DJ Merle: So what happened over there last night at Town Hall?
Bohmfalk: Well, yeah, what I thought was gonna be a short meeting turned into a very long meeting. Um, 'cause we like to dig into the weeds.
DJ Merle dug into the weeds with Mayor Ben Baum on Wednesday. Trustees updated fees Carbondale residents pay for town services, which will soon show up on higher utility bills.
Bohmfalk: And so the, I think the only fees that people really noticed that changed were about a 10% increase in water and wastewater fees to pay for just the increasing cost of delivering that service and some upgrades that we have to do to maintain a reliable water supply.
While those increases may sting, some Colorado water bills have shot up as much as 600%. That's according to an article last year in the Colorado Sun. Providers hand costs on as they adapt to increasingly stringent environmental regulations and face repairs for aging infrastructure. Bohmfalk says Carbondale got off easy
Bohmfalk: We're still very affordable compared to a lot of our neighboring jurisdictions on water and wastewater.
Kids and their parents will feel another increase next summer when doors finally open at the new aquatic center,
Bohmfalk: The youth price to get into the pool goes up from $5 to $7. You know, we haven't had a pool for the last couple years. We benchmarked [a] look across the valley at other similar facilities and just benchmarked to those. So.. got to have some revenue to keep those new facilities going.
Speaking of the Aquatic center, residents can look forward to Main Street looking more attractive in the coming weeks as pool construction moves towards an end.
Bohmfalk: They're going to have the construction fencing removed and the permanent fencing end, and the sidewalk reopen in the next few weeks. I said right at the beginning of December that should happen. So that'll be nice.
DJ Merle: That's a good thing.
The pool won't open until May for summer recreation. In the meantime, we're praying for snow and cold to bolster that traditional Thanksgiving opening at local ski hills.
