Shortly after joining the Town of Carbondale staff last year, Building Official Aaron Kuhns began the formidable task of updating Carbondale’s building codes with goals of resolving inconsistencies, better matching the codes of neighboring jurisdictions and catching up with international efficiency standards. According to Kuhns, it’s been over 10 years since Carbondale underwent a process like this.
Prior to getting technical, the trustees began their regular March 11 meeting with a police ceremony for the swearing in of Officer Isabel Herrera and promotion of Sergeant Paul Lazo. Chief Kirk Wilson lauded both for their bilingual skills, improving the outreach and effectiveness of the department.
The unanimously approved consent agenda included a slew of meeting minutes, accounts payable, special event permits for the annual Ducks Unlimited fundraiser (April 5 at The Orchard) and 5 Point (April 24-27), a lease agreement extending use of The Launchpad building by Carbondale Arts for another five years with incrementally increasing rent, an application by Oscar Abello to join the Latino Advisory Board and an update on the pool project which warranted extra discussion.
Trustee Jess Robison expressed dismay with the report from Wember, the Town’s owner’s representative on the project. She requested more detail in future reports, to be able to track change orders and how contingency funds are dropping.
“I have yet to see a satisfactory job done by this owner’s rep,” declared Trustee Chris Hassig.
Trustee Ross Kribbs called attention to the state of the construction site, saying, “it looks like a dump” compared with other projects “that look clean and crisp.” He suggested this may be a reflection of the quality of the work within the construction fence and “for the price we’re paying for this, it’s reasonable to ask that our Main Street looks tidy.”
During public comments, Kae McDonald, also a Town employee, shared observations about the public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and frequency of users overstaying the two-hour posted limit, for which there is currently no consequence.
During updates from trustees, Mayor Ben Bohmfalk stated CRW Consulting is assisting with the town manager search and they are “optimistic about the candidate pool and landscape out there for this position.” He also shared that the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority is looking at ways to continue helping to fund the Downtowner and WE-cycle services in proportion with the percent of rides connecting to the Park and Ride.
Public Works Director Kevin Schorzman joined for the next action items. The first was a chip sealing project contract with GMCO, LLC for $155,760. The second, a discussion of public EV charging stations and whether the Town should charge for electricity at the Level 2 station east of Town Hall and/or raise the cost at the Level 3 station on Cowen Drive. The 2025 budget includes funding for an additional charging station north of Town Hall. Schorzman sought direction on whether the Town 1. should try to simply break even on electricity costs, 2. set rates high enough to also cover maintenance and replacements or 3. keep costs for charging as low as possible in alignment with Carbondale’s values.
There was general consensus among the board that users should at least be charged for staying beyond the two-hour limit, which would require at least a nominal cost to access a payment method. Trustee Colin Laird acknowledged from experience the chargers aren’t cheap and they break. “We don’t want to be subsidizing people who are buying really expensive vehicles,” he said. Schorzman will return at a future meeting with a few scenarios.
Next, Tree Board representatives Dan Bullock and JoAnn Teeple gave an annual update, touching on the great work of Town Arborist Carl Meinecke, progress of emerald ash borer treatments and other miscellaneous Tree Board business. “Getting trees planted at Chacos Park is my main objective,” stated Hassig, commenting on how quickly the ice rink melts now without shade.
Schorzman briefly returned to recommend acceptance of public infrastructure at the Thompson Park development (which was approved) before the meeting swung into a robust discussion of codes. Kuhns provided a 127-page document including a memo and draft of the code updates, bringing all codes up to 2021 standards. “Everything’s probably changed to some degree,” he stated.
Most comments from builders, architects and the general public supported Kuhns’ work. Fire Marshal Karl Oliver noted the last adopted fire code was from 1988, “which today doesn’t cover a lot of the risks we have in our town, period.” One point of contention, brought forth by Age-Friendly Carbondale, was the exclusion of Universal Design principles from these updates. Committed to within the latest Comprehensive Plan update, Universal Design assures people can safely and comfortably age in place.
Trustees considered it reasonable to approach the next update with Universal Design in mind. With copious notes, Kuhns is expected to return in April with a final document to be adopted which will take effect in July. Going forward, the Town intends to go through this process every two years.
Lastly, the meeting concluded with an update from Artspace on the Town Center project which has run into financing hurdles. Andrew Michaelson with Artspace presented five funding scenarios for consideration which prompted discussion regarding the intent of downtown zoning and how to realistically build an affordable mixed-use development at this site.
Michaelson was given direction to go forward with a smaller parcel than the previously discussed 6th Street section, pursuing state funding for an eight-unit, for-sale condo building with first-floor commercial space. Robison disagreed with separating out that section without more of a plan for funding the full project.
As always, the full meeting can be reviewed on the Town of Carbondale’s YouTube channel.
