n Residential real estate sales are up Bray & Co. Real Estate Sales Manager Stewart Cruickshank gives a local market update.
4
5 Mesa County is preemptively updating its building codes to avoid more stringent state codes coming in 2026. n County updates building codes
n Putting brewing back in ‘brewery’
Before WestCo Brewing Co. opens in the former Edgewater Brewery, it will return brewing capability to the building.
9
n Bunions be gone
Local podiatrist surpasses 400 bunion-correction procedures.
10
n New birth center to enter after Bloomin’ Babies exits
Intermountain Health Bloomin’ Babies Birth Center is closing March 28, but the building won’t be without a birth center for long. Tender Gifts Birth & Wellness Center plans to open its doors in May.
Not Wasting Opportunity
Small waste haulers step up to meet demand of customers who want less expensive options — See Page 2
11 A RonSon Roll Offs garbage truck, shown dumping a bin, is a sign of the growth the roll-off-dumpster and trash-hauling company has experienced since the business started in 2020. When RonSon Roll Offs began hauling trash, it used a pickup and dump trailer. It also started with three roll-off dumpsters and now has 50, not bad for a business that started as a side hustle. Photo courtesy of RonSon Roll Offs, LLC.
Small, local trash haulers emerge as alternative to corporate giants Cashing in on trash
RonSon Roll Offs started as a roll-offdumpster business in late spring 2020. A couple years later it added trash hauling.
Humpty Dumpsters Rentals started as a roll-off-dumpster business in April 2020. Three years later it added trash hauling.
Big Foot Waste Solutions started as a roll-off-dumpster business in January 2022. A year later it added trash hauling.
In each case, the business owners were hearing from people who wanted an alternative to WM (Waste Management) or Republic Services, the first- and second-largest waste haulers in the nation, respectively.
Outside of the City of Grand Junction, which provides trash hauling strictly for Grand Junction residents who choose it, the trash-hauling options for the rest of the Grand Valley had dwindled to the two trashhauling heavyweights. The reduction in options in large part stemmed from Republic Services entering the local market in the summer of 2022 and buying Rocky Mountain Sanitation and Monument Waste Services.
ABOVE: Big Foot Waste Solutions co-owner Kevin Hopp stands next to his garbage truck, which he uses to service approximately 1,700 customers in the Grand Valley. The company started off as a roll-off-dumpster business in January 2022. When it added trash hauling in January 2023, the garbage collection was done with a pickup and a dump trailer. Now, Hopp is looking at adding a second garbage truck for residential waste service this year. Photo by Tim Harty.
BELOW: The crew from Ronson Roll Offs stands next to its 31-yard, side-load garbage truck. They are, from left to right, Tristen Holmes, Kalin Joshua Jackson, Jory Hampton, David Rulon, Max Ready, Oshay Foster and Jessiah Jackson. The business is based in Mack, but RonSon Roll Offs services Grand Valley customers as far away as 33 Road in Clifton. The range can extend if the customer demand warrants it, as co-owner Kalin Jackson said, “If we get enough people, I’m willing to go out there.” Photo by Tim Harty.
The aforementioned trio of roll-off-dumpster businesses decided to step into the ring with the waste-hauling giants, believing they could do better than the corporate titans for pricing or customer service or both.
RONSON ROLL OFFS
Soon after Rocky Mountain Sanitation and Monument Waste Services disappeared, RonSon Roll Offs owner Kalin Joshua Jackson, who lives in Mack, got in the trash-hauling game.
He had started his roll-off-dumpster business as a side hustle – his full-time job was at Ute Water – after his parents couldn’t get a roll-off dumpster in 2020, because all of the providers were booked up.
Then, he started hearing from people he knew in the Mack-Loma-Fruita area who wanted an alternative for trash collection. He said they told him they were being forgotten, bypassed entirely and still billed for services they hadn’t received.
If there was more to the story than he was being told, Jackson didn’t know. But he knew what his eyes were telling him as he saw that people had trash piled up because it hadn’t been picked up.
Then, he made a career decision.
“It just kind of got to the point where I was like, ‘Well, I’m either getting too big to where I either got to stop and just focus on Ute (Water), or I go ahead and try and take this little adventure of doing the trash stuff,” he said. “And when
Republic came in and bought everybody out, I kind of decided, ‘Well, this is the time to get trash hauling.’”
BIG FOOT WASTE SOLUTIONS
Big Foot Waste Solutions co-owner Kevin Hopp, a trash-hauling veteran of eight years with Rocky Mountain Sanitation, also made a career decision when he left his job and decided to start one of his own: Big Foot Roll Off Service.
Like Jackson, he heard from people who were unhappy about customer service. More than that, though, they wanted a less expensive trash-collection alternative, so Hopp decided to offer the service.
“The prices were just kind of outrageous, honestly. Rocky Mountain (Sanitation) was fairly expensive, but (WM and Republic Services) were actually even more expensive,” he said. “And I just kind of wanted to see if I could help some people out and then started out with like 10 people, and it just kind of grew from there.
“We got more and more phone calls, and people were very appreciative of us doing (trash hauling), and that was kind of my drive to continue doing this is there’s a lot of people that really were nice to us. ... They were happy that somebody else was kind of stepping in.”
Big Foot Roll Off Service became Big Foot Waste Solutions, but Big Foot still provides roll-off dumpsters, as does RonSon. The trash-collection side of the business, however, has grown quickly for both.
Hopp said Big Foot has grown from the original 10 trash-collection customers to 1,700 customers in two years.
Jackson said RonSon started with about 30 trash-collection customers and now has between 600 and 700.
Hopp and Jackson each started trash hauling with a pickup and a dump trailer and grew to the point of needing and acquiring a large garbage truck.
970 TRASH WIZARD
At 970 Trash Wizard, owner Shanda Kiteley still uses a pickup and trailer for trash hauling, but with the business growing to 300 customers since starting in March 2023, she said she’s in the market for a garbage truck. Kiteley said she has to get one because she can’t take on more customers until then.
