Water dominated the corridor this week. Aspen voted 4-1 to implement Stage 3 mandatory restrictions May 15, with financial penalties on its top water users. Eagle’s public works director — 25 years in the valley — said this drought has no comparable year and that staff is planning for the possibility the town’s water plant intakes run dry. Fremont County heard from all four of its water districts: the Arkansas River Basin sits at 14 percent of median snowpack, near the lowest on record.
Eagle unanimously approved 89 units at Haymeadow — 40 affordable, 24 built by Habitat for Humanity. A teacher and an aide testified they would have left the valley without their Habitat homes. Grand County moved $4 million toward 200 workforce units in the Fraser Valley. Del Norte’s new board approved a plat for six affordable lots targeting $225,000 a unit.
Pitkin commissioners overrode their planning board to advance the Aspen airport’s runway relocation and terminal replacement — a project voters have approved three times. Park County directed $1.09 million in conservation grants to water and riparian work, then tabled a $2 million arena request for lack of matching funds. Buena Vista voted to draft a data center moratorium. Breckenridge ended its dark sky extensions and directed staff to begin citations. Rio Grande County gave its sheriff authority to declare fire bans without waiting for board approval. Alamosa put a DA term-limit repeal on the November ballot.
Gunnison is set to vote May 26 on a 10 percent electric rate hike driven by $6.3 million in planned capital projects. Custer County debated a justice center ballot measure for a courthouse where inmates share hallways with the public, the jury room doubles as a staff break room, and the heating system must be shut off in winter to keep internet service running.
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