The Town Trustees will consider a resolution to sunset the Town’s Transportation Advisory Board at tonight’s Town Board meeting.
After several months of complaints by members of the TAB and its Town Board liaison, Mark Igel, about Belle Morris, who served as the advisory board’s chair, the Trustees voted in June to remove Morris from the citizen-led volunteer group.
The process of removing Morris led to deeper conversations and broader questions regarding Town-appointed advisory boards and whether the TAB has outlived its original purpose. At the July 8 meeting, the Trustees directed Town staff to prepare a resolution to disband the TAB that they will consider at the meeting tonight.
This is not the first time in recent history that an advisory board has been sunsetted. In 2023, the Trustees sunsetted the Family Advisory Board after voters passed the 6E lodging tax, which provides more than $5 million through Visit Estes Park for workforce housing and childcare.
The Trustees decided that the FAB, which had been appointed to work on solutions for affordable housing and childcare access, had fulfilled its advisory purpose. After the FAB was disbanded, several members formed the Family Advocacy Coalition, an independent organization, to work on a variety of issues relevant to families in the Estes Valley.
The TAB has initially been tasked with advising the Town Board on transportation issues. Formed in 2013 as a Transportation Advisory Committee by then-Public Works Director Scott Zurn, it has provided formal opinions on subjects such as the parking garage on Highway 36 and the Loop and led public outreach on the 2045 Multimodal Transportation Master Plan and the Estes Park Transit Development Plan, adopted by the Town Board June 24.
According to meeting minutes on the Town of Estes Park’s record portal, Estes Park resident Belle Morris has served on this board since its inception and was first elected chairperson of TAB six years ago.
Complaints about how Morris and Igel interact with each other began surfacing publicly in early 2025, which led to conversations about term limits for all boards, including those not comprised of elected officials, such as TAB. On June 10, the Trustees removed Morris from TAB; she spoke to the board about that action July 8.
“I was unanimously elected (Chair) during each term and proudly shared leadership with each TAB member when we provided well-researched and thoroughly discussed recommendations to many Estes Park Town Boards,” she said of her volunteer service on TAB. “I did my homework, tracking community concerns, community desires for improving the transportation network and reducing congestion and emissions, as well as enhancing the safety and quality of life for citizens, businesses, and visitors of Estes Park. Of course, I never did this alone. There was a team, in fact, often a high-functioning team of diverse views and life experiences. Not one, or even four people, could keep up with the various topics and projects always brewing in public works.”
However, during the June 10 regular meeting of the Town Board, Igel raised concerns he and others serving on TAB had about Morris’s “decorum and performance” while serving as Chair. Letters from the public were received supporting Morris, while others sided with Igel’s position, namely that Morris did not give proper weight to every TAB member’s opinion.
Most of the Trustees took a broader view, not just with TAB, but for all boards serving at the pleasure of the Town Board.
Mayor pro tem Marie Cenac said that she had watched several recordings of past TAB meetings, and her overall conclusion was that two things needed to be addressed: term limits for all board members and positions, and whether regular TAB meetings were needed.
“It concerns me that public input is going to TAB and not getting to the board,” Cenac said June 10. “I don’t know how to fix that. I would probably move more toward having an ad hoc committee.”
She said the ad hoc committee would meet for a specific project, then recess until needed again.
“This has come up repeatedly, about the desirability, perhaps, of having term limits for some of these boards, or some of the things to which we make appointments,” said Trustee Bill Brown June 10. And I very much support that idea. I think we need to carry that forward.”
“It was like a convention of carpenters, where they were arguing whether to use hammers or saws,” said Trustee Frank Lancaster in June, referring to watching a TAB meeting online. That argument is ridiculous, because carpenters need both, he said.
The bylaws for volunteer committees formed and administered by the Town of Estes Park are included in Policy 1.7 of the town’s Governing Policies Manual, updated October 2024.
The policy dictates the roles, responsibilities, and actions that volunteer committees can perform. The document states that the Board of Trustees may encourage resident involvement in Town affairs by creating committees, commissions, and boards. These volunteer positions may include a Trustee as a liaison.
The policy further states that these groups have no authority to direct Town staff, help staff do their jobs, or vote on or adopt policy.
The Town Board created advisory committees “to provide more in-depth discussion and information on the specific areas assigned to the Committee. “
The policy further states that these citizen volunteer groups will be reviewed every five years to determine whether they are still needed.
Tonight’s Town of Estes Park Board meeting is set for 7 p.m. inTown Hall, 170 MacGregor Ave.