CRAIG  — During a meeting of the Craig City Council on Tuesday, June 12, Corporal Bryan Gonzales, of the Craig Police Department, was recognized with a commendation for his role in preventing an attempted suicide.

“This award is presented to officer Bryan Gonzales for rendering extraordinary service to the community,” said Police Chief Jerry DeLong.

Gonzales was called to help law enforcement with a despondent individual on top of Sand Rocks preparing to commit suicide.

“He used his negotiating skills and a relationship developed during his lifetime in the community to talk the male away from the edge and diffuse a highly emotional situation,” DeLong said.

Council member Joe Bird, who lives in a home just below the Sand Rocks, said he and his wife had watched events unfold. He added his appreciation after a standing ovation by council members and the audience.

In other business, the City Council took the following actions.

• Approved a proposal to pay an amount, including travel expenses, not to exceed $11,120 to consultants from Raftelis to help the city establish a communications strategy and facilitate a community open house pertaining to the upcoming Water Rate Study. Council expects city staff to gain training through the process to allow similar work to be done in-house in the future. Mayor John Ponikvar said of the decision, “I think that one of our goals here is to better communicate with our citizens, and this will be one way to do that. It will give us a blueprint for down the road. … This would be a good start.”

• Awarded am $18,399.50 bid for materials needed for a water main replacement. The decision puts projected total costs about $26,000 more than the $500,000 budgeted. However, city staff will provide traffic control, originally part of another contractor’s bid, to reduce costs by about $25,000. This will leave the project about $2,000 over budget, Road and Bridge Director Randy Call said. He added that the mains being repaired had broken 18 times in the past eight years.

• Tabled a decision on the purchase 28 handheld portable radios at a cost of more than $78,000, as proposed in the only bid. Radios used by the city are not currently compliant with Federal Communication Commission regulations. A delay in the purchase of compliant radios risks the city accruing FCC f for non-compliance of $10,000 per day, Call said.

• Approved spending up to $14,000 for Employers Council to complete an analysis of city employee compensation and benefits.

• Approved a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation in support a BUILD grant application pertaining to work on the Colorado Highway 13 corridor.

Council also accepted public comment and heard monthly reports from the DeLong, Interim City Manager Bruce Nelson, Attorney Sherman Romney and council members.

Contact Sasha Nelson at 970-875-1794 or snelson@CraigDailyPress.com.