Residents urge action on 6th Street safety, ask council to endorse 'Take a Minute' campaign

Several residents and merchants urged Glenwood Springs City Council on May 1 to take steps to reduce crime and safety problems on the 6th Street block, pressing for immediate steps such as lighting grants, stronger enforcement and formal council support for a volunteer traffic‑safety campaign.

Diane Reynolds, a Blake Avenue resident, asked the council to “once again unanimously reconfirm support for this campaign,” referring to the neighborhood-led Take a Minute — slow down in town effort to reduce speeds and improve pedestrian safety. Laurie Chase, who said her nonprofit arts council suffered vandalism, described a rise in transient activity and suggested the council look into motion‑activated deterrents; she told the council she had shared a product called “Blue Chirper,” a device she described as “a motion activated blue light ... [that] chirps like a cricket.”

Tracy Wilson, who lives on 6th Street, told the council the block between Glenwood Springs Bridal and the Hot Springs Pool is important to residents, merchants, artists and tourists and that “there has been an influx and increasing concerns about the health, safety, and daily well‑being of our stakeholders.” She described recurring vandalism, human waste and people sleeping on private property and asked for systems to protect residents and businesses as construction and new public spaces come online.

Councilors responded with immediate, short‑term options and a plan to follow up. Councilor Zelensky and others pointed to a Downtown Development Authority lighting grant that can fund building‑backlighting in alleyways; Councilor Zelensky also noted the city’s victim assistance fund may help with property damage if an arrest leads to a claim. Council and staff agreed to follow up with the speakers and to place the topic on a near-term agenda or work session so council can consider coordinated next steps.

The council did not take a formal vote on any new enforcement measure at the meeting. Several council members emphasized that the problems straddle public‑safety and social‑service responses: “If they’re behaving badly, that’s the issue,” one councilor said during the discussion, but staff and other councilors noted limits to purely enforcement approaches and flagged physical design measures and community programs as complementary tools. The council asked staff to evaluate lighting, DDA grants and options for a constrained work session to develop an action plan.

Next steps: councilors said staff would follow up with the speakers and bring options — including DDA lighting, signage and potential agenda placement for formal council consideration — to a future meeting.