Wasting Away

By Deborah Williams Glenwood Springs

I thought there'd be a pearly gate, and angels to welcome me in. But lying here bored in this wooden box, I wish I'd enjoyed more sin!

Left: A homemade cookie served at the Holy Cross Cattlemen's Association meeting in Rifle on Saturday, Jan.21. Photo by Amy Hadden Marsh

Years of the Hare

Sealed bids for the construction of the 8th St Improvements Project will be received from invited Bidders by the Town of Carbondale (“OWNER”) at Town Hall, 511 Colorado Ave, Carbondale, CO 81623, until 1:00 PM on February 13, 2023, at which time the Bids received will be publicly opened and read. The project consists of constructing approximately 1000 LF of curb, gutter and sidewalk; curb extensions; drainage structures; and other street improvements. Bids will be received for a single prime Contract. Bids shall be on a unit price basis as indicated in the Bid Form. Bidding Documents will be provided to prospective Bidders as electronic PDF files. The Issuing Office for the Bidding Documents is Roaring Fork Engineering (RFE), 592 Hwy 133, Carbondale, CO, 81623 (Contact: Anthony Alfini, PE (970) 618-7073, AnthonyA@rfeng.biz). Prospective Bidders may examine the Bidding Documents at the Issuing Office on Mondays through Fridays between the hours of 8 AM to 5 PM and may obtain copies of the Bidding Documents from the Issuing Office as described below. Bidding Documents are available as electronic portable document format (PDF) files. Alternatively, printed Bidding Documents may be obtained from the Issuing Office via in-person pick-up, for a nonrefundable charge of $75 per set. Checks for Bidding Documents shall be payable to Roaring Fork Engineering. The date that the Bidding Documents are transmitted by the Issuing Office will be considered the date of receipt of the Bidding Documents. Partial sets of Bidding Documents will not be available from the Issuing Office. Neither Owner nor Engineer will be responsible for full or partial sets of Bidding Documents, including Addenda if any, obtained from sources other than the Issuing Office. A pre-bid conference will be held at 2:00 PM on February 2, 2023 at the intersection of 8th St and the Rio Grande Trail in Carbondale, CO. Attendance at the pre-bid conference is highly encouraged but is not mandatory. A 5% bid security shall be furnished in accordance with the Instructions to Bidders. Bidders shall submit proof of qualifications to perform the Work as described in the Instructions to Bidders.

Letters

creating barriers for animal movement and migration and pressuring them with recreation, we create unnatural struggles that wildlife are forced to overcome. I appreciate the need for people to have places to live and support themselves. But in doing so we create a moral obligation to lessen such negative impacts on our fellow living things.

Movement of animals is natural and necessary. They must move to survive, to eat, to find safe shelter and to adapt to an ever-changing environment. Our collective impact on the climate makes this movement an even more urgent matter of survival.

The work of WBI has revealed that there seems to be adequate space and forage to provide survival opportunities. But the wildlife must have access to those opportunities. That is what RFSP is focused on; analyzing the need for, and eventual establishment of, corridors to allow wildlife movements across Highway 82 and elsewhere as needed.

Imagine having your kitchen on one side of the highway and the rest of your home on the other. Imagine your family on one side, and you on the other. Remember, multi-ton metal objects are hurtling along that highway day and night. That's what our wildlife neighbors face every day. It isn't just that we break up habitats, occupy them and change them. We create barriers to access the habits that remain.

It isn't enough to preserve, protect and manage habitats on behalf of nature's needs. We must provide safe access. The newly formed RFSP is trying to do just that. I support their efforts and those organizations such as WBI that support them by providing the data necessary to make good choices in how and where we provide that safe access.

Wildlife has it hard enough. We make it worse by our past, present and future choices and behaviors. Safe corridors for movement to help wildlife thrive isn't just a great idea, it's what we owe them in return for our collective actions.

If you'd like to learn more, attend a Naturalist Night on Jan. 25 in Carbondale and Jan. 26 in Aspen, where the executive director of RFSP, Cecily DeAngelo, will be speaking.

Ted A. Behar, Carbondale

Thanking schools

January is School Board Recognition Month. Every year, we take this opportunity to publicly thank our elected Board members for volunteering their time and talent to the Roaring Fork Schools. Kathryn Kuhlenberg, Jasmin Ramirez, Natalie Torres, Maureen Stepp, and Kenny Teitler spend countless hours every month to make public education the best it can be in our district, and our school district is better because of their individual and collective efforts.

Over the past year, our board has hired a new superintendent, updated dozens of policies, passed resolutions of support for LGBTQ+ students and for Hispanic Heritage Month, regularly visited schools, and engaged a board coach to improve our school’s governance practices.

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Our board makes tough decisions on complex issues that affect our entire school community. Board members bear responsibility and oversight for an annual budgeted appropriation of $100 million; 6,300 students in 14 schools; and 1,000 employees across our district.

