All the lights are on: Is there anyone at home?

I’ve held off posting recently for a variety of reasons. The most relevant for the blog’s readers is that I have been waiting to see what (if anything) the Town Commission might have learned from the Fire/EMS JPA fiasco. 

• Unfortunately, it seems that the heads have gone back into the sand with regard to making sensible plans for the town government’s future.  
• Instead, the Commissioners are casting about for someone, anyone who will “tell their itching ears what they want to hear” while complaining against the people trying to tell them what they need to know.  
• Last night’s complaints about Reboot Edgewood missed the point entirely: Reboot Edgewood is not the cause of the town’s dysfunction. It is a legitimate, rational response to the current system-wide state of dysfunction. 
• The meeting started late and featured only two seats occupied by Commissioners: District 5 is vacant, Commissioner Taylor was absent, and Commissioner Murillo attended via an abysmal phone connection. 
• As has been the case since 2022, the meetings feature too many closed session agenda items with the closed sessions lasting way too long. More than half of last night’s meeting was spent out of public view with no action following. 
• The bad financial news continues as well.  
• Town Commissioners bragged about completing new road paving projects, yet none of them appear willing to deal with the almost insurmountable costs of reducing a backlog of deferred maintenance on existing pavement and chip seal. 
• More ominous are the complaints by department heads about the cutbacks to the budget. Bottom line: expect more Budget Adjustment Requests (BARs) in the coming fiscal year which is not yet a month old.  
• The town’s Planning & Zoning department is still in transition. Even though the July 16 meeting showed a few signs of improvement, it ran way too long and the decision-making process for the evening as a whole showcased the P&Z Commission’s habit of relying on an “arbitrary and capricious” decision-making process. 
• To their credit, unlike the Town Commission, the P&Z Commissioners are making an effort to deal with the world as it actually exists. Town Manager Hamilton’s decision to bring in a consultant is making a difference, but progress may take time.  

Meeting wrap-up for 2026 06 23

Last night’s meeting highlights:

• In case there were any remaining doubts about the unfortunate P&Z meeting last Thursday, the public comment section of last night’s agenda made clear what has gone wrong, and there were some excellent suggestions on how to fix the problems. Stay tuned: Because like all the other problems facing the town, the only way out is to work through them. Overhauling the town’s development review process will require some Edgewood developers to let go of several faulty, long-cherished assumptions.  
• It appears that Commissioner Rariden will stay on as Commissioner for the present which is a good thing. He functioned as the town’s balance wheel during the collapse of the Fire/EMS JPA. His earlier announcement of his intention to resign altogether set off unseemly behavior among some of his possible replacements.  
• The Commission approved Rariden’s motion to name recently elected Commissioner, Devon Taylor, to take on the role of mayor. 
• The Commission also approved Commissioner Ken Brennan as the new mayor pro tem. 
• Neither move was ideal: Taylor is new to the commission, but while he lacks understanding of some critical elements of Edgewood’s history, he has demonstrated a willingness to learn and, so far, has not been afraid to ask difficult questions. 
• It is also true that Taylor has many family and work obligations which might make serving as Commission Chair difficult, but that will also make it unlikely that he will be tempted to push the boundaries of what is essentially a ceremonial position beyond what the job actually calls for. 
• Commissioner Milligan’s lawsuit against the town makes it impractical for him to assume a leadership role. 
• The questions about Commissioner Brennan’s part in both the collapse of the JPA while he served as mayor, and later during the town’s response made it politically unwise for him to resume functioning as the  Commission Chair. 
• Commissioner Murillo’s behavior in (1) attempting to undermine formation of a new Fire/EMS JPA, (2) his clumsy attempts to hasten Rariden’s departure, and (3) his subjection of both the Town Manager and the Deputy Manager/Town Clerk to a public “humiliation ritual” made it impossible for him to continue as Pro Tem. He still has three and a half years to grow into the job of being Commissioner; I hope he will make the most of the opportunity.  
• Last night’s closed session yielded two important action items. The acceptance of the Deputy Administrator/Town Clerk’s resignation was regrettable, but not surprising. The town can consider itself fortunate that there were not two resignations.  
• The announcement following the closed session about possible acquisition of water rights will be explored in more detail at the upcoming July 14, 2026 meeting.  One swallow does not a summer make, and given the Town Commission’s propensity for “shooting itself in the foot” I am cautiously optimistic with the emphasis on “cautiously.”
• Finally, lest it become lost in the shuffle, the mystery agenda item regarding utility billing revealed that the town has fallen far behind in collecting wastewater connection/service fees. The reconciliation of past-due amounts will likely be painful for local businesses and politically embarrassing for the town. Since it was the town which failed to do its part, I hope that there will be no late fees assessed and that ample time will be allowed for compliance.  

Planning & Zoning Commission meeting August 21, 2025

Update: The meeting can be viewed on YouTube, and lasted just under an hour. The subdivision was unanimously approved with the condition that the Water Will-Serve letter from EPCOR be updated to specify that both lots can be served. The PZC will hold at least one meeting in September which is scheduled for the 18th.

The PZC is scheduled to meet tomorrow evening before taking time off from regular meetings until October 16, 2025 as reflected in the meeting agenda’s calendar update. The agenda and meeting packet can be downloaded from the ToE website. 

The brief agenda features (1) approval of previous meeting minutes, (2) a combined preliminary/final subdivision hearing with a listed project address of # 65 Edgewood 7, and (3) a continuation of in-house training.