All trustees were present for the regular meeting on April 22, Earth Day, which began with a proclamation declaring May 3, 2025 as Carbondale’s Arbor Day. The proclamation included many beautiful statements about the role of trees.
The consent agenda was approved including meeting minutes, seasonal deck licenses for Allegria and Bodegón, Dandelion Day permits, an intergovernmental agreement for mosquito control in Garfield County, an application from Michelle Cook to join the Public Arts Commission and accounts payable. Trustee Ross Kribbs had a pair of questions regarding accounts payable: the first regarding $30,000 earmarked for Carbondale Arts — “worth every penny,” he noted — which Town Manager Lauren Gister explained is $15,000 for organizing First Fridays and $15,000 for economic development via the Creative District. The second inquiry related to the new pool, a topic addressed in detail later on.
No members of the public attended with general comments. During trustee reports, Colin Laird said that residents of the Mountain Valley Mobile Home Park met at the Third Street Center on April 18 with Thistle ROC, a statewide organization helping mobile home parks transition from private ownership to resident-owned communities. Carbondale has two units of employee housing at Mountain View, a park just outside town limits which went on the market last month.
An offer has been made on both this and the Aspen-Basalt mobile home park, Laird informed, lowering the ask from $18 million to $15.5 million for Mountain Valley and reinitiating a 120-day window for residents to come up with their own offer.
Trustee Christina Montemayor asked about the difference between the Town’s spring clean-up day (May 10) and yard waste drop-off. Public Works Director Kevin Schorzman jumped to the podium and explained the yard waste drop-off service, free for Carbondale residents, will continue every other Saturday through September, whereas the May 10 event encompasses all but organic waste. New this year — instead of a spring and separate fall event for general and hazardous waste, all be combined on May 10.
Trustee Chris Hassig, sporting a fresh blue KDNK cap, thanked all for participating in the community radio station’s spring membership drive. “Fellow trustees, it’s never too late to become a member,” he remarked coyly. (Hassig is an employee of KDNK.) He also gave a brief Dandelion Day preview and acknowledged Earth Day, stating: “It’s always good to stop and think about being stewards of our landscapes.”
Gister’s updates included thanking Town Clerk Patrick Thibault for organizing a successful board and commissions open house which yielded several applications to fill vacancies. On the staffing side of things, she announced Greg Hansen, the recently hired finance director, is leaving that position next week. “He will be missed,” she said. Meanwhile, Robin Jacober was hired to replace Margaret Donnelly as the Rec Center director.
The first official item of the meeting was a lease renewal for a right-of-way at Lines Plaza, on West Main Street across from the Carbondale Marketplace residential development. This agreement has existed since 1996, Schorzman stated, and expired in 2018. The new terms increase rent by $100 to $1,400 per year and extend the lease for 30 years. As noted by Mayor Ben Bohmfalk, the Town can terminate the lease at any time. It passed unanimously.
Next, trustees met a new employee with Wember, Carbondale’s owner’s rep for the new aquatics center, for another construction update. Tammy Tucker presented a draft report for feedback to lend more consistency to future updates. She also fielded questions, particularly around an apparent $900,000 increase in the project budget. As explained by Bohmfalk, the trustees understood the project to be fully funded through a voter-approved bond and transfers from the general fund and Recreation Sales and Use Fund reserves. The $2.5 million fundraising goal offsets those transfers. The document provided by Wember, however, has fundraising in addition to the transfers.
Gister recollected that the $2.5 million fundraising goal included all add alternates, which the board approved, as well as making up the gap with other funds. “It would be great if we could organize better so that’s clear,” Laird stated. “We’re really supportive, but because of all the changes, we’re confused.”
Trustee Jess Robison emphasized her discomfort with draining the project’s contingency. The contingency has been applied to all unexpected costs, including new considerations like security lights and cameras. Tucker insisted that while a contingency fund remains important, risk is decreased at this stage of the project. Her colleague, Joe Farstad, assured the trustees that construction materials have been purchased and contracts are in place, so the tariffs and other external factors are not a major concern.
Lastly, regenerative strategies consultant Gwen Garcelon and Environmental Board Chair Hannah-Hunt Wander presented an early draft of a 2025 update to the Vulnerability Consequences, and Adaptation Planning Scenarios (VCAPS) assessment from 2018. As explained by Garcelon, the 2018 study came out of a year of severe drought with a major wildfire near Basalt. “People started to get a wake-up call,” she described. The report looked at strategies to mitigate the impacts of a growing population and more frequent drought conditions.
Garcelon pointed out that some of the VCAPS recommendations are being met, with turf conversion programs and a regional wildfire collaboration underway. She suggested looking at beneficial water uses that increase resiliency, like backyard gardens, as well as the curtailing of irrigation at certain public parks. Along with the VCAPS update, Garcelon was interested in providing public education. Beyond decarbonization, she named, there needs to be a focus on the health of ecosystems “because it’s the soils and plant life and service of wildlife that affect our water cycle so significantly.”
It was recommended by Wander that Garcelon further refine her notes to present for public feedback in May ahead of finalizing a VCAPS update for trustees to approve.
The next regular meeting will fall on May 13.