Kiteley deviates from the Big Foot, RonSon and Humpty Dumpsters stories in that she didn’t go the roll-off route first. She was all about trash-hauling from the outset and for the same reasons the other small trash collectors got in the games.
“There was no local companies left, (Republic Services) bought everybody, so we started up,” Kiteley said. See TRASH on page 6
Uptick in local residential real estate sales continues
Tim Harty The Business Times
February’s 187 residential real estate sales in Mesa County were up 8 percent over February 2024, while listings were 31 percent higher year over year for February with 561, according to data gathered by Bray & Co. Real Estate.
February’s median price of $394,000 was up 10 percent year over year, while the average of 78 days on the market was three days more than the average in February 2024.
Sellers also received an average of 99 percent of the list price, compared to 98 percent the previous February.
Bray & Co. Real Estate Sales Manager Stewart Cruickshank noted February followed a similar trend to January with increases across most areas, but the median price was down slightly, less than 1 percent, in February from January.
“Looking at historical trends, February sales have outpaced both 2024 and 2023, but remain below pre-pandemic and the pandemic-influenced levels from 2019 to 2022,” Cruickshank said. “While it’s difficult to say whether this signals a full market recovery, it does suggest that buyers and sellers are adjusting to the reality of today’s interest rates. The once extreme and slightly scary shift away from 2 to 3 percent rates is settling in as the new normal.”
Year-to-date figures through February reflect strong growth over 2024 numbers. So far in 2025, units sold have increased by 18 percent, rising from 296 to 348, while total sales volume has increased 33.5 percent, with a total of $158.33 million compared to $118.6 million in 2024.
The most popular price range for residential sales has been between $300,000 and $399,000 with 103 sales year to date, followed by 70 sales in the $500,000–$749,000 range, 66 sales in the $400,000–$499,000 range, and 58 sales in the $200,000–$299,000 range.
The most popular area to buy has been Northeast Grand Junction with 54 sales, followed by North Grand Junction at 45, Grand Junction City at 45 and Southeast Grand Junction at 38. Clifton, Fruita, Orchard Mesa and Redlands each have 30 sales so far in 2025.
Year-to-date single-family building permits, including townhome permits, are up 23 percent year-over-year, indicating steady building and development activity.
Cruickshank said active listings “have remained consistent with the past few months” but are up 38 percent over February 2024.
Months of inventory currently sit at three months, down from 3.5 months in January, but still above the 2.6 months recorded in February 2024.
Mesa County updates building codes ahead of state mandates
Brandon Leuallen
The Business Times
While Mesa County and the rest of the state of Colorado are experiencing a housing shortage and an affordability crisis, Mesa County is preemptively updating its building codes to align with the 2021 energy standards, aiming to avoid the more stringent and costly requirements set to be enforced by the state of Colorado in 2026.
The county is using this opportunity to reorganize and streamline parts of its code as well. County Commissioner Cody Davis and Chief Building Official Darrell Bay detailed the county’s efforts to stay ahead of these changes.
“Starting in 2026, if you change a word, you’re updating,” Davis said of the impending state mandates.
By making necessary changes that increase efficiencies and updating to the 2021 energy code now, Mesa County positions itself to not be mandated to update to the 2024 standards, which Davis calls an “energy code on steroids” that the state plans to implement in a couple of years. Davis, who was involved in the development of the lowcarbon code, said he was one of the few voices advocating for affordability during the process, but he was consistently outvoted on the board.
space in the electrical panel and a properly sized panel to handle electric vehicle loads. Homes must also be electric-ready, meaning if a gas appliance is used, such as a furnace or cooktop, an electrical conduit must be run to that area for future conversion to electric.
Additionally, homes must be solarready, which involves running electrical conduit to roof areas suitable for solar panels and ensuring that south-facing roof planes are kept clear of exhaust vents. Some of these changes will require rearranged house designs.
The county’s strategy to update to the 2021 standards is a step some counties will not even take, because they may choose to avoid updates altogether to escape the state’s extreme measures.
“So a lot of counties, they’re never going to update their code again, which is not necessarily what you want,” Davis said. “Because when you have updates in engineering standards or good energy updates for your code or something that’s reasonable, they’re not going to even touch it now, because they’ve got these crazy environmental policies.”
Davis also alluded to the idea that in many ways new energy codes from previous updates have created diminishing returns as
Our goal with these code changes is to provide as many choices for the users and let them make the decisions as to what best works for their projects.
- Chief Building Official Darrell Bay
At the commissioners administrative public hearing on Feb. 25, Bay said, “Between all the codes being adopted, there are around 600 significant changes in the newer codes. This number may seem extremely high, but it’s important to understand that the majority of the codes are reorganizations of the codes, clarifications, allowed uses of the new construction methods and materials.
“Changes don’t always mean more restrictions or higher costs. In fact, some of the changes in the newer codes will make compliance simpler, which will likely reduce costs. Our goal with these code changes is to provide as many choices for the users and let them make the decisions as to what best works for their projects. Our office will work with the building community to make the changes between the current and the proposed changes as smooth as possible.”
Some of the new requirements in Mesa County include making homes electric, EV- and solar-ready.
Davis explained that “EV-ready” homes must have raceways for wires, sufficient
they have become more and more strict. One example he gave was how updates had made homes so airtight that builders are required to install Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) systems that use electricity to bring in fresh air after heating and filtering it. He said homes used to allow for a small amount of fresh air leakage, so they wouldn’t require mechanical intervention.
“So, you’re going to make me seal it up so tight that cold air can’t come in, now you’re going to force me to introduce cold air to the house,” Davis said. “But then I have to condition it first before I bring it in. Some of those ERV systems are about 15 grand.”
Davis emphasized the importance of builders staying informed and prepared, noting the county plans to phase in the changes with a three-month transition period during the fall so builders can become used to the changes before they officially go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.
The county also is offering code classes for community contractors, starting in April, to help with the transition.
“We’re trying to give people as much runway as possible, so that we’re not hurting people,” Davis said.
Cody Davis
Trash
Continued from page 2
And she heard the same complaints that the other new-to-the-game trash haulers had heard.
