By Allen Best
VAIL, Colo. – Maybe third time will be charmed at Vail’s
Bridge Street, where town officials have struggled for nearly a decade with
what to put into the middle of Seibert Circle, the plaza named after resort
founder Pete Seibert.
The debate goes back to 1997, when Seibert was still alive.
Some thought he needed to be acknowledged with a statue. Others demurred, and
so the town enlisted Jesus Morales, a well-known sculptor, to create stoneworks
that metaphorically represented the landscape of the Gore Creek Valley.
Nobody was particularly enamored of the result, least of all
pedestrians. So, despite the $700,000 spent on the sculpture, the town several
years ago stored the rocks and installed innocuous landscaping. This too,
pedestrians have ignored. And then yet another idea, an obelisk with some water
fountains, was also shot down.
Now, if business owners along Bridge Street succeed in raising
$122,000, the town will spend altogether $672,000 for yet another vision: water
in a fountain that jumps and cascades, intermixed by cloud-bursts of fire. The
idea was conceived by the same company that created the fountain at the
Ballagio Hotel & Casino
in Las Vegas.
In an interview with the Vail Daily, one of Vail’s best-known
figures, hotelier Sheika Gramshammer, herself once a dancer in Las Vegas,
poo-pooed the idea. “We are not an Olympic village,” said Gramshammer, a native
of Austria but 40-plus year resident of Vail. “We are getting too pompous.
Everything has to be big and expensive. Why not keep it simple.”
The “this-is-the-place” Seibert sculpture, meanwhile, has moved
a short distance, to the base of the ski mountain.
Another big box in I-70 corridor
GYPSUM, Colo. – A Costco is now open in Gypsum, located
between Vail and Glenwood Springs. With that new store, seven big boxes of at
least 100,000 square feet can be found along the rapidly urbanizing I-70
corridor.
Drawing customers from Aspen to Breckenridge to Steamboat
Springs, the 155,000-square-foot store is a tax bonanza for Gypsum, a one-time
blue-collar precinct that is also about to get its first gated community.
Gypsum expects $3 million to $4 million annually from Costco, allowing the town
to pay for its new recreation center twice as fast as was originally projected.
In the neighboring town of Eagle, there’s less to like. Because
of a revenue-sharing agreement, the town will get about 10 per cent of
revenues, but at least half the traffic impacts. With that in mind, some locals
found poetic justice in the fact that independently scheduled work on a new
traffic roundabout delayed some travelers intent on getting to the store’s
grand-opening.
The I-70 corridor has been adding big boxes rapidly in recent
years. From Silverthorne to Rifle, a distance of 110 miles that was largely
rural two decades ago, two Wal-Mart Supercenters, two Targets, and one Lowe’s
have opened within the last three years, as well as a multitude of smaller but
still large national retailers like Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Yet more are expected. In Carbondale, located between Glenwood
Springs and Aspen, residents rebuffed proposals for big-box development,
instead indicating a desire for scaled-down national retailers. Nothing of the
sort has emerged, however, and The Aspen Times reports some town trustees are
worried about a growing imbalance between residential development and
commercial development. In Colorado, owners of residential property tax pay
almost nothing to support municipal services.
Carbon cost of food computed
TELLURIDE, Colo. – While there is a great deal of vague
talk in mountain resorts of “sustainability,” in fact virtually none are
remotely sustainable. From the tourists who arrive by jet planes to the big
logs hauled hundreds of miles to create the “natural” look in homes, life
depends on using vast amounts of fossil fuels.
Somewhat overlooked in this energy equation is the amount of
fossil fuels used to deliver food, something noted by the Telluride Ecology
Commission. The blame cannot be simply assigned to the coal-fired power plants
or gas-guzzling vehicles, points out Colin Hubbard, who sits on the Ecology
Commission.
“We’re a really long way from our food,” said Kris Holstrom, a
local organic grower, who noted that the average meal travels more than 1,500
miles.
Agribusiness consumes 10 calories of fossil fuels to create one
calorie of food energy, Holstrom said. Industrially produced meat, which
depends upon growing corn and other grains to feed cattle, has a ratio of 16 to
1.
