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Breck planning for future generations

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. — All the ski towns and resort valleys of the West are fretting about the arrival of retiring Baby Boomers but without the muscles of the Gen X and Gen Y generations to keep things going.

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. — All the ski towns and resort valleys of the West are fretting about the arrival of retiring Baby Boomers but without the muscles of the Gen X and Gen Y generations to keep things going.

In Breckenridge, this worry is reflected in goals being formulated by the town council for the next year: childcare and affordable housing.

"I think daycare and housing will trump things like recreation for the time being," said Eric Mamula, a council member. "We want to make sure that the people who make the community run can stay here."

The Summit Daily News reports that the more blunt explanation came from John Warner, a council member. "I don’t believe our youth feels like they’re welcomed back to our community," he said. "It’s too expensive. There’s no housing." Those factors, he added, lead to alienation and even to behavioral and emotional problems.

Another goal comes from another council member, Rob Milisore, who wants a revision of building codes to "really give builders a reason to go green." Another council member, Dave Rossi, adds environmental goals: discouraging light pollution and acquiring more dedicated open space. And Mayor Ernie Blake sees a need for a big-picture transportation plan that makes existing buses more efficient.

New convention centre plans

VAIL, Colo. — A major convention centre has been on the cusp in Vail for years. Now, only months after voters rejected a second increase in the lodging tax that was considered necessary to get a convention centre afloat, a private developer has emerged with a proposal. In addition to the conference centre, he plans two hotels, stores, and additional parking on the space of the existing 1,100-space Lionshead Parking Structure.

The Vail Daily reports that town officials have issued a request for proposals for redevelopment of the parking structure, which is now 25 years old. Part of the justification is that the parking structure will require upgrades at a cost of several million dollars within the next few years. The RFP is somewhat unusual, in that it was not preceded by a major public policy discussion, as would seem the normal sequence.

Several years ago, town voters had approved a lodging tax increase in order to build a convention centre. However, it was also understood that the tax would be abandoned if a decision was made not to go ahead with the convention centre. Later projections showed higher operating expenses than expected, and hence a greater subsidy. There was some fear the conference centre would end up being an albatross to the town.

Retail boat continues to rise

ASPEN, Colo. — Retail sales in Aspen continued to rise during March, the 19th straight month for such increases. At the current rate, Aspen is projected to finish the year with $488 million in sales. But adjusted for inflation, the increases through March are less impressive, just 2 per cent ahead of last year, reports The Aspen Times.

Summer flights best in decade

ASPEN, Colo. — Aspen expects this summer’s flight schedule to be the fullest since 1997. Delta Air Lines had previously announced new flights between Aspen and Salt Lake City that employ regional jets. Because of demand, the flight schedule has been increased to two a day for much of the summer. Altogether, Aspen expects to have 6,653 seats available per week through July and August, a 19 per cent increase from last year, reports The Aspen Times.

Snow surveying pioneer honoured

TRUCKEE, Calif. — It’s not often that a professor of liberal arts get recognized for contributions to the hard sciences, but Reno’s James Church was an uncommon individual, notes the Associated Press. He is being recognized by various water officials and others for his work 100 years ago in quantifying how much water a given snowpack will yield in the streams and rivers.

Church is remembered as the "father of snow surveying," and is described as "one of the most renowned figures in the history of water supply management." Water experts always knew that there was a correlation between the snowpack and runoff, but had been unable to predict runoff, because the water content of snow varies within the snowpack. Church figured out how to use a tube to pull out columns of snow along fixed, straight lines.

His background was hardly as a numbers guy. He was a professor of Latin language and literature, teaching at the University of Nevada-Reno. But he really was a Renaissance man, who did many things in many fields. He died in 1959 at the age of 90.

Organics missing in ski towns

SILVERTHORNE, Colo. — Among the resort valleys of the West, only Park City has a major grocery store specializing in organic food, a Whole Foods. But that location is less than a half-hour drive along an interstate highway from the warehouses of Salt Lake City.

