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Aspen fines engineering firm $2,960

Rick Carroll
The Aspen Times
Aspen, CO Colorado

ASPEN – A municipal judge ordered a local engineering firm Wednesday to pay a $2,960 fine to the city of Aspen for failing to properly address structural issues at the Aspen Highlands parking garage.

Beach Resource Management, which has offices in Aspen and Basalt, also was given a six-month deferred judgment for violating the International Building Code, namely because it did not fire-proof structural supports in the parking garage in a timely manner.

“We’re fine with the agreement that has been crafted,” Gary Beach, who runs the firm, told Judge Brooke Peterson at a hearing in Municipal Court. “We believe we’ll be able to comply with the deferred judgment.”



Beach Resource Management was cited Dec. 13 for not bringing the supports into compliance. Chief Building Official Stephen Kanipe said the problem had been lingering for more than a year.

“We couldn’t ignore it any longer,” he said after Wednesday’s hearing.




Peterson said he found it “highly unusual” that Beach Resource Management, which manages metropolitan districts throughout the Roaring Fork Valley and has a solid reputation, finds “themselves in this situation.”

“It’s disconcerting to me that we found anything that rose to this level,” he said.

The fine of nearly $3,000 is for the 37 hours of work – at $80 an hour – that the building department spent in order to get the supports into compliance. The firm has six months to make sure other issues with the supports are addressed, but that can’t be done until the temperatures warm up, Kanipe said.

The firm was also ordered to pay $150 in court costs.

James Korpela, a project manager and engineer for Beach Resource Management, was also issued a citation by the city.

rcarroll@aspentimes.com

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