‘Frozen music’ on ski run
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. – Bill Close was making musical
instrumentals in the early 1990s when he came across a quotation attributed to
famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Architecture, he said, is “frozen music.”
Something clicked in the mind of Close, who expanded the concept
beyond traditional architecture. The result is an ongoing effort to take music
to the landforms, which in June will include the small ski area on the
outskirts of Jackson called Snow King Mountain.
There, Close intends to lay strings from the mountain base up a
ski trail, anchoring the giant strings and then tightening them. In this manner
he intends to create something of a giant outdoor harpsichord. This is being
sponsored by a Jackson-based non-profit called Vista 360, whose goal is to
connect mountain communities. Two years ago, notes the Jackson Hole News &
Guide, the group sponsored a trip to the Asian country of Kyrgyzstan.
War brings prosperity
ASPEN, Colo. – Several years ago U.S. President George W.
Bush said American citizens should not have to sacrifice because the country is
at war. Indeed, the economy has roared in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion of
Iraq.
In Steamboat Springs, for example, sales tax collections
declined in 2002 and rose by less than 1 per cent in 2003. Since then, reports
The Steamboat Pilot, it’s been all gravy, with increases of 7 and 8 per cent
and, during the first half of this year, 12.5 per cent.
In Aspen, even as the national real estate market cooled, the
surge in prices has been breathtaking. The average price of a single-family
home has risen from roughly $3 million to $4.5 million in the past two years
alone.
This has produced a vast amount of real-estate transfer tax
receipts, some $11 million probably this year alone, reports The Aspen Times.
Altogether, the real estate tax collections have doubled in the past three
years.
But Paul Menter, the finance director in Aspen, says the town
expects the market will cool. “We don’t expect it to continue at its current
level over the long term,” he said. The local real estate market tends to move
in spurts, and the most recent spurt has lasted longer than any of the previous
ones, he noted.
Menter also explained that while the national real estate
market generally reflects the national economy, Aspen’s market is more closely
tied to the investment market.
LEED takes the cake
DURANGO, Colo. – The issue of dependency on foreign oil
continues to overlap that of climate change. That became apparent in Durango,
where the city council has joined the U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection
Agreement.
While the vote was unanimous, Councilman Doug Lyon insisted on
language in the city’s resolution that states that continued dependence on
foreign fossil fuels poses a threat to national security.
The commitment to rolling back greenhouse gas emissions in
Durango to 1990 levels, as specified by the mayors’ agreement, may be
relatively painless. Bob Ledger, the city manager, said he believes no
substantial costs will be incurred. For example, the city had already set aside
money for next year to tap the methane captured from wastewater.
At the prodding of town residents, the city is also planning to
seek green-building certification, under the Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design program, for the new municipal library. The LEED certification
quantifies energy savings, but the certification also helps projects obtain
grants. The certification is “not frosting on the cake,” said Mayor Sidny Zink.
“It’s the cake.”
Population projections staggering
GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. – Growth projections for Garfield
County continue to provide a stunning view of population growth along the I-70
corridor during the next quarter century.
Garfield County includes Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, and
Rifle, all considered “down-valley” bedroom communities for Aspen, but also for
Vail. Now at 50,000, the county’s population is projected to reach 139,000 by
the year 2030, according to a study by BBC Research and Consulting. That
projection assumes no expansion of oil shale production. If that does occur, numbers
are likely to rocket even more.
Because of geographic constraints, the Glenwood Springs area is
projected to no more than double in population, to 22,000. Far larger growth is
projected for the Rifle area. The town itself had about 8,000 people last year.
With adjoining areas, the population is expected to hit 44,000.
Growth patterns are reflected in schools. Enrolment in the
Basalt-Carbondale-Glenwood schools is projected to increase from 5,100 students
to 8,100. Schools serving the Rifle-Silt-New Castle area are projected to jump
from 4,100 students to 17,000 students.
Dogs kill miniature horse
BELLEVUE, Idaho – The issue of roaming dogs came up at a
recent city council meeting in this town near Sun Valley and Ketchum. The owner
of several miniature horses reported that one of them had been killed by
roaming dogs. One, a pit bull, was killed at the scene, and a second, a
Labrador mixed-breed, was later caught and killed.