“A lot of it was the rate increase,” she said. “Some of it’s customer service, they can’t get a hold of anybody. They break their trash cans. They’re rude. I’ve heard it all. They charge a lot for extra items, things like that.”
Kiteley expects to see rapid growth when 970 Trash Wizard secures a garbage truck.
“Once that happens, we’ll start advertising again,” she said “Because the community responds really well to us as soon as we start, you know, letting them know we’re here. Usually the phone doesn’t stop ringing.”
BRUIN WASTE MANAGEMENT
Also joining the Grand Valley trashhauling fray in 2023 was Bruin Waste Management. One big difference between it and the other newcomers to the market is Naturita-based Bruin Waste has been operating on the Western Slope since 1997, just not in Grand Junction.
That changed though when the Kendall family bought Bruin Waste Management a few years ago, and Bruin Waste bought Parachute-based Dependable Waste Services in August 2023.
Dependable Waste had been offering some trash collection in Clifton, but Bruin Waste decided to set up a regional office in Clifton in September or October of 2023, as co-owner Rob Kendall said that’s how Bruin Waste operates.
“What we do in all of the markets that we enter is we set up a local office with a customer-service team and a local regional manager,” Kendall said. “And the reason behind that is we want to make sure that when we have these businesses in the area, we have people that know the area, know the people, and when something goes wrong, we’ve got somebody to come and fix it.”
Like the other alternatives to WM and Republic Services, Bruin Waste has grown rapidly during its 18 months in the Grand Valley.
“(Dependable Waste) was running one route a week down in Grand Junction,” Kendall said. “Since we purchased the business, we’ve more than doubled the size of the business.
“We’re running five days a week in Grand Junction on residential. We’re running five days a week on commercial in Grand Junction. And we’re running anywhere from one to two trucks a day on construction. And then we added the portable toilet service as well.”
Kendall said Bruin plans to buy more trucks to service Grand Junction, and it may not become a giant like WM or Republic Services, but Bruin Waste aims to stick around.
“We made a commitment very early on that we intend this to be our family business for very long time,” he said. “We want to set this up to be a generational business for our family.”
FIND OUT MORE
To find rates and learn more about the small trash-hauling companies that have arisen in the Grand Valley, go to their websites or call them: 970 Trash Wizard: 970trashwizard.com or call 970-260-9334. Big Foot Waste Solutions: bigfootrolloff.com or call 970-361-7150. Bruin Waste Management: bruinwaste.com or call 970-285-9565. Humpty Dumpsters Rentals: humptydumpsters.us or call 970-361-6016. RonSon Roll Offs: ronsonrolloffs.com or call 970-623-6074.
THIS IS HOW THE GAME IS PLAYED
Bruin Waste Management co-owner Rob Kendall said Grand Junction is just like any other city in America when it comes to large, corporate, waste-hauling companies buying out the competition only to see competition re-emerge.
“The market getting bought up, all the little guys getting bought up is a very typical thing,” he said. “It happens in every city. The way that the public companies put it is ‘M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions) is very active in the waste industry.’ ... Small guys do well, public guys buy them, they jack up the prices. New small guy comes in, they do well, public guys buy them, jack up the prices. It’s a cycle. It’s very typical.”
A LITTLE ABOUT HUMPTY DUMPSTERS
Humpty Dumpsters didn’t get back to The Business Times for an interview in time to be included in this article, but its website provides this short summary about the business:
“Humpty Dumpsters is a locally owned and operated business that started in April of 2020 doing roll-off dumpster rentals. Almost three years later, we noticed the public’s demand for an affordable and transparently priced trash service after many of the local companies closed their doors. In July of 2023, we started offering residential trash service in most areas of the Grand Valley with commercial dumpsters following soon after.
“We are your neighbors, and our mission is to bring back the caring and understanding that only a local company can provide.”
THE REAL BIG DOG IN THE YARD
WM (Waste Management) and Republic Services may be the big, corporateowned waste collectors in the Grand Valley, but the real giant is the City of Grand Junction. It offers trash collection to Grand Junction residents only, but that’s the largest slice of the Grand Valley pie.
The city provided the following data: Grand Junction has 15 trucks and 13 employees for solid-waste collection and four trucks and 17 employees for recycling. It has approximately 20,620 residential customers, 1,215 commercial customers and 180 government customers.
Residents who live inside the city’s mandatory service area, which was established by city ordinance in 1994, are required to utilize the city’s solid-waste service. This mandatory area includes approximately 12,185 residential customers.
Outside of the mandatory area, city residents have the option to choose between the city’s solid-waste service or a private hauler. There are an estimated 11,310 residential customers within city limits who are not required to use city service.
Approximately 88 percent of all potential residential customers within city limits utilize the city’s waste-hauling service.
For commercial waste collection, service is entirely optional, and businesses within city limits can choose any waste hauler, including the city or a private provider.
JOB SATISFACTION DOES NOT STINK
Big Foot Waste Solutions co-owner Kevin Hopp knows everyone thinks his job stinks, because literally trash tends to smell awful. But he views it differently when it comes to job satisfaction.
“The trash industry doesn’t smell the best, but you know I honestly enjoy it,” he said. “The customer really makes it for me when I hear somebody really appreciates what we do. It’s always been a nice thing to hear. Because working at Rocky Mountain (Sanitation), that’s what I heard a lot there. That’s kind of what gave me the drive to want to do my own thing.”
YOU CAN COUNT ON FAMILY
At RonSon Roll Offs, ownership isn’t as simple as Kalin Joshua Jackson declaring he’s the owner.
So, he put it this way: “It’s kind of me and the family. I mean, I’m sole owner, but the family all definitely helps out. Like, my mom does my books and does the billing, and my brother helps me, and my dad helps me. So, it’s definitely a family deal that we all pitch in and then do what we need to do to get things done.”
QUOTABLE
Humpty Dumpsters on its website touts its pricing with: “Dumpster rental prices that don’t stink!”
After a longer explanation of the importance of customer service at Bruin Waste Management, co-owner Rob Kendall offered a short and sweet summation: “We’re just answering calls, doing what people ask us and showing up when we say we will. And at a fair price.”
