In Brief: Marble seeks funds for historic jail; motorists, move over for every stationary vehicle

News News | Aug 6, 2023

According to Marble Mayor Pro-tem Emma Bielski, the historic jailhouse built in 1901 needs a new foundation. The town so far has raised $18,000 to cover the first phase of the project but needs more help to finish the job, she said.

She said the new foundation needs to get put it before it starts snowing, or the building may not last through the winter. She has started a GoFundMe in hopes of raising the money for the next phase of the preservation project.“The funds raised will be used to temporarily move the structure while the foundation is excavated, the surrounding land will be graded at an angle to draw water away from the structure, and a french drain will also be installed to prevent water damage to the original materials used to construct the jail in 1901,” she said.

To view the GoFundMe: gf.me/v/c/9knq/historic-marble-jailhouse-preservation-project.

Starting Monday, Colorado is enhancing its Move Over law in an effort to provide greater protection for people and their vehicles on the side of the road.

This goes beyond police and emergency responders; it now requires drivers to also move over when passing disabled vehicles on the side of the road.

Earlier this year, Gov. Jared Polis signed into law HB23-1123, requiring drivers to move over a lane whenever they encounter any stationary vehicle on a highway with its hazards flashing — and if they can’t move over, they must slow down to at least 20 mph below the posted speed limit. The new protections come as 2022 marked the deadliest year on Colorado roads on record. For more information on HB23-1123, click here: leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1123.

Polis also proclaimed Monday as “Slow Down, Move Over Day.”

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to the Colorado River Valley and Grand Junction Resource Management Plans (RMPs) for a 90-day public comment period.

In response to two lawsuits filed by Wilderness Workshop and partners, the SEIS will determine how 2 million acres of public lands and minerals in Western Colorado will be managed for decades to come.

The plan will impact public lands across a broad swath of the West Slope, from the Upper Colorado and Roaring Fork Rivers in Eagle and Pitkin counties to Grand Junction, including special places like the Grand Hogback, the Lower Dolores River canyon country, and the Book Cliffs.

“During the 90 day comment period, Wilderness Workshop and Colorado Wildlands Project will rally our members, conservation partners, government officials, and the public to encourage the BLM to finish the job by scaling down climate pollution while scaling up conservation. This would be a win-win for our public lands, wildlife habitat, western communities and Colorado’s future,” Wilderness Workshop said in a news release.

Aspen-originated bike-sharing service WE-cycle has reached a milestone with its expansion into Carbondale. The announcement comes in collaboration with the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA) and the town of Carbondale, fulfilling a vision that had been part of a 2018 public voting measure.

The expansion was ushered in by a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday at Carbondale Town Hall and a celebration afterward at KDNK.

“We started in Aspen in 2013, and we’ve been expanding ever since,” WE-cycle Program Manager Annie Bricker said. “And now, due to a partnership with RFTA as well as work with the town of Carbondale, we’ve been able to finally expand into Carbondale.”

The expansion means that the valley now boasts 420 bikes and 81 stations in Aspen, Basalt, Willits, El Jebel, Snowmass Village, and Carbondale.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary, Alpine Bank is honoring the role its customers and community partners have played in its success by launching the 50 Years of Philanthropy campaign.

As part of the initiative, each of the 853 employees of the bank directed a one-time charitable gift of $500 to support eligible Colorado non-profit organizations, resulting in a total donation of $426,500.

Alpine Bank’s President and Vice Chairman Glen Jammaron reflected on the bank’s dedication to the community.

“What drives our success is our commitment to the community,” he said. “This donation is not just a gift. It’s a message of gratitude and a promise to continue supporting the people and organizations that make Colorado thrive.”

Founded in 1973, Alpine Bank is an independent, employee-owned organization with over $6.5 billion in assets. With headquarters in Glenwood Springs and banking offices throughout Colorado, the bank serves over 160,000 customers with various services.

The former owner of a Vail construction company pleaded guilty in a Summit County court Thursday, Aug. 3, to felony manslaughter related to a trench collapse near Breckenridge that killed a worker in 2021.

By pleading guilty to manslaughter, a Class 4 felony, Peter Dillon, the owner of the now-defunct A4S Construction, admitted he “recklessly caused the death of another person,” Judge Karen Romeo said.

The terms of a plea agreement with the 5th Judicial District Attorney’s Office stipulate that Dillon could receive a probationary sentence with up to 90 days in jail, Romeo said. The manslaughter charge is punishable by up to two to six years in prison, probation with up to 90 days in jail, a community corrections sentence or up to a $500,000 fine, she noted.

She said she will reserve sentencing decisions until a sentencing hearing. That hearing is scheduled for Nov. 9, when she has had time to review the case and learn more about Dillon and his background.

That trench collapse killed 20-year-old Marlon Diaz who had been doing excavation work for A4S Construction. Diaz’s father, who lives in Choluteca, Honduras, has said Diaz had come to the United States about 11 months earlier to make a better life not only for himself, but for his family in Central America.

In court documents, prosecutors laid out “a pattern of unsafe behavior” at the worksite leading up to the fatal collapse.

The Eagle County Board of Commissioners held a special, virtual session Friday to pass the third of three resolutions approving this year’s appeals of property values determined by the Eagle County Assessor’s Office.

Meeting as the Board of Equalization, the commissioners passed the resolution in order to meet a state-mandated deadline to get the work finished. They praised the work of staff, as well as the six independent hearing officers who held more than 1,600 appeals virtually, 15 minutes at a time.

“You’ve all done an amazing job,” Commissioner Jeanne McQueeney said.

The median increase for vacant land was 50%, with residential property increasing by 63% and commercial property increasing by 40%.

Aug 6, 2023

Aug 5, 2023