Forest Service releases environmental analysis of Breckenridge Ski Resort summer expansion

#Breckenridge.

Nearly a year after first asking for public input, the White River National Forest released the draft environmental impact statement Friday, Jan. 16, for Breckenridge Ski Resort’s proposed expansion of recreation activities.

Officials now are seeking more comments on the analysis of the proposal, which aims to boost year-round recreational opportunities at the resort with zip lines, canopy tours, ropes challenge courses, new mountain biking and hiking trails, and an observation tower.

The 321-page analysis describes the proposed activities in detail as well as their potential effects on wildlife, alpine ecosystems and human resources.

As required by the National Environmental Policy Act, the document first analyzes a “no action” alternative, or what would happen if none of the proposed designs or activities was approved or completed.

Then the document analyzes the impacts of approving and implementing everything in the ski resort’s proposal. Finally, the analysis presents an in-between option, with some of the most controversial features removed based on public input and concerns raised by Forest Service and other agency professionals.

One of the features removed in the third option was the Sawmill Zip Line.

The ski resort proposed that zip line would start at the top of the Peak 8 SuperConnect lift and cross the Sawmill Gulch between Peaks 8 and 9 twice with 1 mile of cables. It would connect near the top of the Volunteer ski run and end on the Four O’Clock run near the Freeway terrain park and pipe entrance.

The third option also removed the Ore Bucket Canopy Tour, proposed to cross gladed terrain on Peak 7 with nine ziplines. The analysis added a canopy tour on Peak 7 to replace the one removed. The Claimjumper Canopy Tour would be 0.85 miles long and include eight zip lines south, or skiers’ right, of the Independence chair.

Officials also removed the highest, northernmost part of the 14 new miles of mountain biking trails proposed on Peak 7.

The ski resort proposed 1.5 miles of new hiking trails, each 4 feet wide, that would enter the bottom of the bowls on Peaks 7 and 8 as well as one that would access the lake at the bottom of the Lake Chutes above 6 Chair.

That last hiking trail was removed in the alternative proposed by the Forest Service as well as summer guest use of the 6 Chair and Imperial lifts.

The 30-foot-tall observation tower proposed for the bottom of Horseshoe Bowl on Peak 8 was moved in the alternative option to right next to the bomb cache about 500 feet north of the top of the Colorado SuperChair.

Forest Service officials said the project as a whole aims to offer a wide spectrum of natural resource-based activities and experiences for an increasingly diverse recreating public interested in visiting the resort.

“The ski areas on the White River National Forest are important gateways to public lands. We offer world-class recreational opportunities to millions of guests each year at these resorts. These new projects will allow the forest to better reach those visitors who may not be familiar with national forests or outdoor recreation and provide activities that cater to a wider range of forest users,” said Scott Fitzwilliams, forest supervisor, in a written statement.

More public input during the 45-day comment period will help guide the decision-making process, Fitzwilliams wrote. He is charged with evaluating the project’s recreational benefits against its resource impacts and will make the final decision on the project.

A public open house on the proposal will be held at Mountain Thunder Lodge (50 Mountain Thunder Drive, Breckenridge, CO 80424) on Feb. 24, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Representatives from the Forest Service and the resort will answer questions and provide more information on this project.

The Forest Service requests that comments on the proposal be submitted by March 2. Send comments to: Scott Fitzwilliams, Forest Supervisor, c/o Roger Poirier, Project Leader, 120 Midland Ave., Suite 140, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601. Comments can also be submitted electronically athttps://cara.ecosystemmanagement.org/Public//CommentInput?Project=43291.

The Forest Service requests that people submitting comments include their names, addresses, email addresses and organization represented, if any, as well as the project’s title and specific facts, concerns, issues and supporting reasons for Fitzwilliams to consider.

Only those who submit timely and specific written public comments will be legally eligible to file an objection to the project decision.

The White River National Forest plans to issue a final environmental impact statement and project decision in late summer 2015.

For more information, contact Roger Poirier, project manager, at 970-945-3245 or visit the White River National Forest website at www.fs.fed.us/nepa/fs-usda-pop.php/?project=43291.

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.

CDOT Executive Director Don Hunt resigns after one term

#Colorado.

Don Hunt won’t take offense if the average commuter hardly notices his handiwork. Invisibility is the point.

On a sunny, unseasonably warm afternoon in mid-January, Hunt had just wrapped up a 12-day stint at work and finally found time to relax with a cappuccino at Abbey’s Coffee in Frisco. It’s a favorite hangout for the outgoing director with the Colorado Department of Transportation, found just a few blocks from his home of nearly 15 years on Tenmile Creek.

