Unofficial election results
Election Day came on April 2 for Basalt’s 2024 municipal election. Since then, the votes have been tallied and the unofficial results have come back. Although the results need to be reviewed to account for scanned, received-late or ineligible ballots, Basalt can say hello to the candidates most likely to be sworn in during the April 23 meeting.
Councilor David Knight ran uncontested for the mayoral seat — with 523 votes, Knight will be ascending to the mayoral seat for the next four years.
The three apparently successful candidates for Town Council are Hannah Berman with 460 votes, Angèle Dupré-Butchart with 423 votes and Richard Stevens with 360 votes.
As the ballots are reviewed, the exact vote number is subject to change. However, barring a significant change, the top three candidates are likely to be sworn into office in two weeks’ time, complete with a speech by outgoing mayor Bill Kane.
Tobacco tax
April 26 marks the deadline for this year’s cycle to apply for Basalt’s Tobacco Tax Grant. This year, Basalt will be granting $80,000 total — capped at $10,000 per applicant — for tax-exempt entities seeking funds to finance tobacco related education and health issues, as well as general substance abuse mitigation. Applicants must also outline how their plan will align with one or more strategic purpose areas: environment, community, built environment and the local economy.
Tobacco tax funds have previously been used to support mental and behavioral health programs at Basalt’s schools, Aspen Hope Center and other programs aimed at keeping our community happy, healthy and addiction-free. More information to apply can be found on the Town of Basalt’s website: www.basalt.net
Regular meeting
Beginning with council comments, Councilor Ryan Slack asked staff what this spring’s fire mitigation will look like, especially after a recent storm performed a bit of free pruning across town. Town Manager Ryan Mahoney stated that, much like the leaf collection in the fall, the Town will be setting up sites with dumpsters for vegetation as opposed to door-to-door curbside collection.
Town arborist Chris Beiser is in the process of organizing collection sites and preparing flyers. For now, Basalt residents can collect their fallen branches in advance but shouldn’t expect to see them disappear from their curbs automatically. According to Mahoney, collection should begin in May, and those looking to get rid of their piles beforehand will need to haul them off to the landfill independently.
Town Council interviewed two candidates competing for a seat on the Basalt Affordable Community Housing group (BACH). With six of seven seats already filled, Town Council had to make the difficult decision between candidates Kaja L. Rumney and Elizabeth Stewart to fill the final spot. Historically, the Town of Basalt has had difficulty filling its boards, but due to the hard work of staff, this meeting marked the first time in six years that the council had to choose between candidates.
Although they would have loved to appoint both candidates — bemoaning that this might be one of the most difficult decisions they’ve had to make as elected officials — the council selected Rumney for the seat.
Planning director Michelle Thibeault reminded the council that seats are constantly rotating for BACH and the council urged Stewart to remain in the loop for whenever the next position becomes available.
They took two actions, amending sections of the municipal code. The first simply changed formatting and syntax of the Town’s recently altered sustainability code in order to make the section more user-friendly for building officials, and these changes were unanimously approved for a second reading.
The next portion of the municipal code to be amended provided definitions for types of streets, specifically to determine setback and street parking requirements. Upon a second reading, the council approved this amendment unanimously as well.