Carbondale’s newest trustees were met with a full-on first meeting May 14. After briefly approving the consent agenda and awarding one student of the month, the floor was given for a robust public comments portion.
First, Niki Delson, Sue Zislis and Susan Rhea, all representing Age-Friendly Carbondale, spoke about Highway 133 safety and the Industry Way roundabout in planning. The group is recommending instead a roundabout at Nieslanik Avenue, one block south, to facilitate pedestrians crossing to and from City Market where many people currently jaywalk.
Next, Trevor Cannon, representing the Roaring Fork Pickleball Association (RFPA), requested that trustees consider dedicating $100,000 from the general fund toward the construction of three additional, approved pickleball courts. He said that RFPA raised $200,000 toward the effort.
For the fifth consecutive voting meeting, members of the Ceasefire Now RFV group asked the trustees to consider a resolution calling for an end to Israel’s assault on Gaza. After presenting a petition with 488 local signatures, several members of Ceasefire Now RFV took turns reading the resolution in its entirety as well as the United Nations Human Rights Council report from March finding “reasonable grounds” that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Danny Stone, a resident of Carbondale, identified himself as Jewish and stated, “being aware of this information morally requires us to use whatever voice, whatever platform available to us, no matter how small, to persuade our federal government to change course and demand an end to the violence that is being enacted on over one million innocent people, especially children.”
During general comments by trustees, Ross Kribbs addressed the group. “We shouldn’t govern by not listening,” he stated. “I would encourage fellow trustees to put this on the agenda and allow us as a community to discuss some of this stuff.”
Trustee Chris Hassig countered, “Parsing through the language of a resolution could take a whole year of meetings.” He pointed to an agenda item regarding the many municipal projects underway in Carbondale and said, “It is our job to focus on those things.”
Moving on to action items, Carbondale Center Place received a security reduction for public infrastructure improvements with a unanimous vote. Two trees planted did not meet the minimum required size and must be replaced before the Town will release the remaining $14,475.
Wilderness Workshop received all necessary permits for its Community Party in Sopris Park on June 7 from 5:30 to 8:30pm. This year, the celebration will begin with a costumed parade departing from the Village Smithy at 5:15pm.
Trustees then reviewed a detailed application (www.bit.ly/CdalePoolPlan) for the new municipal pool. In rare happenstance, the Town itself was the applicant. “The best approach here is to treat it just like any other application,” advised Mayor Ben Bohmfalk. The crux was to rezone the area from “Open Space” to “Public Facility” to allow the building to ride closer to Main Street and maximize the size of two pools and a hot tub with a footprint that moves further into Sopris Park than the pool being replaced.
It will be one of the few all-electric pools in all of Colorado, said Andi Korber representing the design team. A new contiguous sidewalk will be installed along 7th Street and the ditch will be left uncovered. She added, it’s possible the pool won’t be open until 2026.
Public comment was heard with concerns voiced over the absence of parking. Planning Director Jared Barnes said, “We didn’t feel the need to add additional parking spaces to this site when the historical use has largely served parking needs.” Kribbs observed that with an increased size, the new pool is likely to receive more traffic which will affect neighbors.
All trustees voted in favor of the application with the exception of Kribbs. “You guys are doing a great job,” assured trustee Jess Robison. “You can tell there is care and thought put into this project.” The design team was asked to be in conversation with the Forest Service to maintain a pedestrian shortcut to Sopris Park from Main Street between these facilities.
The meeting concluded with a review of ongoing projects and priorities (www.bit.ly/Cdale2024). Trustee Christina Montemayor suggested a parking study be added to the list.