A light agenda greeted Glenwood Springs City Council for its second regular meeting of the month on Thursday, May 21, with all but Councilor Ray Schmahl present.

Two members of the public addressed Council under the public comments portion of the meeting for items not on the agenda. Glenwood resident Judy Haynes asked Council what it plans to do in follow-up to the Planning & Zoning Commission’s April 28 decision to revoke the special use permit for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in West Glenwood for exceeding the 12-hour hold limit on numerous occasions. City Attorney Karl Hanlon reiterated what he explained at that hearing, which is that the federal government is immune to the City’s action because of federal supremacy laws. Any legal action by the City would likely be dismissed by the courts as “frivolous” given that knowledge, Hanlon said.

Council also heard from resident Myles Rovig questioning its April 16 decision to pull out of the inter-police agency Special Problem Enforcement and Response (SPEAR) task force. Rovig lauded the task force’s work over the years to rein in gang and drug activity through inter-agency cooperation.

Councilor Sumner Schachter defended the decision, saying it came down to a lack of assurances within the intergovernmental agreement that partner agencies, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations, wouldn’t violate Colorado state law by sharing information with the immigration enforcement arm of that same federal agency. 

“We felt that it would put our police department in a bad position where we may not be in compliance with state law,” Schachter said.

Police services discussed

Also on the police and law enforcement front, Glenwood Police Chief Joseph Deras proposed a cost-saving move to Axon technology for a variety of bundled services. This would include tasers, police body cameras, roadway surveillance cameras, use of artificial intelligence (AI) for writing incident reports, language interpretation and redacting video footage, and the use of drones to assist in certain police incidents, Deras explained.

The switch to Axon would replace the current use of Flock cameras for general surveillance and speed enforcement, and do away with Motorola technology for dash and body cameras. 

Bundling a variety of services would result in savings of between $100,000 and $150,000 per year on the proposed $2.4 million, 10-year contract, he advised Council.

In response to recent public concerns about the use of Flock surveillance cameras, Deras said the use of Axon’s Outpost cameras also comes with better safeguards regarding data sharing.

Hanlon concurred, saying that the contract would come with a “clear policy” that data sharing is “very much our choice and not the vendor’s choice.”

Given public interest in the issue, Council decided to table the item until its regular June 10 meeting when the public can comment on the proposal before a decision is made. For anyone interested, the full discussion from the May 21 meeting can be reviewed on the City’s YouTube channel, tinyurl.com/glenwoodmeeting

Construction season

Council also heard from City Engineer Ryan Gordon with an update on City infrastructure projects throughout Glenwood Springs over the summer.

As June 4 is the day after school lets out for the summer break, that’s when one major project, reconstruction of Coach Miller Drive behind Glenwood Springs High School, will commence. The road will be closed during the construction until about the middle of August, Gordon said.

Work will also begin at that time on drainage improvements along Soccer Field Road next to Glenwood Springs Middle School. Work on that project is expected to last until Aug. 18.

Another biggie involves major upgrades to 19th Street, which is expected to be closed for the most part from June 1 until Sept. 1. 

And, work is ongoing to build a new shared use path and add curb and gutter to the section of Highway 6 & 24 near Traver Trail. That project is also expected to continue until August.