News

• Of The Trees Was A Home Run
• Meadows Residents Share Their Feedback

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Of The Trees Was A Home Run

A thumping bass and light show filled Telluride Town Park over the weekend during a two-night concert featuring Denver-based DJ Of the Trees. According to organizers, the event was a home run.

“When we first started to take this on there was a lot of unknowns and fears for what it could be. We didn’t know what the artist was going to be, and I want to thank the town for the trust in Planet Bluegrass and us to know that we would come through in a successful and professional manner,” said Zach Tucker, vice president of Planet Bluegrass, which brought the concert.

Planet Bluegrass and Telluride town staff sat down Monday for a debrief.

“I’m really grateful to the town for letting us give this a try, and I think it was a huge success,” Tucker said.

Capacity for the concert was just over 7,000 attendees per day, but actual attendance was down, with 4,512 people on Friday and 4,736 on Saturday.

The overarching sentiment regarding attendees was highly positive.

“These were the kindest, most gracious, and grateful people we’ve ever had in the campground. I kept waiting for them to break, and they never did,” said Kathleen Morgan, camping manager.

“They just come here to have a good time. They’re extremely respectful. It’s always ‘please, thank you, I’m sorry.’ It’s remarkable and it was fun to do,” said John Cohn, head of security.

Bob Rohrer, who runs the medical tent, said that while they anticipated a large medical need, the concerts ended up being a non-event.

“Based on your numbers, our incident level was 0.001, which is pretty much close to negligible,” Rohrer said.

He reported 60 signatures for over-the-counter medications — mostly ibuprofen and Tums. The medical team was called into the crowd nine times for a person who was down; eight were brought back to the medical tent.

“I learned a lot about ketamine over the weekend, and how to deal with ketamine. We had four ketamine and molly trippers. Patients would typically fall down and mildly pass out for a few moments. Typically, we brought them back to the med tent for 20 minutes to an hour while the ketamine wore off. Every one of them had friends who seemed to be responsible and took care of them, they went on their way. It was extraordinary. That’s usually the hardest part — to find a friend for these folks that we deal with,” Rohrer said.

That’s not to say everyone was happy with the weekend. According to Chief Marshal Josh Comte, the Marshal’s Department received 17 noise complaints — a number much higher than normal.

“Complaining was vibrating windows in homes, the bass was too loud, and complaints about the light show,” Comte said.

When it comes to the noise, Telluride Parks and Recreation Director Stephanie Jacquet noted the town doesn’t have regulations on decibel levels. That said, she looked into the levels and got professional consulting on what they were.

“They were very reasonable dB levels at front of house and customs. It’s more tied to the type of music and the fact that low frequency is going to travel and that traveled outside the park, which is where the complaints were coming from,” Jacquet said.

Telluride Town Council approved the two-night concert for one year. If Planet Bluegrass wants to host the event again, it will need to go through a full approval process.

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Meadows Residents Share Their Feedback

Tucked in the northern part of Mountain Village, the Meadows neighborhood is home to many families and residents.

While the neighborhood is primarily houses, the town of Mountain Village is considering allowing different types of development. It recently sought community input through a community spaces survey.

“We focused our survey on three primary areas: small-scale resident-serving retail, food truck vending, and a skate park. Additionally, the survey asked questions on retail amenities and transportation questions, on bus services, Chondola egress, and the Meadows parking lot,” said Molly Norton, business development manager for the Town of Mountain Village, while presenting data from the survey to Mountain Village Town Council last week.

“The survey provided an opportunity to understand what uses the residents might want to see allowed. So when Amy is ready to make some changes to the CDC we have a good idea of what we want to make sure is included and allowed in that.”

Amy is Mountain Village’s Community Development Director Amy Ward. The CDC refers to the town’s Community Development Code.

The survey was open to Meadows residents from mid-June through early July. In total, 135 people responded.

When looking at resident-serving retail, just over 45% of respondents said they were in favor. Nearly 30% said no, while 25% responded “maybe” in their support. Norton noted, however, that the question itself might have been misleading.

“A lot of the opposition stated they wanted the town working on other things — ‘we want land focused on housing. Is this even feasible?’ That wasn’t really the question. That’s for a business to assess if it’s feasible and obtain the land. Our question was: should this even be an allowed thing in the Meadows,” Norton said.

