This week’s meeting in Basalt Town Hall was sparsely attended by both citizens and council members on account of spring break being in full swing in Basalt public schools. With an equally sparse agenda, the meeting was adjourned in less than half an hour.
However, that was enough time for Town Engineer Catherine Christoff to provide an update on the lighting installation to occur on Midland Avenue.
Due to supply chain issues and delays from the manufacturer, the construction team Stutsman Gerbaz received the lighting fixtures months later than expected. However, the fixtures were delivered on Friday, March 21, and installation will occur through this week to be completed before the end of the month. During that time, visitors to Old Town can expect intermittent parking closures along the main drag of Midland Avenue.
The new streetlights will have hooks for hanging flower baskets as well as mounts for banners. In addition, the construction team will run strings of catenary lights over the sidewalk and street for even more nighttime illumination.
Councilor Ryan Slack asked Christoff when the town can expect paving to resume. She replied that paving will be one of the construction team’s priorities once the asphalt plants reopen at the end of April after having been closed for the winter.
Town Council also quickly adopted a pair of resolutions before the meeting was out.
The first resolution was to join the Intermountain Regional Planning Commission, a transportation planning group consisting of representatives from transit agencies and municipalities within Eagle, Garfield, Lake, Pitkin and Summit counties. This commission plans transport priorities within the region, allocates funds to specific projects and works with the Colorado Department of Transportation to create a long-term transportation plan.
The second resolution was to sign a contract with Rifle-based contractor GMCO for street maintenance, especially around Basalt Industrial Park. Although no specific date was provided, Christoff stated that this process would have to wait until the weather sufficiently warms up.
With both resolutions adopted unanimously, the meeting was adjourned.
March 11 meeting
On March 11, Town Council held a meeting to discuss new parking enforcement laws coming to Midland Avenue as well as significant improvements coming to the Lake Christine dam.
Town Manager Ryan Mahoney reported that, starting in June, two-hour parking limits will be coming to Old Town. A majority of the parking spaces east of the Midland Spur will be thus limited, especially the ones which are now parallel parking spots. However, most of those west of the Spur from Triangle Park to the Roaring Fork Conservancy will remain 24-hour. In total, 119 out of 344 total spaces in Old Town will be converted to two-hour limits.
Street signs designating parking spaces as two-hour-only were commonplace up and down Midland Ave prior to and during the streetscape update. However, to the frustration of some business owners in the area, the regulation was rarely enforced. Now, the Town of Basalt is in the final stages of signing a contract with Interstate Parking, which will manage and enforce parking regulations in the area.
After that, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) Dam Safety Engineer Jenna Svoboda presented a project to stabilize the berm between Lake Christine and Two Rivers Road. In 2015, seepage along the berm caused a minor slough which spilled onto Two Rivers Road. Following the incident, CPW placed a storage restriction on Lake Christine.
In 2022, CPW hired consultants to perform engineering design and analysis to stabilize the slopes around Lake Christine. With renewed slopes, the risk of sloughs onto Two Rivers Road will be prevented and CPW will be able to lift the storage restriction. After the restriction is lifted, normal pool operations can resume and a fishery can be re-established. Construction on the berms and slopes is expected to begin later in June this year.