Mayor Gary Hall gaveled in Tuesday night’s Estes Park Town Board meeting with a bit of levity, riffing off David Bowie’s song “Space Oddity,” “Transmitting, transmitting, ground control to Major Tom. This Town Board of Estes Park’s regular board meeting — Aug. 25, 2026 — is now in session.”
The meeting then proceeded with a lengthy discussion about Estes Park Housing Authority matters. The trustees approved a plan allowing the Estes Park Housing Authority to move forward with planned unit development changes at Fall River Village II that will allow the authority to sell 14 of the property’s larger four-bedroom townhomes.
Since acquiring the former short-term rental resort for workforce housing in October 2024, the EPHA has planned to sell the higher-value units as part of its financing strategy to pay down debt and preserve the remaining units as below-market workforce housing without ongoing subsidies.
The housing authority purchased the Fall River Village property for $35 million. If each of the 14 units sold for $800,000, it could generate more than $11 million. The EPHA currently receives 80% of the Ballot Initiative 6E funding approved by voters in 2022. The lodging tax revenue, which can be used only for workforce housing and child care and does not sunset, is expected to generate about $6.3 million in 2026. The housing authority also receives revenue from rents on the properties in its portfolio.
The three related resolutions — approving the combined preliminary and final PUD, preliminary plat, and final plat — each passed 5-2, with Trustees Mark Igel and Chris Eshelman opposed.
Housing authority structure stays intact — for now
Trustees also discussed whether the Estes Park Housing Authority’s governance structure should change amid concerns about transparency, accountability, and communication between the authority and town board.
The discussion came before interviews for three housing authority board openings. Fourteen people have applied.
Several trustees favored moving ahead with the existing appointment process rather than delaying appointments to consider structural changes.
Mayor Pro Tem Kirby Nelson-Hazelton said the town board exercises accountability through its appointments and favored proceeding with interviews.
“I’d like to move forward with the 14 applicants,” she said, adding that the interviews could include questions about governance and communication.
Trustee Jamie Mieras said she has struggled as a new trustee to understand the relationship between the two boards and sees room for greater transparency, but she does not believe that should stop the appointment process.
While the Estes Park Housing Authority works in partnership with the Town of Estes Park, it is a separate public corporation and political subdivision from the town. It operates as a quasi-governmental entity with specific powers and authorities given by the legislature.
Habitat receives partial fee waiver
While the Fall River Village hearings and the discussion of organizational governance and the appointment of housing authority board members consumed much of the meeting, trustees also took up affordable homeownership, police recruitment, wildfire mitigation, and the future of downtown Estes Park.
The board unanimously approved a 10 percent waiver of building permit and plan review fees for Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley for its single-family home construction in Estes Park.
Habitat Executive Director Dave Emerson told trustees that developing homes in Estes Park costs between $450,000 and $500,000, while Habitat sells its homes for about $350,000 to qualifying buyers earning below 80 percent of area median income.
Habitat had sought broader relief, but town staff recommended limiting the waiver to 10 percent, because the town contracts with SAFEbuilt for building services and passes 90 percent of permit and plan review fees to the company. Waiving more than 10 percent would require the town to cover the difference.
Igel moved to approve the 10 percent waiver, and Mieras seconded. The motion passed 7-0.
Police seek recruiting boost with take-home vehicles
Trustees also signaled support for expanding the Estes Park Police Department’s take-home vehicle program as a recruitment and retention tool.
Police Chief Ian Stewart told the trustees that the department has struggled to hire and retain officers and has not hired a new officer who successfully completed the department’s training process since April 2025. He said Estes Park’s take-home vehicle benefit ranks near the bottom among 16 agencies the department reviewed.
The current program allows officers living within the Estes Park School District to take patrol vehicles home. The proposed expansion would extend the benefit to eligible officers living farther away, with employees contributing $15 to $35 every two weeks depending on distance. Personal use would not be allowed outside the school district.
The department estimates the expanded program would cost slightly more than $27,000 annually, with officers contributing about $8,600. Stewart said other savings would make the program cost-neutral, including $13,234 saved by replacing cellphone stipends with town-issued phones and an estimated $11,685 in parking revenue from returning 10 spaces now occupied by police vehicles to public use.
No formal vote was required. Town Administrator Travis Machalek said the staff plans to implement the program and incorporate it into the 2027 budget unless trustees object.
Downtown plan heads back to business, new fire chief introduced
The board ended the meeting by returning to a discussion begun during an earlier study session about implementing the town’s downtown plan and potentially creating new financing mechanisms.
Trustees generally agreed that staff and the Estes Park Chamber of Commerce should first talk with downtown businesses about priorities in the plan rather than beginning with how projects might be financed.
Machalek summarized the direction as engaging downtown businesses about the plan and possible projects, without leading with funding options, and returning to the board near the end of the year with what staff and the chamber hear.
Lancaster said the town should revisit the plan because downtown conditions and priorities may have changed.
“The funding should follow the function,” he said, arguing that the town should determine what projects remain important before deciding how to pay for them.
In other business, the Estes Valley Fire Protection District introduced new Fire Chief Kevin Nunn and reported that work on the Thunder Mountain wildfire mitigation project is moving forward. The federally funded project calls for thinning and mastication across about 200 acres.
The board also unanimously approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Estes Park School District that allows the emergency sharing of fleet shop space.
The town board will meet again Sept. 8.