MG: This week Carbondale town trustees swapped their regular meeting for a 4-hour daytime marathon. The board retreat was an opportunity to step back and look at the big picture, as Mayor Ben Bohmfalk told KDNK’s Bob Schultz.
Schultz: So what were the topics yesterday?
Bohmfalk: So our big topic was really thinking about capital improvements, thinking about the big, more expensive things. Obviously we've done the pool now and it's nearing completion, and that's been a challenging project. Cost has escalated, and we had to find a lot of resources to put into that. And I think it's given us a little bit of a, um,
Schultz: wake-up call.
Bohmfalk: Yeah.
Schultz: And a reality sandwich.
Bohmfalk: That's right. And an awareness that, you know, you take on a big project, you've got to be ready for cost increases and timelines to expand, and all that.
MG: In the end, the town managed to raise more than $2M from over 500 donors to close the funding gap on the Carbondale Aquatics Center whose price had ballooned to $13.4 million. Originally town leaders planned on spending $8 million. It was Carbondale's first-ever capital campaign. The announcement of a successful end to the Let’s Make a Splash fundraiser came last week. (Jan. 14)
After chewing and swallowing that reality sandwich, trustees seem ready to take a more cautious approach to budgeting for the many items calling for attention on their infrastructure to-do list. Top of the wish-list in 2026 had been improvements to the city-owned Chacos park.
Bohmfalk: Before we take on another big project — and the next big one that's been on our radar is Chacos Park right there at Fourth and Main, which was donated to the town four years ago. And we haven't done any real improvements there, but we've gotten a lot of public input. We've got a plan. And we had it initially in this year's budget to do phase one for about a million dollars to put a kind of a platform that could function as a stage and some shade that would help us maybe get the little ice rink back there, and do some improvements.
And some board members just said, you know, hold on, let's zoom out. Let's make sure that before we do another big capital project, we kind of have everything in order.
MG: Trustees dialed back expectations to focus on burying utility lines and readying documents in 2026, postponing phase 1 spending to focus instead on what the mayor calls a pre-development phase.
Bohmfalk: And then we're going to put it out to bid and get hard pricing on it, so we really know what it will cost, so that there's no surprises. If we're going to budget for it, we'll know exactly what to budget.
MG: Town leaders also pulled back on a new roundabout on Highway 133.
Bohmfalk: Every time we think about that project, it just feels overwhelming. It's somewhere in the $5 million range we think now to do a roundabout there. It would help with some things.
MG: That roundabout is a long-term vision that would afford a north entrance to the marketplace, linking it to Industry Way and someday to Eighth Street on a right-of-way the town already owns.
Bohmfalk: We're not trying to sort of stockpile $5 million to do that. In a perfect world, CDOT would have a big role in that project, and the county would have a big role in that project. We don't live in that perfect world, so it's sort of up to us as Town of Carbondale if we want to fund that, and with a lot of other priorities around housing.. things like Chacos Park, other bike pedestrian improvements, more crossings on 133 — we're going to do one down by Ross Montessori School and Weant Boulevard this year.
MG: For now elected leaders and town staff who also attended the meeting agree that an expensive roundabout may not be the highest priority in Carbondale.
Bohmfalk: Our higher priorities will be getting more bike and pedestrian improvements to help people have other ways to get around town, and get to the Park-and-Ride and get on the regional service. You know, sometimes you have to make choices based on your community's values. And is it single occupancy vehicles that we're going to spend $5 million improving that experience, or is it a lot of improvements to everything else?
MG: Next week, Mayor Bohmfalk and trustees will be back to a regular meeting on Tuesday evening at town hall, with an update from CLEER on the town’s clean energy plans on the agenda.
On Monday petitions are due to run for three trustee seats up for election this spring, as well as the Mayor’s post, with Mayor Ben bowing out in 2026. Information on the nomination petitions is available on the KDNK home page. The election for the town board will come on April 7th.
KDNK will continue to cover politics and issues in our communities.
