Montrose, CO — City Councilors met for their regular meeting Tuesday evening, January 4, to consider a modification of the city's Municipal Code, a contract to build a new public restroom on the north end of the Connect Trail, and a waterline along Airport Road.
Councilors Barbara Bynum, Dave Frank, Doug Glaspell, David Reed, and Anthony Russo met in City Council Chambers along with city staff. Due to COVID-19 protocols, members of the public were allowed to attend in-person or online via the Zoom platform.
The following is a summary of the primary topics discussed during the meeting.
Watch the meeting here.
PUBLIC COMMENT
No members of the public offered any comment.
CONSENT AGENDA
Councilors voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the December 6, 2021, special City Council meeting and the December 7, 2021, regular City Council meeting.
The city’s archive of past meeting minutes can be found on the new Public Meetings Portal and at CityofMontrose.org/ArchiveCenter.
Councilors also voted to approve the designation of the City of Montrose website, CityofMontrose.org, as the official posting location for meeting notices, and the bulletin boards located in the lobby and outside City Hall are designated as secondary locations for use in exigent or emergency circumstances.
ORDINANCE 2575 - SECOND READING
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve Ordinance 2575 on second reading, amending the zoning designation of a portion of the Police Department Amended Plat located at 434 South First Street from "B-1" Central Business District to "P" Public District.
ORDINANCE 2576 - SECOND READING
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve Ordinance 2576 on second reading, repealing and reenacting the City's Municipal Code, Section 5-2-1 regarding hotel room taxes.
The ordinance adds the definition of marketplace facilitator, “MPF,” to the hotel room tax provisions in the Municipal Code to hold them responsible for collecting hotel room tax on sales facilitated through their marketplace.
According to Assistant City Attorney Chris Dowsey, an MPF is defined as a person who contracts with a marketplace seller or multi-channel seller to facilitate for consideration, regardless of whether or not the consideration is deducted as fees from the transaction, the sale of the marketplace seller's tangible personal property, products, or services through the person's marketplace; engages directly or indirectly, through one or more affiliated persons, in transmitting or otherwise communicating the offer or acceptance between a purchaser and the marketplace seller or multi-channel seller; and either directly or indirectly, through agreements or arrangements with third parties, collects payment from the purchaser on behalf of the seller.
Online hotel booking sites facilitate the sale of lodging services that are subject to city sales tax by: offering the lodging services of third-party lodging services providers through their website or mobile app (marketplace); transmitting the offer and acceptance between purchaser and third-party lodging services provider; and arranging payment between the purchaser and lodging services provider. Thus, the hotel booking site is likely required to collect and remit the sales tax on these sales, not the lodging services provider.
However, since the hotel room tax is an excise tax and not a sales tax—the MPF definition and ordinance do not speak to any excise taxes, only sales tax—the online hotel-booking site is not required to collect and remit the hotel room tax. The hotel, or lodging services provider, will be liable for this excise tax.
Hotels and individuals who rent their rooms or houses through MPFs may not understand that they are liable for the hotel room tax. They may assume that the MPF is collecting and remitting all taxes since they are doing so for sales tax, which would lead to deficiencies in the amount of hotel room tax collected. Adding the MPF definition to the hotel room excise tax will result in the collection and remittance of all applicable taxes for the rental of a house/room through a MPF coming from one source, thus eliminating confusion as to who is liable for this tax.
Additionally, this modification will avoid confusion for local restaurants who sell through MPFs that deliver their food. The pandemic made third-party food delivery companies popular and, depending on their business model, such providers may fit within the definition of an MPF. If so, the definition will again eliminate confusion about the collection and remittance of all applicable taxes from one source.
2022 WAYFINDING SIGN PROJECT CONTRACT AWARD
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve a contract totaling $191,500 to be awarded to American Classic Sign Manufacturer (ACSM) for the fabrication and installation of Wayfinding Signage Phase III.
Public Works Manager Jim Scheid said the City of Montrose completed Wayfinding Sign Project Phases I and II in 2018 and 2019. Public Works coordinates with the city’s DART Board to establish the priorities for each of the wayfinding signage implementation phases.
Through this coordination; Phase I included the large directional signs on major arterials like Main St and Townsend Ave. Phase II included arrival signage at all city Parks. Both phases included visitor kiosks (total of three) and destination arrival signs such as the one at the entrance to the Animal Services facility. Phase III is proposed to include parking lot signage, park rule signs, visitor kiosks, directional signage to the amphitheater, trail maps, and destination arrival signs at Cerro Summit.
In February of 2020, the city issued an RFP for phase III. Four proposals were received for the fabrication and installation of the wayfinding signs and all bids were considered qualified and complete. ACSM had the highest score using the proposal selection criteria and their bid is considered to be the best value to the City of Montrose.
NORTH CONNECT TRAIL RESTROOM CONTRACT AWARD AND MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve a contract totaling $344,856 for construction of the North Connect Trail Restroom. The award includes a contract with Stryker and Company, Inc. for $255,305 as the construction contractor and a memorandum of agreement with Colorado Yurt Company for the balance of the construction cost.
Scheid said the restroom would be located along the north end of the Connect Trail near Colorado Outdoors and would be a shared-use facility under a public/private partnership between the City of Montrose and Colorado Yurt Company. There will be restrooms facing the trail for public use and shower facilities on the rear of the building for use by the Colorado Yurt Company.
The City of Montrose issued an RFQ/P for the design/build construction services for the new restroom facility in September of 2021. The proposals received were rated on qualifications, project approach, and similar experience in addition to cost.
The design portion of the project was awarded to Stryker and Company in November 2021. A final design was selected from the options that Stryker was required to provide. The City of Montrose and Stryker and Company have collaborated on the design and costs to establish a baseline for design and a guaranteed maximum price for construction costs.
The council also approved a memorandum of understanding between the City of Montrose and Colorado Yurt Company for the construction of this project. Under the agreement, Colorado Yurt will dedicate the property for the restroom facility, valued at $18,200, and contribute $27,800 towards the construction costs.
AIRPORT WATERLINE MATERIALS PURCHASE RECOMMENDATION
City Councilors voted unanimously to approve a contract totaling $84,800 for 12” C900 PVC pipe for the Airport Road Waterline.
City Utilities Manager David Bries said replacement of an existing 6-inch waterline along Airport Road with a 12inch waterline is included in the 2022 Water Distribution Program budget to improve flows and capacity in the area. A request for bids (RFB #21-032) was issued for 1,840 feet of 12” PVC pipe with restrained joint gaskets and three bids were received from local pipe suppliers. Core & Main submitted the lowest bid. This waterline will be installed by the city’s Utilities Division crews over the next 6 to 8 months.
YOUTH COUNCIL REPORT
Youth City Councilor Gunnison Clamp said the Youth Council hosted an event at the Montrose Field House in December that was a great success with attendance exceeding expectations. Clamp added that the Youth Council is already planning events in 2022.
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