“We were living in Denver and just tired of driving back and forth every weekend, like everyone else,” Hunt says of his Frisco home, where he, his wife and two grown children have lived part-time since 1990. “We just love the area so much. We love winter, we love summer, so I’ll be glad when I have a little more flexibility to actually get away when I want to.”

Outside Abbey’s, at the intersection of Main Street and Summit Boulevard, cars splash through sporadic piles of dirty, brownish snow. Hunt watches for a bit and sips his drink, then turns away from the road and glaring 3 p.m. sun to chat about Uber — yet another of his interests in the modern transportation world.

“I’m a great Uber supporter,” Hunt says when I mention that the ride-sharing service is coming to Summit County for the first time. “They’ve had problems with driver safety and rider safety that need to be addressed, but this is an emerging trend. Even the president of Ford Motor Co. says they need to be involved (in ride sharing).”

For Hunt, it pays to know anything and everything about how people move, hence the Uber interest. Observing traffic is his career, at least for a few more weeks, and he’s often captivated by the little things most everyday drivers overlook: toll lanes, plowing strategies, the reason the eastbound bore at the Eisenhower Tunnel is named Johnson (as in Edwin C. Johnson, the two-time Colorado governor who convinced the federal government to stretch Interstate 70 through the Rocky Mountains, then considered a fool’s errand).

After explaining the Johnson connection and the intricacies of maintaining 35 mountain passes throughout the year, Hunt pauses for a beat.

“I find this stuff fascinating,” Hunt says with a shrug. “I’m not sure if anyone else thinks it’s so, but I love looking at these transportation issues.”

A DELICATE TOUCH

Hunt knows that overseeing 23,000 lane miles of roads, highways and interstates is a relatively thankless job. He knew so when Gov. John Hickenlooper appointed him to the executive director position in January 2011, nearly 30 years after the Minnesota native moved from Minneapolis to Denver for a management position with BRW. He stayed with the transportation and consulting firm for nearly 25 years before taking the CDOT position.

Hunt’s early consulting work with BRW was spread across the county. There was the realignment of Lawrence and Larimer streets for the Auraria Campus in Denver, the 1992 Coors Field construction in the heart of LoDo, even a ’90s redesign project at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Despite such high-profile projects, Hunt still believes he’s at his best when people hardly notice the work he’s done — even with an annual budget of $1.2 billion. In 2006, when Colorado set aside $550 million in capital funding, he oversaw 150 separate projects and a team of 40 managers across dozens of departments.

“I’m always looking at how we can fit something that provides more mobility for a growing population, but that still respects the fabric around that area,” says Hunt, who’s seen Colorado’s population and infrastructure area grow exponentially over the past three decades. “But there’s no one solution that works every time. It becomes a balancing act.”

Again, invisibility is something of a metric for Hunt’s role at CDOT, right alongside traffic and budgetary data. If drivers hardly feel the frustrating downsides of a construction project, then Hunt and his team of 3,300 statewide employees have done their job.

“The real reward in doing what I do, planning and design, is being involved in the creation, seeing a project completed so that it becomes part of the area it’s in,” Hunt says.

Yet along the I-70 corridor, that balancing act between form and function is tricky. Take the Twin Tunnels (now Veterans Memorial Tunnels) expansion outside of Idaho Springs: The $161 million project began in 2012, just a year after Hunt joined CDOT, and it fast became a headache for commuters, particularly ski traffic. The end is almost in sight — crews are putting the final touches on the westbound tunnel after completing the eastbound side in late 2014 — but delays occasionally stretched upwards of two or three hours during heavy traffic.

While Hunt was familiar with the project management, including public moaning and groaning, taking over at CDOT was a new challenge. Gov. Hickenlooper appreciated his input during the 2006 capital improvement projects — the two first met over beers at the governor’s Wynkoop Brewery while Coors Field was going up — and knew Hunt could handle the deep, confusing budget system at CDOT.

“With a project, everyone is rolling the same direction. You can pick the team,” Hunt says. “With an organization, there’s a culture and a history and a way things are done. You just have to create a vision and communicate that, day in and day out.”

Hunt’s vision for CDOT was straightforward: improve business practices to become more efficient and more accountable. Shortly after joining, he started poring through decades of grants and capital funds to clean up CDOT’s accounting system. What he found was shocking. Nearly $100 million in unused state and federal funds, usually a few million left here and a few million left there after projects were completed.

