New logo approved

By Will Buzzerd Sopris Sun Correspondent

On April 25, Basalt Town Council convened for its regular meeting to discuss Midland Avenue, approve a new logo and fill a final open committee open seat.

During the public comment period, Crown Mountain Board of Directors candidate Shelley Lundh introduced herself, asking for the Council’s vote in the upcoming May 2 board election. Freeman is an Aspen-born business owner and has lived in the Valley since 1988. If elected, she plans to maintain the quality of Crown Mountain’s facilities and possibly install pickleball courts adjacent to the tennis courts. Eagle County residents can vote inperson at the bike and tennis clubhouse at Crown Mountain Park.

Also during public comments, two citizens criticized the Midland Streetscape Project’s arrangement of parking, arguing that the rearrangement of spaces further away from businesses would disproportionately affect elderly patrons and reduce customer traffic, exacerbating an existing issue in Old Town Basalt. Public attendees also pressed the Town to enforce two-hour parking limits as designated.

During Council comments, David Knight spoke about a potential Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) regulation which would change opening dates of the State Wildlife Area near the Basalt Public Shooting Range. Originally closed to hikers from Dec. 1 to April 15, if signed the CPW closing period would extend until July 15. Knight encouraged citizens who use the area recreationally to read page 17 of updated chapter W-9 (which covers this potential change) and visit engagecpw.org to comment by May 24.

Councilor Elyse Hottel also offered an update. As a representative for the West Mountain Regional Housing Coalition, Hottel announced a survey for renters in the Roaring Fork Valley to assess housing difficulties and fill in gaps in understanding. The survey is available in English and Spanish and will be posted on Basalt’s official website. Although she has formally abstained from all Council actions related to the Midland Streetscape Project, as an employee of Connect One Design, Hottel stressed the climatological ramifications of the project.

“I feel like I would be remiss to not mentioning that the conflict over parking is contrary to our stated desire to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in this city,” she stated, arguing that the first step toward making a dent in local emissions is looking for transportation alternatives.

Moving onto the manager’s report, Ryan Mahoney gave a shoutout to Police Chief Greg Knott for presenting to the Healthy Rivers board in Carbondale and

Engineers for subsurface utility engineering as a necessary step toward eventually installing a roundabout at Industry Place and Highway 133. After unanimous approval was granted, Mayor Ben Bohmfalk inquired about the project timeline.

“In general, we’ll complete this part of the work, refine the design based on what we see, start getting CDOT involved — looking at it, getting feedback on it — and that’s the point where it gets real,” said Schorzman. “At that point, we’ll have a pretty good idea hopefully of the cost of the project. It’s not going to be cheap.” The earliest he estimated construction could begin is sometime in 2025.

In other news, Carbondale’s annual spring clean-up and recycling event is this Saturday, April 29, from 8am to 2pm. Located at the Fourth and Colorado parking lot, electronic waste, mattresses, metal, textiles, batteries, tires and more can be recycled. Hazardous waste will not be accepted at this event. Learn more at www.carbondalegov.org receiving a $4,000 grant to help pay for a stream gauge by the Pueblo Bridge. Additionally, Mahoney encouraged citizens to check out the renovations at Swinging Bridge, which now has permanent lighting fixtures.

Next was the Town’s 2022 fourth quarter financial report, which held good news. In the general fund, despite budgeting a $2 million loss for the fiscal year, revenue exceeded expenses by $2 million, largely caused by increased sales taxes and increased sale of building permits. Similarly, the restricted fund budgeted for a loss of $3.3 million, but revenue exceeded expenses by $1.4 million.

The first in a short series of Council actions was the approval of Basalt’s new logo. Directed by Slate Communications, the process for the new logo has been in the works since the winter of 2022, employing local design groups as well as a brand committee which included Basalt High School students Owen Lambert and Holden Lahey. After a series of surveys and many discarded drafts, the Town unanimously settled on a modern design highlighting the confluence of the Fryingpan and Roaring Fork rivers.

The next action was the interview and unanimous appointment of Basalt area resident Sara Garcia to the last open chair of the Basalt Affordable Housing Committee. Garcia works as an economic specialist for Eagle County and brings a professional understanding and Latina perspective to local housing issues. With her appointment, all of Basalt’s public committees are now full.

Following was a second hearing for an amendment concerning affordable housing units at Basalt River Park set aside for Colorado Mountain College and the Roaring Fork Fire Rescue Authority. The amendment will waive asset restrictions and give priority to these parties for housing use and passed unanimously.

The final action was an unanimously approved easement agreement with Twin Rivers Condominium Association to install soil nails in order to support the new Midland Spur retaining wall, which is the first of many potential easement agreements to be signed as the Streetscape Project progresses.

By Myki Jones Sopris Sun Correspondent

Laughing Tiger Films is an up-and-coming film production company owned and operated by two women screenwriters and producers residing in Colorado. Their mission is to tell the stories of women from all walks of life.

Molly Rosenberg and Sara Page recently optioned the rights to Colorado author Elea Plotkin’s “The Procedure,” a locally-inspired novel centered around professional skiing that was recently featured in The Sopris Sun. It’s the story of a young female extreme skier who faces trials and tribulations in her career while also being a single mother to a child with a seizure disorder.

Rosenberg is originally from Canada, where her career in screenwriting and production began. Her most notable work was the 2001 Canadian romantic drama “The War Bride”. She was a producer and co-writer of the film and has resided in Littleton for 14 years.

Page also owns Pathway Productions and once received a Peabody Award. She has 20 years of experience in documentary and adventure filmmaking that began at National Geographic. Her most notable works are “China Beyond the Clouds,” “Submarine 1-52” and “The Shape of Life.” She and her family reside in Golden. They sat down with The Sopris Sun to discuss the process of bringing “The Procedure” to the screen and what they have in mind for the future of Laughing Tiger Productions.

Rosenberg and Page met in China, where their children were part of the “Colorado Children Chorale.” They later did a companion tour in 2019, just before the outbreak of COVID-19. Then, Rosenberg roped Page into attending several writing courses together at Lighthouse Writers in Denver.

Their company was named by combining Rosenberg’s Chinese Zodiac sign, the tiger, and Page’s love for laughter. While working on projects separately, the two ended up working on a TV pilot together titled “Karma’s a Bitch.” Not long after that, Rosenberg read “The Procedure,” written by her friend of six years.

“I read some earlier drafts, and I always thought it was a fabulous idea cinematically,” Rosenberg said. “Then Sara [Page] approached me and said, ‘Why don't we adapt this book?’ I fell in love with it. I thought it had all of the elements to make a fabulous film,” Rosenberg said.

Page piggybacked on that sentiment, saying that she and Rosenberg have different but complementary visions and energies surrounding their work, and both deeply resonated with the subject material of Plotkin’s novel.

“I'm a huge skier, and both of us are moms,” said Page. “[The book] hit a lot of the questions and contemporary issues around women, mothers and professionals.”

Asked about the vision for their company, Page and Rosenberg agreed they want to focus not only telling the stories of women from all walks of life, but also providing opportunities for women in the film industry and platforming female producers, directors, cinematographers, screenwriters and more. They hope to adapt more books to film as well as write and release original content of their own.

“At this stage of my life, creating Laughing Tiger Films, we are very intentionally wanting to work with like-minded people and to create great movies that say something,” Rosenberg stated.

Page shared the sentiment. “Being in the documentary space for so long, I was drawn to the different individual characters that I kept meeting with interesting stories. I'm in my 50s — I have a different perspective and I'm seeing in entertainment now a broadening of perspectives that include wise women … They