After canceling the last two regularly scheduled meetings, the City Council is back in full swing this week.
Among the items on Monday’s agenda:
Doug Price, president and CEO of the Colorado Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau, will present an update on the city’s branding strategy. That’s right, Colorado Springs, we’re still Living it Up!
The new human resources director, Mike Sullivan, will go over proposed changes to the Civilian and Sworn Personnel Policies and Procedures Manuals.
They include reducing workers’ compensation benefits for police and firefighters from 2,080 hours of injury leave at 100 percent to 1,220 hours at 85 percent. For civilian employees, the proposed change would reduce workers’ compensation benefits from 2,080 hours of injury leave at 100 percent to 960 hours at 85 percent.
The Transit Services Division will sum up the public comments that it received on a proposal to discontinue local funding for the FrontRange Express, or FREX, and raise the Metro Mobility ADA Paratransit fare from $3.00 to $3.50.
The Oil and Gas Committee, which included Councilman Val Snider, the chairman, and Councilwomen Angela Dougan and Brandy Williams, will bring the rest of council up to speed on its work. The committee was formed to provide recommendations to council for oil and gas exploration and operations.
Finally, the council plans to meet behind closed doors to discuss the $1.15 million separation agreement for former Memorial Health System CEO Dr. Larry McEvoy. According to the agenda, the council will receive “advice and negotiation consultation with the City Attorney regarding Memorial Health System” and “advice and consultation with the City Attorney regarding potential litigation matters that are subject to negotiations, developing strategy for negotiations and instructing negotiators.
FREX should not even be up for discussion. It’s not just a transportation issue, it’s a bit beyond that. It allows people to live in less expensive homes in Colorado Springs and work in Denver where the jobs that actually pay are.
And funny enough….I knew one Denver person even who took it to Colorado Springs for her job every day.
My question is this: Have FREX passengers been told on their bus that it is up for being discontinued? I’m guessing not.
This link is not just about having a bus to Denver for those who work in Denver. It’s a link between the two biggest cities in the state. It’s also keeping people in Colorado Springs.
FREX should be funded 100% by the ridership and not subsidized by the rest of the city. If it cannot carry itself then it should be discontinued.
Dear Council –
Please vote to not fund any of these proposals.
That payout to the Memorial doc was set up too quickly and slick to be payed out without serious scrutiny.
FREX needs to be paid for by the riders 100% or discontinued. That is way too much to spend on so few riders. Besides, the money from FREX would be better spent on core city transportation.
And finally, dump “live it up”. That turned brown and started to stink immediately after it was announced. Another waste of money by the City on consultants.
FREX means jobs for Colorado Springs. Jobs for the 400+ riders and the FREX employees. It also means tax revenue from property and sales tax on that income (provided by FREX riders) that is spent in the Springs supporting local business. Far more benefits are gained by keeping these folks employed and contributing to the economy than are lost by supporting the only reliable regional transit system we have.
So, after granting McMillion his millions, they are taking it out of the hides of the firefighters by reducing their Workman’s Comp hours? They should be recalled? and JAILED! this is criminal!!!!