The rediscovered funds made the Twin Tunnels project possible, and when paired with a cash-based accounting system that will give CDOT $300 million per year over the next five years — “The final rabbit in the hat,” Hunt chuckles — the department announced Responsible Acceleration of Maintenance and Partnerships, or RAMP, a three-year initiative that is Hunt’s final legacy as executive director.

RAMP will address Colorado’s ever-growing transportation issues, but Hunt says it’s not a cure-all for CDOT. Take the Maglev: He says the potential high-speed train along I-70 is “entirely feasible” from a design perspective, but it would cost between $10 and $20 billion. Instead, he believes current projects like metering stations for the Eisenhower Tunnel and the “Peak Period Shoulder Lane” project on Interstate 70, between the Empire exit and Idaho Springs are better solutions.

SLOWING DOWN

As he finishes his cappuccino, Hunt leans back in his chair once more. After all, it’s nearly the weekend and he’s ready to unwind. Yet he knew his term with CDOT would last only four years — the end was always in sight. It was part of the original deal with Hickenlooper, long before the governor won a second term.

“Hickenlooper has said this before, ‘We only have one government, so let’s take care of it,’” Hunt says. “‘I think I was able to bring a new direction to CDOT. I’m proud that I was able to do some public service in my life, and I hope people who have also worked in private sector will consider doing a stint in the public sector.”

But Hunt’s heart is still in transportation. After he leaves CDOT in February and is replaced by Shailen Bhatt, the former cabinet secretary for the Delaware Department of Transportation, Hunt will remain heavily involved with the Antero Co., his Denver-based consulting firm. It just won’t be based in Denver anymore — the office will move to Frisco in about a year, as soon as he has time to breathe.

But not too much time.

“I love to work,” Hunt says. “I want a little more flexibility with my life, but I absolutely love to work. It’s what enjoy.”

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.

Summit County South Branch Library in Breckenridge officially opens

#Breckenridge, Colorado.

Decades ago, when Colorado Mountain College owned the old brick schoolhouse on Harris Street in Breckenridge, there was a library, an old classroom full of books situated in a quiet corner curated by a single staff member.

“We had no computer. We had one comfortable chair, which two old codgers fought about every single day, and the kids had a little loft area,” Pat Hasenfus said. “It was basically a one-person operation; we closed at lunchtime, and everyone was always confused when we were actually closed.”

The years passed, and the library eventually outgrew that space and moved to a new building on Airport Road, expanding from 950 square feet to 3,400 to handle the 26,000 patrons who came through the doors each year. Hasenfus was promoted from a substitute through the ranks to become manager of the new Summit County South Branch Library, and the original quiet corner on Harris Street was all but forgotten.

More years rolled by, and the number of patrons served by the South Branch Library ballooned to nearly 100,000 per year. It was time to find a new home, and after a few conversations, eyes turned back toward that stately old brick building. A plan evolved, and after months of restoration and remodeling, the library has returned to Harris Street.

“Giving teens a place to be where they have their own space was a big goal of ours.”
Carol Christiansen
children’s programming manager

OPENING FOR BUSINESS

The new South Branch Library, part of the Breckenridge Grand Vacations Community Center, opens for business on Tuesday, Jan. 20, providing a place for everyone who ventures to walk through its doors, said Sarah Scheinman, library aide. The new library is also much more accessible to everyone who comes to town, from visitors to year-round residents to second-home owners, she said.

“Not many people happened upon our location on Airport Road, unless they were looking for City Market and found the library,” Scheinman said with a laugh. “People were looking for places to study and they didn’t have enough tables; there’s more room for the spaces we need for visitors.”

The library isn’t just a place for books and quiet study, though. There are all kinds of other treasures it holds that aren’t on most visitors’ radar.

“They don’t know that we have magazines they can sit and read or that they can check books out on e-readers using our catalog,” Scheinman said. “New mothers can come bring their babies — it doesn’t matter what age the kids are, they can come to story time.

“I’m always talking about the library to everyone. You can come see a movie, get a coffee, sit outside and talk. They don’t have to be a reader to come through the community center doors, there’s a lot here for everyone. But even if you aren’t, maybe you’ll be inspired to pick up a book while you’re inside.”

LEVEL BY LEVEL

The mezzanine level of the library is home to the bulk of the nonfiction book collection, Hasenfus said, as well as a fireplace nook with comfy seats. The mezzanine is also has two meeting rooms, which can be reserved by local organizations or simply used as study rooms for kids to work on projects together, Hasenfus said.

