Local issues keep piling up, no one seems interested in even looking at the problems. Solutions to these problems will require major change. Stop treading water and start swimming toward a destination or drown.
Estes Park is mired in the null; a local political mind set stuck looking backwards as to what was and not what needs to be accomplished to move forward. Times change, communities grow larger, and problems become ever more complex and more compounded. Past generations of trustees have ignored basic infrastructure issues, basic growth issues, avoided making the hard unpopular decisions, preferring to pass the tough issues on to the next generation. Estes Park keeps piling the dirty laundry in the back room where it only piles up, it doesn't go away. We have two police forces, two building oversight requirements, two fee structures, two sewer districts, and a host of agreements and arrangements no one understands. Pockets of uncontrolled development all around Estes Park have been dumped in the valley with inadequate infrastructure. In town - out of town, equalization, own a business in town and live out of town. Estes Park is a political cesspool.
TO DO LIST:
Home Rule Charter; create a document of limitations that will require our community to operate in a transparent manner. A slower but more accountable government of the people.
Outline a town government with districts and trustees elected from six separate districts.
Consolidate the two sewer districts into one town department.
Consolidate the parks and recreation district into the town's parks department.
Hire responsible and competent governmental legal guidance.
EPURA needs to expire.
Create strict zoning and land use policies that stop development sprawl and concentrate development in the present downtown business district. Create a pedestrian village downtown of mixed use - retail/residential, combining affordable housing and high end residence.
Annex in surrounding pockets of development; requiring upgrades in roads, utilities at the land/home owner expense, costs of up grades in infrastructure to be attached to property tax -until costs are recovered. Not voluntarily.
Remove the town control of advertising and marketing, which has evolved into the town's political/propaganda department. Advertising and marketing are a major function of business and not civic government. The town is awful at advertising and marketing anyway with a 25% annual occupancy rate, what's to loose? What we would gain is a town government that would concentrate on civic government's primary roll and fulfillment obligation; infrastructure maintenance.
Hire competent top shelf administrators/managers imported to attend to specific community needs. Example: we need a town administrator with experience in the Home Rule transformation process.
Tough Love, time to grow up Estes Park!
