Get to know your City Council and learn more about your City government!
Join Councilmember Chuck McDaniel for a cup of coffee and conversation at Kiln Coffee Bar on Monday January 27 at 2:00 P.M.
Councilmember McDaniel will be available to hear from residents and to engage in meaningful conversation about City matters.
Please join us!
Contact: Greg LeBlanc, Sr. Assistant to the City Manager 970-244-1557 or gregoryl@gjcity.org
City of Grand Junction Projects with Travel Restrictions
Sandra Avenue between 29 Road and 29 ½ Road, Utility Construction
31 Road between D ½ Road and E Road, Utility Construction
5th Street and Gunnison Avenue, Utility Construction
Non-City of Grand Junction Projects with Travel Restrictions
22 Road between J Road and K Road, Bridge Replacement Project – Mesa County Project
16 Road Bridge Replacement at Highline Canal – Mesa County Project
City of Grand Junction offices will be closed on Monday, January 20, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. City trash and GJCRI recycling pickup service will be on the regular schedule with no delay. Monday will also be a parking meter holiday so if you are planning a trip downtown for business or shopping, you may park at metered spots for free, including the parking garage on Rood Avenue.
Let’s take the opportunity to reflect on the importance of this day.
Trees planted, grown, and properly maintained within the landscapes of Grand Junction are an investment that pays back to the entire Grand Valley. Tree benefits increase as trees grow larger by providing more cooling shade, captured storm water, and filtered air population. The aesthetic beauty of large healthy shade trees attracts people to businesses, increases the time people like to spend shopping in an area, and increases the property value around them. The proper care of trees in our landscapes is key to protecting these investments and hiring the wrong person to maintain them can lead to the destruction of their long-term potential. In the interest of protecting the good health of trees, the City of Grand Junction requires individuals engaging in tree work to obtain a license through the City Forester and City Forestry Board.
According to Grand Junction city code, no person shall engage in the business of pruning or removing trees without first obtaining an annual license from the council appointed Forestry Board. The Forestry Board and City Forester have the responsibility to develop testing procedures for applicants to ensure unskilled individuals are not being paid to destroy the invested value of trees. The Grand Junction Parks and Recreation webpage provides residents with a list of licensed professional arborists to help connect people with the best local companies. With all this in place, the City Forester and Forestry Board have been surprised by the recent increase in substandard tree work in the Grand Valley.
At the January Forestry Board meeting, the City Forester and members of the board covered an agenda item around “tree topping” and bad tree work on private commercial property in various locations across the city. The board encouraged the City Forester to find a way to get the word out to residents to protect them from hiring a company that could end up destroying their tree.
Tree topping is the indiscriminate cutting of branches to create a much shorter and rounded-over canopy of stubbed branches leaving a final product that looks more like a hat rack than a tree. This type of shade tree cutting is most often performed to reduce the height of a tree to increase visibility of signage or views, and at times is requested due to a fear that large trees are dangerous. While tree topping makes trees shorter, it does not solve the desired outcome. Stub-cut tree limbs allow decay to easily enter tree branches leading to long-term hazardous conditions in trees, and the natural response of the tree is to produce numerous poorly attached small branches that grow up quickly further limiting visibility. Shade trees that have been topped have very little chance of being repaired, and it eliminates the ability of a tree to develop into a high-quality asset to a property.
While the City Forester encourages residents and business owners to take advantage of winter as a great time to hire a company to maintain private property trees, he also cautions everyone to ensure they’re hiring professional arborist to care for their trees. If you see what appears to be unskilled tree work happening in the city, take a picture and contact the City Forester.
For more information, please contact:
Primary: Rob Davis, Grand Junction City Forester, robd@gjcity.org or 970-254-3825
Secondary: Kamie Long, Forestry Board, kamie.long@colostate.edu or 970-248-7325
For more detailed information on any of these items, read the full agendas and/or staff reports here: http://www.gjcity.org/city-government/agendas-and-minutes/ City Council meeting videos can also be found at the same link.
