Budget questions loom over proposed Snowmass Transit Center
Other project cuts possible to make way for center; potential federal grant freeze still a factor
SEH Design|Build/Courtesy Photo
With the threat of President Donald Trump’s federal grant freeze still on the horizon and less than a month to produce the required funds for a new transit center, Snowmass Town Council finds themselves crunched between a lacking budget and a lack of time.
In the best case scenario, council currently requires $16 million to $20 million in missing funds to afford the $44 million design, according to Town Manager Clint Kinney.
“If we want to move forward on the 3rd… we need to find a viable funding plan,” Kinney said in a Monday council meeting. “And it’s going to take cuts.”
To compensate for the shortfall, council could cut or delay the $6 million Little Red School House expansion, which would double the capacity of the child care facility from 30 to 60, and the $8 million roundabout project, to be constructed at the Owl Creek and Brush Creek intersection, according to Kinney.
He also suggested they could cut only the roundabout for $8 million and seek an additional $8 million through a private-public partnership, a funding agreement between a private entity and the town. But they may still have $4 million to borrow, which would yield a funding cut for other government projects, he said.
Council member Cecily DeAngelo said, from a safety standpoint, building a new transit center is just as important as building the roundabout.
“I’d love to take a look at, what would it look like if we delayed the roundabout,” she said.
But they have less than a month to meet the shortfall.
Council must present a transit center design and budget to the Federal Transit Administration by March 3 to stay in the running for $13.5 million in federal grant funding, which they were previously awarded but has not yet been finalized. Apart from the $13.5 million, other project funds would come from the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority, Pitkin County, and the Snowmass General Fund.
If they do manage to secure the federal funding and meet the shortfall through budget reallocation or other means, the current design still poses issues to the grant approval.
The most recent design presented by SEH Design|Build includes a two-level structure in the place of the existing transit center and Lot 6. With a 16-foot clearance, the structure would house Snowmass Village shuttles on the bottom level and RFTA buses on the top level. But the design cut the two level parking garage over Lot 5 presented in a previous iteration, leaving them with a loss of parking.
Approval of the federal funding is contingent on compensating for the loss.
“The first thing we asked was, ‘Without replacing all the parking, would we still be eligible for the grant?'” said Snowmass Transportation Director Sam Guarino of their meeting with the transit administration in late January. “And the quick and honest answer was no.”
The current design includes an extra 12 parking spaces on the northern side of Lot 5 and nine spaces in the Daly Lane Village Shuttle depot, but would still lack 35 spaces, according to designer Alex Jauch.
Council member Tom Fridstein is confident they can find a solution.
“We can get parking,” Fridstein said.
The project would likely trigger the redevelopment of the Snowmass Mall, including the addition of at least 22 workforce housing units, Fridstein said.
Council member Britta Gustafson hoped to pursue the project as it would meet seven of council’s nine strategic initiatives, which include supporting the workforce with housing, improving safety to make Snowmass more walkable and bikeable, improving the multi-nodal connections between Base Village, the Mall, and the Snowmass Center, and more.
“I’m afraid if we don’t do it now it may never get done,” she said.
Snowmass has talked about replacing the transit center for 30 years.
However, if council presents a project with enough parking and a sound budget there is no guarantee the grant funding would arrive given the ambiguity of the potential freeze, according to Kinney.
State officials advised Kinney to be wary of federal funding as it may not come through, though U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan paused Trump’s attempt to freeze all federal financial assistance on Jan. 28 and extended the pause Monday.
Given the time crunch and funding issues, Snowmass Mayor Alyssa Shenk worries this is a difficult window in which to replace the transit center.
“My issue is not the project,” Shenk said. “…for me it comes down to timing.”
Council will reconvene on Feb. 10 to discuss more budget options and revisit parking in the design.
Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.
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