House Committee on Local Government (02/22/2005)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Date:	02/22/2005	ATTENDANCE

Time:	02:02 PM to 05:08 PM	Berens	X
		Cerbo	X
Place:	HCR 0112	Curry	*
		Decker	X
This Meeting was called to order by		May M.	X
	Representative Hodge	Merrifield	*
		Soper	X
This Report was prepared by		Sullivan	X
	David Beaujon	Welker	X
		Lindstrom	X
		Hodge	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB05-1223 HB05-1254 HB05-1273 HB05-1230		Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole Referred to Committee on Appropriations Referred to the Committee of the Whole Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole

02:02 PM -- House Bill 05-1223

Representative Madden, sponsor, described the provisions of the bill concerning the liquor licensing authority of local governments (Attachment A). She also distributed Amendment L. 002 (Attachment B).

The following persons testified on the bill.

02:10 PM -- Matt Cook, State Liquor Enforcement Division, described the provisions of the bill and the liquor licensing process for new and existing establishments by state and local licensing authorities.

02:20 PM -- David Miller, University Hill Neighborhood Association, spoke in support of the bill and described problems experienced by residents in the City of Boulder's University Hills neighborhood with liquor selling establishments.

02:37 PM -- Peter Meersman, Colorado Restaurant Association, spoke in opposition to the bill and described current law pertaining to obtaining a liquor license. He also expressed concern about the application of the bill's provisions by local authorities and its impact on businesses (Attachment C). Committee discussion followed about the definition of "change of character" of a licensed establishment as determined by a local authority.

02:59 PM -- Mr. Cook returned to respond to questions from the committee regarding the process for renewing a liquor license.

03:03 PM -- Courtney Mowry, Rock Bottom Restaurant Group, spoke in opposition to the bill and described the evolution of her company's restaurant concepts.

03:08 PM -- Max Scott, Oedipus Inc., spoke in opposition to the bill and described changes in the business climate that stimulates changes of restaurant concepts.

03:15 PM -- David Reitz, Dill and Dill Law Firm, spoke in opposition to the bill and requested that it better define "change of character" of a licensed establishment.

03:19 PM -- Robert Maust, representing himself, spoke in support of the bill and described impacts to communities in the City of Boulder related to liquor selling establishments.

03:25 PM -- David Webster, representing himself, spoke in support of the bill and described the challenge of participating in the liquor licensing process.

03:28 PM -- Margot Crowe, representing herself, spoke in support of the bill and described the impacts in Denver's capitol hill neighborhood from certain liquor selling establishments.

03:31 PM -- Tom Eldridge, City of Boulder, spoke in support of the bill and described the challenge of managing impacts from liquor selling establishments in mixed-use neighborhoods.

03:39 PM -- Cheryl Aragon, representing herself, described the liquor licensing process in the City of Greeley and the impact from a liquor selling operation.

03:42 PM

Representative Madden described the provisions of Amendment L. 005, as amended (Attachment E).


BILL:	HB05-1223
TIME:	03:45:23 PM
MOVED:	Curry
MOTION:	Moved Amendment L. 002. The motion was adopted without objection.
SECONDED:	Lindstrom
		VOTE
	Berens
	Cerbo
	Curry
	Decker
	May M.
	Merrifield
	Soper
	Sullivan
	Welker
	Lindstrom
	Hodge
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB05-1223
TIME:	03:47:43 PM
MOVED:	Soper
MOTION:	Moved Amendment L. 005, as amended on line 7, after "CHANGE IN" insert "DECOR,"; line 8, after "CUISINE" insert ",". The motion passed on a roll call vote of 9-2.
SECONDED:	Merrifield
		VOTE
	Berens	Yes
	Cerbo	Yes
	Curry	Yes
	Decker	No
	May M.	No
	Merrifield	Yes
	Soper	Yes
	Sullivan	Yes
	Welker	Yes
	Lindstrom	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
Not Final YES: 9 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	HB05-1223
TIME:	03:54:13 PM
MOVED:	Cerbo
MOTION:	Moved HB05-1223, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 9-2.
SECONDED:	Merrifield
		VOTE
	Berens	Yes
	Cerbo	Yes
	Curry	Yes
	Decker	No
	May M.	No
	Merrifield	Yes
	Soper	Yes
	Sullivan	Yes
	Welker	Yes
	Lindstrom	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
Final YES: 9 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:57 PM -- House Bill 05-1254

Representative Plant, sponsor, described the provisions of the bill that creates a temporary water efficiency grant program and identified the unobligated portion of the Severance Tax Trust Fund's Operational Account (Attachment F). He also explained that Severance Tax revenue is obtained primarily from oil and gas production and described the factors affecting the amount of revenue collected annually.