Putting the brewing back in ‘brewery’
Tim Harty The Business Times
Before WestCo Brewing Co. opens in the former Edgewater Brewery, 905 Struthers Ave., it will return brewing capability to the building.
An ownership group led by Handlebar Tap House co-owner/operator Adam Kinsey finalized the purchase of Kannah Creek Brewing Company's former second location on Feb. 27. The new owners have begun renovating the building and are targeting mid to late summer for opening.
“We are planning a small interior remodel to increase the restaurant and bar seating, while providing us the space to reinstall a new production-level brewery in the building,” Kinsey wrote in an email interview. “We think the overall feel will change quite a bit, more of an industrial brewery setting with a fun atmosphere and food.”
For the craft brewing, he added, “The building was originally built for a 30-barrel brewery. We are installing a new system that will give us the flexibility of a brewpub but is large enough for production and distribution.”
Joining Kinsey in WestCo Brewing's management as co-owners are: General Manager Jeff Walker, currently co-owner and GM of Handlebar Tap House; Head of Brewing Operations Danny Wilson, formerly of Palisade Brewing Company; Front-of-House Manager Nathan Wood; and Head of Sales Zac Grant, formerly of Palisade Brewing Company.
Kinsey added there are “a handful of other private investors.”
Kinsey said the new owners feel
comfortable opening another craft brewery in the Grand Junction area.
“The brewery/brewpub industry in the Grand Valley exploded (along with nationally) in the past 5-10 years,” he wrote. “Within the past year or two there has been a correction in the craft brewing industry, and the overall sales and number of breweries has somewhat declined.
“As for breweries, we are replacing the former Edgewater Brewery, which originally was a large-scale production facility. There are a few other breweries that are changing hands in the valley, and the overall number of breweries isn't really expanding.
“Overall, I've seen craft beer culture grow in the valley quite a bit since opening Handlebar Tap House almost seven years ago. We are excited to continue that culture and collaboration that has been built in that time by all the brewers and craft beer pubs in the valley.
“Overall, we feel good about the pace of growth and economy in the Grand Valley, and in particular, we continue to be starved for locally-owned restaurants. Our focus will be to offer you a new restaurant option in a fun and comfortable atmosphere while working our way into producing and distributing highquality beer on the Western Slope.”
Kinsey also likes the location for WestCo Brewing Co., because it's in the Riverfront at Las Colonias development (130 acres), near the Riverfront at Dos Rios development (58 acres) and right off the busy Riverside Parkway.
“We are about one mile on the bike path from the new Dos Rios development,” he said, “and Las Colonias continues to gain traction and development.”
Four members of the ownership group that bought the former Edgewater Brewery, 905 Struthers Ave., stand outside the building, which is now being renovated. They are, left to right, Adam Kinsey, Danny Wilson, Zac Grant and Nathan Wood. When asked if it was possible to take a photo of them inside the building, perhaps at the bar, one of them said, “No, because it’s not there anymore.” Part of the renovation includes re-installing brewing equipment, so craft beer will be brewed on site. Photo by Tim Harty.
Bunions be gone Local podiatrist surpasses 400 bunion-correction procedures
Tim Harty The Business Times
Dr. Joshua Thun passed the threshold to qualify Community Hospital’s Western Orthopedics & Sports Medicine for the designation of Elite Center for Lapiplasty a long time ago. Like 115 surgeries ago.
Lapiplasty, by the way, is a surgery that corrects the root cause of bunions, those often painful bumps on the side of feet near the big toe or the little toe, and Thun said studies show that one out of five adults can have some varied form of a bunion deformity.
“Sometimes they are untreated because they are asymptomatic,” he wrote in an email interview. “When they cause pain or discomfort, an individual may seek treatment from a qualified doctor.”
For the more technical explanation, Thun offered: “The root cause of bunions is not the ‘bump’ that the patient typically complains about. It is usually the joint below that, where the first metatarsal is deviating, causing an increased angle between the first and second metatarsal bones, causing the bump to appear at the big toe joint.
“Also, there are varying forms of bunions, which may mean that their treatment plan is slightly modified based off of the patient’s specific complaints or symptoms. We take the time to find the root problem of the patient’s foot pain and put a plan together accordingly.”
take more than an hour to 90 minutes, Thun said.
His 300th Lapiplasty procedure, along with completing an advanced skills training course, netted Western Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, 2373 G Road, Suite 100, the Elite Center for Lapiplasty designation, and Thun said that’s noteworthy.
“We are one of about 25 of these centers located in the United States,” he said. “I feel honored that the community has placed their trust in Community Hospital for treatment of their foot pain.”
Thun said he gravitated toward
Dr. Joshua Thun, a podiatrist for Community Hospital’s Western Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, is board certified for foot and ankle surgery. In this photo he is shown doing advanced skills training in Salt Lake City, which was part of the requirements to make Western Orthopedics an Elite Center for Lapiplasty. Photo courtesy of Community Hospital.
And for people in Grand Junction who are candidates for Treace Lapiplasty, Dr. Thun is your guy at Community Hospital, where he started working in March 2018 and performed his first Lapiplasty in November 2019. He recently performed his 415th Lapiplasty for Western Orthopedics & Sports Medicine.
Treace Lapiplasty gets its name from the company that created Lapiplasty, specifically its founder, John Treace.
The procedure can vary in time, depending on severity, but it typically doesn’t
Lapiplasty, because “I was excited to see a surgical procedure that had more favorable outcomes for bunion correction with more reproducibility and predictability.
“Once we found that patients were having better outcomes, it didn’t take long for word of mouth to spread, increasing the amount of patients desiring treatment for their bunions.”
New birth center to enter after Bloomin’ Babies exits
Tim Harty The Business Times
Intermountain Health Bloomin’ Babies Birth Center is closing March 28, but the building won’t be without a birth center for long.
minutes, Thun procedure, along skills trainOrthopedics & Suite 100, designation, these cenStates,” he said. community has Hospital toward
Tender Gifts Birth & Wellness Center plans to open its doors at the 2241 N. Seventh St. facility in May. The birth center will be modeled after the Tender Gifts Birth & Wellness Center in Fort Collins and have the same owner, Althea Hrdlichka.
