Aspen City Council voted 4-1 on May 12 to implement Stage 3 water shortage restrictions effective May 15, as officials described the current drought as the worst in the city’s recent memory. Five residents addressed council in public comment opposing the Aspen Police Department’s proposed Flock license plate reader cameras, raising concerns a panel-member said may bring the item back for further discussion. Council also approved a $217,297 contract to expand electric vehicle charging at city facilities and advanced design work on the Smuggler Bridge replacement.
Stage 3 Water Restrictions
The Stage 3 declaration imposes mandatory restrictions on outdoor water use and applies tiered financial penalties to the city’s top 40 percent of water users. Revenue from penalty rates goes directly into water conservation measures. Restrictions take effect May 15.
Cole Langford, the city’s Utilities Business Services Manager, confirmed for council that higher water rates do not create more physical water in the system. He said the city hopes financial pressure will prompt the most excessive users to reduce consumption, though many high-use properties have bills paid by property managers or accountants removed from on-site decisions.
Councilmember Bill Guth voted no. He said he supports enforcement and restriction measures but opposes the financial penalty component, arguing the higher bill does not reach property owners in a community where absentee owners rely on third-party managers. He said larger direct fines for ordinance violations would be more effective.
Mayor Rachael Richards countered that the tiered rate structure funds staff time to trace LLCs and property managers back to actual owners. She said she would not remove any tool from the drought response. Richards noted that Aspen’s water rights are relatively junior under Colorado’s first-in-time, first-in-right system, and that Colorado River negotiators have already begun curtailing junior users. She said the city must be able to fight a wildfire and maintain domestic supply simultaneously.
Councilmember John Doyle said data he reviewed at a recent Colorado River district meeting showed conditions are beyond anything previously predicted. He said the restrictions are among the few tools available to discourage egregious use by second-home owners who may be unaware of how dry conditions are on the ground.
Doyle had earlier reported on an all-day Ruedi Water and Power Authority meeting at which snow observatory data showed Ruedi Reservoir is expected to fill to only 65 percent of capacity this year. A Vanderbilt University researcher’s fire modeling estimated a fire starting near Prince Creek outside Carbondale could reach Snowmass Village in 12 hours. A fire break has been installed off Sopris Creek Road. A wildfire readiness study is due by end of summer. Councilmembers Benedetti, Rose, Doyle, and Richards voted yes on the Stage 3 declaration.
Flock Surveillance Cameras Draw Public Opposition
Five residents addressed council during public comment on the Police Department’s proposed Flock license plate reader cameras at town entrances. Mayor Richards noted the item was discussed at a work session the previous evening and was not on the agenda for action; appropriate staff were not present to respond. Council accepted comment and left open the possibility of further discussion.
One resident raised a specific contradiction in the public record: Police Chief Kim Ferber told council at the May 11 work session that data would not be shared with any other agency, but in February she stated an intent to share information with in-state agencies. The resident said if data reaches in-state agencies, federal agencies including ICE can obtain it — citing instances in which state and local agencies accessed Flock data on behalf of ICE more than 4,000 times between June 2024 and May 2025. He also cited Flock’s terms of service, which grant the company a perpetual right to use data even after a city cancels its contract.
Richards said the Flock database is accessible only to the Aspen Police Department, that the data does not go to ICE, and that the cameras have helped identify Amber Alert suspects and resolve downtown theft cases. She invited the speaker to resubmit his research and said council would respond.
Other speakers said the cameras create searchable vehicle movement profiles and that surveillance infrastructure, once in place, tends to expand in other communities. A West End resident asked that at least two West End residents be included on the West End Study Committee addressing traffic, noise, and speeding, and said previous measures appear to have redirected traffic rather than reducing overall volume.
EV Charging Contract Approved 4-1
Council approved a contract with National Car Charging LLC for seven new EV charging stations — 14 plugs — at three city facilities: the Aspen Golf Club and Truscott parking lots, the Aspen Recreation Center, and the Red Brick Center for the Arts. The contract totals $188,953.98 with a 15 percent contingency of $28,343.10, for a combined not-to-exceed amount of $217,297.08, funded within existing 2026 budget accounts. The installations bring total public EV charging capacity from 24 to 38 plugs.
Guth voted no, saying he has not heard residents report a shortage of charging options and that the stations function as a public subsidy that may conflict with the city’s goal of shifting people toward transit and bikes. He said the private sector should own this infrastructure, and that city-funded stations should recover their full costs through pricing. Benedetti, Rose, Doyle, and Richards voted yes, citing rising fuel costs, anticipated summer traffic increases tied to the airport closure, and air quality concerns.
Smuggler Bridge Design Contract Approved
Council voted 5-0 to authorize a design contract for replacement of the Smuggler Bridge. Senior Project Manager Jack Danneberg said the existing structure needs expeditious action and that the design process will take approximately nine months, concluding by end of 2026. Staff chose replacement over repair based on cost and timeline.
