Mayor Bill Kane inspects the final push for construction with the Stutsman-Gerbaz crew. Last Thursday and Friday saw a team of over 60 workers digging into the night to install the final valves and complete underground work for Midland Avenue. Photo courtesy Town of Basalt

This week, Basalt Town Council discussed potential affordable housing developments over the next several years, provided a final update on Midland’s construction for the year and signed agreements for updates coming to the town’s trails and parks.
Prior to their regular meeting, Town Council convened for a work session with Basalt Affordable Community Housing (BACH) to discuss various housing development opportunities on existing Town properties. BACH identified three locations to potentially construct new units at Stott’s Mill, a parcel adjacent to TACAW and another parcel beside the Willits rugby fields, totaling 22-28 potential new units.
While these areas have been scoped out by BACH, site plans have not been completely drawn up for each one, and grant funding needs to be secured for construction. According to Planning Director Michelle Thibeault, state grants are only available for “shovel-ready” projects.
“It’s a little bit tricky in that we’re not able to confirm when one of these would be built due to funding,” said Thibeault. “We have to go through the process and say we have a project ready because we’re competing with other affordable housing developments throughout the state.”
However, Thibeault stated, because the properties are already owned by the Town, there is low risk associated with continuing to prepare site plans. Construction could begin whenever funds become available. In any case, ground isn’t likely to be broken next year at each of these sites.
After the work session, the meeting began as usual, beginning with a motion to continue the public hearing and first reading of the Jadwin/Black Mountain development at Emma Road until Jan. 9. So far, the public hearing for this contested development has been delayed multiple times, and citizens wishing to appear before Council and offer their opinions should stay attentive to agendas, in case this hearing is delayed again.
Town engineer Catherine Christoff presented briefly on the massive construction push last weekend, highlighting the volume of work done to minimize the service shut-off time.
“The project’s largely wrapped up for 2023,” said Christoff. “There’ll be some clean-up work here and there, but the heavy impacts are done for this year and we’ll pick up again in late February.”
Some of that clean-up work will include paving and addressing the potholes already forming on Midland, but the road won’t be fully repaved, and citizens can expect a rougher drive down the main drag this winter. “It’s a balance of making sure it’s good enough but also knowing we’re not investing too much money knowing it’s going to get torn out in February/March.”
Christoff also announced that after the new year, Town staff will present to Council a more robust work schedule for 2024.
After the presentation, Town Council interviewed eight-year resident Sean Satterfield to serve on the Basalt Green Team for a three-year term. Satterfield has experience in architecture and sustainable building practices and was unanimously appointed.
Council also signed a professional services agreement for the construction of new playground equipment at Arbaney Park, costing roughly $480,000. The current playground equipment will be removed in early spring, and the new equipment — which includes a climbable trout — will be installed some time prior to June 1.
The final item of the night was another services agreement signed with Alta Planning + Design for the Willits Lane Connectivity & Town Wayfinding Plan. Because Basalt is broken up into several neighborhoods, staff noted what can feel like a disconnect between those areas and sometimes a misunderstanding as to what neighborhoods are or are not within town limits. The Wayfinding Plan will introduce new trail connections and additional signage between Basalt’s neighborhoods to improve the experience for cyclists and pedestrians, and ideally aid in the reduction of vehicle emissions by encouraging eco-friendly commuting.
The public arts commission has also voiced their interest in adding art installations along the trail system, similar to Carbondale’s ARTway on the Rio Grande Trail. While this isn’t part of Alta’s contract, changes along the trail may be taken as an opportunity to bring more beauty to your daily dog walk.