Hrdlichka said she had been eyeing Grand Junction as the place for a second location for a little more than a year. She didn’t wish for Bloomin’ Babies to close, but she knew that was a possibility.
“I know some of the birth workers in that community,” she said, “and they also know how I function in my birth center in Fort Collins, and they said this would be a really great thing there, especially if that birth center shut down. And I think there was just chatter for a while there that that was going to potentially happen, and it did.
“And so that was kind of where I went, ‘OK, I guess this is what we’re doing.’”
On. Feb. 17, Intermountain Health announced on the hospital’s website that Bloomin’ Babies will close “due to steadily declining birth rates in Mesa County and unsustainable decreases in the number of new patients at Bloomin’ Babies Birth Center in Grand Junction.”
That information did not deter Hrdlichka.
“I had the conversation with them as well,” she said. “I’ve had a successful birth center in Fort Collins, and so I understand what it takes to be able to run a birth center sustainably, and the reality is that birth centers are not cash cows. They’re not going to make as much money as a hospital would like.”
Hrdlichka added the nature of a hospital is to run a birth center like a hospital, “and the reality is that the way that the hospital runs it is way more expensive … there’s way more people than actually needed to run a facility like that.
“And so I think that’s the biggest thing is understanding the demographic, understanding the budget and what is needed and what is not needed. There’s just a lot of waste when it comes to a hospital trying to run it like a hospital. And no fault of theirs in the sense that that’s what they know, right?
“So, am I concerned? No, I’m not concerned at all.”
Hrdlichka said she won’t have access to the Grand Junction building until May 1, then, “We are gonna do some restructuring, remodeling as far as updating, making it a little bit more modern, if you will.”
Althea Hrdlichka checks the heartbeat of a baby at Tender Gifts Birth & Wellness Center in Fort Collins. Hrdlichka is the owner of the center, where she’s also a midwife. She is opening a business of the same name in Grand Junction in May at 2241 N. Seventh St., where Bloomin’ Babies Birth Center will close its business on March 28. Photo courtesy of Tender Gifts Birth & Wellness Center.
MEET TENDER GIFTS’ OWNER
Althea Hrdlichka, who in May will open Tender Gifts Birth & Wellness Center in Grand Junction, will have a meeting with the Grand Junction community on March 21, 6 p.m., at the Colorado Birth Collective, 600 Rood Ave. in downtown Grand Junction.
“I’m opening it up for everyone to come and chat with me and get to know me a little bit,” she said.
Tender Gifts Birth & Wellness Center will move into the building at 2241 N. Seventh St., where Bloomin’ Babies is until March 28, when Intermountain Health will close the business.
The client rooms will be changed to be similar to the rooms in the Fort Collins birth center, which Hrdlichka acknowledged is “very different.”
The client rooms will be equipped for water births and have birth slings.
Initially two rooms will be available for expecting mothers.
Tender Gifts also is licensed by the state to be an outpatient facility, and Hrdlichka said women come in to have their baby and usually leave within three to four hours after birth.
“It’s really a perfect segue,” she said, “because some people don’t want to do home births, but we provide home births and birth center births here in Fort Collins. And we may do that (in Grand Junction) as well.”
Hrdlichka anticipates starting with about 10 employees in the Grand Junction location, and she’d like to grow that to about 25 employees, matching the staffing at the Fort Collins location.
Of her Fort Collins staff, she said, “They’re not all full time because I’m a really big proponent of having a balance with moms that also want to be in birth work. So, we have a lot of part-time employees that then get to stay home with their babies and children the other times of day.”
Among the staff will be nurse practitioners, which allows for the facility to be more than a birth center.
“Our idea is to be a whole wellness center,” Hrdlichka said. “Our goal is to do full-scope deliveries, prenatal and the postpartum period, also well-woman visits and ultrasounds, labs in house, all the above.
“And then what we have done (in Fort Collins) and we will bring in (Grand Junction) as well is full family care and nurse practitioners to care for our families, pediatric nurse practitioners, and so that’s kind of what our goal is.”
Hrdlichka added Tender Gifts in Grand Junction will have all types of midwives: certified professional midwives; certified nurse midwives; and potentially certified midwives.
If there’s a lot of the Grand Junction location mirroring the Fort Collins location, that’s intentional, as Hrdlichka said the systems in Fort Collins are working well. But that doesn’t mean Grand Junction can’t have differences. Hrdlichka said when she learns more about the Grand Junction community and what it wants, certain things can change accordingly.
“I’m trying to do as much as possible that the community wants,” she said.
F
excited to see a favorable with more patients were take long increasing the treatment for
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How
How will marijuana revenue shortfalls affect District 51?
Brandon Leuallen The Business Times
Amid reports that the city of Grand Junction’s marijuana revenue fell short of projections by $800,000 and that statewide marijuana revenue has declined by more than 41 percent since its peak in 2020-2021, The Business Times reached out to Melanie Trujillo, chief financial officer of Mesa County Valley School District 51, to understand how the shortfall might affect the district
Trujillo said local marijuana-sales-tax revenue does not directly fund the district and addressed misconceptions about how much and how often marijuana revenue has been distributed to the district since legalization, despite public expectations.
Since recreational marijuana was legalized, Trujillo noted funding from marijuana tax revenue has largely been supplemental, coming in the form of one-time state grants rather than ongoing support for operational costs or teacher salaries.
One of the primary sources of marijuana tax revenue for the district is the Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) grant program. This competitive grant program, partially funded by marijuana excise taxes, also draws from other revenue streams, such as lottery funds and mostly state-land-board revenues.
“We’ve received the BEST grant a couple of times,” Trujillo said, adding the district used this funding for portions of Grand Junction High School and Orchard Mesa Middle School.
Trujillo also pointed out the grants are often matching grants, meaning districts must contribute their own funds as well. While this setup has reduced the financial burden
on local taxpayers multiple times, it does not provide a consistent or reliable funding source.
