Votes at a glance: Lakewood council approves personnel code updates, municipal code changes, appointments and consent items

The Lakewood City Council took several votes at its March 24 meeting on ordinances, resolutions and consent agenda items.

Personnel policies update (second reading) Ordinance O-2025-9, which repeals and replaces Title 4 of the Lakewood Municipal Code concerning personnel policies, was adopted on second and final reading. City staff said the ordinance aligns administrative responsibilities with the city manager's administrative regulations and does not add or subtract employee benefits. "This is really not a change in addition or subtract of any benefits. It's just aligning those responsibilities that are in the charter," Corey Peterson, chief of operational services and HR director, explained during Q&A. The measure passed 6-1; Councilor LaBeur cast the lone no vote.

Municipal code alignment on child restraints and electronic mobile devices (second reading) Ordinance O-2025-11, amending Title 10 to align city code with recent state legislation on child restraint systems and use of electronic mobile devices, was approved on second and final reading with a 7-0 vote. Staff from the city attorney's office described state-level educational funding and CDOT's information campaign associated with the statutory changes.

Consent agenda and appointments The consent agenda passed 7-0 and included multiple items introduced by the city clerk. Notable consent items read into the record included: - Resolution R2025-13: approving an amendment to an intergovernmental agreement with the Colorado Department of Transportation for the Colfax Transportation Safety Project. - R2025-14: appointing members to the Victim Assistance Compensation Board (new members listed in the record: Matthew Baines, Donna Deviser, Devon Myers). - R2025-15 (noted in the meeting as a corrected number from a typo): reappointments to the Lakewood Advisory Commission (Elizabeth Moulinar and Lehi Wedock) and the Lakewood Historic Preservation Commission (John Hostiger). - R2025-16/R2025-17: appointments and reappointments to the Lakewood Planning Commission, including reappointments of Kip Kolkmeier and Jenny O'Neil and the appointment of Topher Williams.

Property declaration items read on the consent agenda (no public hearings at this meeting) declared the city's intent to acquire interests in property for local drainage projects: the West First Avenue and DePuy Street drainage project and the West Third Avenue local drainage project; staff noted final conveyance and condemnation actions would be subject to further council approval.

Other business The council also acknowledged proclamation work (Nowruz Day) and received public comments on international and national topics and on local priorities; one resident commented in support of the North Dry Gulch project during that public hearing. The meeting adjourned at 8:38 p.m.