Vail, Aspen, Summit County – all these Colorado resort valleys would seem to be a perfect market for a major health-food store like Whole Foods or Sunflower Farmers Market, but so far nothing has appeared. Why not?

A story in the Summit Daily News suggests why: lack of efficient distribution channels. So says Denver-based developer Brad Kornfield, who has worked in the last several years trying to develop a grocery store-anchored shopping center in Silverthorne, located 68 miles west of Denver along I-70.

For Silverthorne, the economics of grocery stores is no academic matter. The town was on a gravy train from sales tax revenues for many years. That changed in 1998, when City Market, a subsidiary of Kroger, decamped to the adjacent town, Dillon, taking with it $800,000 to $1 million in tax revenues that had helped finance a lavish community recreation centre and other municipal niceties. That was 20 to 25 per cent of the town’s total sales tax collections.

The town in 2003 gained a Target, and hoped Target would expand its food offerings. But Silverthorne town manager Kevin Batchelder reports that Target does not remodel or expand a store until it has been open for seven years,

While the market demographics are good in Summit County, rising land and construction costs are squeezing grocery stores, which are not expanding as they were several years ago. Batchhelder says that if the town doesn’t snag a grocery store this year, it will keep trying.

Developer, philanthropist dies

TELLURIDE, Colo. — Bill Carstens, who led the way in subdividing the many mesas above Telluride and the San Miguel River Canyon into 35-acre ranchettes, has died. A lawyer by training, he got into real estate law and then real estate itself while in San Diego. A pilot, he happened upon Telluride in the mid-1980s and was immediately enthused.

Returning home from that first flight, he told his family: "I bought a ranch in Telluride." He later told friends: "I just couldn’t get over the feeling that Julie Andrews was just about to come over the ridge with all the von Trapps in full song."

In fact, he named his first project the Sound of Music Ranch, and it sold quickly. Then, he became a philanthropist, giving his wealth to programs designed to help children in the Telluride community and, in recent years, to the Murphy School District in Phoenix.

While the largest landholder in San Miguel County, he encouraged others to embrace what he called the 3 Percent Solution. He called upon first-time buyers of mesa property to earmark 1 per cent of the purchase price to their favorite regional charity. He then contributed another 2 per cent for organizations of his choice. That plan yielded $1 million to local and regional groups.

He died at the age of 76. He had been diagnosed with leukemia about 8 months ago.

Housing regs under construction

KETCHUM, Idaho — In Ketchum and surrounding Blaine County, public officials continue to assemble regulations to assure that they won’t get caught in the years ahead without housing for working-type locals, reports the Idaho Mountain Express.

In Ketchum, town officials are sometimes told by developers that affordable housing requirements have become onerous. A $4,000 consultant was recently hired to establish a base line of building costs, to help better evaluate just what the market will bear.

"If proposed development requirements are (X, Y, and Z), and developers say, 'That's exorbitant,' we'll have this economic analysis to give us a starting point to figure out the economics of zoning changes, as well as a negotiating point with developers," said Ron LeBlanc, city administrator. "We'll have some idea what the market can bear."

"A number of developers have come back to us and said (30 per cent) affordable housing is not going to work," said planning director Harold Moniz. With the study, he said, "we'll be able to recommend to the City Council... what makes economic sense, what makes rational sense."

Elsewhere, Blaine County commissioners are planning to require 20 per cent of all future subdivisions be devoted to affordable housing. Sun Valley requires 15 per cent, the newspaper adds, and the down-valley town of Hailey requires 20 per cent.

The ordinance was crafted by Will Collins, a planning consultant from Jackson Hole, to boost affordable housing for households making between 80 per cent and 140 per cent of the county's median income. The Mountain Express reports that the county’s average – presumably, it meant median – annual household is $71,200.

