The resolution also calls for the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency programs. In addition, it calls for reducing the local impacts and increasing the local benefits associated with oil and gas development.

Mayors from Grand Junction to Aspen developed the resolution and are presenting it to the governing boards of all of their communities for approval. They hope to provide a unified showing of support for their proposal to the state legislature and Gov. Bill Ritter.

Click here to see a copy of the resolution.

When you are the first town downvalley from Aspen and Snowmass Village, and straddle the boundary between Pitkin and Eagle Counties, you would expect some challenging planning and community development situations.

Nowadays, just about every where the Town of Basalt turns presents another significant challenge. For example:

• Last month, one Basalt’s two downtown affordable hotels, The Green Drake Inn, sold for $4.4 million to an investment group that could repeat the trend in Aspen of converting small lodge and hotel rooms to fractional ownership luxury units;
• The town is working to connect the older part of town to the newer south side with an underpass, since the 6-lanes of State Highway 82 presents a formidable barrier between two parts of town;
• The booming second-home market is creating a shortage of affordable housing and every undeveloped parcel in Basalt’s urban growth boundary has a development proposal in the review process; and,
• The town hopes to complete the update its of 1999 urban growth boundary and master plan by this summer.

No wonder a recent Aspen Times Weekly article by Scott Condon asked ‘What’s happening to my small, quirky town?’

Rifle’s boom continues.

In 2005, the city of Rifle issued permits for six commercial construction projects. Last year, that number rose to 23 permits in 2006.

With the commercial growth up, residential construction permits actually dropped from 109 in 2005 to 87 last year for single family units. Multiple-family units saw an increase in permits from six duplex units in 2005 to 14 buildings with 84 total units in 2006.

“The commercial businesses are finally realizing that we have the population to support it,” Mayor Keith Lambert said, adding that the population of Rifle in 2001 exceeded the population during the boom of the early 1980s.

The $1.04 billion in total sales for 2006 was an increase of 22 percent over the 2005 mark and growth of 137 percent from 2003.

The oil and gas boom in western Garfield County is driving the real estate development boom in western Garfield County.

An estimated $75 million of the $1 billion in commercial and residential sales in Garfield County occurred in Rifle last year.

Meanwhile, in the Roaring Fork Valley portion of Garfield County, the average single-family-home price in Carbondale jumped to nearly $500,000 last year. Homes in the $300,000 to $500,000 range were a scarce commodity in Carbondale last summer.

Chances are good that sales volume will remain above $1 billion in Garfield County this year.

Pitkin County has remained above the $1 billion level in annual sales volume for each of the last four years. Sales volume topped $2 billion in 2005 and soared to $2.64 billion last year.

Since House Bill 1343 took effect Aug. 7, Gould and other contractors doing business with government are now required to certify that they have no illegal workers on his payroll. The law applies to contractors working on projects for cities, counties, school districts and other governmental agencies.

"West Slope contractors do 50 percent of their work for government," Gould said. "Most of us who comply (with the law) don't bid (on those contracts) because there is not a level playing field."

Gould also said he loses more and more workers to the oil and gas industry, which pays over $20 a hour compared to Gould's starting wage for laborers of $14 an hour.

A decade ago, writing about the difficult commute workers put up with to get into Aspen, was almost a daily occurence. Now It looks like the region is heading into another similar cycle of concern given the shrinking labor market and the need to pull even more workers from downvalley communities.

As Charles Agar writes in the Aspen Times Weekly:

"Perhaps the most obvious human cost of the upper valley’s stratospheric real estate market is the ever-longer commutes from affordable homes to higher-paying jobs in or near Aspen. Long commutes cost time and money; they pollute the environment and erode people’s sense of community. Most of the those who spend hours of each working day on Highway 82 have accepted the commute as a necessary trade-off, but it’s getting harder for upper valley employers to find the help they need . . ."

Statistics for city transport in Aspen and Glenwood have increased sharply, and the number of riders traveling the length of the valley and along the Hogback are rising steadily. In December 2006, nearly 23,000 riders made the round trip to Carbondale, and nearly 6,000 made the trip through the Hogback area, a rise of 13 percent since 2005.

