Early in the trustees’ regular meeting on Tuesday, Town Manager Lauren Gister took the opportunity to announce four new hires, as well as new vacancies on town staff.
The new planning director is Jared Barnes, who previously worked for Eagle County managing ECO Transit system. Tom Karrel, who recently moved to Colorado after six years of working in Uganda, was hired as the town’s public information officer. Town of Basalt Finance Director Christie Chicoine will be switching into the same role in Carbondale.
Kae McDonald, currently Carbondale’s boards and commissions clerk and filling a part-time position at the rec center, will leave both of those positions vacant to serve as the town’s planning technician. The other vacancy will be left by Town Planner Town Leybourne, who has taken a job with Garfield County’s planning department.
Moving on to the agenda, trustees cruised through the first two items. Annexation of land at the base of Red Hill was unanimously approved. As was a special event liquor license for YouthZone’s youth film festival at The Orchard on Sept. 30.
In light of inflation and to remain competitive and retain employees, trustees approved a two-tiered increase in staff salaries: 5% for employees making $40,000-$70,000 and 3% for employees making more than $70,000. This will add nearly $64,000 to the payroll in 2022 and more than $150,000 to next year’s budget. The town manager’s salary was not adjusted, considering Gister was recently hired following a process that vied for a competitive wage.
Additionally, trustees approved undertaking a salary survey for $5,400 to inform discussions for the coming year’s budget. The last time such a survey was adopted, looking at wages for similar positions in comparable municipalities, was in early 2020.
Finally, trustees heard an update from the Youth & Family Advisory Council, represented by Ana Cole with Roaring Fork Schools and Michael Hayes, executive director at Compass Education.
Trustees approved an updated budget from the council, totalling $253,000, which directs $120,000 from tobacco tax funds toward mental health programs in schools. Additionally, $95,000 will be available in the form of grants to nonprofit organizations that support health, wellness, drug-use prevention and cessation. The remaining funds go toward a youth advisory council facilitated by Stepping Stones, council operations, a wellness series, a youth mapping project that will be presented to trustees on Sept. 20 and fiduciary management.
In other news…
Clean Energy Economy for the Region (CLEER) convened a meeting on Aug. 27 to discuss Carbondale’s progress on taking action to mitigate climate change. In attendance were members of the town’s Environmental Board, 350 Roaring Fork representatives, private consultants and residents, the Carbondale mayor and two newly-elected trustees.
The meeting began with a presentation on Carbondale’s data compared with county data.
Thanks to initiatives by electricity providers, the grid is becoming greener overall, with less reliance on fossil fuels. Holy Cross has pledged to be carbon-free by 2030, while Xcel Energy seeks to be carbon-free by 2050. The proportion of renewables is increasing, so emissions from electricity are decreasing, while consumption remains about level.
Carbondale’s goal, which some attendees suggested should be hastened, is to be net zero by 2050, meaning greenhouse gas emissions are either eliminated or off-set. The town’s 2017 Climate Energy and Action Plan sets the target for fully-electric, net-zero new buildings with no natural gas permitted by 2030, including for residential buildings.
“The next frontier,” as CLEER communications director Dave Reed put it, is to curb natural gas usage. Natural gas remains the largest source of energy use in Carbondale (63%) and the county (62% in 2019). Comparing data, Carbondale is 11% of Garfield County’s population and also 11% of the county’s natural gas consumption. Year over year, residential gas consumption has increased by 1% in Carbondale since 2016, 3% for residential.
Because it takes decades for gas equipment to age out, phasing away from natural gas could take a long time unless incentivized. The U.S. Senate’s passing of the Inflation Reduction Act provides hope for significant federal spending to help accelerate the transition to greener technology. The bill would be the largest climate investment in U.S. history, dedicating nearly $400 billion in tax credits toward electric vehicles and electric utilities.
In addition to programs like heat pump webinars, CLEER offers free advice for both residential and commercial properties to save energy. To learn more, call (970) 704-9200 or visit www.cleanenergyeconomy.net