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The State of the Valley News is a periodic newsletter from
Healthy Mountain Communities. Valley News contains
information on initiatives, trends, ideas, and events
impacting the Roaring Fork and Colorado River Valleys. |
Governor Ritter visits with Mountain Mayors
 The
Roan Plateau, oil and gas impacts in western Garfield
County, severance tax, housing and social impacts were
some of the issues touched upon in a meeting between
Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter and
the Mountain Mayors group in January.
Governor Ritter, along with
State Rep. Bernie Buescher, a Grand Junction
Democrat who is chair of the Joint Budget Committee, and
Harris Sherman, director of the state Department of
Natural Resources, made the stop in Rifle on the way to
Grand Junction for a two-day tour.
The Governor thanked the Mayors for their collaborative
efforts.
"Keep me informed, because it's hard when you're not
living in the area," Ritter said. "It's an important
time in the history of the Western Slope. We need as
much information as possible."
Read Heidi Rice's article in the Post Independent . . .
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Pete McBride, Jacque Whitsitt and Katie Schwoerer topped the
field of six candidates to win the three open seats on the
council. None of the incumbents were in the race.
The winners campaigned in support of maintaining a tight
urban growth boundary to prevent sprawl.
McBride tallied the most votes with 352. Whitsitt was next
with 297. Schwoerer edged former Basalt Mayor Rick Stevens
by nine votes, 252 to 243.
Garret Brandt attracted 225 votes and Brian Dillard had 116.
Mayor Leroy Duroux was unopposed and garnered 434 votes.
A recent community survey conducted in Basalt as part of a
town master plan showed that maintaining small-town
character and keeping a slow pace to growth were important
issues.
Although the election was pivotal in charting a course for
the council, only about 25 percent of the registered voters
turned out. Town Clerk Pam Schilling said 536 votes were
cast. There are 2,094 registered voters.
Read Scott Condon's full article in the Aspen Times . . .
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Next boom times in
De Beque?
De Beque, the one-time cattle town, is poised to
become the Western Slope's next oil-and-gas boomtown.
With Chevron beefing up operations to the north and
EnCana to the east, town officials are bracing for a
development rush seen by the likes of Parachute and
Battlement Mesa.
Prospects for rapid growth are setting up a classic
boomtown debate. Some welcome the anticipated economic
boost; others fear the town will lose its historic
character.
"It just moved its way down the valley, from Rifle to
Parachute, and now it's us," De Beque Mayor Don Cramer
said. "We're over 600, and growing pretty fast. I would
say that within two years time, we're going to triple our
footprint."
Read the full Denver Post Article . . .
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 The
town's proposal to buy the Pan & Fork Mobile Home Park was
defeated by 10 votes (270 against and 260 in favor).
The proposal asked to permission to issue bonds that would
be repaid through a property tax increase.
Mayor Leroy Duroux said the town's contract to purchase the
trailer park was contingent on the ballot measure winning.
It will take time to see how the issue evolves from here, he
said.
Ironically, this is the first year in some time that a flood
could threaten the Pan & Fork. The snowpack is significantly
above average.
"This year could shed a light on just how severe a problem
it is," Duroux said.
Read Scott Condon's article in the Aspen Times . . .
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3 new voices join
Cdale board
 Pam
Zentmyer, the only woman and the youngest candidate in
Carbondale's trustee race, garnered the top spot with 520
votes.
Following Zentmyer was John Hoffmann with 423 votes, Frosty
Merriott with 376 votes, and incumbent Ed Cortez with 382
votes.
For Mayor Michael Hassig, the election results were good
news.
"I have no doubts we'll have the ability to emerge with a
good working relationship with this slate of candidates,"
Hassig said.
The four newly elected trustees will join Carbondale's three
current board members: Hassig, Stacey Bernot and John
Foulkrod.
Read Carrie Click's article in the Aspen Daily News
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Silt voters voted to retain Dave Moore in office by a vote
of 289-227.
The recall effort was instigated by Silt Mayor Pro Tem Tod
Tibbetts nearly a year ago, who claimed that Moore, who was
elected in April 2006, had violated numerous state statutes,
local ordinances and codes of conduct in his personal and
professional business endeavors.
Had Moore been recalled, former town administrator Rick
Aluise was the only candidate running to replace him.
Read Heidi Rice's article in the Post Independent . . .
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The Aspen City Council agreed to eliminate motorists'
ability to park more than two hours a day on neighborhood
streets in a three-block radius off the downtown area.
Instead, the estimated 1,000 motorists who engage in the
"two-hour shuffle," in which they move their cars every 120
minutes to avoid a ticket, as well as other drivers,
including tourists, can buy a day pass for $7. Those passes
can be purchased at new meters strategically placed in
neighborhoods.
Parking officials also got the go ahead to buy a License
Plate Recognition (LPR) system for $70,000 so they can
better track motorists and issue citations with ease.
In addition, $20,000 will be spent on a pilot "congestion
pricing" program for the downtown area, which will
explore possibilities of charging motorists for driving in
certain areas of Aspen at particular times. Officials are
modeling the pricing program after ones created in London
and Stockholm.
The goal of the changes is to better meet city
transportation goals for reducing congestion and traffic
levels, as well as create revenue to support mass transit
alternatives.