City Hall collected $10.59 million in sales taxes in 2006. Lodging tax revenues for the year jumped from $977,471 in 2005 to $1.08 million in 2006 — an increase of 10.9 percent.

Last year was the third straight year Aspen enjoyed revenue increases in excess of the Denver-Boulder consumer price index.

Meanwhile, in Glenwood Springs, taxable sales totaled $401 million last year, about $75 million more than in 2005.

This commercial activity yielded a sales tax bonanza for the city, which took in a record $14.8 million in sales taxes during 2006 almost one-third more than the year before.

Last year's tax revenues also benefited from a 0.25 percent street tax boost approved by voters in November 2005.

The city's lodging industry also generated more than $1.1 million in sales taxes last year, up 23 percent from 2005.

With Garfield County is contributing $1.5 million and the City of Glenwood Springs agreeing to defer fees to the amount of $800,000, elected officials reasonably expected that renters, in addition to meeting income guidlines, would also live and work in Garfield County. Officials were concerned that the project didn't end up housing another county's workforce.

However, because of state and federal financing for the project , the 120 rental units have to be open to anyone who meets the income qualifications regardless of where they currently live or work.

County Commissioners, City Council members and the developer agreed to make the county's renting conditions "preferences," which would keep the project eligible for state financing.

The residents of Carbondale had plenty of food for thought in February in relation to the economic future of the town.

Michael Shuman, author of The Small Mart, gave a talk in Carbondale to 150 people or so at town hall, and met with the town council members the next morning, just prior to a second gathering with citizens.

Shuman summarized a six-point agenda for providing Carbondale with a measure of economic stability and vitality without relying on the sales taxes to be generated by a "big-box" store.

Among the points was the idea of studying existing local entrepreneurial businesses, including what he called "home-based businesses," to see what is working.

In addition, Shuman advised, community members need to do more study and work with the Economic Road Map Group report. The report came out in 2006 after a year of study by a group made up of citizens with differing viewpoints on how to develop the controversial Crystal River Market Place property on Highway 133.

Other suggestions included:

• Strengthening the Carbondale Community Chamber of Commerce's existing "shop locally" campaign;
• boosting local economic education, business mentorship and "new business incubation" programs;
• examining the idea of reducing the town's reliance onsales tax revenues by introducing other kinds of taxes, such as a "service tax"; and
• working up some firm statistics about "leakage" from the town's economy.

At the end of February, Home Depot representatives faced a skeptical crowd as they pitched building a store they said would mesh with a small mountain town, while generating an estimated $1.2 million in sales tax per year.

More than 100 residents turned out to hear the proposal for what company representatives stressed was only a conceptual plan. Town staff and consultants plan to develop a series of questions for developers to respond to, said Town Manager Tom Baker, and trustees could ask developers to submit a project for review within about 45 days.

Many residents expressed concerns about the impact of a big-box store on a small town, including impacts on local businesses, community character and the environment.

Developers are proposing an 88,400-square-foot site on the Crystal River Marketplace property along Highway 133 at the entrance to town, with 335 parking spaces. That's smaller than a standard store of between 102,000 square feet and 115,000 square feet, and its largest "super store" of 195,000 square feet.

The store is expected to add up to 150 jobs and bring in about $25 million in annual sales. Home Depot plans to own the property.

The Development, Community, and Environmentin U.S. EPA's Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation is issuing a request for applications for the Smart Growth Implementation Assistance program.

Through this program, a team of multidisciplinary experts will provide free technical assistance to communities, regions, or states that want to develop in ways that meet environmental and other local or regional goals.

Selected communities will receive assistance in the form of a multi-day visit from a team of experts organized by EPA and other national partners to work with local leaders. Applications will be accepted until March 8, 2007.

As he writes in the introduction,
"This paper identifies more than a dozen [...] cost-effective, technically feasible policy reforms and programs that help solve transport problems by improving transport options and correcting market distortions that result in economically excessive motor vehicle travel.

These are considered “no regrets” strategies because they are justified even if the severity of environmental and social risks is uncertain."