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Huerfano County accepts donated Walsenburg hospital site and approves redevelopment subdivision; contractor presses for fuller asbestos remediation
Summary
The board approved Resolution 25-44 to subdivide and prepare 127 West 7th Street for redevelopment and accepted a donated property at 532 West 7th Street for Brownfield redevelopment; contractor Ryan Gies questioned the scope of asbestos removal and urged full abatement rather than selective mitigation.
Huerfano County commissioners voted Dec. 9 to advance local Brownfield redevelopment efforts, approving Resolution 25-44 to subdivide 127 West 7th Street in Walsenburg and accepting a donation of 532 West 7th Street via Resolution 25-45 for Brownfield cleanup.
During the subdivision discussion staff said the county intends to retain the property only while county economic development pursues EPA grants to fund asbestos cleanup and that the property will not remain county-owned indefinitely. "It's to retain the property while... county economic development applies for EPA grants to pay for the cleanup of asbestos on this property," an unidentified speaker said.
Following the motions, contractor and resident Ryan Gies identified himself and pressed county staff on the scope of asbestos removal at county projects. "In the case of this building, I don't see any future use of this building. It should be totally raised to the ground," Gies said, arguing that selective mitigation in previous projects left buildings with remaining asbestos and higher eventual costs. County staff responded that for renovation projects the county typically mitigates asbestos necessary for construction work, while full cleanup projects are treated differently. "When we do a renovation project... we tend to mitigate just the asbestos that we need for the construction project versus this, which is a cleanup project and not a construction project," an unidentified staff member said.
Both resolutions passed on motions from commissioners with no recorded dissent in the meeting transcript. The board did not set a specific timetable for EPA grant applications or detailed cleanup scopes during the public meeting; staff directed interested parties to coordinate with county economic development for more information.
The accepted donation and subdivision approval position the county to pursue federal cleanup funding, but public questioning highlighted local concern that selective asbestos mitigation may leave hazards unaddressed without a comprehensive remediation plan.
