“It’s become very apparent to me that our eyes are bigger than our stomach,” said Town Administrator Travis Machalek at the Feb. 11 Town of Estes Park Board meeting which had just one action item on the agenda, approval of the 2025 Amended Town of Estes Park Strategic Plan.
A review of the 2024 strategic plan uncovered that of 55 projects, 28 were completed or ongoing, three are multi-year projects, and 24 are incomplete.
“It’s a problem on the staff side and the organization as a whole, but perhaps more importantly, it’s a problem from a public engagement standpoint,” said Machalek who explained that if there are too many projects on tap, the average citizen will not be able to engage effectively when public input is solicited.
Staff are keeping this in mind with next year’s strategic planning, which will be starting very soon, he said.
Eight projects from 2024 will not be carried over. “Seven projects were already carried over through inclusion in the original 2025 strategic plan … the final one that we’re not recommending carrying over is the stall barns project,” said Machalek.
One of the projects carried over from 2024 to 2025 is the renovations on Cleave Street.
“In talking to our project manager, Derek Pastor, he’s recommended that we don’t design a project that may not be funded for five to 10 years … until you have the construction financing lined up, it doesn’t make sense to spend money to design those stall barn improvements (at the fairgrounds),” said Machalek.
The 2025 plan was approved by the board unanimously and will be published on the Town’s website next week. The Estes Valley Voice will provide a link to the final document when it is available.
During public comment in the public hearing about the new strategic plan, Kent Smith of Estes Park said he was appreciative of the detail provided in the Town Board Packet for February 11, 2025.
The amended 2025 strategic plan was approved unanimously.
Estes Valley Library board member appointed
In other news, the board approved the appointment of Cynthia Morris to a three-year term on the Estes Valley Library District Board. Unlike the other special districts in the community such as the fire district, board members for the library district are appointed by the town board and the county commissioners, explained Machalek.
“That board controls the public expenditures of money that comes from the entire district, which includes town and unincorporated county,” he said. “It’s similar to Visit Estes Park (board), but instead of having the county have X number of seats and we have Y number of seats, we jointly appoint these board members to oversee the operations of the Estes Valley Library.”
Short-term rental wait list is almost empty
During public comment, Nick Thomas of Estes Park said he “heard rumors recently” that the waitlist to host short-term rentals in Estes Park is almost empty. This was confirmed by Machalek.
“I would strongly urge the board to open that back up,” said Thomas who added that while he does not want to have an Airbnb himself, his parents have two and he knows others who do as well. He mentioned that while he was purchasing his home, every Realtor he spoke to said that homes sell for $100,000-$200,000 more than market value, just because they are on the approved list to host a short-term rental.
“In our small town, our housing inventory (is impacted). When, in basic economics, you create a fake control, you create inflation and loss in the market,” he said. “I think, with all the pieces that you the board and the previous board have put in place over the last couple of years, I think we are at the point as a town to be able to remove that fake issue in the market.”
Board members report on several issues
Trustee Bill Brown expressed disappointment that the most recent workforce housing development, which required rezoning on a plot adjacent to Highway 7, was not approved by the board. The one-acre parcel is currently zoned Estate, with a single-family home allowed on the property under that designation.
“The only change that I can see that could justify rezoning is the obliteration of a neighborhood by a natural disaster that necessitated complete rebuilding in the area,” said Brown.
“As long as this is the approach of this Town Board, I suspect the Town Staff will never again recommend a rezoning, and it is difficult to imagine the rezoning application that will be approved by this board.”
Brown cited many things such as the need for workforce housing, the higher density in the neighborhood that already exists, and the need for home-ownership opportunities locally for our workforce.
Trustee Kirby Hazelton said Restorative Justice is hosting a workshop in partnership with the Estes Valley Library, Tackling Wicked Problems in the Estes Valley Community: A Deliberative Engagement & Facilitator Training Workshop has four spots left and runs all day Feb. 20-Feb. 22, with lunch included each day.
The workshop will teach adults 18 years of age and older how to facilitate communication through deliberate engagement. There is no charge for this workshop, but registration is required. It will be held at the Estes Park Museum, 200 Fourth Street.
Trustee/Mayor pro tem Marie Cenac reported on the most recent Colorado Association of Ski Towns meeting where housing in mountain towns was discussed. “If we subsidize housing 50% of the market, the average person has to basically work two and a half jobs to exist, not to thrive, but to exist in some of these higher priced areas,” she said.
Cenac suggested that the subsidies might be based on cost of living and not the area median income. “One of the speakers said that if she had her childcare subsidized, then she could afford more for her mortgage or for rent.”
Trustee Frank Lancaster said he and Machalek attended a meeting where they learned that during the Alexander Mountain Fire, “we almost lost our 911 fiber coming up County Road 43.”
“We were all under the impression that we had redundancy because there was another line up Pole Hill, but we were very surprised to find out we didn’t. That line was never turned on, and we were still operating on one.
“Century Link as our provider is supposed to provide us with redundancies, but they didn’t and they should have told us about that,” Lancaster said.
If the wildfire had taken out the only 911 fiber line to the Town, all of the emergency reporting would be inoperable. The Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority will be submitting a formal complaint to the Public Utilities Commission and Machalek will prepare a letter of support for the mayor to sign.
Trustee Mark Igel reported on the most recent Transportation Advisory Board meeting, which voted in their officers. Belle Morris will retain the chair, and Carissa Streib will serve as vice-chair for the board.
“We have, over the last year, put on several new members, and some of the members have different perspectives than other members. What we are finding is that there is a little bit more diverse perspectives on TAB, which has been very good for conversation,” he said.
The next Town of Estes Park board meeting will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m., in the Town Hall Board Room.