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Colorado - Fri. 08/09/24 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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MORTGAGE RATES DROP TO 15-MONTH LOW
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The average rate on the standard 30-year fixed mortgage fell around a quarter percentage point to 6.47 percent, according to a survey of lenders released Thursday by mortgage-finance giant Freddie Mac, a low not seen since May 2023 and the sharpest weekly decline in around nine months. If sustained, lower mortgage rates could help shepherd some Americans back into a market that they have been priced out of in recent years. Home sales last year fell to their lowest level in nearly three decades, and they have been similarly sluggish in 2024. Inventory of homes for sale has been rising but it remains well below historic averages, which could keep a damper on sales activity unless supply picks up. But the past week’s big drop is raising hopes that it could spur more buyer interest.
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'DESIGNATED DISPERSED' CAMPING COMES TO ANOTHER PART OF COLORADO
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The U.S. Forest Service announced a shift to "designated dispersed" camping sites only in an area of the Homestake Valley where camping has "significantly increased" over the years. Eagle-Holy Cross District Ranger Leanne Veldhuis said campsites had proliferated in number and size, "resulting in impacts to streambanks and other sensitive areas." Starting next week, campers will be pointed to about 50 marked sites along Forest Service roads 703 (Homestake Road) and 704 (Missouri Road) — around Homestake Creek in the White River National Forest outside Red Cliff. The sites have been marked with familiar brown posts, and campfires will be limited to metal rings expected to be installed later this summer. The sites will be first-come, first-served. Another option in the area is the developed Gold Park Campground, with 12 first-come, first-served sites.
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BERTHOUD BUILDING INCLUSIVE PARK FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES
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The town of Berthoud broke ground on the Berthoud Adaptive Park Project on May 29. The park is Berthoud’s first inclusive playground of any kind but will be one of the most inclusive in northern Colorado, serving children with disabilities. Berthoud launched the park thanks to Lauren and Richard Bowling, parents of a child who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. The Bowlings raised money for the park with a ridiculously successful lemonade stand (this year’s annual event raised more than $13,000, for a total of $53,000 over four years) and the help of Can’d Aid, a Longmont nonprofit launched in 2013 by craft-brew-in-a-can pioneer Dale Katechis. The park will feature play equipment designed to be used with other people, with a concrete slide, for instance, that’s extra wide and doesn’t cause static that can knock out pacemakers and bother those with hearing difficulties, as well as bathrooms with oversized stalls and adult changing tables.
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BELOVED COLORADO MOUNTAIN POND TO REMAIN DRY - FOR NOW
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The pond outside Twin Lakes is the center of a fight between town residents and a real estate developer hoping to develop a residential community east of the tiny town in central Colorado. The pond went dry after developer AngelView at Twin Lakes deepened the streambed where two channels split, sending all the water to the channel that flows southeast and drying the channel flowing southwest to the pond. The developer, Alan Elias, said the deepening was necessary to comply with a legal obligation to measure water flow farther downstream. Elias said the company had no obligation to send water down the channel to the Barn Pond because that channel was an illegal ditch. The Colorado Division of Water Resources’ engineers agreed. Rick Akin, pushing for the restoration of the pond, has filed paperwork to create a nonprofit to manage the pond’s water supply and bought a headgate to control flow down the creek, should flow be allowed to return.
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HUNT NABS ASPEN PROPERTIES IN $62M DEAL
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Business entities under the control of developer Mark Hunt paid a combined $62 million for four family-owned downtown Aspen properties, according to transaction records entered by the Pitkin County Clerk & Recorder’s Office on Wednesday. For Hunt, the four purchases added 27,655 square feet of commercial space and 4,728 square feet of residential to his stable of downtown real estate. The deal left Hunt with the following properties:
- 426 E. Hyman Ave. — The mixed-use building has a three-bedroom, two-bath residence encompassing 2,040 square feet, and 7,600 square feet of commercial space. The sale price was $13.283 million.
- 410 E. Hyman Ave. — Located in the Hyman Avenue walking mall, the building has 2,688 square feet of residential space with five bedrooms and five bathrooms. It comes with 7,800 square feet of retail and commercial space. The sale price was $19.445 million.
- 514 E. Hyman Ave. — The 7,933-square-feet of commercial space is the home of Coldwell Banker Mason Morse. The sale price was $16.639 million.
