At the tail end of last night’s board meeting, the Estes Park Town Board of trustees voted to increase this year’s budget appropriations by more than $8 million, but while this seems like a huge adjustment for mid-2024, this action was more of a “budget clean-up,” reported interim Finance Director Duane Hudson.
Most of the funds were previously approved by the board, but another approval needed to happen to include them in the appropriations budget. Town Administrator Travis Machalek explained that in the municipal budget, there are three things that need to happen, in this order: first the funds are budgeted, which puts them in reserve, next they need to be appropriated for a specific project, and only then can those funds be used by Town staff. Every step needs to be approved by the Town Board and even after the appropriations are approved, any expense over $100,000 needs to come back to the board before the expense is incurred.
The adjustments in the appropriations budget included $1.25 million of reserved funds to start design work for Town employee housing at 179 Stanley Ave., an increase of $494,732 in the Water Fund budget due to unexpected conditions found under Highway 36 while replacing the water line in the Reclamation neighborhood, and another increase in the water appropriations of $4,500,000 required to accept a $1,000,000 DOLA (Department of Local Affairs) grant to replace the water line in the Spruce Knob/Carriage Hills area.
Other adjustments included the transfer of the Workforce Housing Fund Linkage Fee fund balance in the amount of $957,000 to the Housing Authority to help finance the purchase of Fall River Village, an increase of $125,493 for tree cabling, mostly covered with a sales tax appropriation of $115,293. The Fleet Maintenance Fund was increased by $40,000 in matching funds for a CDOT grant to investigate electric vehicles for the Town. The increases included a transfer of $1 million from the General Fund to the Community Reinvestment Fund for approved projects, and in the Workforce Housing Fund, an increase of $725,000 in a loan from the General Fund to purchase the childcare facility building at 1250 Woodstock (this will be repaid with future tax receipts). For a more detailed, line-item breakdown of all the appropriation changes, click here.
Trustees Mark Igel and Frank Lancaster asked for a more detailed explanation of these appropriations in future reports. The resolution to increase the appropriations budget by $8,527,336 was approved unanimously.
Subdivision proposal on Virginia Drive approved after public hearing
Several pleas to block the subdivision application for 242 Virginia Drive were received at last night’s public hearing by neighbors in the area, citing drainage concerns, blocking of views and sunlight, loss of their property values, and because it would build in a heavily used wildlife corridor.
The land in question was once owned by Edward Kelsch, known locally as “Crazy Ed,” an eccentric local who passed in 2013. It was purchased by Charles Bailey of Longmont in 2016, who removed the buildings on the property because they were decrepit and “might attract vagrants,” Bailey said during the hearing. The land is 0.75 acres containing three parcels, all zoned Multi-family Residential.
The application before the board was to create a subdivision of six townhome units in three buildings, with garages on the ground floor and two floors of living space above. Two of the buildings would reach a height of 23 feet, one will reach the Town of Estes Park development code maximum of 30 feet. The proposal includes creating a private drive through the subdivision for its residents and extending sidewalks to connect with existing infrastructure. There are plans for drainage, and landscaping as well.
Town of Estes Park Senior Planner Paul Hornbeck, presented on the proposed development, saying it met or will meet all the Town’s existing development code requirements and contains 23% open space of common areas to be managed by the homeowner’s association. Hornbeck said that inspections identified no significant issues that would block the subdivision application.
Eighteen homeowners who live in Wonderview Village, a neighborhood adjacent to the future subdivision, signed a letter in opposition to this project; and three of those members — Lisa Voelker, Bill Noll, and Daniel Timbrell – were on hand to speak about their concerns.
“This proposal has been and continues to feel like a pending amputation of many neighborhoods without any possibility of prosthetics to recoup what will be permanently removed,” said Timbrell.
“We sit directly in the drainage (path) and that’s one of my main concerns,” said Voelker, “and for loss of our views, and loss of light. We would just love to present the case for less of a development,” she said.
As an architect, Noll pointed out that the new subdivision as proposed would not fit with the design and “feel” of the neighboring communities.
Other members of the community to spoke in the hearing were John Meisner, who mentioned that Kelsh was an explosions expert and hoped that proper investigation of the land before excavating would be done; and, John Guffy who was concerned about wildlife moving through the property.
The motion passed 6-1, with Mayor Gary Hall voting no.
Sister Cities Presentation and Library Board Appointments
In other Town Board news, the Estes Park Sister Cities Association, a local nonprofit organization reorganized after it disbanded during the COVID years, presented on their most recent delegation to Monteverde, Costa Rica. This “sister city” was selected in 2006 because it is of similar size as Estes Park and also has a tourism-based economy. Among other developments, this association has led to the first lending library to be formed in Monteverde. For more information about Estes Park Sister Cities organization, click here.
The board approved the appointments of J’Ann Wright and Julie Abel to the Estes Valley Library Board. Trustee Bill Brown questioned why the board was asked to approve appointments to the library board when they are a separate taxing district. Trustee Igel replied that if they are using taxpayer money and are doing appointments instead of elections, he wanted to be involved in the approval of its board members.
The next Town of Estes Park Board meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall.