Creede will spend $50,000 on a housing needs assessment and land use code update. Trustees selected KLJ Engineering from nine proposals during their April 21 special meeting and approved the lump-sum contract. The firm previously completed similar work in Silverton, Norwood, Buena Vista and Poncha Springs. Mayor Erica Roden gained authorization to sign the agreement that requires coordination with Mineral County and the school district.
The board approved four resolutions by unanimous voice vote. Resolution 2026-13 creates a $50 monthly cell phone stipend for full-time employees. Part-time employees qualify with more than 12 hours of work per week. They receive $25 per month.
Resolution 2026-14 sets standby pay at $100 per day for full-time employees called in on weekends and holidays except July 4. Part-time staff receive $50 per day under the same conditions. Resolution 2026-15 established a trustee vacancy effective March 29 after a trustee resigned. The resolution sets a May 28 deadline for appointment letters.
It triggers an election if the board does not appoint. Oaths are scheduled for May 5. State statute extends the April appointment window to June 2.
Resolution 2026-16 establishes short-term rental registration fees at $250 for the initial filing and $100 for renewal. The measure imposes a $500 penalty for late filing. City Manager Katie Sickles told trustees the renewal fee rose from an earlier $50 figure after staff calculated time demands.
Trustees directed Administrative Staff/Municipal Code Specialist Amberlyn Meier and Sickles to return in May with narrowed options for full municipal code recodification. The code was last fully updated in 2008 by American Legal Publishing. The current version contains pervasive cross-reference errors. The compensation section cites ordinances that address lottery rules, meeting penalties and code adoption instead.
Three vendors quoted prices for the recodification. The lowest bid came in at $8,570. The highest reached $20,175. Timelines varied from nine months. The longest reached 14 months.
In-house completion by Meier would take 14 years. She has made partial progress on three chapters.
Mark Morton of GMS updated trustees on the wastewater treatment facility demonstration project that tested four elements. Both the AST bead filter and TriplePoint Nitrox pilots for ammonia treatment were dropped after CDPHE indicated the systems were unapproved or would require lengthy reviews. The Aviva Technologies electrocoagulation system for metals treatment will shift to bench-scale lab testing. The vendor declined to retrieve equipment from the Nelson Tunnel pilot site.
Two recent lab tests confirmed metals concentrations in the sludge remain too high for land application. Disposal will proceed through Mineral County Landfill and Denali. Trustees discussed a recirculation system that would pump from the lagoon end to the front of Cell 1 to recover alkalinity. The target rate reaches up to one times daily influent flow.
Public Works Director Scott Johnson contacted multiple vendors who responded slowly to quote requests. GMS continues to follow up. The demonstration project used pilot scale to test options economically before capital commitments. Long-term choices now include both TriplePoint and Lemna nitrification systems after Lemna submitted a proposal with data from a completed Durango airport project.
A resident asked for a sidewalk project status update and questioned its absence from the agenda. One temporary easement from Lumen for the phone building south of the post office still blocks progress. CDOT headquarters review will take three weeks. Advertising will require two additional weeks for a minimum of six weeks until bid opening.
Construction is now projected for the end of July or August. Officials committed to coordinate timing with the public once the easement is secured. The board approved the April 7 meeting minutes and March disbursements by unanimous voice vote on the consent agenda. Josie Bielenberg noted a layout correction was needed for the sewer tax variance item in the minutes.
Trustee Dana Brink questioned $9,763 in SLVREC line items that covered the car charger and utilities. Sickles said the town will ask SLVREC to assume or abandon the meter. The Cassell software transition continues to delay full itemization. Trustees accepted sales tax revenue comparisons and budget-to-actual reports as informational only.
Virginia Christensen presented the unwritten recreation program access policy that gives employees and their families free gym and program memberships. After-school activities cost $75 per semester. Only one staff member’s children currently participate among staff families. Christensen said the practice lacks standard operating procedures, formal sign-up, consistent liability waivers and clear after-hours gym rules.
Josie Bielenberg announced the Colorado Municipal League conference scheduled for June 22 through 25 in Westminster. Board members showed limited interest in the Denver-area travel and preferred San Luis Valley spring and fall workshops instead. The LAHRA event on May 27 requires only a meal cost. No members committed to the Westminster conference.
Trustees listed agenda topics for the May 11 joint work session with the Board of County Commissioners at 5 p.m. Items include lodging tax, housing needs, comprehensive plan, EPA Nelson Tunnel issues, floodplain coordination, publishing ordinance titles only and a sludge removal update. The Creede Indeed business breakfast is set for April 29 at 8:30 a.m. as a free SLV-DRG partnership event expected to draw more than 20 attendees.
Western Slope Startup Week runs October 5 through 9 in Durango. The SLV-DRG economic forum is anticipated in late September or mid-October. Trustee Tom Roden reported residents frequently ask about water billing and that revenue figures suggest rates may not cover costs adequately. Sickles said the Cassell transition will soon yield clearer data.
The board set its next regular meeting for May 5 at 5:30 p.m. and adjourned by unanimous vote. The decisions modernize employee compensation and short-term rental oversight while highlighting gaps in the municipal code and ongoing infrastructure challenges.
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