Pitkin County to seek capital supplement to electrify a county-owned Basalt housing unit

Pitkin County staff said on Jan. 14 they plan to seek a supplemental capital appropriation in March to electrify a county-owned housing unit in Basalt rather than replace a failing natural‑gas boiler with another gas system.

Resiliency and Housing Director Ashley Pearl told the board the unit had been vacant since the prior occupant moved out and that county crews discovered substantial repair needs, including a boiler running at below 50 percent efficiency and piping or valve issues that reduced system performance. The project already included interior repairs and finishes the county began after an initial operating supplemental; while the county could have replaced the boiler with a new gas unit, staff said they prefer to retrofit the unit to electric heating to align with board climate goals and reduce tenants’ long-term utility costs.

Pearl described the financials on the proposal: staff used an operating budget and an earlier supplemental request tied to an operating fund; because the work includes long-lived capital improvements and electrical upgrades, staff proposed moving the request into the county capital fund. Pearl said the county originally had about $18,000 in operating funds allocated and had requested a supplement in the range of $140,000–$148,000 from the housing operating fund for the broader renovation; following a decision to electrify the heating system staff will instead request a capital supplement of roughly $175,000, which represents about $92,000 more than assumed under the prior operating-only plan. The presentation said the county expects to pursue available rebates and grants, and Pearl noted the project budget assumes a $15,000 grant from CORE (Colorado Energy Office/provider program) and that staff secured multiple contractor bids.

Pearl described this unit as one test case among the county’s portfolio (the county owns about 19 housing units) and said electrification of multifamily or condominium units presents additional complications: condominiums and HOAs can complicate through‑the‑wall or building‑wide retrofits and might require amendments to HOA documents to complete shared-system upgrades. Commissioners discussed possible ways to coordinate upgrades across multi-unit properties and asked staff to consider future programmatic opportunities and lessons learned that could inform incentives or partnerships to scale retrofits.

Pearl asked the board to allow staff to bring a formal supplemental capital appropriation request in March with a fuller AIS packet and said staff would return with final contractor bids, utility-infrastructure implications, available rebates and updated cost estimates. Commissioners indicated support for moving forward with a supplemental request and asked staff to document lessons learned and the unit‑specific technical details to inform future retrofit planning across the county’s housing inventory.

Clarifying note: the meeting agenda referenced “3202 Elk Run” as the Basalt property; during the presentation staff also used a different internal address reference. Staff will provide exact parcel and address information in the March supplemental packet.