Overview
The Town Council model requires a complete replacement of Ophir's Home Rule Charter. Every article of the current charter is built around the General Assembly as the sole governing body; a Town Council charter cannot be achieved by amendment of the existing document. A wholesale replacement is required.
The article-by-article mapping below is not a surgical amendment list. It describes which current articles would be superseded and what new articles would need to be drafted, to give the committee and the community a sense of scope. All charter replacement requires majority approval by the full Ophir electorate under C.R.S. Section 31-2-210 and Article XX of the Colorado Constitution.
Because charter changes require a community ballot, decisions embedded in the new charter would be difficult to modify later. This gives the unresolved design questions in Section 4 more than ordinary significance.
Charter Articles Requiring Replacement or Substantial Revision
Article II (Elections and Electorate). The current article governs GA member qualifications and election procedures. A new article would define council member qualifications, the election cycle for council seats and the Mayor, and any transition provisions from the current officer structure. The January election date in Article II, Section 6 may require adjustment depending on how staggered terms are structured.
Article III (General Assembly Procedure). Would be replaced in its entirety by a new Town Council Procedure article. The new article would define meeting frequency and notice requirements, quorum, voting thresholds, the ordinance and resolution adoption process, executive session rules under Colorado Open Meetings Law, and consent agenda provisions if adopted.
Article IV (Recall of Elected Official). Would need to be rewritten to define recall procedures applicable to council members. The current 20-signature GA petition threshold would need a council-model equivalent calibrated to the representative structure.
Article V (Boards and Commissions). Would need updating to reflect that boards and commissions are appointed by and report to the council rather than the GA. The current charter is sparse on boards and commissions governance regardless of model; a charter rewrite would require determining whether additional provisions should be included.
New Article (Town Council). A new article would define the council's existence, composition, election structure, terms, internal roles (Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, council members), authority, compensation, relationship to the Town Manager, accountability mechanisms, and any petition-triggered community meeting provision if adopted.
Article VI (Finance). Would need to redefine the budget preparation and adoption process. Under the current charter the Treasurer prepares the budget; under a council model the Town Manager typically prepares and presents the proposed budget to the council. The December 15 mill levy certification deadline is unchanged.
Article VII (Municipal Borrowing) and Article VIII (Taxation). These articles reference the General Assembly as the authorizing body throughout. The references would be updated to the Town Council. Substantive provisions may remain largely intact.
Article IX, Section 6 (Charter Amendments). The current provision allows amendment "by Town ordinance." Under a council model, clarification would be needed to specify whether the council initiates amendment by ordinance or by resolution and how proposed amendments are referred to the electorate for approval.
Open Legal Questions
Election cycle compatibility. Attorney review would be required to determine whether Ophir's existing January election date structure can accommodate staggered council terms or whether a different election cycle would be required.
Petition-triggered community meeting authority. The legally permissible structure for a petition-triggered community meeting under Colorado home rule law, and what authority such a meeting may hold, require attorney review before any charter language can be drafted.
Executive session compliance. How executive session rules should be specified in the new charter to comply with Colorado Open Meetings Law requires attorney review.
RETT credit or property tax credit mechanism. Whether a RETT credit or property tax credit compensation mechanism requires any special legal structure under Colorado municipal finance law has not been confirmed.
Transition provisions. What transition provisions are required to protect existing town contracts, obligations, and pending legal matters during the changeover from GA governance to council governance requires attorney review.
Primary residency enforceability. Whether the primary residency qualification requires specific definitional language to be enforceable under Colorado election law has not been determined.