“It’s huge in Breckenridge because there’s just not enough room for all the groups that want to be here,” she said. “The meeting room space and the fact that it’s glassed in so we can keep an eye on it, that tempers the noise factor from both ends.”

On the west end of the mezzanine, a staircase curves its way downward to the library’s new reading platform, edged with large windows that provide views of the Tenmile Range. Continuing down to the main level of the library from the reading platform, doors open out to a new outdoor reading deck on the south side of the building. Equipped with a snow-melt system, and Colorado’s 300-plus days of sunshine each year, the deck will likely get a lot of year-round use, Hasenfus said.

“The outside reading deck will be my spot to take advantage of the sun and the views, the beautiful Colorado sun,” she said, adding that the deck is part of the library, so patrons can take books outside without having to check them out.

Fiction, media and local history are on the library’s main level, which includes public computers and a teen room, one of three age-group specific areas. Carol Christiansen, children’s programming manager for the library, said those areas are some of her favorites in the new facility.

“When you have kids that are upper fifth-graders and toddlers, in our old space, it was kind of in the same area,” she said. “It will be really nice for them to have their own sort of area.”

Teens can browse the books that line the shelves along the walls of the teen room or walk across the restored and reassembled gymnasium floor from the original schoolhouse to the new table booth, an inviting spot for young adults to hang out.

“Giving teens a place to be where they have their own space was a big goal of ours, and there is a study room off the space, so kids can be scholastic there; the other place they can be a little more social,” Christiansen said.

Across the hall from the main library stacks, children have their own pint-sized tables and chairs and a playscape to explore, and down the way is another special spot. Dotted with beanbag chairs and rows of brightly colored books, the original quiet corner library in the old schoolhouse on Harris Street has become the junior room.

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.

FDRD presents 10th Mountain Division movie nights in Dillon

#Dillon, Colorado.

While the forest floor here in Summit County is covered with snow, Friends of the Dillon Ranger District is still buzzing with activity. This winter, we are adding a few events to continue to raise awareness and funds toward our forest-stewardship efforts. Starting this month, we are hosting our first-ever 10th Mountain Division Movie Trilogy.

In November 1939, during the Soviet Union’s invasion of Finland, Finnish soldiers on skis frustrated Russian efforts following the destruction of two armor divisions. The conflict caught global attention as the outnumbered and outgunned Finnish soldiers were able to use the difficult local terrain to their advantage, severely hampering the Soviet attacks and embarrassing the Soviet military. Upon seeing the effectiveness of these troops, Charles Milton Dole, the president of the National Ski Patrol, began to lobby the War Department for the need of a similar unit of troops in the United States Army.

The 10th Mountain Division became a special unit in World War II that trained for mountain warfare in a place called Camp Hale located near Leadville. Each year, the original members and new recruits get together to honor the memories of their talented friends and loved ones. This year, the day will be celebrated on Friday, Feb. 20, at Ski Cooper near Camp Hale. Many of these men’s first runs were taken on the Chicago Ridge and Tennessee Mountain Pass years ago. Community members and family, history buffs and local school children all attend the day to pay homage to a fading generation of true heroes.

At one of their events, a 7-year-old questioned Jimmy Nastar, “You have skied all over the world now! Where is the coldest place you ever skied?” Jimmy answered, “Camp Hale.”

Camp Hale had similar geographic terrain to the European landscape, and for many, when it came time to be deployed, it would be into the harsh conditions of the Italian Alps. In World War II, they exhibited great skill in difficult, snowy terrain and also experienced great losses. The films we are showing, honor, remember and tell the story of these brave men and women.

Most of the equipment you use in the winter season now is based on the equipment used by the 10th Mountain Division troops of the early ’40s. Advancements have been made, but I never fail to think of them on blustery days and think of their valiant efforts to fight and train in the rawest of conditions.

After the war, many of the veterans of this division returned to this part of the country to help establish the huts system and the surrounding ski industry.

Jasmine Hupcey is the office and volunteer manager for Friends of the Dillon Ranger District. She can be reached at jasmine@fdrd.org. For more information on the organization and volunteer opportunities, visit www.fdrd.org.

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.

Whole Foods Market adapts to stricter composting rules in Summit County

#Frisco, Colorado.

Behind the Whole Foods Market in Frisco, mostly hidden by a wall, lie two massive waste compactors.

