages and benefits in municipalities similar in size to Palmer Lake. • Overall assessed property values and tax revenues in El Paso County are forecast to drop 35 percent, though it is difficult to predict if the decline in Palmer Lake will be more than 25 percent. • Discussions of staff position eliminations are not popular, but are a primary topic for today’s forum. • Jack proposed elimination of the administrative assistant position, leaving only the town clerk/treasurer position and the water billing/deputy town clerk/court clerk position. • The town does not have an accountant and should outsource payroll, accounts receivable, and accounts payable at a cost of up to $10,000 per year, netting a savings of about $16,000 per year. • Monthly residential and commercial water billing should be coordinated between the town and Palmer Lake Sanitation District, which bills the same commercial customers on a monthly basis based on information provided by the town. • The town’s cleaning services budget of $5,300 per year “disappeared and got rolled into a different line item” for contract services “so you don’t see that anymore” and should be subject to a public bidding process. • The town website should provide the ability to download forms. • Can the police chief become the head of public safety and take over supervision of the Fire Department


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