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Pitkin County OKs easement with Holy Cross Energy to power airport air‑quality monitors; program cost near $1M
Summary
The board approved agreements with Holy Cross Energy to provide power and an underground easement for two staffed reference air‑quality monitoring shelters at Aspen–Pitkin County Airport and authorized the air-quality monitoring rollout, which staff said will include nine solar remote units and two electrically powered reference stations; estimated program cost is close to $1,000,000.
Pitkin County commissioners voted Dec. 17 to authorize two agreements with Holy Cross Energy that permit trenching, conduit and a vault to provide electric service to two reference monitoring buildings at Aspen–Pitkin County Airport as part of a larger air-quality monitoring program.
Airport staff said the monitoring rollout — delayed in part by a recent federal government shutdown — has been in planning for months and will combine nine solar-powered remote units with two reference stations that require electricity and heating to protect sensitive instruments. Greg Boyd of airport leadership said staff hope to have the installed buildings online and collecting data by January and that Holy Cross had provided limited enabling work so equipment could be placed quickly.
Commissioners pressed staff for program detail and costs. Airport staff estimated the overall program expenditure "close to $1,000,000," and promised to return with pictures, a map of unit locations and technical specifications. Public-comments questions had asked whether the reference units could be solar-powered; staff and consultants said the reference shelters include a heating component not reliably supported by solar for year-round instrumentation.
The board approved the emergency ordinance enabling the easement and authorized the chair to sign; the matter will have a confirmatory public hearing on Jan. 14. Staff said they will bring consultants back to present program details, monitoring intervals, and what the stations will measure.
Why it matters: The county framed the project as a baseline monitoring effort tied to airport closure planning and noise/air-quality studies. The mix of solar and grid-powered stations aims to deliver a higher standard of reference data, while rapid installation was cited as the reason for the emergency action.