The store originally planned for both compactors to smash trash, but over the summer one was dedicated to fruit peels, vegetable parts, old food and other compost. The area around that compactor is now painted green and plastered with “food scraps only” stickers.

Often on Thursdays, before the compactor is emptied and its contents hauled to Summit County’s composting facility, you can find a man inside.

Matty Snyder, the store’s sanitation supervisor and green mission representative, covers himself with trash bags, enters the smelly compactor and fishes out things that aren’t supposed to be there.

Whole Foods, which opened in April and produces tens of thousands of pounds of food waste every month, was one of the first businesses asked to adapt to new Summit County composting rules.

As of Jan. 1, the Summit County Resource Allocation Park (SCRAP) prohibited manufactured compostables — those cups, plates, utensils, bags, packaging and other products labeled as biodegradable.

Officials found those materials aren’t breaking down. Tiny pieces of plastic contaminate the high-quality soil amendment the county sells to gardeners and landscapers. Bits of paper rise to the top of compost piles and blow away.

In the end, it all looks like litter.

Though people in hot, humid climates have found ways to break down the manufactured materials, said Thad Noll, assistant county manager, professional composters around the country are struggling with the same issue.

Some, including ones in Denver, have invested millions in machinery to combat the problem.

County officials have encouraged businesses to recycle their manufactured compostables and consider phasing them out.

“It’s a food scrap program. It’s not an alternative to getting rid of things that you don’t want to wash or recycle,” Noll said.

POSTER CHILD

Whole Foods’ infrastructure is built around being able to compost manufactured products, Snyder said, so the transition was a challenge.

For the store’s first couple of months, it added food waste that customers sometimes meticulously sorted to the trash headed for landfill piles.

But composting fits with the company’s core values and is a passion for Snyder.

“We didn’t want to let the guys at SCRAP down,” he said.

By July, he had sufficiently educated employees and shoppers about the “food only” rule and started sending compost to the county facility.

According to a report created for Whole Foods by trash hauler Waste Management, the company hauled 111 tons of compost for the store from April through December and 144 tons of trash.

To put that into perspective, in the store’s eight months it has composted the weight equivalent of 62 midsize cars.

“We’re a real poster child,” Snyder said.

Other Summit businesses and organizations have toured the store and asked for Snyder’s expertise.

Snyder said he is constantly trying to improve the store’s waste diversion and training employees how to properly dispose of items. A camera watches the compacters in case serious contamination occurs.

A BAG ISSUE

Though Whole Foods is arguably the most dedicated, other businesses around the county also compost and have adjusted to the new rule.

Some struggled with what to do with the manufactured compostables they already bought and how to transport and store compost without compostable plastic bags.

At the end of December, the county’s zero-waste task force decided to allow businesses and organizations to include plastic bags in the compost stream if they were certified by the Biodegradable Plastics Institute.

“Thank goodness they did that. It was a mess,” said Woody Bates, facilities manager for Summit School District, which phased in composting in the schools in 2009. “We transitioned to using no bags, and we just started going back.”

The 60 households paying to participate in the county’s residential composting program are still not allowed to include bags, said Jen Schenk, director of High Country Conservation Center. She added contamination there has been a minor problem.

SKI AREAS AND SCHOOLS

The county’s ski areas often boast about their environmental efforts.

A Vail Resorts representative could not be reached for comment, but Schenk said Breckenridge Ski Resort doesn’t compost, while Keystone Resort does.

Copper Mountain Resort composts and has been training its staff to reduce contamination, said Jeff Grasser, leader of Copper’s green team. The resort plans to further extend its message of treating the environment with respect to its guests in the next year.

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area recently received an industry award in part for diverting about 115,000 total pounds of waste from becoming landfill trash.

A-Basin started separating glass from its comingled recycling at the end of last ski season, long beforethe Jan. 1 deadline, and last year it composted 47,000 pounds of waste.

Employees drive compost and recycling to the county dump once a week, said Mike Nathan, sustainability coordinator. “Most of these efforts have cost us virtually nothing.”

The biggest challenge has been getting customers to sort things properly.

“A guest comes up with a tray of trash, and all they want to do is get back on the hill,” he said. “The fact that anybody composts or recycles when they get here, to me, is awesome.”

He hopes the ski area’s signs inspire skiers to think more about their impacts on and off the mountain.

The school district adopted the signs A-Basin used to help people sort waste and added Spanish, Nathan said. Now A-Basin has seen the benefit of the dual-language messaging and is copying the schools’ signs.

