Basalt apartment complex cleared to reopen floors 2-4
The majority of the residents of the Roaring Fork Apartments in Basalt were being allowed to move back in Friday, according to building owner RealAmerica LLC.
“We’re really excited,” said Ronda Weybright, president and CEO of the company.
She said at 4 p.m. her staff was making arrangements to contact residents of 43 units to welcome them back as soon as possible.
Fire alarms were tested and approved by the Basalt fire marshal, according to Weybright and Basalt-Snowmass Village Fire Chief Scott Thompson. RealAmerica also has agreed to have a security guard patrol the building as an extra precaution while the fire-suppression system is still inoperable.
A 6-inch diameter water main that is part of the fire suppression system broke and collapsed from the first floor ceiling Tuesday, flooding the ground floor with several inches of water. The complex was evacuated, but the upper three floors suffered no damage.
Weybright said it remains unknown how long it will take to repair the damage and get the first floor in condition to occupy. There are 13 units on that floor. Her company is helping residents on that floor find alternative housing.
The lobby on the first floor remains closed, Weybright said. Residents must access the upper floors via the end stairwells.
Genstar’s Jean-Pierre Conte sued in Aspen by ex-girlfriend Hillary Thomas
The former girlfriend of Jean-Pierre Conte, the chairman and managing director of the private equity firm Genstar Capital, filed suit Thursday in Aspen claiming that Conte committed assault, battery, and violated the terms of a 2021 separation agreement. Hillary Thomas claims in her lawsuit that during her more than nine years with Conte, she helped parent his four children and her two children “whom they raised in a blended family.”
