This week, Basalt Town Council convened to approve new hazard mitigation and emergency operations plans local to Pitkin and Eagle Counties. In addition, council reviewed a request by Colorado Mountain College (CMC) to purchase nine deed-restricted units at Basalt Center Circle to be built at the site of the now-demolished Clark’s Market.
Emergency plans
The Town of Basalt has adopted three new disaster plans: the Eagle County Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP), the Eagle County Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) and the Pitkin County EOP.
HMP’s identify natural hazards local to a community and develop mitigation strategies. Every five years, these documents are required to be updated and approved by the State of Colorado and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
While HMP’s are preventative, EOP’s instead are designed to address disasters while they are happening. EOP’s outline training and exercises as well as pre-plan allocation of personnel and resources during emergency situations.
The HMP and two EOPs before Council had already been approved by their respective county commissioner boards, the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and FEMA. In accordance with the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, all municipalities must adopt these plans to remain eligible for pre- and post-disaster grant funding.
Although not included in the ordinance, the Town of Basalt currently utilizes the Pitkin County HMP, which will be updated in 2028 and set for approval in 2029.
Police Chief Greg Knott and Municipal Attorney Harper Powell participated in the drafting process for these plans, which were developed as a collaborative effort amongst all agencies and special districts willing to participate.
Councilor Richard Stevens asked Chief Knott to describe Basalt’s potential evacuation strategies. Knott stated that Basalt’s emergency services currently utilizes the Genasys notification program, which provides real-time updates during disasters and delineates evacuation zones approved by local emergency service agencies.
Both Eagle and Pitkin Counties are now utilizing Genasys for emergency response planning and will be training their first responders on the new system in the coming weeks.
CMC housing
Last year, council approved Ordinance No. 9, which authorized the condominiumization of individual units at Basalt Center Circle, as well as the sale of 17 deed-restricted units to local employers to rent to their employees. Ordinance No. 9 prioritized units to nonprofits and emergency services.
Basalt has already contracted to sell 8 of the 17 units to local employers, including Roaring Fork Conservancy, Aspen Center for Environmental Studies and the Town of Basalt. CMC wishes to purchase the nine remaining units for the use of both its employees and its students working or studying in the Roaring Fork Valley. In addition to this request, CMC has also requested to have the option to resell the units to individual CMC employees before offering the units back up to employers listed in Ordinance No. 9.
The Basalt Affordable Community Housing Commission (BACH) reviewed CMC’s request and is supportive of the purchase of the units. However, BACH was not supportive of CMC’s request to be able to resell its units.
CMC elaborated on its reselling strategy by stating that, should an employee purchase a unit, CMC would provide the down payment and maintain the deed-restricted status. Should that employee leave CMC, they would have 24 months to vacate the unit, after which equity would cease and CMC would transition the unit either to a new CMC employee or to another local employer.
Council agreed that with additional refinement and more explicit language in the request, this would become a positive collaborative effort between the Basalt and CMC. Council unanimously approved a second reading and public hearing for CMC’s request on March 11.