HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018CV2867 - FORT COLLINS MENNONITE FELLOWSHIP AND STEVE RAMER V. CITY OF FORT COLLINS, ET AL - 074 - PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS1
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF COLORADO
FORT COLLINS MENNONITE . Case No. 18-cv-02867-MSK-NYW
FELLOWSHIP, a Colorado .
non-profit corporation, and .
STEVE RAMER, .
.
Plaintiffs, .
.
vs. .
.
THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS, .
THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS .
CITY COUNCIL, LAURIE DAVIS, . Alfred A. Arraj Courthouse
ROBERT DAVIS, MARY RAY, . 901 19th Street
H. STUART MACMILLAN, HOLLY . Denver, CO 80294
JOHNSON, LAURA PETRICK, .
DAVE PETRICK, KATHERINE .
ACOTT, WALTER HICKMAN, .
PATRICIA DIEHL, FERAH AZIZ, .
TARA MCCORMAC, JENNIFER .
PETRIK, DENNIS BOOKSTABER, .
TOM HALL, STEVE ACKERMAN, .
PAMELA REFVEM, and MICHAEL .
MERCER, .
.
Defendants. . May 6, 2019
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:02 p.m.
PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS HELD BEFORE THE HONORABLE
NINA Y. WANG, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
APPEARANCES:
For the Plaintiffs: ACLU of Colorado
By: Arash Jahanian
303 East 17th Avenue
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Appearances continued:
For the Defendants: Otten Johnson Robinson Neff &
Ragonetti, P.C.
By: David A. Brewster
By: Brian J. Connolly
950 17th Street
Suite 1600
Denver, CO 80202
(303) 575-7505
Hall & Evans, LLC
By: Andrew D. Ringel
1001 17th Street
Suite 300
Denver, CO 80202
(303) 628-3300
Also Present: Steve Ramer
John R. Duval
Court Recorder: Clerk's Office
U.S. District Court
901 19th Street
Denver, CO 80294
Transcription Service: AB Court Reporting & Video
216 16th Street, Suite 600
Denver, CO 80202
(303) 296-0017
Proceedings recorded by electronic sound recording;
transcript produced by transcription service.
Case 1:18-cv-02867-MSK-NYW Document 74 Filed 06/04/19 USDC Colorado Page 2 of 12
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(Time noted: 1:02 p.m.)
THE COURT CLERK: All rise. Court is now in
session.
THE COURT: Thank you. Please be seated.
All right, we are on the record in 18-cv-2867-MSK-
NYW, Fort Collins Mennonite Fellowship, et al., versus the
City of Fort Collins, et al.
Could I have appearances of counsel, please?
MR. CONNOLLY: Good afternoon, Your Honor. For
the Plaintiff, Brian Connolly. I'm here with my colleagues
David Brewster and Arash Jahanian from the ACLU of Colorado,
and our client representative, Pastor Steve Ramer is here.
THE COURT: Good afernoon.
MR. RINGEL: Good afternoon, Your Honor, Andrew
Ringel on behalf of Defendants, the City of Fort Collins and
the City Council of the City of Fort Collins.
With me is Deputy City Attorney John Duval.
THE COURT: Good afternoon. All right, we are
here for a settlement conference in this case.
I've been through your confidential settlement
statements.
This case is a little bit different than other
cases that I think you all have pretty well fleshed out the
issues that we need to work on this afternoon.
So let me tell you a few things, just to make sure
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we're all on the same page.
I have a hard stop at 5:00 o'clock.
Unfortunately, I have some child care issues today, which
means that I need to be able to get to my own children by
5:30. So just know that, and I'll keep that in mind.
The second thing is that this is a confidential
settlement process. And so for your clients' sake, who may
not be in court all the time, that means to the extent that I
can settle the case, we will enter minutes that reflect the
principal terms of the agreement.