Bates said the schools changed to “food only” compost at the start of the school year. Results vary depending on the school, with elementary students better at sorting than the older kids.

“Some places the kids are doing great and require almost no supervision. It’s hard to make a change when you have 3,300 students,” he said. “I know it’s been rough on the custodians.”

A NICHE TO FILL

At the Mi Casa and Hearthstone restaurants in Breckenridge, employees didn’t need to make changes because they use linen napkins and washable dishes and silverware.

Mi Casa has composted an average of 10 tons a month since it started in November 2010, and the monthly average for Hearthstone, which started three years ago, has been about half that.

Director of operations Jen Cawley said a business dedicated to hauling compost would likely see great success in Summit.

Cawley said she sees the composting change becoming a problem during the county’s large summer events. At the Colorado BBQ Challenge and the USA Pro Challenge, for example, vendors have been encouraged to use compostables.

Few Breckenridge restaurants compost, while nearly all recycle, so removing glass from the comingled bins has been more of an adjustment. The Breckenridge Restaurant Association has helped, Cawley said.

“The restaurant association has done a really good job about disseminating information,” she said. “Then it’s just a matter of filtering that down to the line-level staff and making sure that that’s dual language.”

She said businesses and individuals should continue to encourage each other to improve their composting and recycling efforts.

“Once people see the amount that they can actually divert from the trash it can get really infectious,” she said. “You really want to do it.”

Back at Whole Foods, Matty Snyder is also working on getting the store to recycle glass.

He doesn’t want anyone to get in the habit of throwing glass in with the trash, so he doesn’t include glass products on the signs labeled landfill, even though that’s where they’re currently going.

“It hurts,” he said.

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.

Uber car service expands to Breckenridge, Vail, Aspen

#Breckenridge, Colorado.

UberX comes to Summit

After a few short years and mounds of big-city controversy, Uber is coming to Summit County.

The wildly popular driver service recently announced that its smartphone app is ready to launch in Colorado mountain towns. The new high-country service includes Summit County, Eagle County (home to Vail and Beaver Creek), and Pitkin County (Aspen and Carbondale).

And now come the drivers. UberX, the company’s rideshare service, recently released a slew of Craigslist ads for drivers who want to earn a little extra cash once or twice per week. For newcomers, “ridesharing” is the key to Uber’s success (and controversy): The service relies on private drivers with personal cars – not professional taxi drivers – to give rides throughout the day. Drivers works as much or as little as they want, and Denver-based drivers tend to earn upwards of $20 per hour.

Uber’s hiring policies are relatively lax, but the service only works with people who own four-door, late-model cars (2005 or newer). A look at the Uber hiring call:

“Does your schedule vary? No problem, just jump online whenever it suits you and drive as little or as much as you want. You can earn from $20 to $30 an hour. Evenings and weekends are the best money.”

To apply, send an email to 654m7-4838595758@job.craigslist.org.

CDOT awards $51.7M for wildlife safety project on SH 9

The Colorado Department of Transportation has awarded the contract for the construction of the SH 9 wildlife safety improvement project to Kirkland Construction Co. from Rye, Colo.

The project, which is slated to begin in the next few months, will use $51.7 million in funds approved by the State Transportation Commission. Those funds come from CDOT’s RAMP funding (Responsible Acceleration of Maintenance and Partnership Program), with additional funds of more than $9.2 million coming from local sources. Those sources include local municipal entities like Summit County and the Town of Silverthorne. Grand County, Kremmling, and more than 175 private individuals and organizations also contributed to the funds. The local group Citizens for a Safe Highway 9 Committee led the fundraising.

CDOT and Kirkland Construction have not yet released details on when construction will begin. In the next few weeks, CDOT will release additional project information, including anticipated construction scheduling, traffic control plans and public information meetings. For more information, visit the “Projects” section at www.cdot.gov.

Frisco takes home two financial reporting accolades

The Town of Frisco has received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting and the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting for the 2013 fiscal year. Both awards were received from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada.

The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting. The CAFR award is judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program, including demonstrating a constructive “spirit of full disclosure” to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the report.

The Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting was given for the town’s 2013 Community Scorecard. It’s a prestigious national award that recognizes conformance with the highest standards for preparation of state and local government popular reports. The report contents conform to program standards of creativity, presentation, understandability and reader appeal.

This is the sixth year in a row that the Frisco has won the CAFR award and the fifth year for the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financing Reporting.

The GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving approximately 17,500 government finance professionals, with offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Breck accepts proposals for affordable housing on CR 450

The Town of Breckenridge last week invited contractors to bid on an affordable housing project at County Road 450. The property is on the northeast edge of town, across from the Kennington Townhomes and roughly a half-mile outside of downtown Breckenridge.

The invitation is open to all qualified firms, individuals and consortiums. The town and Summit County need a consultant to assist in configuring a housing plan, designing the project, and preparing architectural and construction documents. There is a mandatory site visit for all interested entities on Jan. 23.

Proposals must be received by 3 p.m. on Feb. 16. Procedural and technical questions must be submitted in writing to the town’s community development manager, Laurie Best, at laurieb@townofbreckenridge.com. Questions must be received by 5 p.m. on Jan. 28.

Due to a strict project timeline, including mandatory site visits and information sessions, the town recommends that all interested parties read the online proposal at www.townofbreckenridge.com.

Youth corps earns grant funding for Summit trail work

Great Outdoors Colorado has awarded a $31,500 grant to Summit County and the Town of Breckenridge to employ the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps Association for trail construction. Grant-funded youth corps crews will build new trails in the Golden Horseshoe this summer, improving recreational access and resource protection for one of the county’s most treasured backcountry areas.

The Colorado Youth Corps Association announced that 200 Colorado youth will get jobs this summer working on critical outdoor recreation and land conservation projects throughout the state. These projects will enhance Colorado’s trails, parks, open spaces and wildlife habitat in 14 counties. Great Outdoors Colorado, which receives a portion of Colorado Lottery proceeds, awarded funds to the Colorado Youth Corps Association for use by accredited youth corps.

In Summit County, the $31,500 was awarded for five weeks of RMYC work, which will help local open space programs with much-needed trail construction on the Galena Extension Trail, Rich Gulch/Mineral Hill Trail and Wirepatch Trail inside the Golden Horseshoe area.

Both Summit County and Breckenridge have prioritized expanding and maintaining trails throughout the Upper Blue Basin. Within the Golden Horseshoe area alone, the town and county jointly own more than 3,000 acres.

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.

David V. Gonzales’ posters capture excitement of 52nd annual Ullr Fest

#Breckenridge, Colorado.

Christian Murdock / The Gazette

In its 52nd year in existence, Ullr Fest in Breckenridge is one of the most anticipated weeks of the winter for locals and travelers alike. The camaraderie, the games, the parade and the overall energy draw people from all over the country. Men, women and children lining the streets of Breckenridge in horned hats and Norse clothing is a common sight during Ullr week as homage to Ullr, the Norse god of snow.

Capturing the energy, spirit and fun of Ullr and Ullr Fest in painted form is a daunting task. Each year, the town of Breckenridge makes a call to artists to submit drawings and paintings to be considered for the Ullr Fest poster. The featured art for 2015 is by professional painter David V. Gonzales. Gonzales’ work is shown locally at Art on a Whim Gallery in Breckenridge.

Gonzales has been painting professionally the majority of his life. He began showing his work at the young age of 12, and by the time he was 17, he had received the Governor’s Award in New Mexico and had his art on display in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, as well as the governor’s mansion in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His work has been included in several National Museum Traveling Exhibits sponsored by the Dow Corp. and an International Exhibit where his art was displayed next to the artwork of Keith Haring, who is famous for his contribution to the Pop Art Movement.

Gonzales exploded onto the Breckenridge art scene this summer upon being selected to represent the town with the Stage 5 Pro Cycling Challenge Poster. He is known for painting motion and transferring the speed of sports into two-dimensional scenes that make viewers feel as if they are witnessing athletic feats as they are happening. Gonzales has fallen in love with Breckenridge over the past several months, having witnessed the excitement of the Pro Cycling Challenge and the opening of the 2014-15 ski season. As a result, he strives to emulate the town’s character and liveliness in all of his recent works.

Gonzales, primarily painting with acrylics on artist panel, has created two amazing scenes of Ullr Fest for this winter. The first, which was chosen for the official town of Breckenridge Ullr Fest poster, captures Ullr jumping off a feature in Breckenridge’s Park Lane Terrain Park on Peak 8. The piece, aptly titled “Ullr Flipping for Snow,” captures the joy and excitement that is Ullr Fest and Ullympics. The image is based on Colorado professional freestyle skier and former Team Summit member Bobby Brown. The image has been converted into a poster available from the Art on a Whim Gallery. The original painting is also on display at Art on a Whim.

