Trustees approve encroachment, water‑allocation changes, wildfire code edits and several municipal contracts

The Town of Buena Vista Board of Trustees took a series of votes on March 24, 2026, approving multiple permits, contracts and policy changes. Highlights and outcomes follow.

Boys & Girls Club encroachment (Resolution 26-2) — Approved Planning Director Mara Cop presented a permanent encroachment request for ADA ramps, stairs, a retaining wall and projecting canopies that would extend into the Cedar Street right-of-way behind the sidewalk to maximize a new Boys & Girls Club building footprint. The board approved the encroachment with staff conditions: execution and recordation of a revocable license agreement, the applicant must name the town as an additional insured for projection insurance, and final construction plans must confirm the encroachment remains outside the sidewalk and does not conflict with utility services. Motion: moved by Trustee Rice, seconded by Trustee Swisser; outcome: approved (voice vote recorded, no opposition reported).

Water-allocation policy amendments (Resolution 26-20) — Approved Staff presented edits to the town's annual water allocation policy, including assignment of a 5 acre‑foot "emergency use" block purchased from the Upper Ark Water Conservancy District, a 90% cap on drawing from the general development category for major subdivisions, a requirement for water-wise landscaping on projects, and language clarifying that fees associated with water augmentation certificates fall to the proposing entity. Trustees adopted the amendments with agreed wording edits clarifying fee responsibility. Motion and second: recorded in the packet; outcome: approved.

Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code (Ordinance 26-07) — Adopted with amendment The trustees held a public hearing and adopted the state-required Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code and associated map, but removed a staff-drafted sentence that would have said the county building-safety agency determines class-one structure-hardening for properties within municipal limits. The board affirmed a ground-truthing appeal process in the local implementation. Motion: adopted on roll call; outcome: ordinance adopted (no opposing votes recorded on roll call).

Airport projects and entitlements (Resolutions 26-26 and 26-27) — Approved The board approved an agreement with Dibble Engineering for AWOS/AWAS design and construction-phase services and acknowledged receipt of a $300,000 CDOT grant plus a proposed local overmatch to support relocation work; trustees asked staff to identify the $30,000 local match within the airport budget or by reprogramming projects. The board also approved transfer of FY25/26 entitlement funds to La Junta Municipal Airport due to that airport's declared need. Both motions passed on roll call (yes votes recorded by present trustees).

Chip-seal contract (Resolution 26-28) — Approved Public works staff recommended a notice of award to A1 Chip Seal for the 2026 chip-seal program (low bid $143,000 against a budgeted $180,000). The board approved the award; staff noted some pre-patching and short FEMA/Floodplain coordination will be needed on limited street segments. Motion: approved on roll call.

DOLA planning grant amendment and housing-action plan authorization — Authorized Trustees authorized the mayor to sign a grant-amendment request to DOLA to reallocate expedited-review incentive funds and part of the town's planning-capacity grant toward consultant work to prepare the housing action plan required by state statute (staff referenced SB 24-174). The mayor will sign the requested amendment; staff will issue a subsequent RFP for consultant services.

Letters of support — Approved The board approved two letters of support: one for a Chaffee County manufactured-home-park replacement effort in Johnson Village, and another for a Places-to-Age assisted-living and memory-care project. Trustees asked staff to provide brief context in future packets when out-of-town projects are included for support.

What’s next Most items were approved unanimously by the trustees present; several approvals carry follow-up conditions (insurance/license recording, final construction-plan review, budget identification for local grant match, and consultant procurement). The electric-code item discussed earlier in the evening remains a work-session topic and has not been scheduled for a final town ordinance vote pending county timing.