Councilmember Guth asked whether the design could explore options beyond a like-for-like replacement, including a higher elevation or shifted alignment to improve approach angles and evacuation capacity. Danneberg said fixed constraints — the adjacent Castle Creek Bridge foundation, the floodplain, and private property — limit lighter options, but a flyover concept has not been fully studied. He recommended approving the design contract now while conducting a separate schematic feasibility assessment of other alignments. Richards said she would support reviewing existing engineering documentation but is not launching a second-entrance project.
Lumberyard Phase B Ground Lease Option Advanced
Council voted 5-0 to approve a ground lease option for Lumberyard Phase B, the remaining 173 units of the city’s 277-unit affordable housing development. Kimball Crangle, Colorado Market President for developer Gorman & Company, joined the meeting remotely. City Attorney Kate Johnson said the resolution is an administrative formality required by the state housing authority to confirm the city can enter into a ground lease, enabling Gorman to apply for low-income housing tax credits. If tax credits are not awarded or financing conditions are not met, the option expires and no terms change.
Electrification Land Use Code Amendments Authorized
Council voted 5-0 to approve Policy Resolution 051, Series of 2026, directing staff to draft Land Use Code amendments addressing dimensional obstacles — height, setbacks, site planning, and floor area — that property owners face when pursuing electrification upgrades under Title 26. The resolution opens the code for amendment; it does not adopt policy.
Long-Range Planner Haley Hart and Zoning Administrator Sophie Varga said current code does not distinguish between new construction and built-out existing properties, where equipment often cannot be sited without violating setbacks. The Pitkin County Library’s rooftop heat pump installation was cited as a current example requiring multiple rounds of staff review. Council agreed to treat existing and new construction differently and asked for case studies on whether electrification equipment should count against floor area calculations. Council directed staff to address transformer infrastructure cost-sharing as part of the broader work. A series of work sessions is planned through summer and early fall.
Board Appointments: Wheeler Term Limits Debate
Council approved a slate of appointments 5-0: Diane Wuslich to the Animal Shelter Board; Victoria Thomas to the Board of Adjustment; Hunter Galvin to the Local Licensing Authority; and Tom Gorman and Maryann Pitt to the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Two Wheeler Opera House Board seats generated extended discussion. Councilmember Guth asked whether council should delay reappointing incumbents Ziska Childs and Nina Gabianelli until a board term limits ordinance — discussed the prior evening — could be enacted first. City Attorney Kate Johnson advised that appointments made before an ordinance takes effect cannot be subject to it retroactively, and said she could bring a term limits ordinance to council before the incumbents’ August 2026 term expiration.
A majority of council argued that appointing the incumbents now would give them the longest possible term, providing institutional stability as other board members cycle off under future term limits. Guth said his position was not personal to Childs or Gabianelli but a matter of principle. Council voted 4-1 to reappoint both; Guth voted no. Council voted 5-0 to appoint Jane Pargiter and Tracy Anderson to two open Grants Review Committee seats.
Other Actions
Council voted 5-0 to approve Resolution 064 authorizing an intergovernmental agreement with Pitkin County for a regional greenhouse gas inventory to evaluate the impact of environmental programs approved since the last inventory, which used 2023 data. The city’s share is $15,565. Council voted 5-0 to approve Resolution 067, a contract for concrete repair to the Maroon Creek Bridge approach within the existing Parks and Open Space Program budget, and approved the April 28, 2026 draft meeting minutes.
There were no scheduled public appearances, no agenda amendments, no first reading of ordinances, and no notice of call-up items.
During public comment, additional residents raised unrelated concerns: one speaker said the replacement of the city’s car share program by Zipcar is a disappointment, citing per-mile charges that make a Glenwood Springs round trip significantly more expensive than the previous program. Another asked the city to address gas-powered leaf blower noise around town. A third spoke in support of a cannabis-friendly special event on the old Highway 82 bridge and said he intended to apply for a special events permit.
City staff announced a free electronic waste collection event on Saturday, May 17 from 8 a.m. to noon at the Marolt Housing parking lot, accepting computers, televisions, and old phones but not large appliances, batteries, or hazardous materials. Beginning June 1, the city moves to LocalGov for business licensing, short-term rental permitting, and local tax filing; existing customers receive activation instructions by email on May 14. The city’s inaugural Commit to Tomorrow youth ambassador cohort will present climate projects on May 13, including a solar-powered Chromebook charger at Aspen High School, a middle school garden and composting initiative, and a student-led e-bike safety campaign.
Council voted 5-0 to enter executive session to discuss real property acquisition and contract negotiations and the Centennial Owners Association v. City of Aspen litigation, case numbers 2015CV030158 and 2017CA2099. No formal action is taken in executive session.
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