The second piece Gonzales has created for Ullr Fest is titled, “Ullr Calling in the Snow.” The Ullr Fest parade is the highlight of the week. Dozens of outrageous floats head down Main Street in Breckenridge. “Ullr Calling in the Snow” depicts Ullr hooting and hollering during the parade with sled dogs.

Gonzales will be in Art on a Whim Gallery in Breckenridge from Thursday, Jan. 15, through Saturday, Jan. 17. His demonstrations are a sight to be seen. Gonzales works quickly to capture the energy and excitement in each of his paintings.

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.

Wild and Scenic Film Festival returns to Breckenridge

#Breckenridge, Colorado.

Snows of the Nile / Special to the Daily

In preparation for this year’s Wild and Scenic Film Festival, a panel of six people representing the High Country Conservation Center (HC3) and the Continental Divide Land Trust (CDLT) sat down to watch more than 50 films with an environmental and outdoor focus. From that list, they plucked nine titles to showcase on the screen at the Riverwalk Center in Breckenridge this Saturday.

“We really vetted these films,” said Leigh Girvin, executive director of the CDLT. “These films were chosen for our mission and our audiences.”

Selecting just a few out of so many was a difficult but enjoyable process, she added, with everyone discussing and lobbying for their favorites.

“That’s the great thing about this film festival — it really appeals to a wide demographic,” she said, with a balance between serious and light-hearted fare.

Proceeds from the ticket sales benefit HC3 and CDLT, both local nonprofit organizations that focus on the environment and conservation. This is the third year of the festival in Breckenridge, and the second year the two groups have come together to host it.

“It is a fundraiser for both organizations, but it’s really a mission-based event for us,” said Jennifer Schenk, executive director for HC3. “The thing that’s so amazing about the event is that it’s locals and visitors and people of all ages who watch the films and then they’re discussing them at intermission or as they’re walking out the door, and so it’s really empowering to hear people discuss how they’re going to get involved in these issues.”

UNIVERSAL THEMES, GLOBAL SPAN

Themes of water and climate change run throughout several of the chosen films — focuses important to both hosting organizations.

The festival features two anchor films, each about 30 minutes long, acting as bookends to a series of shorter films in the five-minute range.

The longer film “Backyard” tackles the issue of fracking, a term for hydraulic fracturing, a drilling method using high-pressure fluid to release natural gas from shale. It presents interviews with five people from four different states, including Colorado, on how fracking has impacted them.

“We purposefully chose to end the first half … with ‘Backyard,’ so that when people are going to intermission and walking up the aisles and going to get a beer, they are going to be thinking about this movie and they are going to be talking about it,” said Girvin.

“Snows of the Nile” is the second anchor film, and takes viewers into the mysterious Rwenzori mountain range on the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“It’s a strange thing to visit a beautiful place that you know will disappear,” says the voiceover in the film trailer. The film follows a group of explorers into the mountains, which host some of the very few equatorial glaciers in the world, in an attempt to re-trace the steps of a 1906 expedition. They seek to recreate photographs taken by the 1906 group to document how the area has changed since.

“This isn’t intended to beat climate skeptics over the head by any stretch. It’s a very gentle message in so many ways,” said Girvin. “I think even some skeptics will learn something, and at the most everyone’s going to be entertained.”

The shorter films cover a variety of topics, from sustainable farming in the Amazonian rainforest (“Reynaldo”) to the excitement and inspiration of outdoor sports (“The Joy of Air”).

“I’m always amazed at what someone can do with a film that’s under five minutes,” said Schenk. “They just really leave you thinking.”

INSPIRATION

“The Wild and Scenic film festival aims to inspire and ignite solutions,” said Girvin. In addition to enjoying the films on an aesthetic level, she and the other organizers hope that the audience will be touched in ways that motivate them to get involved with the issues.

“First of all, we want them to be amazed and awed by our natural world,” she said. “The theme of the festival is ‘wild and scenic’ and so we wanted to follow through with that and have physically beautiful films and highlight the wildness on our planet, but we also hope that if there’s a particular issue that someone sees in one of the movies that really resonates with them, that they will be inspired to take action.”

THE EVENT

While the films start at 7 p.m., the doors open at 6 p.m. and Schenk recommended getting there early to pick a seat, maybe buy a drink and chat with other filmgoers.

“It’s a very social event before the film starts,” she said. “It’s definitely a who’s who of everybody of the community who’s involved in the environmental movement in some way.”

“(These are) films that we thought would really resonate with our Summit County audience,” said Girvin. “I think folks are really going to enjoy it.”

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.