At every meeting since October 2020, the City Council has acknowledged the original owners of the land Denver now occupies.

The Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Peoples lived and died here long before there was a Mile High City and on Monday, Denver City Council President Jamie Torres emphasized that fact by reading a proclamation marking the city’s seventh annual Indigenous People’s Day.

“It is an honor to continue to be able to recognize this proclamation and the movement this council made several years ago with the help of the American Indian Commission to recognize and honor Indigenous Peoples Day,” she said.

The proclamation came at the end of the weekly meeting and was supported by a number of audience members, many of them members of Indigenous American tribes.

The Council’s other business was mostly as usual, with a few notable exceptions.

District 2 Councilman Kevin Flynn would love to have an additional $3.5 million for drainage and flood improvements, but it was not to be. A bill that found its way to the Council incorrectly identified the Sanderson Gulch from Florida Avenue to Arkansas Avenue as District 2.

The land is in District 7, and Flynn requested an amendment to the bill. The bill passed after the amendments were approved by the nine councilors in attendance.

“I’d like to have $3.5 million worth of improvements upstream, but this project is in a council district that is much lower in elevation,” Flynn said, drawing some chuckles.

As amended, the bill approved a $3.5 million expansion of the contract between the City and County of Denver and Urban Drainage and Flood Control District, for a new total of $3.9 million.

Also on the City Council’s radar was the first reading of two bills. Bills appearing before the council are read twice, once for initial introduction and then a second time one week later for final consideration.

The first bill seeks to authorize a capital equipment purchase by Denver Public Libraries. The new camera system will allow the Denver Public Library to photograph and digitize oversize and bound material, art, film and fragile material that cannot be placed on a flat bed scanner.

Though no price was listed for this specific camera kit, other similar cameras cost just under $50,000. The iXG kit, and all the other items sought by the library exceeds $50,000, and thus requires the City Council’s approval.

A second bill appearing before the council seeks to reclassify park ranger pay grades, a move that would mean a pay hike.

Currently, park rangers are classified as non-exempt NE-09 and NE-11, depending on seniority. If approved, the positions would become NE-11 and NE-14. Exempt employees like park ranger supervisors will be reclassified from EX-08 to EX-09.

The reclassification would mean a minimum $2.40 raise for park rangers, and $3.60 raise for senior park rangers according to the City of Denver’s publicly available salary structure document. Supervisors would receive a $4,600 salary increase if the bill is approved.

“It’s all part of recruiting as well,” Councilwoman Debbie Ortega said. “Every department is trying to fill holes and this is one way some can fill them. Employees will still have to meet certain workplace standards.”