Being a board member is never easy, but it has been especially challenging these past few years during a global pandemic and in the face of other controversial political issues. Each board member has been tasked to make difficult decisions as school community members called for contradicting actions. They handled these challenges with grace, diplomacy, wisdom, and compassion.

Thank you to each of our board members. We are grateful for your service and leadership. With three of five seats up for election on Nov. 7, 2023, we hope you will join us in thanking our board members for all that they have done for our school district community over the years.

Superintendent Jesús Rodríguez, Roaring Fork Schools

Letter policy: The Sopris Sun welcomes local letters to the editor. Letters of 500 words or less stand a better chance of being printed. Letters exclusive to The Sopris Sun (not appearing in other papers) are particularly welcome. We reserve the right to edit letters for length and content. Please include your name and place of residence. Letters are due to news@soprissun.com by noon on the Monday before we go to print.

Trustees generally agreed with the town’s recommendation against adoption of the RWAPA plan as it exists, while supporting the intention to educate the public to conserve water. The topic will be revisited during a future meeting.

Next, trustees unanimously approved their first ordinance of the year, codifying the 6% short-term rentals tax approved by voters. Anything booked prior to Jan. 1 will not owe the tax and collection will begin on April 1.

Trustees then revisited the bag fee ordinance, passed in 2012, in light of new statewide legislation. Whereas the town’s ordinance removed plastic bags from retailers of a certain size, namely City Market, and placed a 20-cent fee on paper bags, the statewide legislation broadens the ban to include other stores, but not “small stores” that are not national franchises and operate fewer than four locations in the state. The state’s fee is 10 cents per bag and it allows for stores to phase out plastic up until 2024.

Town staff’s recommendation to include all stores and maintain a 20-cent fee will be considered at a future meeting with a public hearing.

The meeting concluded with an executive session “for discussion of a personnel matter.”

The working-exhibit, “Art in Process,” currently on display — and happening in real-time — at The Art Base in Basalt is about as interactive as it gets. This is the second annual iteration of “Art in Process.” Those wandering into the space will be greeted by the exhibit’s lead artist, Reina Katzenberger, and more than likely by other contributing artists of all ages and abilities.

There is no judgment, assures Katzenberger, who encourages anyone participating to not judge their own work either. Whereas last year’s “Art in Process” focused on a single piece — which currently hangs at the Basalt Library — this year there are several developing pieces by several different artists.

“Art in Process” closes Friday, Feb. 3, and the closing party is that same evening, from 5 to 7 p.m.

(Above) Katzenberger’s mother, Deborah Jones, works on a piece that traces the path of some of the first visitors to this year’s “Art in Process.”

(Right) Reina Katzenberger stands in front of works by various artists.

(Left) Katzenberger’s niece makes her mark. Photos by James Steindler NOTICE

A CALL FOR NOMINATIONS (NOTICE BY PUBLICATION OF) §1-13.5-501, 1-13.5-1102(3), 32-1-905(2), C.R.S.

580 WEST MAIN STREET, SUITE 100 CARBONDALE, CO 81623 HAS REQUESTED

CARBONDALE, CO 81623

CARBONDALE TOWN HALL

511 COLORADO AVENUE CARBONDALE, COLORADO AND VIA ZOOM

DATE AND TIME: FEBRUARY 28, 2023 AT 6:00 P.M. DATE OF APPLICATION: JANUARY 24, 2023

BY ORDER OF: BEN BOHMFALK, MAYOR

APPLICANT: JORDAN WHITE

Information may be obtained from, and Petitions or Remonstrance’s may be filed with the Town Clerk

Carbondale Town Hall, 511 Colorado Avenue, Carbondale, CO 81623

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, and, particularly, to the electors of the Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District of Garfield, Gunnison, and Pitkin Counties, Colorado.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that an election will be held on the 2nd day of May, 2022, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. At that time, two (2) directors will be elected to serve 4-year terms Eligible electors of the Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District in serving on the board of directors may obtain a Self-Nomination and Acceptance form from the District Designated Election Official (DEO): Jennifer Cutright, Designated Election Official 301 Meadowood Drive, Carbondale, CO 81623 DEO Address 970-963-2491 DEO Telephone cutright@carbondalefire.org DEO email

The Office of the DEO is open on the following days: Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The deadline to submit a Self-Nomination and Acceptance is close of business 4:30 p.m. on February 24, 2023 (not less than 67 days before the election). Affidavit of Intent To Be A Write-In-Candidate forms must be submitted to the office of the designated election official by the close of business on Monday, February 27, 2023 (the sixty-fourth day before the election). NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN, an application for an absentee ballot shall be filed with the designated election official no later than the close of business on Tuesday preceding the election, April 25, 2023.

Jennifer Cutright Designated Election Official Signature