Basalt

Council Clings to Hope for Childcare Center

The Basalt Town Council is reluctant to let go of the prospect of opening a child-care or youth center in favor of affordable-housing units in the long-awaited Stott’s Mill development, even as the town struggles to find a willing provider for the space, the Aspen Times reported. Council members, the Stott’s Mill developer, and local child-care/youth education experts recently discussed the future of the 4,000-square-foot space in the development.

The multi-building residential development received approval through Ordinance 20 in 2017, contingent upon the installment of a child-care center that would pay 80% of the market-rental rate or about $2,400 monthly. It also allowed the convergence of the space to two Category 2 deed-restricted housing units. But now, as the residential buildings are on track to be completed this year, the Basalt council has yet to attract anyone to offer childcare services due a lack of staff and the price of operation.