Concerns related to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in West Glenwood steered public comment again during the March 5 regular Glenwood Springs City Council meeting.
Earlier that day, the City issued a press release acknowledging that occupancy permits for the entire Midland Center at 100 Midland Avenue were never issued 20 years ago after the commercial plaza was built and a special use permit was approved for the ICE detention and processing facility that occupies suites 110 and 210.
“Based on information available in the site file, the City has found that the unissued [certificate of occupancy] was due to administrative oversight in 2006,” the press release states.
Late last month, the City performed an inspection of the entire building, and is now working with its owners and occupants to resolve several issues.
Among them, the entire building has been yellow-tagged due to the need for sprinkler system testing or upgrades, the City release states.
This must be completed by the end of March. “Failure to resolve the items by the deadline will result in a red tag for all businesses operating at 100 Midland,” City officials said.
“At this time, the City has no evidence that the building is unsafe for occupancy,” the release also states.
In addition to ICE, the federal Drug Enforcement and Social Security administrations have offices in the plaza, along with several businesses, including a gym, dental office, fireplace company, and LIFT-UP’s food pantry warehouse.
The units occupied by the federal agencies are currently being listed for sale on the open real estate market for $3.9 million, according to a listing by Northmarq Commercial Real Estate on LoopNet. Leases for those spaces, held by the federal General Services Administration, are reportedly up for renewal at the end of March.
“The City understands that the use of this facility is a matter of strong opinions within the community,” City Manager Steve Boyd said in the release. “The City’s responsibility in this case is not to evaluate federal policy or agency operations. Legally, the City’s role is limited to ensuring compliance with local building codes and public safety standards.
“Our goal is to be fair, transparent, and consistent in applying City regulations, and public safety remains our top priority.”
The City’s response did little to appease members of the public who spoke at the March 5 council meeting, calling for more oversight of local ICE operations in light of national concerns about aggressive enforcement actions.
Glenwood community members Ashley Stahl and Sally Boughton said their investigations found that at least 83 people have been detained in the temporary holding facility over the past year.
“These holding rooms are tucked away in places all across Colorado, with little oversight and few safeguards against human rights violations,” Boughton said. “Don’t just sweep this under the rug. The community deserves to know what’s been taking place.”
Commenters also called on the City to implement better privacy protections over data collected by Flock surveillance cameras along city streets, and questioned the Glenwood Police Department’s involvement in the inter-agency Special Problem Enforcement and Response (SPEAR) task force.
Some Council members responded, saying they’re equally frustrated.
“As one councilman, I don’t like being up here and being late to the game and fairly uninformed,” Councilor Sumner Schachter said. “And I don’t like that, by association with other law enforcement entities, respect for our local department is becoming tainted.”
Schachter called for a broader public forum on the issues.
Other comments, council actions
The public comments portion of the meeting lasted more than 30 minutes, with additional comments focusing on growth concerns, barking dogs and speeding enforcement, and a potential public transportation ballot question possibly taking funding away from the Garfield County Public Library District (GCPLD).
Outgoing GCPLD Executive Director Jamie LaRue said the suggested county-wide sales tax being discussed to fund Roaring Fork Transportation Authority services would cut into support for existing library funding that is also up for renewal.
“Libraries and transit are separate, and they should be funded separately,” LaRue said.
Official action items included a 5-2 approval to apply again for a Colorado Division of Housing Down Payment Assistance Grant; updates on public works projects, including the start of construction on a new shared-use path near the Glenwood Caverns tram to begin March 16, and reconstruction of Coach Miller Drive to begin June 3; policy approval and establishment of a separate budget category for the new speed camera enforcement revenues to go toward public safety improvements, streets and infrastructure (on separate 5-2 and 6-1 votes); and approval of a Master Service Agreement leading up to anticipated construction of the South Bridge project.
The latter item establishes and funds a list of tasks for pre-construction services as the City hopes to put the estimated $80 million project out for bid by June, City Engineer Ryan Gordon said.
Some Council members said it feels premature to prepare for bids when the project, based on estimates, is yet to be fully funded.
“This project doesn’t feel ready to bid, and we need to have that conversation,” Councilor Ray Schmahl said.
Councilor Steve Smith agreed, adding that while it’s “smart work” to get to the next stage, it’s still premature to be spending significant money to prepare for those next steps.