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Your Morning News - December 9th, 2014

Lodging Discussion Continues at Aspen City Council

Aspen City Council has decided to move forward with considering changes to the city’s lodging regulations. The agreement took place last night, during Council’s last regular meeting of the year. Like a similar meeting last week, council members decided to continue looking at some affordable housing or fee flexibility for small lodges. Again, controversial changes for square footage, building height, or free market residency, were left by the wayside.

Although Council was unanimous in choosing that direction, but there was discussion about whether it’s the best approach. Council member Adam Frisch pointed to feedback from various sources over the years, saying those trickier factors are key reasons for lodging going downhill, he worried the scaled down lodging tweaks might not solve the underlying problem.

“I do think everyone’s sincere in town, up here at this table, and back there, but I’m just not sure, I don’t see a path of actually some kind of substance of change, in the decrease in bed base.”

A more ambitious package went down in flames in August after public outcry. Overall the proposed changes were considered too friendly to developers without preserving Aspen’s character.  Last night, Councilors and members of the public tussled with that thorny issue of whether it would be effective to adopt a moderate change.

City planners and members of public pushed the Council to not lose momentum. One of those was Charlie Bantis, with Aspen Junior Hockey. He read comments from families applying for scholarships.

“We struggle to live here and provide our kids with such great lives. We’re both self-employed in the summer and ski patrollers in the winter.  No matter how hard we work and how hard we cut our expenses, we never seem to be able to make ends meet.”

Bantis said parents like that are directly affected by the number of tourists and how much money they spend.

By the end of the night, City Council decided to stick with the theme they started out with focusing on small lodges, with some flexibility on affordable housing and fees. There might be changes for condo owners, too. City planners will put together specific language on how to change the existing ordinance, and Council will consider it next year.

In the meantime, Council Member Ann Mullins pointed out that decision won’t happen in a vacuum.

“We’re talking about fine tuning the lodging ordinance. While at the same time there are several lodging proposals in the works.”

Mullins asked Council to hold off on exceptions, called variances and fee waivers, for any lodging proposals already in the pipeline until a new ordinance is in effect.

State Capitol Updates Continues

Colorado’s state capitol is getting a major upgrade. A nearly three year long renovation of the building’s signature gold dome was recently completed – and on the inside, work is underway on both the House and Senate chambers. As with any remodeling project, workers have uncovered some interesting surprises along the way.

State Audit: Colorado’s Health Care Exchange Lacks Oversight

A new state audit finds that Colorado’s health insurance exchange under the Federal Affordable Care Act is lacking in several key areas of financial oversight. The Denver Post reports the Office of the State Auditor’s report finds lack of adequate financial controls and a failure to ensure the public funds are spent in accordance with federal laws. The audit is being release just as Connect for Health Colorado moves off federal funding and moves towards self-sustainability in the New Year. So far, the insurance exchange has received just shy of $178 Million in Federal grants since 2012. As of September of this year it has spent almost $137 Million. Key areas of the state auditor’s findings include lack of tracking funds, payments and containment of personnel costs, high levels of staff turnover and lack of knowledge of federal requirements for use of grant money and lack of controls and oversight on vendor purchases. The interim director of Connect for Health Colorado is Gary Drews. He says the organization agrees with the recommendations and is implementing the findings.

Aspen City Council to Talk Lodging Ordinance, Again, Tonight

Aspen City Council will take up the issue of a lodging ordinance again. At a meeting this evening, officials will continue to discuss whether to pursue changing city regulations with the goal of boosting improvements for existing lodges and condominiums. The conversation follows a controversial version of the lodging ordinance passed and was then canceled earlier this year. Tonight’s meeting will include public comment. The City Planner’s office says February would be the earliest the Aspen City Council could consider a proposed change to city regulations around lodging.

Ski Co Trying a “Green” Groomer

Aspen Skiing Company proudly presented an eco-friendly ski groomer this morning. The machine is on loan and the first to meet pending national environmental rules. In the new year, all new, more powerful groomers in the U.S. will be expected to emit less pollution and have what’s called a Tier 4 engine. For two weeks, Ski Co has been demoing the first groomer to meet those standards. Trails director Joey Giampaolo has tried it out and says lower emissions haven’t affected performance.

“They’ve actually boosted 50 horsepower in this engine to take up what we lost in power, but it actually is still clean and it’s actually comparable in fuel to Tier 3, so it’s actually going to be just as good.”

The new groomer’s fuel efficiency is 0.7 gallons per acre. Ski Co is hoping to start leasing two of the groomers next year.

 

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