At the Town of Norwood’s monthly meeting, Aug. 14, owners of Over the Mountain DBA Lone Cone Saloon, applied for and were approved for a liquor license. The couple who owns the business live in Norwood already and now work there too.
They told the town board they’re excited to get to work and continue the legacy of what’s been the Lone Cone Bar and Restaurant.
They added nothing is set to change, and so far the staff working there are remaining in place.
“You’re so welcome in this community,” trustee Niven Drybrough told the business owners.
On the Norwood agenda was also discussion of an interim town manager, something trustee Mike Grady said is important to consider, since nobody is working in that role at this time. Former Town Manager Deana Sheriff left earlier this summer after much conflict took place within Town Hall, between the mayor, boards and staff.
Patti Grafmyer, who worked as a town employee and served as town administrator for more than 30 years, was mentioned as an interim possibility.
Town Clerk Amanda Pierce said the workload is heavy, and with not having a town manager, she’s worried that staff might “drop the ball.” She also said she’s not sure, though, that Grafmyer would return to her old post temporarily, and there might be conditions if she agreed.
The idea of whether to discuss or even approach Grafmyer, and also whether that discussion should be held in an executive session, was mentioned. Mayor Candy Meehan, who is also now under a recall by a group of citizens, said conversation about Grafmyer as a possibility should be held in executive session, since it’s a personnel matter.
Also mentioned in the meeting was hiring a third party, potentially the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, to look into the ongoing conflicts that have occurred this summer. Also mentioned was sweeping the office for surveillance technology, as well as checking computers and programs for hacking. And, a future mediation between all three of Norwood’s boards — town, water and sanitation — was discussed.
Trustees agreed to approve motions on all three of the aforementioned items.
The idea of hiring a new town attorney, one who is more local, came up — someone like former attorney Herb McHarg. Both Pierce and Deputy Town Clerk Becky Hannigan said they also want access to the town attorney, and that was approved, though trustees thought they’d approved that in the last meeting.
Kattie Neesham, who’s been providing cleaning services to the town, requested back pay for 15 hours of work that she was denied when Town Hall shut down in July due to conflicts, employee strikes and resignations. That item was approved.
Town Clerk Amanda Pierce told trustees in her update that the town had been awarded a grant that she’d written for more than $240,000, in order to update the Pocket Park. And, she also said that a Congressional Direct Spending Award, written previously by Sheriff, for the amount of $2.9 million, had also been awarded, though she said many approvals and preliminary tasks were needed before those funds could be released.
Pierce requested access to Sheriff’s old emails and jump drive for work purposes, and that was granted. Pierce also said she needed to catch up on business licenses, which were due in July.