- 617 E. Cooper Ave., Unit B — Part of the Aspen Square building, the 4,072-square-foot space is all retail. It sold for $12.644 million.
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ASPEN SCHOOL DISTRICT BANS CELL PHONE USE
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Cell phone use is being banned at the Aspen School District (ASD). The ban goes into effect beginning in the 2024-2025 academic year after months of conversations on how to address derailed instruction time and declining mental health due to cell phone use. The decision to adopt a cell-phone-free policy was driven by a desire to enhance focus while learning, improve social interactions, and improve mental health and well-being among ASD students. Each school has differing rules and disciplinary actions under the new policy, but the ban is universal for Aspen elementary, middle and high schools. Aspen High School Principal Sarah Strassburger will host a virtual meeting for families at 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 14 to answer questions regarding the new cell-phone policy. The district will send an email to families with login information closer to the meeting.
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FRUITA COMMUNITY CENTER: RECORD USAGE
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The Fruita Community Center has seen four months in a row of record attendance. Fruita Parks and Recreation Director Marc Mancuso said the Community Center typically sees an increase in usage during the summer months because of warm weather and kids being out of school. However, this year has seen an even more pronounced increase than previous years. “Last year in June we had 18,644 visits,” Mancuso said. “In 2024 we had 22,031 visits, so that’s almost 4,000 more visits just in June.” Mancuso said Fruita’s pools are its biggest draw — it has both an indoor and outdoor pool. “In our senior population, we’ve had about a 30 percent increase from this time last year,” Mancuso said. Overall, the Fruita Community Center has had more than 131,000 visits through the end of July this year. That’s more than 12,000 more visits than it had through the same time period in 2023.
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LIMITED OVERNIGHT TRAFFIC TO BE ALLOWED ON LAKE FORK BRIDGE
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The Colorado Dept. of Transportation scrapped plans for full overnight closures of the U.S. 50 Lake Fork bridge. Instead, CDOT will conduct extended flagging operations on the bridge after Labor Day. This is a shift from the originally planned overnight full closures that were scheduled to occur starting Aug. 12. Crews will be conducting repair work on the bridge overnight and will be allowing approved vehicles over the bridge intermittently, with flaggers, from 11:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. seven days a week. The Lake Fork Bridge work is taking place at the same time that the Middle Bridge over Blue Mesa Reservoir is closed, except for during designated times. CDOT will host a hybrid public meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 13, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at bit.ly/US50Bridge. For more information:
- Call the project information line at 970-648-4423
- Email the project team at us50bridge@gmail.com
- Visit the project website at codot.gov/projects/us50bluemesa
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WORLD'S LONGEST DINOSAUR TRACK NEAR OURAY NOW OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
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One prehistoric day, a dinosaur longer than a school bus stomped through a squishy river bed. The footprints remained, frozen in time as the mountains rose beneath them and the dinosaurs went extinct. Now, more than 150 million years later, the public can officially follow the dinosaur’s path, the longest continuous dinosaur trackway in the world, high above the mountain town of Ouray. The footprints were discovered more than six decades ago, by a group of local boys looking for adventure. Rick Trujillo, now 76, was only 10 years old when he and his friends were scooted outside by their parents, told to go play and not to return for hours. That’s how the boys stumbled across what looked like a series of potholes that seemed too evenly spaced to be the result of random erosion. “We said, ‘Those have to be dinosaur tracks!’ And turns out we were right long, long ago,” said Trujillo, laughing. The Silvershield Trail starts in a quiet neighborhood near downtown Ouray.
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EAGLE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT RECEIVES FUNDING FROM JUUL SETTLEMENT
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Eagle County School District was one of 21 Colorado districts to receive a portion of the settlement reached between the state of Colorado and e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs Inc. The state lawsuit alleged that Juul targeted youth with deceptive marketing and played down the health risks of vaping. Eagle County School District’s three-year portion of the settlement totals just over $630,000 and will go toward funding ongoing education and prevention efforts to combat youth vaping in our community. Candace Eves, the school district’s prevention coordinator, has outlined a detailed plan for the use of these funds to address substance and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) prevention and social and emotional learning. ENDS are more commonly referred to as e-cigarettes or vapes.
