All Carbondale trustees were present for their first meeting of the year. The unanimously-approved consent agenda included designation of the Town’s website, www.carbondalegov.org, as the primary posting place for notice of meetings pursuant to state law; plus meeting minutes; acceptance of infrastructure and a security reduction at 111 Main Street, bringing Carbondale’s new food truck court one step closer to opening for business; and accounts payable.
Then, Garfield County Nutrition Programs Manager Christine Dolan gave a presentation on the harms of sugary drinks. Garfield County is part of the Healthy Beverage Partnership, a group of local public health agencies and community partners working to curtail the consumption of sugary drinks to prevent chronic diseases and address health inequities. According to Dolan’s presentation, “This generation of kids is the first in U.S. history to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents” due to rising rates of obesity.
During trustee comments, Colin Laird highlighted that ridership for Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA) buses is back to where it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, with 83,000 logged rides last year. He mentioned that RFTA renovated an old motel into staff housing and some federal funds were unfrozen thanks to Representative Jeff Hurd which will allow RFTA to move forward with constructing an administrative building and transit center in West Glenwood.
Laird then gave a West Mountain Regional Housing Coalition update, sharing that the Good Deeds buydown program is closing on its 20th unit. In all, the coalition has invested $4.2 million on securing deed-restrictions from Basalt to Rifle.
Trustee Christina Montemayor announced that Town Clerk Patrick Thibault met with the Latino Advisory Board to talk about the voting process. She then mentioned the Chamber of Commerce will focus on getting more participation in the Carbondale Revolving Loan Fund program which saw zero applicants last year.
Trustee Ross Kribbs expressed concern about the Chacos Park design outgrowing approved plans after seeing shade structure drawings at the Public Arts Commission meeting on Jan. 7. Town Manager Ryan Hyland assured there would be a meeting with the Chacos Park consultant in coming weeks to update trustees on that project.
Moving along, the first item for discussion was a proposal from Clean Energy Economy for the Region seeking to partner with the Town on a grant opportunity for an electric vehicle car share program with three docks in Grand Junction and three in Garfield County. Colorado CarShare is a nonprofit implementing this concept throughout the state. Carbondale would be required to install one or two charging ports with designated parking spaces and pay operational costs including electricity fees. Trustees expressed support for the concept.
Next, the board reviewed an opt-out policy for the Town’s new water metering system which uses cellular networks to provide automated readings to the Town. “The transmission frequency and power levels are comparable to a mobile phone sending a text message,” the memo described. Because opt-outs require additional staff time, vehicle travel and manual data entry, a monthly fee of $40 per month ($280 per year) for in-town customers and $60 per month ($720) for out-of-town customers was proposed. “These fees are designed to prevent cost-shifting to customers who participate in the [new] system and to preserve the financial integrity of the water utility enterprise fund,” the memo described.
Three residents spoke on the topic. Ann O’Brien, Richard Vottero and Arthur Franklin questioned the safety of installing these new “smart meters” in their homes. Vottero proposed the Town share the cost of copper cloth with residents to act as a Faraday cage draped around each device, “nullifying the radio waves.”
Without further discussion, the board unanimously approved the policy as proposed by staff.
Lastly, trustees considered a credit reduction and restoration security reduction for Main Street Marketplace. The true news, as Kribbs stated, “is we have a futsal court that’s open to the public and public facilities there, and I really encourage everyone that likes to kick a ball into a net to go use it because it was part of a pretty serious negotiation.” He added, “Unfortunately, the weather is gonna be really nice for that in the next couple of days.”
Public Works Director Kevin Schorzman said the park can be accessed from the north and west and there are four more buildings to complete in that development, two of which are underway with foundations in the ground.
Next week’s evening work session will be replaced with a noon to 4pm meeting at the Roaring Fork School District offices, 400 Sopris Avenue. On Jan. 27, the board will speak with Carbondale Arts about possible collaboration on improved wayfinding signage. Nomination petitions are available at Town Hall for citizens interested in running for mayor or one of three board of trustee seats. Petitions must be returned no later than 5pm on Jan. 26.