Snowmass Town Briefs: Food distribution, seasonal trail and park closures, town meetings, COVID-19 relief
Town of Snowmass Village/courtesy photo
Food distribution in Snowmass starts Friday
Aspen Family Connections will begin distributing food to Snowmass Village residents in need this Friday.
From 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., residents can pick up free food items at the Rodeo Lot. Aspen Family Connections asks residents to enter at the Rodeo Lot and exit through the Town Park/recreation center parking lot. Signage will be posted to help traffic flow.
The village-specific food distribution is set to take place every two weeks on Fridays and is open to any and all Snowmass Village residents.
TOWN PARK FACILITIES CLOSED TO PUBLIC STARTING WEDNESDAY
On Wednesday morning, all town park facilities were closed to the public to align with Gov. Jared Polis’ “Safer at Home” public health order.
Facilities closures include the skate park, basketball court, tennis courts, volleyball courts and playground at Town Park, along with the Cathy Robinson Park off of Owl Creek Road. Town Park fields will still be open to the public, however social distancing and public health order requirements must be followed.
Andy Worline, director of the town’s parks, recreation and trails department, said town staff had been monitoring park facility usage and issued park guidelines to ensure residents maintained social distancing up until Wednesday, which had been working well, but that Snowmass Village’s COVID-19 public safety requirements cannot be less restrictive than the state’s.
Seasonal trail closures in effect for Snowmass
On April 25, a handful of Burnt Mountain trails closed to help protect sensitive wildlife habitats for spring calving season:
Anaerobic Nightmare Trail, closed April 25 through June 27 (opens June 28)
Sequel Trail, closed April 25 through June 20 (opens June 21)
Tom Blake Trail, closed April 25 through June 20 (opens June 21)
The Government Trail east of Elk Camp Work Road also will be closed from May 15 through June 27 (opens June 28). Rim Trail North, Sky Mountain Park and Seven Star Trail closures will be lifted May 16.
For more information on spring trail closures and enforcement, visit tosv.com.
BOARD AND COMMISSION MEETINGS ON HOLD
Over the past month, all town board and commission meetings have been canceled due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The only town meetings that have continued are Town Council meetings, which will be conducted virtually through the GoToMeeting video conferencing platform until it is safe for council and community members to gather again in Town Hall.
According to Clint Kinney, town manager, town staff is working to enable board and commission meetings to also take place virtually in May.
Kinney said the inability to host board and commission meetings, namely Planning Commission, has not significantly delayed any town projects or affected the flow of getting issues and discussion topics before Town Council yet. He did say things like the Town Park redesign and some public art projects aren’t as far along as they would be if April town meetings had carried on as planned.
“We should have a plan in place by May 1 but if people could be patient with us, we would really appreciate it,” Kinney said.
COUNTY COVID-19 RELIEF BREAKDOWN FOR SNOWMASS
As of April 20, the town of Snowmass Village has allocated $200,000 to Pitkin County’s COVID-19 relief fund to support village residents and employees in need.
At the April 20 Town Council meeting, Town Manager Clint Kinney said April 16 numbers showed the village had received roughly 16% of the county’s relief funds, amounting to more than $98,000.
On April 27 just before 2 p.m., that amount had more than doubled to $270,562.75, according to Pitkin County data. That’s nearly 18% of the overall relief funds distributed, which was over $1.5 million as of April 27 at 2 p.m.
Old Snowmass Village resident relief is not included in the Snowmass Village statistics, but amounted to more than $73,000 and 4.5% of the overall funds.
Kinney said the town is choosing to contribute money to the county relief fund because it is a well-vetted way to get financial assistance to village residents and employees in need.
However, Kinney also said the town is open to suggestions and other relief effort ideas for Snowmass specifically and welcomes locals to reach out.
Email Kinney at ckinney@tosv.com and/or Town Council at council@tosv.com.
Snowmass requiring new documentation for employee housing lease renewals
The Snowmass Village Housing Department is cracking down on its rental compliance for workforce housing in this year’s lease renewal cycle.
