Congressman Mike Coffman spoke to Brighton City Council April 22 study session, bringing it up to date on the progress of several bills now in congress.
Among the bills Coffman reported on was the amendment of banking regulations for the marijuana business. Colorado’s legal marijuana industry is primary an all cash business and as such, makes it much harder to regulate the tax’s on sales.
The Market Place Fairness bill is also coming before congress, this bill would support collecting sales tax on items bought online from out of state. If passed, the bill would allow sales tax to be collected by the federal government and reimbursed to the states the items were sold from.
Coffman ask city council members if they had received any complaints from residents about airport noise and if so to contact him. He has received several complaints from several surrounding towns about the noise levels starting in July of 2013, after the airport started using narrower flight corridors. The congressman is forming a task force to look into the issue.
The Grant Development Policy and Procedures committee explained to council members about a program they are using to oversee State and Federal grants applied for and received by the city. By using a software program call eCivis Grants Network system, each department can locate any state or federal grants that are available and apply for ones appropriate for their needs. With the new program the city departments and be able to keep an accurate record of all grants requested and received in a central location.
The fund balance discussion brought several different opinions from council on how to use the funds available from revenue left over after meeting the city’s financial obligations. A few items brought before the council members were the need to hire another code enforcement officer, the police department currently only has two, and has an urgent need for at least one more person. Streets and Fleets Director Joe Smith reported the city is in need of another street sweeper.
They currently have three but the newest is five years old, the oldest is 11 years old and they are in continued need of maintenance.
The historic City Hall on 575 Bush St. was the center of much debate as well. Several council members were against spending any money on its restoration at this time. Ward 4 J.W. Edwards , Ward 2 Rex Bell and Ward 3 Lynn Baca all claimed there were other projects that have been before council for a longer time that should have priority over the historic building. Mayor pro-tem Kirby Wallin and Ward 3 Ken Kreutzer feel the building should be restored as funds are available because it will be a great benefit to Brighton as a Community Center.
Other business discussed included development of the Brighton Platte River Greenway, consisting of picnic areas and hiking trails along the Platte river to the north of Brighton and the establishment of a pet cemetery in Elmwood Cemetery.