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NEW HIGH COUNTRY ACCELERATOR PROGRAM HOPES TO HELP YAMPA VALLEY STARTUPS
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The Routt County Economic Development Partnership is launching High County Accelerator, a groundbreaking initiative designed to support entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey from concept to early-stage growth. This new initiative is a collaborative effort between the development partnership, Startup Colorado, National Science Foundation Innovation Corps and the Summit County Economic Partnership. The goal is to foster innovation and business expansion in the region with three components tailored to meet the needs of entrepreneurs at different stages of development. The program will begin with the National Science Innovation Corps’ Starting Blocks Workshop, which will begin in September. Programming for the High Country Accelerator’s three components will begin in September and continue through November, with each program lasting approximately four weeks. For more information, go to HighCountryAccelerator.com.
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BEST AIRPORTS FOR EARLY & LATE FLIGHTS
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Flight delays are undesirable for any traveler, but they can be extra frustrating for those with early morning and late-night flights – especially when places to grab food or coffee are closed or your red-eye cuts into your sleep. Upgraded Points ranked the best and worst airports for early morning and late-night flights. The travel company analyzed data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics on the 50 busiest U.S. airports, including the percentage of flights that depart before 8 a.m. and after 8 p.m., as well as how many flights get delayed and the average delayed departure.
The best U.S. airports for early morning flights
- Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, 13.88 percent early flights delayed, average delay time of 4.44 minutes
- Kansas City International Airport, 14.22 percent early flights delayed, average delay time of 8.19 minutes
- Southwest Florida International Airport, 12.42 percent early flights delayed, flights take off 2 minutes before schedule on average
- Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, 16.37 percent early flights delayed, average delay time of 3.26 minutes
- Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, 21.73 percent early flights delayed, average delay time of 7.01 minutes
The best US airports for late-night flights
- Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, 31.72 percent late flights delayed, average delay time of 7.53 minutes
- Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, 39.48 percent late flights delayed, average delay time of 11.91 minutes
- Salt Lake City International Airport, 33.47 percent late flights delayed, average delay time of 8.85 minutes
- Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, 35.67 percent late flights delayed, average delay time of 9.8 minutes
- Indianapolis International Airport, 0.3 percent late flights delayed, flights take off five minutes before schedule on average
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WORST AIRPORTS FOR EARLY & LATE FLIGHTS
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Upgraded Points analyzed data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics on the 50 busiest U.S. airports, including the percentage of flights that depart before 8 a.m. and after 8 p.m., as well as how many flights get delayed and the average delayed departure.
The worst U.S. airports for early morning flights
- Miami International Airport, 31.57 percent early flights delayed, average delay time of 7.46 minutes
- Salt Lake City International Airport, 26.50 percent early flights delayed, average delay time of 5.01 minutes
- Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, 22.73 percent early flights delayed, average delay time of 5.88 minutes
- Sky Harbor International Airport, 24.11 percent early flights delayed, average delay time of 4.73 minutes
- Charlotte Douglas International Airport, 24.18 percent early flights delayed, average delay time of 3.98 minutes
The worst US airports for late-night flights
- Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, 77.78 percent late flights delayed, average delay time of 45.44 minutes
- San Antonio International Airport, 40.91 percent late flights delayed, average delay time of 31.36 minutes
- Logan International Airport, 50 percent late flights delayed, average delay time of 26.91 minutes
- Palm Beach International Airport, 46.67 percent late flights delayed, average delay time of 17.27 minutes
- Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, 46.43 percent late flights delayed, average delay time of 17.71 minutes
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MARKET UPDATE - 08/08/2024 Close
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(Courtesy of Alpine Bank Wealth Management*)
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Canadian dollar (per U.S. dollar)
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Mexican peso (per U.S. dollar)
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30-year fixed mortgage rate (Freddie Mac 08/08/2024)
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*Not FDIC insured. May lose value. Not guaranteed by the bank.
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Alpine Bank is an independent, employee-owned organization with headquarters in Glenwood Springs and banking offices across Colorado's Western Slope, mountains and Front Range. Alpine Bank serves customers with retail, business, wealth management*, mortgage and electronic banking services. Learn more at alpinebank.com.
*Alpine Bank Wealth Management services are not FDIC insured, may lose value and are not guaranteed by the bank.
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