BOARD OKS CHANGING MUSEUM ALCOHOL POLICY
Sterling’s Parks, Library and Recreation Board approved a change to Overland Trail Museum’s alcohol policy during a regular meeting on Monday, giving staff the ability to decide whether a police presence is needed.
PLR Director Wade Gandee explained that one of the things the policy required from the beginning was to have a police presence in case things happened with people drinking. However, the museum is finding that those wanting to serve alcohol are much smaller groups than anticipated and they’re only handing out two tickets for drinks to go with the meal or it’s a small wedding and the couple just wants to have a champagne toast and no other alcohol will be served.
Thus, Gandee asked the board for approval to change the policy to give museum staff and himself the ability to say yes or no to whether a police presence will be required, depending on the size of the group and how much alcohol will be served.
The other problem that has come up is that the policy requires the police to be there a minimum of three hours at a cost of $150 and some events don’t last three hours.
Board member Jim Smith asked how many employees attend the events. Museum Curator Kay Rich said it depends on the size of the event; if it’s a larger group they have two employees there but for smaller groups just one.
“I feel very comfortable on this. We’ve not had any issues,” she told the board regarding the suggested policy change, adding that most of their events are business meetings.
The policy amendment was approved unanimously by all three board members present.
Gandee also shared that the department continues to work on
trails, including cutting more trails in the South Platte River bottom area.
“We’ve got a pretty good volunteer group of about 20-25 people now that are really working down on the river bottom,” he said.
During division updates, Rich reported that they had good attendance at their Christmas events and visitation in 2023 was up about 2,000 people compared to the previous year, with increased facility rentals, but it was still down about 3,000 from PRE-COVID-19 numbers.
Right now, the museum is working on putting in some ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) push-button doors and is also planning for some upcoming new exhibits, including a photo exhibit of the Colorado Scenic and Historic Byways that will open in late January and be on display through mid-april. The exhibit fea
tures 52 photos of 26 sites in Colorado and has been displayed at Denver International Airport, the Colorado State Capitol, History Colorado and the Colorado State Fair, as well as other venues throughout the state.
Recreation Superintendent Monty Waite reported that the first session of swim lessons for 2024 has started; last year they were able to offer 15 sessions. Bedford asked if they reach more kids with swim lessons than they did prior to COVID-19, Waite said he believes they are and by having multiple sessions they are able to spend a lot more time with the children and make sure they are learning what they need to learn. Right now, the recreation center has 11 water safety instructors.
Adult basketball and youth basketball are starting, registration is open for dodgeball and youth boys volleyball and the recreation center has hired a new aquatic supervisor.
Sterling Public Library
Superintendent Sandy Vandusen shared that attendance at their Christmas events was good. Now, the library is working on programming for this year and Story Time has started again.
Parks, Cemetery and Forestry Superintendent Jamie Ulrich reported his crews are working on maintenance and will soon be in the parks to get some trees trimmed up and taken down. One area they will be focusing on is the trails at Pioneer Park because a lot of trees have blown down and others are becoming a hazard. They are also looking at where they can put new trees in and are hoping to get a water line run into the trails at Pioneer Park, to help establish trees there.
Ulrich mentioned his crews were planning to take a water truck out Tuesday and maybe again next week, to help some of the younger trees continue to grow as there hasn’t been very much moisture.
Tree damage caused by beavers continues to be an issue on the river bottom trails and Ulrich and his crews do their best to take care of it as they have time.