Erie Town Council Meeting – April 7, 2026: Planning Commission Appointments and Public Safety Concerns
Erie Town Council Meeting – April 7, 2026
The Erie Town Council met on April 7, 2026, to address agenda items, hear public comments regarding public safety and ICE operations, and conduct interviews to appoint three members to the Planning Commission. The meeting included a point of order to add a discussion item about the format of the April 21st meeting, which was deferred to the next meeting on April 14th. After interviews with five candidates, the council voted to appoint Alex Schatz, Sherry Booth, and Paul Lee to the Planning Commission.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Anna Clark (District 2) expressed concern over ongoing ICE operations and requested that the town council consider a proclamation of public safety to address residents' fears, particularly for families of color. She shared personal experiences about her mother's fear of being stopped by police due to her accent and citizenship status.
- Laurel voiced concern about the mayor's handling of information during the State of the Town address, stating that a request for confidentiality regarding an initiative ("Areas for Everyone") was violated. She noted that the initiative was a draft and not the public safety request that had been made, and that the mayor shared the full name of a community member of color without consent, creating risk.
- Shannon Milliken stated that her full name was shared publicly by the mayor in a context that did not reflect actual conversations. She clarified that she does not support an inclusivity proclamation as a substitute for a public safety proclamation. She requested accountability and offered a draft public safety proclamation for the council to consider, asking that it be read at the April 21st meeting.
Discussion Items
- Agenda Modification: Council member requested adding a discussion item to discuss the timing, content, and format of the April 21st meeting, which has been advertised as an opportunity for the community to discuss the town's potential sale of mineral rights. The council decided to defer this discussion to the April 14th meeting to allow more time for information on legal aspects.
- Planning Commission Interviews: The council interviewed five candidates for three open positions on the Planning Commission. Each candidate answered questions about their background, understanding of the role, and approach to issues such as density, infrastructure, social equity, and working with staff and council. The candidates were:
- Paul Lee: Emphasized proactive infrastructure planning, data-driven decision-making, and the importance of questioning developers to manage infrastructure costs.
- Unnamed Candidate (former Thornton planner): Highlighted the strength of Erie's historic downtown and the need for more affordable housing and multifamily options.
- Tim (incumbent): Focused on the comprehensive plan update, objective criteria for decisions, and the importance of documenting concerns to inform council.
- Sherry Booth (incumbent): Noted the need to align the UDC with the comprehensive plan, reliance on staff expertise, and the importance of infill development for affordable housing.
- Alex Schatz: Discussed the need to manage state legislative mandates (e.g., affordable housing, wildfire), the role of the commission in fact-finding, and the importance of crafting conditions to address public concerns.
Key Outcomes
- The council voted to appoint Alex Schatz, Sherry Booth, and Paul Lee to the Planning Commission via Resolution 26-07-07, with a motion and second, and all members voting in favor.
- The council will discuss the format of the April 21st meeting at the next meeting on April 14th.
- The council took no immediate action on the requested public safety proclamation, but the issue was brought forward by public comment speakers.
Meeting Transcript
And to the republic for which it stands one nation under the odd individual with liberty and justice for law. Okay, well town clerk please call roll. Okay. Umber O'Connor. Council member passion already. Council member um here. Mayor Chen Bell. Sure. Um Council Member Mayor. Um council member. Here and Mayor Mouse. Here. Yeah, quorum. All right. Do we have a motion to approve the agenda? Mayor point of order. Yeah. Let's add a discussion item to the agenda. Okay. To discuss the timing content and format of the April 21st meeting that has been held to the community as an opportunity to discuss the town potential sale with minimal rights. Okay, I appreciate that. Um I'll bring it back to council. I am worried about time to have that type of um discussion. Um had a lot of input and a lot of people concerned about uh having the time to uh take time with us to ask questions, Anson. I know you you have a number of them during uh the state of the town. Um but we've been told we'll have a discussion at an open hearing. I guess that's the open hearing on the 21st. I'm not I don't know that it is and uh I'll have to defer to uh our attorney. Um actually so there won't be anyone voting on that day. No, I don't think there'll be anything we'll be voting on that day. I I don't I don't believe so in any event. Um if that's the timing of it, whatever the timing is. Uh you know, uh I think council should discuss what it's gonna look like the format and then question and answer between the residents and us. Uh we're gonna talk amongst our first, or I just like that we'll yeah, I don't think we have those answers here tonight unless I don't have an update to share with the council. Um that's certainly a policy decision. People could decide to have a conversation about anything so long as it's appropriately agendized. That would be a council prerogative. Can we add it to the next agenda on the 14th? And then we can notice it and have that conversation. Um let's do that. Yeah, maybe we'll have more information at that point. Yeah, okay. Yeah, I mean I wasn't so much interested in it interested in exposing any content or anything. So much we'll put that in votes. It's very blank on our advanced agenda. I think we're waiting. We're kind of waiting for a little more information on um some of the legal aspects before we figure out what we want to talk about. When I say we you want to talk about on the 21st and how you want to do that. Okay. So maybe on the 14th, we'll have a little more information.
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