A perceived junkyard west of town, beginning discussions about a draft of the 2015 budget and the results of a preliminary law enforcement survey were among many things discussed by the Wellington Board of Trustees during the Sept. 23 town board meeting.
The board was pleased with the 399 responses to a survey asking the public about law enforcement in Wellington. The survey was posted online and included in water bills.
The survey asked if the public saw a need for Wellington to have their own police force, and the majority said they were satisfied with the current service being offered by the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office and that they did not see a need for a separate police force.
But the majority also agreed that having a town police force would give Wellington better recognition within Larimer County.
“This gave us valuable feedback on where people think we are at,” said Mayor Jack Brinkhoff.
The board decided to put the discussion on the back burner for a couple of years before looking at it again.
Eyesore discussed
A hot button topic at Tuesday night’s meeting was agricultural property west of town that has become an eyesore at Wellington’s western gateway.
Lynn Parker has a permit to have his construction company on a leased 160 acre farm off Highway 1 west of Wellington, but his permit does not allow for the excess of “stuff” on the property, including over a dozen outbuildings either moved or scheduled to be moved to the location.
“We are not trailer trash and we are not a dumping ground,” said Wellington businessman Lou Kinzli. “A lot of people have worked very hard for the last 30 years to clean this town up.”
The board unanimously agreed to support Larimer County in that the use of the land does not fit current county zoning regulations. The board also agreed to send a letter to Parker asking him to remove the excess “stuff.”
Brinkhoff said that enforcing the regulations that the county already has in place should take care of the issue.
Kinzli doesn’t think that sending a letter is enough, and was urging the town’s participation at a future meeting of the Larimer County Commissioners — if the property is discussed.
“This is a chance as a town to stand up,” he said. “We don’t want this kind of stuff happening here in Wellington.”
“I personally hate it when the government tried to tell you what to do on your own property, to a point,” said Trustee Tim Singewald. “But he is outside of the guidelines.”
Budget discussion
Even though September hasn’t come to a close yet, the board planned their first work session regarding the 2015 budget for the town.
The board will begin the process of looking at the budget at a work session held directly before the next town board meeting and will adopt the budget in a regular board meeting which is usually the first one held in December.
Typically, the first draft of the budget is given to the board by October 15 of every year.
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