She added that positive comments included the convenience of a shop in the Meadows and the community-building possibilities. Those in opposition highlighted concerns about increased traffic and a shift away from the quiet community character.

Next up: food truck vending.

According to Norton, just over 50% of survey respondents were in favor, with nearly 28% opposed and 20% responding “maybe.”

“They believe it could provide a convenient, affordable food option for Meadows residents, provide community-building space, and potentially be more viable than a brick-and-mortar location. When you look at the ‘maybes’ and what would tip the scale to more of a majority of support, it would be making sure the food truck is actually affordable and it doesn’t take away permanent parking,” she said.

Finally, the idea of a skate park drew nearly 50% support, approximately 30% opposition, and just under 20% “maybe.” Norton said they heard from members of the community that a skate park would be a good step up from the playground.

“Playgrounds are great, but they’re really for the little kids, and they needed something for the bigger little kids to do. There was also support that if not a skate park, some other kind of recreation was desired,” she said.

According to Norton, those against the idea shared concerns about noise, loss of green space, and a belief that the land could be used for something different.

With none of the topics receiving overwhelming “yes” support, Norton said the survey provides a starting point for continued community engagement.

“My takeaway from this is there’s some great follow-up questions to ask the community,” she said.

Town staff plans to incorporate information from the survey as they move forward with possible development in the Meadows.

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Voters to Decide on 5% Ski Lift Ticket Tax in November

Mountain Village is officially sending a ballot measure to voters in November that, if passed, would place a 5% sales tax on ski lift ticket purchases — with an exception for season pass holders.

Revenue from the proposed tax would go toward funding the gondola. The measure comes after stalled negotiations between the San Miguel Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) and Telluride Ski Resort (Telski) over a financial contribution for gondola operations.

Mountain Village had originally planned to put the measure to a vote in June but postponed it to gather additional information from stakeholders.

The Town of Telluride is also sending a similar question to its voters.

The question on whether to place a 5% tax on the sale of ski lift tickets will go before voters in both Mountain Village and Telluride in the Nov. 4 election.

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Telluride Arts Looks for Community Ideas

Telluride Arts officially has a new executive director.

Jessica Galbo took the helm on Monday morning. A longtime member of the Telluride community, Galbo most recently served as executive director of the Telluride AIDS Benefit.

In a message to the community, Galbo said one of her first priorities at the organization is to listen and learn — to hear from the community about their hopes, visions, and ideas for the future of Telluride Arts.

As part of that effort, Telluride Arts will host a series of “open houses and listening times” next week.

The listening sessions will take place Sept. 2–4 at the Telluride Arts HQ on Pacific Avenue, from noon to 3 p.m.

The community is welcome to drop by, share their thoughts, and say hello.

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“Horned” Rabbits Found in Colorado

Some cottontail rabbits in Fort Collins have been spotted with hornlike growths on their heads.

Experts say the condition is caused by the relatively harmless Shope papilloma virus.

Dr. Valerie McKenzie, a researcher in parasitology at the University of Colorado Boulder, said the virus causes growths that resemble warts in humans or other animals.

“And so it’s really just an extra growth of that skin,” McKenzie said. “But then it gets melanized and keratinized, so it turns that dark color. So that’s why they look dark and they kind of look like horns.”

Dr. McKenzie said rabbits can contract the virus through bites from insects like ticks and mosquitoes, as well as through some direct contact with other rabbits.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife advises people not to touch or otherwise attempt to help infected rabbits.

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Colorado Special Legislative Session Enters Second Week Amid Budget, AI Debates

The special legislative session continues into a second week at the state Capitol.

Tensions were high over the weekend as state lawmakers met to address a roughly $1 billion budget shortfall and to revise a controversial law regulating artificial intelligence.

For the Colorado Capitol News Alliance, Bente Birkeland has more.

Story beings at 10:32.

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National Park Service Marks 109th Anniversary Amid Budget Cuts

Monday marks the 109th anniversary of the National Park Service.

The anniversary arrives amid proposed budget cuts ranging from hundreds of millions to more than $1 billion, along with staffing reductions and shortages.

Rocky Mountain Community Radio’s Caroline Llanes has more on what advocates are doing to draw attention to the issue.

Story beings at 11:39.