This week, Basalt’s town council discussed an upcoming two-day closure on Midland Avenue as well as this year’s budget. This meeting also marked the last for councilor Glenn Drummond, who officially resigned on Nov. 30.
Elected to a four-year term in April 2020, Drummond initially had planned to serve until the term ended in April of next year, but a change in family circumstances expedited his resignation. “I couldn’t have a better group of people and I couldn’t have a better town staff,” Drummond said in his address to the council.
The town attorney, Jeff Conklin, reported that according to the town charter, a substitute councilor will have to be appointed within the next 60 days. Otherwise, the seat would remain open until the municipal election next April. Council agreed to release a notice to the public about the election, and per a recommendation by Conklin the town will be taking letters of interest through Jan. 5.
In this month’s streetscape update, project representative Dave Detwiler announced that streetlights will be going up in the Midland Spur around the first days of December, and the waterline beneath central Midland Avenue will be complete in mid-December.
In order to meet this deadline, there will be both a street closure and water outage on Midland Avenue from Thursday, Dec. 7 at 7am through Friday, Dec. 8 at 5pm. The street will be closed from the Midland Mall up to Riverside Drive, along with a small section of Homestead Drive in front of the Basalt Barber Shop. To compensate for the lack of services, the town will be setting up water bottle stations and temporary bathrooms around the area.
Additionally, citizens can celebrate this final push of 2023 by attending the event in the Basalt River Park that same Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. A Band Called Alexis will be performing holiday music in the bandshell, and the park will host both a live petting zoo as well as a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Claus.
In other news, Planning Director Michelle Thibeault announced that bids for the construction of a daycare at Stott’s Mill will be going out in the next few weeks as the floor plans of the building have been finalized.. To be operated by Blue Lake Preschool, the daycare will have four classrooms, and after an anticipated nine-month build schedule beginning in January the daycare should be open for students autumn of 2024.
The first council action of the night was the appointment of town resident Stephanie Gale to a three-year term on the Basalt Public Arts Commission (BPAC). Gale, a familiar face to visitors to The Art Base, has an extensive background in arts and fashion and was unanimously appointed to a seat on BPAC.
The final items for the night related to the town budget, both for this year and next. The first action was for an amendment to this year’s budget, updating expenses and income from property taxes.
The second action was the adoption of the 2024 annual budget. Budgeted expenditures for next year total $12.2 million in general fund expenditures, as well as $5.8 million in restricted fund expenditures. Current budgeted revenues for 2024 are estimated to be $10.6 million in the general fund and $4.1 million in the restricted fund, leading to a total difference of $1.6 million and $1.7 million and end-of-the-year fund balances of $8.9 million and $6.8 million respectively.
The personnel budget 2024 totals $5.7 million this year, with 34% of that expenditure going towards the Police Department, where vacancies for Sergeant and investigator exist.. Administrative personnel expenditures were the second highest at 17% of the personnel budget. In total, personnel expenditures make up 18.4% of all fund expenditures.
In addition, the town intends to spend $10.5 million of its $10.9 million capital construction fund in 2024. This fund is dedicated to voter-approved town construction projects such as the Midland Streetscape Project.
The final 2024 budget was approved unanimously. The full document can be found on the town website.