Staircase Park was reopened to the public on July 22, following repair work to the upper steps of the long staircase. In a newsletter, the Town thanked the Building Department and Parks and Rec, more specifically Building Inspector Japeth Hoffman and Parks Supervisor Jesus Ortiz, for completing the in-house project. According to Parks and Rec Director Eric Brendlinger, the fix is temporary, and the Town is looking at potential material changes — either custom concrete stairs with a landing or metal prefabricated stairs — for a permanent solution to address the wood stringers that have been deteriorating due to environmental conditions. “We will be pricing out some options to include in our 2027 budget,” Brendlinger told The Sopris Sun. Courtesy photo

Midland ICE facility 
On Thursday, Aug. 6, Glenwood Springs City Council plans to discuss enforcement of a special use permit (SUP) revocation for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center at 100 Midland Ave. The City’s Planning and Zoning Commission revoked the SUP on April 28, and notified the federal General Services Administration, ICE and the property owner, none of whom replied by the appeal deadline. A memo from City Attorney Karl Hanlon, included in the City Council’s Aug. 6 agenda packet, states that the Glenwood Springs Fire Department responded to an EMS call at the facility on July 24, confirming that it was still in use for detention purposes. The City has yet to take action on the SUP revocation despite public outcry and is expected to make a decision on Thursday. In addition, Glenwood resident and licensed attorney Claire Noone filed a complaint Tuesday with Trent Hyatt, director of community development, alleging Glenwood Springs Municipal Code violations. Noone stated in the complaint that “The City’s own code makes the duty to enforce mandatory, not discretionary, and 90 days of inaction is not a choice that code authorizes.” Noone told The Sun that she is not representing any individual or organization, and filed the complaint of her own volition. Hanlon’s memo also states that City staff recommends filing suit.

Traffic calming
The Town of Carbondale’s Traffic-Calming Test Project is back, this time primarily affecting Sopris Avenue. Some motorists were perplexed by the temporary zones, bulging from each side of the street intermittently and causing traffic to weave in an “S” shape through 10-foot lanes at various sections of the street. Public Works Director Kevin Schorzman told The Sun that a temporary yellow line will be added “that should hopefully make it easier to understand that, if folks just slow down a bit, both directions can fit through the ‘narrow’ looking areas.” Other temporary features on Sopris include: adjustments to on-street parking, a raised pedestrian crossing at the 8th Street intersection and tightened turning radii at the Sopris and Snowmass Drive intersection. Additionally, a temporary raised crossing is being tested at the preexisting crossing next to Crystal River Elementary School on Snowmass Drive. The Town is soliciting feedback via an online survey that will be up through Oct. 1. Find the survey at tinyurl.com/Sopris-Snowmass 

Beetlejuice
“The ghost-with-the-most” comes to the stage in SoL Theatre Company’s “Beetlejuice JR,” a Halloween performance open to ages 7-16, running from Oct. 28 to 31. Auditions will be hosted from 4 to 7pm on Sept. 11 and 9am to noon on Sept. 12 at Roaring Fork High School. Sign up at tinyurl.com/Solbeetlejuice2026

Harvest Village
The Cattle Creek Confluence coalition recently obtained documents through an open-records request pertaining to Harvest Village. Following an application denial by Garfield County in February, a Texas-based developer resubmitted a new planned-unit-development application in June to build 1,500 residential units off of Highway 82 between Carbondale and Glenwood Springs. According to the application, 30% — or 450 residential units — would be deed-restricted on the 283-acre plot of land. The new application asserts that it has “reduced overall project density by at least 450 residential units because the application now prohibits ADU’s (accessory dwelling units) throughout the entire Harvest community,” though the original application also proposed a 1,500-unit build. In an email on July 29, a Garfield County spokesperson told The Sun that the application “has not yet been deemed technically complete.” To view the pending application, visit tinyurl.com/newapplicationharvestvillage

Ruedi release & ramp closure
Ruedi Reservoir increased its water release by an estimated 77-cubic-feet-per-second (cfs) on Monday, Aug. 3, to aid Grand Valley irrigation entities, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The Bureau estimated last week that the release would increase the flow of the Fryingpan River below Ruedi to 222 cfs. American Whitewater recorded a flow jump the afternoon of Monday, Aug. 3, to 214 cfs, a rise from 147 cfs. White River National Forest (WRNF) announced the closure of the Ruedi Reservoir boat ramp beginning Monday, Aug. 3, due to low water and mud on the normally-submerged ramp. “The drought conditions, mud and need for water to be released from the reservoir to fill downstream water rights will make the ramp unusable as the reservoir continues to drop,” a WRNF press release states. 

Colorado River
The Bureau of Reclamation released a 10-year Colorado River water management framework, targeting cuts to water usage by Arizona, Nevada and California — the lower Colorado River basin states — and requiring operating guidelines of the agreement to be renegotiated every two years. Upper Colorado River Basin state governors from Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico released a statement regarding the plan. “While the final details are still being analyzed by Upper Division states, we are encouraged that new operating guidelines will better reflect existing water supply, which must underpin any practicable plan going forward,” the statement read. In another statement, the Colorado River District said that the plan “fails to provide the certainty needed by West Slope communities to plan for the future” but keeps the Upper Basin in a “cycle of crisis management” due to the proposed renegotiation every two years. The Environmental Impact Statement released by the Bureau was created after the seven states managing Colorado river water supply failed to meet a deadline in February to establish a new water management agreement.

They say it’s your birthday!
Folks celebrating another trip around the sun this week include: Steven Haines and Carly Merriott (Aug. 6); Ed Engelki, Charlotte Graham and Marcelo Lott (Aug. 7); Amber Sparkles, Chris Peterson and Jasmin Ramirez Ramos (Aug. 8); Dru Handy and Sarah-Jane Johnson (Aug. 9); Jeanne Souldern (Aug. 10); Tripp Adams, Morgan Hill, Bill Hofto and Sean Keery (Aug. 11); Sebastian Dunn, Caitlin Evans, Brian Gaddis and Alyson Romanus (Aug. 12).