If I can't settle the case, all that will be
reflected in the public record is that we were unable to
settle the case, and I will give no impressions of either the
success or the likelihood of success on the merits to either
the public or to Judge Krieger.
And so that's not my role in this case.
So that being said, does anyone have any updates
before we start our work here?
MR. CONNOLLY: Nothing here, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Okay.
MR. RINGEL: Nothing for us, either, Your Honor.
THE COURT: So before I split you up and start
talking to you individually, let me try to get on the record,
and we can restrict it, although I think this is all going to
be public if we are able to resolve it, what I think the
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parties are, in fact, in agreement about.
(Record sealed from 1:04 p.m. until 4:41 p.m.)
THE COURT CLERK: All rise. Court is now in
session.
THE COURT: Thank you. Please be seated.
We are back on the record on 18-cv-2867-MSK=NYW,
Fort Collins Mennonite Fellowship, et al., versus The City of
Fort Collins, et al.
I understand that the parties have reached a
resolution on the non-monetary terms of the case.
And so my proposal, counsel, if you don't have a
disagreement, is that I would put the material terms on the
record and get an assent from each side as I go through, so
the record is clear.
And then you all can continue negotiating with
respect to the monetary terms.
Is that acceptable to you?
MR. CONNOLLY: Yes, Your Honor.
MR. RINGEL: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. So this is what my
understanding of the parties' agreement is:
Subject to approval by the Fort Collins City
Council, the parties agree that the City agrees to eliminate
the requirement that a Fellowship representative be present
during the operation hours of the locker program.
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The locker program will extend from 6:00 a.m.
until 9:00 p.m. for unsupervised access. Outside of those
hours, a representative on-site can assist a client to access
the lockers and open the secured barrier and re-secure the
barrier. The anticipation is that the physical barrier at
this point will be a metal bar.
Is that correct, Mr. Connolly?
MR. CONNOLLY: Yes, it is.
THE COURT: And is that correct, Mr. Ringel?
MR. RINGEL: Yes, that's correct.
THE COURT: All right. And in turn for the City
eliminating the presence requirement, the Fellowship agrees
to provide the City Zoning Department with 24/7 contact
information of two Fellowship representatives. This
information will include, for each representative, his or her
name, a cell phone number with texting capabilities, an email
address, and any home or work telephone numbers, and any work
or home addresses.
These Fellowship representatives will be persons
to whom the Fellowship has granted authority to make
decisions concerning the use of the lockers.
If any of the contact -- I'm sorry. If any
contact information for the Fellowship's representatives
changes, the Fellowship will promptly notify the City Zoning
Department of the changes, and update the signs if the change
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is a posted cell phone number.
The Fellowship representative will not be a
current participant in the locker program.
Is that accurate, Mr. Connolly?
MR. CONNOLLY: Yes, it is.
THE COURT: Mr. Ringel?
MR. RINGEL: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. The Fellowship agrees to
post a sign at the entrance of the Fellowship's building and
on the lockers, stating the cell phone numbers of the cell
phone representatives, and the hours of operation of 6:00
a.m. to 9:00 p.m. for unsupervised access.
And the signage will also include the language
"unauthorized access to lockers is not permitted. Violators
may be prosecuted."
Is that your understanding of the signage?
MR. CONNOLLY: Yes.
MR. RINGEL: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Okay. Then that same language,
"unauthorized access to lockers is not permitted. Violators
may be prosecuted," that same language will be reflected in a
contract between the Fellowship, as well as the locker
participants.
Is that your understanding?
MR. CONNOLLY: Yes, Your Honor.
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THE COURT: Mr. Ringel?
MR. RINGEL: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Okay. Now, in terms of the
unauthorized access to the lockers, to the extent that a
citizen or the police believe that unauthorized access to the
lockers is being attempted, the police will contact one or
both of the Fellowship representatives within 30 minutes.
The Fellowship representatives will endeavor to
return that phone call, or answer that phone call, within 30
minutes. If the Fellowship representatives do not respond
within a 30-minute time frame, then the police will simply
proceed with the information that they have at that time.
