MORE DELAYS FOR CARBONDALE CITY MARKET
Carbondale—Carbondale residents are wondering if a new City Market and gas station will ever get off the ground. The town council granted Kroger, the nation’s top grocery store chain a 90 day extension to work out a few problems. It’s the sixth time the long suffering council has granted an extension. The man that’s been spearheading the massive project over the last few years is the King Soopers / City Market real estate manager Joel Starbuck. He says in addition to the company cutting back on capital expenditures, the construction industry is going so well and making so much money, contractors are less inclined to sacrifice profits for a project of this nature. He says the bids are coming in a way too high.
FOREST SERVICE CONSIDERS PLAN TO PREVENT CAMPERS FROM TRASHING MAROON BELLS AREA
Aspen—Growing hordes of people have been trashing trails and camping areas in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness Area with waste from humans and dogs, garbage, illegal campfires and cut tree limbs. To protect the natural resources and prevent further erosion, White River National Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams is calling for a reservation system to put a cap on permits for overnight camping. The hardest hit areas of late have been Conundrum Creek and Conundrum Hot Springs where 136 pounds of trash was collected and packed out by rangers last year alone. In addition to a reservation system, Phase 2 of the Overnight Use Visitor Management Plan will focus on Crater Lake, the Four Pass Loop, Maroon Lake, Snowmass Lake, North Fork, East Fork and Upper Snowmass. In those areas last summer, rangers found over 270 sites of human waste along trails. Barring any major objections, the Phase 1 reservation system will begin next summer.