Luxury condo-hotel planned

PARK CITY, Utah — Work has begun on a condo-hotel in the old part of Park City, and it’s unusual in several respects.

Called The Sky Lodge, it’s the first such luxury hotel in that part of Park City, which was created in the mining days and still has many original buildings. The 76 time-share units have been sold in five shares, with the maximum prices hitting $2,000 a square foot. That price is on par with Aspen, reports the developer, Bill Shoaf. Fifty per cent of units have been pre-sold.

Second, because it is surrounded by older buildings, the developer was forced to accommodate them by step-backs in the hotel’s height. Among the other buildings are an old railroad depot, a coal and lumber station, and even a tack shed that, in a curious shift, is to be moved and transformed into a Japanese-inspired spa.

The project is expected to yield $3.9 million directly and indirectly in taxes for the town. In addition, for every unit sold, the developer has committed $1,000 to the Performing Arts Foundation. Shoaf told The Park Record that such properties should be active participants in their communities.

Life inside the (big) box

CANMORE, Alberta — It’s possible that a big Wal-Mart could end up next to a yoga studio in one of Canmore’s last commercial pods in a major new project called Three Sisters. The town laws currently allow a maximum store size of 54,000 square feet, or somewhat larger than your average big grocery store. The Rocky Mountain Outlook reports some heartburn about the potential of a giant store, although the town is also requiring a retail impact study. Town officials seem to think the study requirement will discourage potential big-box retailers, although it’s not clear why.

Tensions rise

GYPSUM, Colo. — Tensions have been rising at Eagle Valley High School, and the Vail Daily reports they erupted into a sort of taunting that provoked three suspensions on Cinco de Mayo. Some Caucasian students were apparently upset by the national and local assemblies on the previous Monday of those wanting increased rights for illegal immigrants. They were also cranky about seeing the American flag at half-mast (in commemoration of National Law Enforcement Day, as it turns out) and possibly because of seeing Mexican flags last year. One Latino student told the newspaper, "There’s more of an edge." She and another said they’ve heard remarks in the halls they have not heard before.

No longer a doggone heaven?

FRASER, Colo. — It may be the 21st century, but Fraser still feels like a town of the 1960s or 1970s. Some streets in this town located five miles from the Winter Park ski area remain unpaved, and dogs still have a reputation for roaming free.

But that reputation is now being examined in the wake of the shooting of a 50-pound boxer named Angel. Two Jehovah’s Witnesses had been walking door-to-door when the dog, baring its teeth, charged them.

Responding to their call for help, the police chief found something similar: a growling and barking dog, its ears laid back, running hard at him. He shot it with his handgun just before it reached him, saying he was "scared."

The Winter Park Manifest reported some outrage. Neighbors described the 12-year-old dog, which was pregnant, as "a real sweetheart." Said one long-time local, "This is Fraser. This is where dogs run all the time."

But a different perspective was offered at a community meeting. One resident reported having been bitten three times by dogs. Another resident complained about the amount of dog-doo in local playgrounds. And at least one parent, who has two small children, said the lovable Angel described by its owners as "our little baby girl" had, in fact, chased him.

While the town board announced a "paradigm shift," it took no formal action. The news was reported under the headline: "No longer a dog heaven?"

Biodiesel getting look

EAGLE VALLEY, Colo. — Rising prices of fossil fuels and mounting concerns about air pollution are driving more government agencies to experiment with biological alternatives. Among the latest is Eagle County.

The Vail Daily reports that sheriff’s deputies already have eight Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs that run on primarily ethanol, although there is some debate whether ethanol is a net gain for the environment.

Meanwhile, the county’s landfill operations will give biodiesel a trial run. In most colder locations, a 20 per cent mixture of vegetable oil to fossil-fuel diesel is used. In Breckenridge, fleets use a 5 per cent mixture. Telluride uses it at 100 per cent, but keeps the vehicles in heated barns.