Read Carolyn Sackariason's article in the Aspen Times . . .
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Aspen
planning big to support housing
 Aspen
City officials are preparing a ballot item for Aspen voters
on whether to borrow as much as $92.5 million to build more
affordable housing.
In a recent presentation to Aspen City Council by assistant
city manager Bentley Henderson and affordable housing
project manager Chris Everson discussed how
with the money currently available in city coffers, it could
build only about 10 affordable housing units per year. With
the bond issue, the city could more quickly complete the
final phases of construction at the Burlingame Ranch housing
project and spearhead others.
The vote would include a measure extending the city's sales
tax and 1.5 percent tax on real estate transfers to run
through 2038. It would not require any tax hikes.
Much of the money will likely go to finally finishing the
263-unit Burlingame project, which remains one-third
completed after eight years of fits and starts (and two
approvals from Aspen voters).
The second-highest prioritized housing project in the
still-evolving plan is a proposed development on city-owned
land next to the Marolt seasonal housing complex.
Staff also suggested putting a third "to be determined"
property on the ballot, that would be selected from a list
of 14 city-owned properties.
After further research on unit pricing and the length of
city sales and real estate transfer tax extensions, the
council is expected to begin drafting the language of the
ballot measure.
Read Andrew Travers article in the Aspen Daily News . . .
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 The
Roaring Fork Transportation Authority board tentatively
agreed Thursday to ask voters to approve a $100-million plus
package of regional transit improvements next fall.
The pending request comes as the board sets its sights on
building a bus rapid transit (BRT) project, defined as
"a system of guideways, vehicles, stations, service, rate
structure and intelligent transportation elements that work
together to make
a bus system function more like a rail system."
The project consultants showed the board a number of
expenses for the system including: $179 to $191 million for
the full BRT system, including $133 to $144 million for new
transit stations with parking garages along the RFTA line;
$18 to $20 million to expand the bus fleet; $9 million for
employee housing; and $1 to $2 million for a high-tech bus
information system.
The board then agreed to meet in April and make final
decisions about the size of the BRT plan they want to pursue
and about putting a question on the November ballot. They
also agreed that it might make sense to structure the vote
so that voters would be asked to approve short-term capacity
improvements, then the larger BRT system if federal funding
is obtained.
Read Brent Gardner-Smith's article in the Aspen Daily News
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Glenwood Springs is embarking on the next phase of
a corridor optimization study to narrow 22 alternative
routes for Highway 82 traffic down to the best two or three
options by next fall. After that, the options would go
through the National Environmental Protection Act process,
which should take about another year and lead to action.
The 22 alternatives range from changing timing on traffic
lights on Highway 82 to tunneling a costly new route east of
town. Several alternatives look at using the railroad right
of way corridor on the east side of the Roaring Fork River,
while others identified Midland Avenue and a proposed south
bridge project as potential pieces of a solution.
Glenwood City Councilors hope the corridor optimization
plan, will help lead the city to the historic decision about
what to do with Highway 82 traffic through downtown, which
currently sees around 30,000 vehicles per day.
A number of
public meetings will be held throughout the study to
share information with community members as well as gather
public comments and ideas.
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Rifle Mayor to sit on Aspen Community Foundation Board
As part of an effort to expand its services and
understanding, the
Aspen Community Foundation has asked Rifle Mayor Keith
Lambert to join its board.
The 28-year-old, nonprofit foundation works to improve the
quality of life in communities of the Roaring Fork Valley
from Aspen to Parachute by connecting donors to community
needs. The foundation distributed $ 7 million in grant
funding in 2007 to several hundred nonprofits in the valley.
"Issues in the community are growing and we need to be
representative of the communities we serve," said Tamara
Tormohlen, executive director of the Aspen Community
Foundation. " Keith Lambert was a wonderful candidate in
terms of the community. He has his finger on the pulse ( of
Rifle) and
it's a nice match with us as to where he was."
The addition of Lambert to the board of directors makes 19
members now on the board. Lambert, who is serving his fourth
term as mayor of Rifle and was a teacher in the Re2 school
district for nearly 30 years, accepted the position in
December 2007.
"I see this as an opportunity to address issues that not
only pertain to (Rifle), but within the Colorado River and
Roaring Fork River valley corridors," Lambert said.
Read Heidi Rice's article in the Citizen Telegram & Aspen
Times
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Snowmass Village residents, staff, and elected officials
recently celebrated the official opening of its new, modern
$9.5 million town hall.
The 20,000-square-foot town hall was designed by Z-Group
Architects. It replaces the town's approximately 14,000 feet
of disconnected space in the aging Snowmass Center, which is
likely to be demolished in the next few years to make way
for a new Related WestPac development.
Best of all, Snowmass Village is realizing perhaps the
biggest perk of ownership - not paying rent, which, up until
now, has totaled more than $200,000 per year.
Read Catherine Lutz' article in the Aspen Daily News . . .
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Thanks to the Colorado Office of Smart Growth, you can
receive timely information on upcoming smart growth events
around the state and nation.
Sign up for their
list serv to have information emailed to you or check
out the list of upcoming events on their
website, such as:
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