Beyond the BEST grants, District 51 has occasionally benefited from other marijuana-revenue-driven grants, such as those aimed at early literacy and supporting school health professionals. Yet, these funds are not guaranteed annually and have a limited scope.
“With grants, some years you get them, other years you don’t,” Trujillo said, highlighting the unpredictable nature of this funding.
Trujillo said misconceptions about marijuana revenue’s impact on school budgets has been especially prevalent during bond or mill engagements with the community.
“When it first passed, there was that expectation by voters with the way that it was laid out by the state, that it would be a windfall for Colorado school districts, but that just really hasn’t been the case.”
The reality of marijuana-tax-revenue distribution is more complex than commonly understood. Marijuana in Colorado is taxed in four ways: a 15 percent excise tax on wholesale and retail marijuana; a 15 percent special sales tax on retail marijuana; a 2.9 percent regular state sales tax; and optional local city and county sales taxes.
The first $40 million of excise taxes is designated for the Colorado Capital Construction Assistance Fund, which funds the BEST grant program, and 12.59 percent of the state government’s share of the special sales tax goes to the state public school fund. In total, marijuana revenue allocated to schools makes up only about 1 percent of the state’s total education budget distributed through these various grants.
Locally, the City of Grand Junction projected $2.5 million in marijuana tax revenue for 2024, but actual revenue was about $1.7 million. According to the 2024 annual
budget, this revenue is restricted and designated to support the priorities of the Parks and Recreation Open Space Plan. Additionally, the city will receive the regular 3.39 percent city sales tax on all retail cannabis sales. A portion of this, 2 percent, will go to the Sales Tax Capital Fund, which is specifically allocated for housing initiatives in the area.
Towns and cities have the discretion to allocate a portion of marijuana revenue to schools, while most of Grand Junction’s marijuana revenue is set aside for the new recreation center.
“I know there are some instances where the towns or cities elect to designate a portion of those sales tax for schools,” Trujillo said. “However, none of our local municipalities have.”
At the state level, marijuana revenue has been used for more than originally intended, and Colorado’s marijuana revenue has been exempt from the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) revenue cap from the beginning.
According to a Colorado Sun article titled “Colorado marijuana sales – and tax dollars – are still falling. The rise of intoxicating hemp may be to blame,” lawmakers have expanded revenue allocations to as many as 21 categories.
Joint Budget Committee chair Sen. Jeff Bridges (D-Greenwood Village) explained, “In my first few years in the legislature, it was seen as, ‘Oh, that’s where you go to pay for your bills, because there’s not enough general funds.’ Now there’s a bunch of stuff in there that maybe shouldn’t be in there.”
Finally, with a $1 billion budget shortfall and Gov. Jared Polis proposing to cap BEST grant funding while districts across the state compete for limited resources, it remains uncertain how much or how often District 51 will receive marijuana revenue in the future.
Care coordination for children with special health care needs
For parents, like many of your employees, accessing health care resources can be stressful and time-consuming, especially when it comes to their children. It can be especially true for parents with children who have special health care needs.
Ryan Pomeroy
It is important for these families to feel connected when searching for health and community-care resources. Mesa County Public Health aims to take the strain off of these families through a program called HCP Care Coordination.
This free program is geared toward families who have a child with special health care needs. HCP Care Coordination pairs a registered nurse with a family that needs support. These nurses then connect families with the information and resources they need to manage their child’s health care.
“As a registered nurse, I know how hard it is to navigate the health care system, which can be isolating for families. As a parent, you want to do everything you can do to help your child. We want to take some of that burden, so that you have access to all of the resources available to you,” HCP Care Coordinator Kelly Geyer said.
The HCP Care Coordination program is available for children and youths from birth up to 21 years of age.
“As a registered nurse, I know how hard it is to navigate the health care system, which can be isolating for families. As a parent, you want to do everything you can do to help your child. We want to take some of that burden, so that you have access to all of the resources available to you,”
- HCP Care Coordinator Kelly Geyer
There are no restrictions or eligibility requirements based on income or diagnosis to receive HCP services.
Special health care needs can be physical, emotional or behavioral and may be easy to see in a child or invisible. These needs might be diagnosed or undiagnosed, and they can involve conditions that last a lifetime or are expected to end with treatment.
HCP Care Coordination offers a range of free services to families, including assistance finding screenings,
clinics and specialty-care providers. Additionally, they can connect families with financial resources, such as insurance assistance, as well as medical care, community services and support groups.
These care coordination services are available at no cost to any family with a child or youth.
This program’s services are extremely broad and are tailored to family-specific needs.
HCP Care Coordination also aims to educate families by helping them understand what is going on with their child and prioritizing the family’s needs. Sharing resources and reaching out to families aids in fostering a sense of community and connection, which can make a significant difference in their healthcare and overall wellbeing.
To learn more about HCP, visit our website at www. mesacounty.us/public-health, or call 970-683-6683, or email hcp@mesacounty.us.
Providers can download a referral form on our website and fax the completed form to 970-255-3649. Parents can also review a list of possible medical conditions to help them get started.
By sharing this information with your employees, we can all work together to provide Mesa County families with the health resources they need.
FRyan Pomeroy is a Multimedia Communication Intern with Mesa County Public Health. For additional information, call 970-248-6900 or visit mesacounty.us/public-health.
This should be the easiest City Council vote you’ve ever cast
As we see it, the coming Grand Junction City Council election on April 8, 2025, provides some simple choices. Although in our fair city two problems tend to arise when it comes to our spring, City Council elections.
The first is always most glaring and in the past few elections has probably caused the citizens the most problems. And that’s most folks registered to vote simply don’t vote in City Council elections, which lately has ended with a bunch of “do-gooder” progressives getting elected to our City Council.
And while you can’t readily identify them by the (D) that should follow their names on the ballot – as City Council elections are “nonpartisan,” the second problem – you can tell them by the company they keep.
After the past several years of our City Council attempting to solve every problem it was never asked to solve or, worse, trying to solve every problem it was elected to address, usually poorly and wastefully and in the exact opposite way the majority of citizens were hoping, perhaps we should put the (R) or (D) after their names. This is especially true when council votes are tallied after another boondoggle has passed along “nonpartisan,” party lines.
