Glenwood Springs City Council had a light agenda for its regular Nov. 6 meeting, wrapping up in just under an hour. Among the main action items were formal approvals of the 2026 City budget and signing of the initial South Bridge federal grant agreement.

Six of the seven council members were present, with Councilor Erin Zalinski absent.

Appearing before the council for items not on the agenda was Bennett Avenue resident Rachel Windh, who renewed a request to have street parking spaces delineated on Bennett with painted stripes. Overflow parking from downtown businesses often takes up parking on the street, she said, but there tends to be large gaps between cars that aren’t big enough to fit another vehicle.

“I’m not saying I need to park right in front of my house, but I would like to park on my block,” she said.

Public Works Director Matt Langhorst offered to meet with her on site to assess the problem and consider striping.

City Councilor Mitchell Weimer took the opportunity under council announcements to call attention to a concern he has about tobacco use among minors, and retail stores illegally selling tobacco products to minors.

A recent sting operation allegedly caught Thunder River Market on Highway 82 south of Glenwood selling tobacco to a minor, for which Weimer said they were fined and had their license suspended for a short period of time.

“I think we should start shaming retailers who are selling tobacco to minors,” Weimer said. “Whether it’s a culture thing, or maybe it was the guy’s first day on the job, frankly it doesn’t matter … The law is the law, and ignorance is no excuse.”

Mayor Marco Dehm also reported on a recent Garfield County mayors meeting in Silt. Among the items discussed was a possible intergovernmental agreement among municipalities to “stop stealing cops from each other,” Dehm said.

Budget, grant agreement approved
Following a presentation and public hearing last month, City Council unanimously approved a budget for 2026. 

The total annual budget of $106.1 million includes a $29.5 million general fund, $11.3 million for streets and infrastructure, $11.9 million for police and fire, $3 million for public transportation, $450,000 for parks and trails improvements, $749,000 for workforce housing, $535,000 in upgrades to the Community Center, and $427,000 for professional staff development.

Councilor Sumner Schachter noted that the budget represents several months’ worth of work, calling it a “long, diligent, excellent process.”

The council also unanimously approved the initial agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation to receive a $49.7 million Rural Surface Transportation Grant to go toward completion of the planned South Bridge project.

City Engineer Ryan Gordon and City Attorney Karl Hanlon referred to it as a “straight-forward, boiler plate agreement” that’s non-negotiable, though some of the fine details could still be tweaked.

The agreement does, however, include a provision that, pursuant to a preliminary court injunction out of California, the federal government will not enforce the Trump Administration’s “challenged immigration enforcement condition” for receiving the grant, meaning the City will not be forced to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs (ICE) and other federal agents on immigration enforcement.

Other business for the council included approval of a 7% increase in landfill rates, and a new fee schedule for parks and recreation programs.

Prior to the regular meeting, the council had a joint work session with the Garfield County commissioners, including an update on the county’s efforts to budget for a $9 million revenue shortfall for 2026.