The following persons testified on the bill:

04:04 PM -- Bart Miller, Western Resource Advocates, spoke in support of the bill and described growing demand for domestic water supplies due to Colorado's residential population growth. He also identified water conservation programs that may benefit from the grant program including rebates for water savings fixtures and changes to residential water billing systems.

04:21 PM -- Chris Berry, Metro Mayors' Caucus, spoke in support of the bill and described a memorandum of understanding adopted by the caucus supporting water conservation programs. He also described the effect of the recent drought on domestic water conservation programs and identified programs that may benefit from the grants including irrigation audits and xeriscaping incentives.

04:25 PM

Testimony was closed. The committee discussed, but did not offer, an amendment to require the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) to submit a report to the General Assembly and the Governor about grants awarded for water efficiency programs. It also discussed an amendment to require the CWCB to award grants equitably.


BILL:	HB05-1254
TIME:	04:27:24 PM
MOVED:	Decker
MOTION:	Moved HB05-1254 to the Committee on Appropriations,without amendment. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 11-0.
SECONDED:	Merrifield
		VOTE
	Berens	Yes
	Cerbo	Yes
	Curry	Yes
	Decker	Yes
	May M.	Yes
	Merrifield	Yes
	Soper	Yes
	Sullivan	Yes
	Welker	Yes
	Lindstrom	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
Final YES: 11 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

04:33 PM -- House Bill 05-1273

Representative Kerr, sponsor, described the provisions of the bill concerning terms of intergovernmental financial contracts and obligations.

The following persons testified on the bill:

04:36 PM -- Greg Romberg, City of Aurora and the Colorado Municipal League, spoke in support of the bill.

04:38 PM -- Mary Ann McGeady, Special Districts Association, spoke in support of the bill.

04:41 PM

Testimony was closed and no amendments were offered.


BILL:	HB05-1273
TIME:	04:41:43 PM
MOVED:	Merrifield
MOTION:	Moved HB05-1273, to the Committee of the Whole, without amendment. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 11-0.
SECONDED:	Sullivan
		VOTE
	Berens	Yes
	Cerbo	Yes
	Curry	Yes
	Decker	Yes
	May M.	Yes
	Merrifield	Yes
	Soper	Yes
	Sullivan	Yes
	Welker	Yes
	Lindstrom	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
Final YES: 11 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

04:43 PM

The committee recessed.

04:46 PM -- House Bill 05-1230

The committee returned from recess and Representative Weissmann, sponsor, described the provisions of the bill concerning enforcement of local government land use requirements. He also described the provisions of Amendment L 001 that strikes Sections 1 through 4 of the bill, amends Section 6, and amends the bill's title (Attachment G).

The following persons testified on the bill:

04:52 PM -- Lisa McMath, representing herself, spoke in support of the bill and described the impact of living near a residence with three-phase power. The residence in unincorporated Boulder County used the three-phase power to operate a motorcycle repair facility that caused disturbances and attracted crime. Three-phase power allows multiple industrial machines to operate more efficiently. She explained that limiting the access to the three-phase power would reduce the ability of such facilities to operate next to her residence.

05:01 PM -- Pat Ratliff, Colorado Counties, Inc., spoke in support of the bill.

05:02 PM

Testimony was closed.


BILL:	HB05-1230
TIME:	05:02:14 PM
MOVED:	Merrifield
MOTION:	Moved Amendment L. 001. The motion was adopted without objection.
SECONDED:	Sullivan
		VOTE
	Berens
	Cerbo
	Curry
	Decker
	May M.
	Merrifield
	Soper
	Sullivan
	Welker
	Lindstrom
	Hodge
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB05-1230
TIME:	05:04:06 PM
MOVED:	Merrifield
MOTION:	Moved HB05-1230 to the Committee of Whole, as amended. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 11-0.
SECONDED:	Sullivan
		VOTE
	Berens	Yes
	Cerbo	Yes
	Curry	Yes
	Decker	Yes
	May M.	Yes
	Merrifield	Yes
	Soper	Yes
	Sullivan	Yes
	Welker	Yes
	Lindstrom	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
Final YES: 11 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

05:07 PM

The meeting was adjourned.