The main event at Tuesday’s Board of Trustees meeting, Feb. 10, was approval of the special events calendar for 2026, representing 93 unique happenings hosted on Town properties. With Mayor Ben Bohmfalk absent, Mayor Pro Tem Erica Sparhawk led the meeting.
First, a consent agenda was approved including meeting minutes; accounts payable; an intergovernmental agreement with the Garfield County Clerk and Recorder for April 7 election services; authorization of a Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) grant application for expansion of the Roaring Fork Water Treatment Plant. That last item merited additional discussion.
Assistant Public Works Director Scott Wenning explained how DOLA announced this grant near the beginning of the year with only a month-long window for applications. Public Works is requesting $750,000 to be matched by $1.25 million from the Town toward a $2 million resiliency project at the water treatment plant including expansion of the existing clearwell which would reduce the amount of chlorine used to treat Carbondale’s water. “Everything that’s in this package … has all been forecasted,” Wenning said. “We just took components we had planned over the next five years to self fund [and] slammed it all up into one package.”
Satisfied, trustees moved on to general public comments. First, Doc Philip took the podium, distributing vintage Bonedale Brewwerks Dandelion Ale stickers and proclaiming: “Carbondale needs to secede from the Union and become its own nation-state.” Next up, Lynn Kirchner relayed from others on Main Street the suggestion to have year-round twinkle lights on trees downtown, similar to Grand Junction, to maintain a festive and inviting atmosphere. Lastly, Susan Rhea requested the structure of public meetings be reconsidered to allow for additional public comment after agenda item presentations.
During trustee comments, several remarked on the vibrancy downtown during an abnormally warm February First Friday (55 degrees at 6pm, evidently). Jess Robison mentioned she was elected as chair of the Garfield Clean Energy board as Carbondale’s representative. Chris Hassig shared notes from a recent Colorado Association of Ski Towns meeting. Ross Kribbs said the Ruedi Water and Power Association welcomed Paula Stepp as its next director; he also repeated concerns about the size and scale of Chacos Park redesign features. The topic of Chacos Park will be discussed at next week’s work session.
Colin Laird gave a shout-out to Town staff for securing $2 million toward affordable housing in Carbondale as part of the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations bills passed by Congress thanks to Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper. Town Manager Ryan Hyland gave credit for that success to his predecessor, Lauren Gister. Hyland also mentioned that the nonprofit Downtown Colorado Inc. will visit in May to assess Carbondale’s downtown against others.
This dovetailed nicely into a brief discussion of wayfinding improvements with Michael Stout of Carbondale Arts and Brian Golden of 2757 Design. The topic of wayfinding has been percolating between the Town, Chamber of Commerce and Carbondale Arts, as well as the newly-formed Downtown Business Alliance and a subcommittee formed by members of the Bike, Pedestrian and Trails and Parks and Recreation commissions. A proposal from Carbondale Arts falls within $20,000 budgeted to establish a wayfinding program this year, but additional funding would be necessary to implement the full program, likely over several years.
Concerning existing signage, “‘Eclectic’ is a generous term,” Stout remarked. Consistency was an emphasized goal. Hyland later suggested trustees have a conversation about the Town’s brand colors and logo, which would complement the wayfinding project.
The meeting concluded with the review of 2026 special events presented by Parks and Rec Director Eric Brendlinger. He explained how the Special Event Task Force was formed in 2013 to give event producers and neighbors to event venues the opportunity to work through conflicts. It continues meeting annually to review one year’s events and plan for the next.
Brendlinger noted how longer Main Street closures, from 2nd to Weant, were attempted in 2025, but required a lot of volunteer effort and generated frustration when activity warranting a closure wasn’t evident. The recommendation was to maintain the stretch between 2nd and Snowmass Avenue open, however the opening of Townline Trucks could change the equation by attracting more pedestrian traffic to that end of Main Street.
Brendlinger described how June’s First Friday Pride parade will reverse the typical direction of Carbondale parades to begin at Weant and conclude at Snowmass Drive where the Town’s mobile stage will be set up. Other changes included the return of a 4th of July pool party, four summer concerts in Sopris Park sponsored by the Western Mosaic Fund, a KDNK block party, another pickleball tournament and the return of Oktoberfest to 4th and Main.
To review the full calendar of events as presented to the the trustees, visit www.bit.ly/Carbondale-2026-events