SOUTH FORK— Mayor Rodney Reed opened the end of the month meeting of the South Fork Board of Trustees on Tuesday, Aug. 22 with an invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance before diving into a full agenda. After going over the staff reports, Reed opened the floor to the public who had signed up for the comment period of the meeting and the first to speak was local business owner Klaus Kromanock.
Kromanock took the floor to state that he was going to explain why the current board of trustees should resign. “Why we are talking tonight is why we think that the current trustees should resign. As I look back on your administrations, I see crazy expenditures, for example our Town Manager Tom Acre. He was a big mistake as far as I am concerned,” stated Kromanock.
Kromanock continued by stating that from the very beginning he had expressed to previous Mayor Jerry Hixson, his mistrust of Acre and that he didn’t understand how the board could believe that after working for the town for two years, that the town of Dillion just so happened to notice how wonderful of a job he was doing and called to offer him a better position. “You are going to tell me that you believe that this guy, working whatever hours he worked a night, got a call out of the blue that said, ‘Gee you’re doing such a great job in South Fork, Colo., why don’t you come work for us in Dillion?’, and you really believe that? That’s ridiculous,” stated Kromanock.
He then proceeded to go through a list of things that he felt the board was wrong to bring to the constituents for consideration in the past few years. The first of which, was the marijuana issue, stating that the residents of South Fork did not want drugs in town. “It increases crime, makes for a bad work ethic; I am not a stranger to marijuana and you cannot focus when you are doing drugs,” said Kromanock.
Next, Kromanock stated that the ATV regulations were not user-friendly stating that he had a customer on a motorcycle get pulled over because he did not have a South Fork approved pole that is required for all ATVs and OHVs when driving on the designated routes in town limits. “Where can you put a pole on a motorcycle? Did that ever occur to anybody?” asked Kromanock.
Kromanock then asked the attending crowd if there was anyone else in the room that felt that the current trustees should resign, to which several hands were raised. “So, I am not alone. It’s embarrassing. It really is. The next town manager that we are hiring, I guess there are two from Texas, one from Denver and there is a local person. I looked at the qualifications for the position that were posted in the post office and the president of the United States doesn’t need those qualifications,” said Kromanock before leaving the meeting.
Other public comments referred to the sign code changes and the opinion that the new regulations would inhibit the local businesses that have had signs in the area for 25 years or more. Members of the public asked that the board consider putting off the sign code decision until after meeting with local businesses that would be affected by the changes. Reed asked for a motion to take the sign code changes off the table for consideration, which was made and approved by the board to leave it open for further discussion.
After the public comment period and the discussion on the sign code changes, Reed explained that in the wake of losing Town Manager Acre officially on Friday the board would like to make a motion to approve the hiring of Amanda Hill as an interim town manager. The board moved to approve the request and passed it unanimously. Hill will act as manager until a new manager is chosen by the board through an interview process. Hill thanked the board and the discussion was closed.