City Council will discuss the following items at this week’s meetings:
Monday, 1/13/20 – 5:30 p.m. City Council Workshop City Hall Auditorium, 250 N. 5th Street
Discussion Topics
1a. Transportation Expansion Debt Discussion
1b. Vending Machine Tax Policy Discussion
1c. Holiday Parking Program in Downtown
1d. City Council Policies
Monday, 1/13/20 – Immediately Following the 5:30 p.m. City Council Workshop City Hall Auditorium, 250 N. 5th Street – City of Grand Junction Dos Rios General Improvement District Workshop
Discussion Topics
1a. Grand Junction Dos Rios General Improvement Debt Discussion
Wednesday, 1/15/20 – 6:00 p.m. City Council Meeting City Hall Auditorium, 250 N. 5th Street
Presentations
2019 Champion of the Arts Award
Proclamations
Proclaiming January 20, 2020 as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the City of Grand Junction
Proclaiming the City of Grand Junction as an Inclusive City
Proclaiming the Month of January as National Crime Stoppers Month in the City of Grand Junction
Certificates of Appointment
To the Forestry Board
To the Visit Grand Junction Board
Regular Agenda
Public Hearings
6ai. Ordinances Expanding the Boundaries for the Downtown Grand Junction Business Improvement District to Include Properties Known as 701 Main Street, 805 Struthers Avenue and 330 South 2nd Street into the Boundaries of the Business Improvement District and an Ordinance Expanding the Boundaries for the Grand Junction, Colorado Downtown Development Authority to Include Properties Known as 805 Struthers and 330 South 2nd Street into the Boundaries of the Downtown Development Authority
6bi. An Ordinance Rezoning to R-8 (Residential 8 Units per Acre) a 1.26-Acre Property Located at 588 North Grand Falls Court
6bii. An Ordinance Rezoning to B-1 (Neighborhood Business) a 1.81-Acre Property Located at 1221 Wellington Avenue
Contact: Greg LeBlanc, Sr. Assistant to the City Manager 970-244-1557 or gregoryl@gjcity.org
City of Grand Junction Projects with Travel Restrictions
Sewer Line Replacement Project
7th Street and Bookcliff Avenue – Construction of Handicap Ramps
31 Road and D ½ Road, Utility Construction
Non-City of Grand Junction Projects with Travel Restrictions
22 Road between J Road and K Road, Bridge Replacement Project – Mesa County Project
16 Road Bridge Replacement at Highline Canal – Mesa County Project
The City of Grand Junction and its contractor will be replacing the aging sewer line in 31 Road from D 1/2 Road to E Road, starting on Monday, January 13, 2020. The primary reason for replacing this stretch of sewer line in 31 Road is to accommodate the proposed Mesa County E Road Reconstruction
Project that is scheduled to start in summer
2020. Mesa County’s E Road project will reconstruct the roadway from 31 Road east to Agape Way near 32 Road, and will also be upgrading the underground utilities on E Road. In addition, Mesa County plans to replace the Lewis Wash bridge at the 31 Road and E Road intersection in year 2021. For these reasons, the sewer line in 31 Road needs to be replaced.
The project will take about 8 weeks to complete.
Access to properties will be maintained. However, there will be short durations when the
Contractor has to temporarily close a driveway access in order to install the new sewer pipe in front of a driveway access.
Advanced notification will be given if an access needs to be temporarily closed during daytime hours.
The Contractor will be responsible for maintaining traffic access for residents adjacent to the construction areas. The Contractor will provide traffic control and on-site flaggers to help traffic through and around the work area. Temporary access and road closures will be necessary during the project.
Please drive with caution around the construction equipment and follow all traffic warning signs in the work areas.
Contact: Greg LeBlanc, Sr. Assistant to the City Manager 970-244-1557 or gregoryl@gjcity.org