April on skis

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — A couple from Jackson Hole used April to circumnavigate the valley, a 170-mile trip that took them across high mountains, areas of old forest fires, and in the fresh tracks of grizzly bears.

Reed Finlay, a 37-year-old lift supervisor at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, and his wife, Rebecca Huntington, until recently a reporter at the Jackson Hole News & Guide, skied most of the trip.

"The whole idea was to circle Jackson Hole and link up all these different parts of our valley," said Finlay, who conceived of the idea 10 years ago. He said the goal was not to bag summits or, other than to complete the circle, to reach some arbitrary point or another. Instead, the idea was to journey through the diversity of the region.

In all, the trip took 23 days. While some might think that such sustained proximity would put strains on a marriage, Huntington said it did not. "There was no more sniping than we would have in a normal day at home," she said. "Only one of us was allowed to have a meltdown at any given time, which was mostly me."

Promoting the home-grown pantry

BASALT, Colo. — During the last several years, many in the environmental movement have been arguing the case for grow-your-own food and, somewhat similarly, the need for cities and towns to establish preserves nearby that will remain in agriculture production.

A variation on this theme is a workshop held in the Roaring Fork Valley recently for those wanting to know about how to build or maintain a greenhouse. Leading the workshop, reports The Aspen Times, was Jerome Osentowski, who has established what the newspaper describes as an "Eden of fruit trees, herbs, vegetables and exotic plants," adjacent to his home on Basalt Mountain.

But Osentowski says home-owners need not become as elaborate in their green-thumb ambitions as he is. Just a simple affair will do. "What we need to be doing is attaching greenhouses on the south sides of houses as a matter of course," he said. He built his 22- by 60-foot greenhouse for $7,000, although he was able to create another, smaller greenhouse with materials retrieved from the local landfill.

Bark beetle money gets OK

WASHINGTON D.C. — A bill in the U.S. Senate has been amended to provide $30 million for management of bark beetle and to reduce wildfire risk in the West. The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado, said the Durango area is facing the same emergency this year as it did in 2002, when stream flows were at their lowest in some places in 500 years. An even larger appropriation is proposed in a bill introduced by another Colorado senator, Wayne Allard.

Biomass boiler plan gets spark

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Plans to heat South Lake Tahoe High School by burning waste products from forests around Lake Tahoe are moving forward. Organizers have received a crucial $243,500 grant from the U.S. Forest Service that is projected to pay for half the cost of the biomass boiler. Planners say the boiler could be in place for the 2007-08 school year.

Still, the biomass boiler is not a done-deal. "We’ve got the fuel. We’ve got the technology. It’s what’s in between, that’s the problem," said Rex Norman of the U.S. Forest Service. He told the Tahoe Daily News that a supplier must be found to deliver the forest waste in bulk. "It’s the access to the material and a reliable supply chain," he said. A storage place of the wood chips is also needed.

The school’s current boiler uses natural gas to produce steam. However, after nearly 40 years, it is becoming obsolete. Planners estimate the biomass system would pay for itself in fuel-cost savings in eight years.

In addition to a middleman, the biomass plan also needs permits from various government agencies.

Altogether, the Forest Service has granted more than $4 million to business and other agencies for biomass projects. It is believed that the South Lake Tahoe facility could serve as a demonstration for other such projects, including several in California.

Snowpack hits max in early May

COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. — An anomaly of the ski industry is that just when they get their maximum snowpacks, most ski areas close.

That was true again this year at Vail, which hit its apex on April 22, the day before the ski area closed. Although starting the season breaking all the record books, Vail ended the season just 125 per cent of average – best in nine years, but hardly a record-breaker.

Another oddity of high-elevation snowpacks is that even after the lower mountain valleys have already turned dusty, the higher locations are still gaining. Such is the case at Frémont Pass, located between Copper Mountain and Leadville. There, the snowpack was still gaining as of early May.