Is that your understanding of that material term?
MR. CONNOLLY: Yes, it is, Your Honor.
MR. RINGEL: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Okay. The Fellowship will install a
security camera at the location that provides a high quality
and clear view of the lockers, and their numbers, and the
users as they access the lockers.
The camera will be operated 24/7. Its video will
be capable of being monitored in real time and retained for
at least the past seven days of the camera's recording, and
such video shall be accessible remotely by cell phone or over
the internet.
Is that your understanding of that material term,
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Mr. Connolly?
MR. CONNOLLY: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: And, Mr. Ringel?
MR. RINGEL: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: And then I think we've talked about
this before, but the Fellowship will restrict locker access
outside the operating hours by a physical or technological
means of its choosing, and the means must be reasonably
effective in denying users the ability to open their lockers
during the non-operating hours.
MR. CONNOLLY: Yes, Your Honor.
MR. RINGEL: Yes, Your Honor, although my
understanding is it was going to be a metal bar.
THE COURT: Right. That's the anticipation is
that it will be a physical metal bar.
MR. CONNOLLY: Yes.
THE COURT: Okay. And then lastly, the amendments
or the conditions become part of the minor amendments, so
that these conditions become an amendment to the minor
amendment of the land use provisions.
MR. CONNOLLY: Yes, Your Honor.
MR. RINGEL: Yes, that is correct, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Did I miss any other
material terms?
(Pause)
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MR. CONNOLLY: Not to my knowledge, Your Honor.
MR. RINGEL: Not to my knowledge, other than to
the extent that there is an ultimate global resolution, it
would have to be dismissal of the lawsuit with prejudice.
But we will get to that when we get to that.
THE COURT: I assume that would be your
anticipation that the lawsuit would get dismissed with
prejudice?
MR. CONNOLLY: Yes, that is what we're aiming for.
THE COURT: Okay. All right. So my understanding
is that you all will continue to engage in discussions with
respect to the attorneys' fees.
To the extent that the Court can be of service to
you with respect to that negotiation, please feel free to
contact my Chambers informally, and just set up another ENE
with respect to the attorneys' fees.
I'll also tell you, as I told you in the
negotiations, that to the extent that you have issues
negotiating the specific terms of the agreement or the land
use provisions, that you need the Court's input on, I'm happy
to help you resolve any issues with respect to that, as well,
with the caveat that hopefully this would never happen, but
to the caveat that I can't force you all to do anything and
put myself in a position that I wouldn't be able to engage in
a recommendation as to a motion to enforce.
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But I'm happy to help you with the language, if
you need it. Okay?
MR. CONNOLLY: Great.
THE COURT: All right. Anything further, counsel?
MR. RINGEL: Only, Your Honor, is the Court
willing to entertain telephone calls on attorneys' fees, and
things like that?
THE COURT: Absolutely.
MR. RINGEL: My guess is it wouldn't require us
all to be here, that it may be your auspices by telephone
might work.
THE COURT: I'm happy to do whatever helps get
this across the finish line.
MR. RINGEL: Okay.
THE COURT: All right. Anything else from the
Plaintiffs?
MR. CONNOLLY: Nothing. Thank you, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you very much.
We'll be in recess.
THE COURT CLERK: All rise.
(Time noted: 4:50 p.m.)
* * * * *
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CERTIFICATE
I, RANDEL RAISON, certify that the foregoing is a
correct transcript from the official electronic sound
recording of the proceedings in the above-entitled matter, to
the best of my ability.
______________________________ June 4, 2019
Randel Raison
Case 1:18-cv-02867-MSK-NYW Document 74 Filed 06/04/19 USDC Colorado Page 12 of 12
Suite 350
Denver, CO 80203
(303) 777-5482
Case 1:18-cv-02867-MSK-NYW Document 74 Filed 06/04/19 USDC Colorado Page 1 of 12