After a couple of weeks without a meeting, the Carbondale trustees returned to a packed agenda. All were in attendance minus Colin Laird.
The approved consent agenda included meeting minutes from April 22, event permits for the Carbondale Bike Project and Thunder River Theatre Company, liquor license renewals for Beijin Tokyo and Izakaya, outdoor seating for Phat Thai, accounts payable, plus a diving board, climbing wall and volleyball nets for the new pool at $114,586, a $27,580 maintenance contract with The Jump Doctors for the North Face Bike Park this summer and, lastly, appointment of Sam Koebrich to the Environmental Board.
Doug Goldsmith was also appointed to the Environmental Board after some discussion given his employment with Mountain Waste & Recycling, the sole company responsible for trash hauling within town limits. Matt Gworek’s application to remain on the Bike, Pedestrian and Trails Commission was also briefly discussed. Both were approved.
For general public comments, Fred Porter recommended the Town get ahead of potential noise complaints once heat pumps are installed at the new aquatics center. Patrick Hunter suggested forming local improvement districts to fund updates along 133 and also collecting sales tax on short-term mini-storage rentals. A third commenter requested something be done to address Xfinity outages affecting hundreds of customers due to underground equipment needing replacement at 8th and Main.
During trustee comments, Christina Montemayor spoke about the Latino Advisory Board meeting on May 5 with attendance by many residents of the Mountain Valley Mobile Home Park. Of note, Town Manager Lauren Gister informed the trustees it was discovered a deed restriction requires that property remain a mobile home park “into perpetuity” when it changes hands. Other trustee comments included many accolades for Dandelion Day and the Town’s recycling event over the weekend. Ross Kribbs announced that the Public Arts Commission recommended approval for bringing Bill Morrow’s “Insane-A-Cycle” — a large sculpture which long stood near the Roaring Fork Valley Coop — back to Carbondale as a donation.
Moving along to action items, trustees approved the purchase of a skid loader for $76,643 using surplus funds from $400,000 budgeted for the replacement of a motor grader which cost less than anticipated, for a nice change of pace.
Trustees again met with Joe Farstad, mountain region vice president at Wember, for an aquatics center update. Farstad presented updated documents and addressed trustee questions. Brian Froelich, a Rec Department employee with experience managing pools, made the case for underwater lighting and exterior lights, saying they will be necessary for an extended season and occasional nighttime activities. Kribbs asked that neighbors be approached regarding the idea for after-dark hours at the new pool.
Trustee then approved a $200,000 contract with re:LAND to complete construction documents for redevelopment of Chacos Park and the 4th Street Plaza. Dan Bullock, chair of the Tree Board, made it known he felt public outreach was insufficient with a 50% design presented only to the trustees and Parks and Rec Commission, instead of all boards and commissions. Parks and Rec Director Eric Brendlinger contested this, saying, “We had a 14-month process.” The project will proceed beginning with the undergrounding of utilities using a dedicated Xcel Energy fund which allocates 1% of gross electric revenues from Carbondale customers toward that purpose.
Along those lines, Chester White, owner of a new restaurant being built at 522 Highway 113, returned to request an amendment to project approval documents which had the restaurant spending $272,000 toward undergrounding utilities in the vicinity. White since learned from Xcel Energy this would be more complicated and costly than previously indicated, approximating an estimated $1 million. He and his team argued the Unified Development Code requiring the undergrounding of utilities is not feasible in this instance.
As an alternative, they offered to dedicate $186,000 toward undergrounding utilities along that portion of Highway 133 with a 10-year sunset clause, covering the estimated cost for their section should the Town proceed with all the additional work required to make it possible. With the exception of the sunset clause, the trustees accepted.
Lastly, trustees had brief discussions about housing for Town employees and the search process for a new town manager. Next Thursday, May 22, the board will narrow a pool of applicants down to four finalists who will be invited to visit Carbondale and meet the public.