The owner of the horse, Tom Riuney, said it’s time Bellevue
quit worrying so much about population growth and land-use issues and instead
addressed the dogs before a child is killed. Town officials, reports the Idaho
Mountain Express, were sympathetic, and promised to see what could be done.
Home will tap ground heat
BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. – Although woefully behind what it
should be, alternative energy is gaining some currency in Summit County. First,
ground-source heat pumps were installed in a combination Conoco gas station and
Wendy’s restaurant in Frisco. Now, the first residential home in Summit County,
a house in Breckenridge, is using the same technology.
That technology is based on the idea that in Colorado, the
ground stays at about 48 to 52 degrees. That heat can be tapped during winter
and, through high-tech exchangers, used to heat homes or even water.
Conversely, that same differential can be used to cool houses in summer.
The geothermal technology at the Breckenridge house is expected
to reduce energy costs by 50 to 60 per cent a year, reports the Summit Daily
News. Given current cost of energy, the upfront capital costs of the system
should be repaid in eight or nine years — less, if the cost of natural
gas and other fossil fuels continue to rise. Tax credits can reduce the costs
even more.
Colorado has 250 such geothermal heating systems, including at
high-end homes in Aspen and Beaver Creek.
Encouraging use of such alternative-energy technologies in
Pitkin County, where Aspen is located, is a program called REMP, or Renewable
Energy Mitigation Program. That program takes aim at homes larger than 5,000
square feet or with energy-sapping features such as outdoor swimming pools or
heated driveways. Owners can either install solar panels or other such devices,
or pay in-lieu fees that are then used for energy-saving technologies elsewhere,
such as in the community recreation center.
Using the Aspen program as a model, a group in Summit County
called the High Country Conservation Center is working up a proposal for
consideration by elected officials in several local towns.
Teton lakes dips chilling
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. – When Avery Resor was in eighth
grade, she set a goal of swimming in all 44 named lakes located within Grand
Teton National Park that were open to the public. (A handful were closed for
restoration and other reasons.) To qualify as a swim, she figured she needed to
get immersed and perform at least several strokes.
Now 21 and studying at Duke University, Resor this summer
achieved her goal. Nearly all were cold, but some more so than others, she
tells the Jackson Hole News & Guide. Arriving at Timberline Lake, elevation
10,000 feet, she found it frozen over except for a six-foot hole in the ice.
While she donned her bikini, her father tethered her to a rope — just in
case.
Another time, she swam in a lake while several black bears
lurked nearby. Proving it wasn’t all just about the swim, she reported the most
difficult lake was one requiring an eight-hour bushwhack up a canyon that had
no trail and was filled with downed timber and dense willow thickets.
Geology no bar to expansion
CRESTED BUTTE, Colo. – Crested Butte Mountain Resort
continues to want to expand its resort to a new mountain, called Snodgrass, in
order to get more intermediate-level ski terrain. A report on the geology of
the expansion area has now been issued, and it finds nothing that sinks
expansion hopes.
The report does say that the natural instability of the slopes
could be stressed by the addition of more snow, such as is created by
snowmaking, triggering more landslides. But John Norton, the project consultant
for the resort, believes the problem is something less than an Achilles’ heel.
“With the exception of Purgatory, at Durango, there is not a
ski resort in Colorado that is not built on slide terrain,” he told the Crested
Butte News.
Light regulations rejected
TAOS, N.M. – Many towns have adopted lighting ordinances
in an effort to reduce light trespass, such as a glaring warehouse-type light
mounted on a neighbor’s garage shining into your bedroom window, or pollution
that blots out the sight of stars.
But although the greatest growth pressures are in rural areas,
county governments mostly are reluctant to tell people what they can and cannot
do. Such is the case in New Mexico’s Taos County. There, commissioners rejected
proposed restrictions on new light fixtures, in part because of fears that
safety presumed by unrestricted lights would be impaired, reports The Taos
News.
A proponent of regulation, Luis Reyes, of Kit Carson Electric
Cooperative, argued that the misdirected lighting could be eliminated without
jeopardizing safety.