After all, the same five folks currently on City Council always vote together, just like their photo sessions appear on social media.
The City Council of Grand Junction is about as partisan as it gets with a 5-2 majority of progressives.
Which leads us back to the first problem. Again, most folks registered to vote in our City Council elections simply don’t. And when they don’t, that’s how Grand Junction ends up with a merry band of “community leaders” jumping from problem to problem while solving none; lately leaving a mess of bollards, empty tents, scooters and never developed lots in their wake.
So, our first hope is that all those (or the vast majority) who are registered to vote do so in the coming elections. In our experience, the smaller the election, the more partisans turn out on the left, which is rarely a good thing.
Registered Republicans need to get out and vote for those folks who would run as Republicans on any other ballot. Please note, this is not an endorsement of the local, Republican party, which has its own insider, “partisan” problems. However, in this coming City Council election, those good folks willing to actually serve would be Cody Kennedy – the only incumbent who embraces the true role of public servant – Laurel Cole, Robert Ballard and Ben VanDyke.
Simply put, a vote for anyone else strengthens the progressive, partisan majority on City Council. Which means two more years of bad luck for Grand Junction citizens, taxpayers and downtown businesses.
This brings us to the second part of the ballot. Please vote “YES” to approve moving municipal elections to November, with Mesa County in charge of running them. The fact is, doing elections in November brings out more voters, and that is something the progressives on City Council didn’t want when it was up for debate this past year. Well, one kind of thought it a good thing, but they weren’t up for election this year.
As for the final ballot measure, just vote “NO.” City Council members should not be compensated. They shouldn’t even get what they are currently getting. Perhaps it will help them with the definition of a public servant. For those five currently on council who only listen to themselves, it means listening to the public. It’s time we vote for some folks who will do it and serve, like Cody already is.
Make your vote count with Cody, Laurel, Robert and Ben.
Maybe this time, we just let it shut down
It seems to me that every time we have a “budget crisis” with the federal government the one option never taken is the one that is always hovering above the fracas taking place with our “elected betters” in Congress. And it’s probably the only solution to our spending problems. It’s also the simplest.
Just shut it down.
And while I envision the computer screens going dark and the lights shutting off with the door closing like the end of “The Bourne Identity,” I don’t think you can just shut down the federal government lock, stock and barrel.
After all, our government is the best, worst entity to protect individual rights ever created in the history of the planet. It’s just that what we’ve allowed to be done to it with politicians now has the worst in charge of the best form of government ever established.
I think of it as more of a bankruptcy of a large corporation. After all, the largest corporation on the planet is the federal government of the United States – that is until the evil three of Blackrock, State Street and VanGuard overtake it. Then again, given how many politicians these three own, they should be part of the “reorganization” as well in an anti-trust kind of way.
So, let’s get to it. What’s the first thing the federal government does when it has a “shutdown?” If you guessed laying off all “nonessential” employees, you’d be correct.
First off, any corporation employing hundreds of thousands of “nonessential” employees should go bankrupt. But my argument here isn’t that these folks should be laid off; they should be the ones who keep their jobs. But how can that be?
Well, in my experience, they are the ones whose layoffs actually affect the citizens in the most damaging ways. Stick with me on this. When a “shutdown” occurs, the first things politicians take away are the things the people actually like about the government, such as access to national parks and monuments whether in Washington, D.C., or around the nation. They lay off folks who take your calls or those who are liaisons between the largess of government and your voice or need.
In other words, politicians play the game of laying off the folks who help the public the most, thereby inconveniencing the public so it demands that Congress “do something,” which for Congress can only mean one thing: Pass a continuing resolution that spends more money and raises the debt ceiling even higher.
Also, during a government “shutdown,” all mandatory spending continues at its current level. So, let’s stop with the argument that people will stop receiving Social Security or Medicare or Medicaid. It’s never happened and won’t happen – even with President Trump. What really needs to happen is more of a “Jurassic Park” reboot of the system. And yes, even while Elon the T-Rex is out ridding the park of all the bad guys.
First thing? Remove everyone from Congress. Yes, even the few good ones.
The obvious benefit of never having to hear from the likes of Chuck Schumer, Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, Lauren Boebert and the rest of the cast of characters and their partisan hackery should appeal to all Americans. I don’t know exactly the best way we can keep the same 5 percent of bad people from being elected, but we need to find a way to make Congress part-time with no compensation and run constitutionally. If we don’t do this soon, we’ll have a real shutdown. Secondly, the new Congress needs to budget to fund all of its promises made to the American people when it comes to Social Security and the Medi’s – and then figure out a way to make these programs obsolete and replace them via the free market. As for any other promises and subsidies, wipe them out.
Any other spending would be limited to what the Constitution says the feds can do. I don’t know about you, but I think that should clear up several $TRILLION from the federal government’s “budget” and leave it with the people, where it belongs.
Congress as it stands doesn’t want a budget. Because it knows with overspending comes power. We’d be better off if we recognized that as tyranny.
Why do you think the federal government wanted socialized health care? It wasn’t to help people. It was for the cash flow. Because once the trillions of health-care dollars pass through the federal government, every dollar becomes another line-item appropriation, which the feds control.
This is how the federal government does business: dollars for votes. Something we were warned about more than two centuries ago.
As the great Milton Friedman once said, every budget is balanced. Either through confiscation of taxes, borrowing or the printing of money. Congress believes this is the only way. The biggest problem for you and me? It’s our money.
The largest monopoly on the planet is the Federal Government of the United States. Back in the day, we used to break up monopolies into smaller pieces which preserved the services needed for the people and got rid of the monopoly. Our Constitution provided this in limiting the power of the federal government and giving most power to the states.
Sadly, the federal government and many states have completely destroyed freedom and the people’s prosperity in the process.
Maybe it’s time we tried shutting it down and breaking it up.
F
Craig Hall is owner and publisher of The Business Times. Reach him at (970) 424-5133 or publisher@thebusinesstimes.com
Craig Hall
n CLIFTON GETS $2.58 MILLION FOR SEALING ROADS
Enhanced roads are coming to Clifton after the Mesa County Commission approved a $2.58 million contract with A-1 Chipseal Co. to complete the 2025 Surface Treatment Project.
