Getting control of junk vehicles in the City of Boulder is going to be a time-consuming job but officials are working on it, the mayor, chief of police and city attorney told the public August 20.
“It’s a big undertaking,” said Chief of Police Joe Canzona. He said he did an informal survey of the property east of Main Street and found about 90 junk vehicles.
“Just give us a chance; we’re going to work on it,” said Mayor Rusty Giulio.
“It’s a process,” said City Attorney Jana McGill, “and you’re going to have unhappy people on both sides.”
It is also going to cost to do the job, she added. “It’s all about money,” said McGill.
Some members of the public, however, indicated they are growing tired of waiting for results. They have complained to city authorities in the past without results, they said.
“We’d like to see the city step up and enforce the ordinances that are on the books,” said Gerald Craft.
“Do you want to start making this town a better place to live?” asked Debbie George, indicating that accumulated junk vehicles visible from Main Street are a deterrent. “We’d like something done,” she said.
The council agreed to have Canzona include information about progress on the junk vehicle effort in his monthly police report. They also asked McGill to provide guidance on updating the junk vehicle ordinance.
On another topic, the council debated city authority over property within one mile of the city limits. Previously, Mayor Giulio told the planning board that its membership would have to change due to a district court ruling that said the city has no authority over that “extraterritorial” area.
At last week’s council meeting, council member Drew Dawson said he had reviewed the court ruling. The ruling did not say the city intrinsically had no authority over the region, said Dawson, but instead says the city could have that authority if it adopted a growth policy covering that property, revised the ordinance and map and properly constituted the planning board.
“We just don’t have the authority because we did not do it right,” he said of his reading of the court ruling.
“Why would we want jurisdiction?” asked the mayor.
Giulio has made it clear in the past that he does not want the city imposing regulations on his property that touches city limits.
In order to get regulatory authority, the council would have to hold public hearings on a revised ordinance and map, said attorney McGill.
“It’s going to be an involved process,” she said, adding that the city must operate now in compliance with the district court order.
The council unanimously approved the appointment of Sue Pasini, Ray Hays and Cliff Mendenhall to the city planning board.
In other business August 20, the council:
- continued tabling a request from Alan Smith for the closure of an alley until he turns in a proper petition from adjoining landowners;
- heard from the mayor that the city is not using his equipment for now;
- delayed acting on a request from the mayor to increase the hourly wage of the assistant city clerk from $9 per hour to $12 per hour, saying the budget needs to be completed first and the pay can be retroactive if included in the budget;
- discussed a request to allow bicycles on the skateboard park and took no action after hearing that the ramps are not made for bikes and liability issues are involved;
- and heard public comments but took no action on the swimming pool boiler, reported lack of enforcement of business license requirements, contract provisions requiring police officers to stay for a minimum time and more.