This year’s Surface Treatment Project will include crack seal, cape seal and slurry seal treatments on 28 miles of roads in the Pear Park and south Clifton area. These proactive repairs aim to lengthen the time before a full overlay is required and keep roads safe and efficient.
The roads selected for treatment were identified using a Pavement Condition Index — a system that considers cracks, potholes, public input and other key factors to determine the best approach for maintenance. As a result, the county launched the Road Problem Reporter tool on its website, so residents can directly communicate road concerns to our the Mesa County Public Works team.
n COFFEE WITH CITY MANAGER ON MARCH 24
The City of Grand Junction will host Coffee with the City Manager on March 24, 7:30 a.m., at Colorado Craft Coffee and Beer House, 1144 N. 12th St. These events are an opportunity for residents to have a conversation with the city manager and members of city staff to learn about city-related projects and become more familiar with local government.
For the March meeting, City Manager Mike Bennett and General Services Director Jay Valentine will discuss current city projects and share information about the Spring Clean Up program.
Residents are encouraged to attend the event for a cup of coffee and conversation. Questions about recent projects or initiatives are welcome. City-hosted events and information are posted to the City Calendar at GJCity.org
n FRUITA OPENS PICKLEBALL COURTS TO PUBLIC
Four pickleball courts are now available to use at Orr Park, just east of the Fruita Community Center, 324 N. Coulson St.
The courts are open to the general public and do not require a membership to the Fruita Community Center to use them. Two of the courts are for drop-in play, and two require reservations.
Pickleball is one of the top amenities the community said it wanted added to Fruita’s recreation system in the Parks, Health, Recreation, Open Space Master Plan.
For more details or to reserve a court go to www.fruita.org, or visit the front desk of the community center to learn more about pickleball programming.
n DOWNTOWN PARKING-ENFORCEMENT HOURS NOW 8 TO 4
The City of Grand Junction changed the recently enforced 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. downtown parking hours to the previously enforced 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. hours.
In late January 2025, parking enforcement hours were extended as a part of operational changes to the downtown area that extended enforcement for 10-hour parking. After reviewing the adjustment and resident and business owner feedback, the city reestablished the previous eight-hour parking enforcement from 8 a.m.-4 p.m., but current signage will take some time to update to reflect these changes.
Parking will continue to be free on weekends, holidays and outside of monitored hours. In addition, people with an official Handicap placard or license plate may park for free at city parking meters or parking lots.
The changes to the downtown parking lots will still be enforced and include: Fourhour parking only in the lots at the 400, 500 and 600 blocks of Colorado Ave. and at the DMV north and south lot.
Permit parking is available in the lots at: 600 Rood Ave., 10-hour pay station or
parking permit are allowed; and 500 Ute Ave., permit parking only. Permit holders may only park in designated 10-hour parking-metered spaces or lots.
The city installed pay stations that intend to provide easier service for people utilizing the available downtown parking lots, including payment by coin, card or the Passport App and to improve the overall visibility within the parking lots by removing single-use meters. Each parking lot includes multiple pay stations for customer access.
Parking fees are structured in tiers with higher rates closer to downtown and lower rates for meters located further from the central downtown area in order to create turnover within the most convenient and desirable on-street parking spaces while managing offstreet resources appropriately.
Parking rates and the fines list are available at GJCity.org along with maps representing downtown parking.
n CLIFTON LIBRARY CELEBRATES NEW MURAL ON APRIL 5
The Mesa County Libraries Clifton Branch, 3270 D 1/2 Road, Building A. will host an event April 5, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., to show off the new outdoor mural created by local artist Jeremy Velasquez.
The mural was commissioned by the Colorado Area Health Education Center Medicina y Urban/Rural Art Lessons en Salud (MURALS) Project, which commissions local artists to create informative and beautiful artwork on large structures throughout the state. These murals communicate health messages in culturally resonant ways to communities throughout Colorado.
The Clifton Library mural celebrates Clifton’s cultural heritage and the active, outdoor lifestyle the community embraces.
The Colorado Area Health Education Center will provide free health screenings and sponsor a food truck at the event.
n BLM TO HOST VIRTUAL MEETINGS IN APRIL
The Bureau of Land Management Northwest, Southwest and Rocky Mountain Resource Advisory Councils (RACs) will meet jointly, April 2 and individually April 3. The April 2 meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. On April 3, the Northwest and Southwest RACs will meet jointly from 9 a.m. to noon. The Rocky Mountain RAC will meet individually from 9 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.
Planned agenda items for joint RAC meetings include discussions about outdoor recreation and range management. The individual RAC meetings may include field office updates, as well as presentations on business plans, recreation, energy and minerals, range management or other appropriate topics. The joint and individual RAC meeting agendas will be available online at www.blm.gov/get-involved/resource-advisory-council/near-you/ colorado two weeks prior to the meetings.
Interested individuals can register for the virtual meetings with the following links: v April 2 Joint Northwest, Rocky Mountain, and Southwest RAC meeting: blm.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/G1rnS691RhizRBzu4YpSIw v April 3 Northwest and Southwest RAC meeting: blm.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/UBF6FCUIRBqKEEM9uLFxPA v April 3 Rocky Mountain RAC meeting: blm.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/URXAe8zfQimNBoNdfcWkCw
Public-comment periods are scheduled at 10:30 a.m. for the joint Northwest and Southwest RAC meeting and at 2:30 p.m. for the Rocky Mountain RAC meeting. Depending on the number of people who wish to comment, the amount of time for comments may be limited.
For more information about the April 2 meeting please contact Kirby-Lynn Shedlowski or Steven Hall, blm_co_news@blm.gov. For the joint Southwest and Northwest RAC meeting contact Heather Marsh, hmarsh@blm.gov. For the Rocky Mountain RAC meeting, contact Levi Spellman, lspellman@blm.gov.
All 15-member RACs in Colorado are forums for providing advice and recommendations to the BLM on diverse resource and land-management issues.
