Around Your Region

Matt Zalaznick, mzalaznick@vaildaily.com
July 23, 2008

Minturn comes clean
Minturn – A man who’s had a semi-trailer in his yard for more than two years has become the first target of Minturn’s four-year-old nuisance law.

The ordinance defines a nuisance as anything from garbage to abandoned cars and trucks to bricks and wheels stacked in residents’ yards.

The lone defender of the homeowner was Minturn’s mayor, Hawkeye Flaherty, who said the man has been cleaning up his property by removing old cars.


The Town Council also asked the homeowner to remove an old washing machine from his yard and build a fence.

Residents said in a 2005 survey that they wanted fellow residents to tidy up. Town staffers have recently stepped up enforcement by sending letters to property owners with abandoned cars and other junk sitting outside their homes, and town councilors have warned that those people could be ticketed and fined.

Lionshead garage grinds forward
Vail – A $900 million project to turn the Lionshead parking garage into a complex of five-star hotels, condos, shops, and — of course — more parking, cleared a major hurdle last week.

The developer said the garage could be renovated without losing parking spaces, a hot commodity in the bustling ski resort. The town, in turn, dropped a requirement that Vail Resorts finish parking facilities at the proposed Ever Vail village planned for West Lionshead.

Still standing in the way of the project is Vail Resorts, which, after donating the land for the garage, can nix any project planned there. The resort company has not announced its decision.

Community loses classic character
Harry Gray, a longtime local who built homes and owned a popular Minturn coffee shop, died July 15.

Friends remembered Gray, 52, for his humor, intellect and generosity. One friend said when Gray owned his coffee shop, Harry’s Bump and Grind, he brought food every morning to an elderly woman who lived across the street.

Gray also was remembered as a devoted father who was very involved in his three kids’ activities, including hockey. He chaperoned a trip to Eastern Europe in 2003 with fellow longtime resident, Merv Lapin.

“He was taking care of his own kid and everyone else’s,” said Lapin. “He was very enthusiastic and always had a mischievous grin. He was one of them — he was the biggest kid.”

And friend Tom Higgins remembered how Gray kept his friends entertained.
“We’re going to miss his stories,” Higgins said. “He was a huge man with a huge heart, who left a lot of best friends. He was a great storyteller.”

Fountain frustrations
The new fountain at the top of Bridge Street in Vail Village is not yet working quite right.

The fountain, designed to spray water and breathe fire, still has some leaks that installation crews are trying to find and fix.

The fountain was supposed to be completed in June, a completion date that had been pushed back from last November.

The cost of the project has risen to $1.7 million — which includes repaving the street and adding snow-melt equipment. The town is paying $1.3 million, with Vail Resorts and private donors chipping in the rest.

The extra work is being paid for by the contractors who built the leaky basin, the town says.

The fountain was designed by WET Designs, the same company that created the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas. WET employees were in town last month to finish up the fountain, but the town had to send them home after the leaks surfaced. They will come back again once the leaks are fixed.

Bears busy in Beaver Creek
Beaver Creek – Wildlife officers had to kill a bear earlier this month after it tore the door off a home in Beaver Creek while people were inside.

The bear was searching for food and avoiding traps set for it in the gated resort, which one wildlife officer called a hotspot for bear activity in northwestern Colorado.

Despite new trash storage laws, the Division of Wildlife said homes and businesses are being careless with garbage, which is attracting the ever-hungry bears.

A mother bear and two cubs, which were captured and shipped west earlier this month, have returned to the area. That means they may also be euthanized if they are caught a second time lurking around homes.

Potent potables and politics
Eagle County – Left-wingers and progressives who like to talk politics can join the newly-formed “Drinking Liberally” club, which holds its meetings at Loaded Joe’s in Avon.

The meetings are informal and relaxed and are a way to get Democrats and progressives to meet and share ideas, said Carol Onderdonk, co-vice chair of the Eagle County Democratic Party.

The group met for the first time last month in Loaded Joe’s Coffeehouse and Lounge in Avon, and two Democratic candidates for the Eagle County Board of Commissioners — Jon Stavney and Peter Runyon — showed up. Drinking Liberally is not a campaign event, Onderdonk said. Nor does one have to drink alcohol.
“It’s more for each other than it is for the politicians,” she said.

Horse riders remain
The equestrian community isn’t going to lose its only winter riding facility, but they may have to share the Eagle fairgrounds pavilion with soccer players.

In a heated meeting complete with tearful pleas and angry outbursts Tuesday, local riders, parents, and rodeo supporters confronted county commissioners about plans to expand the use of the pavilion.

“My sister and I have been with horses my entire life,” said Kirsten Eckert, who competes in Eagle’s youth rodeo series. “We’ve practiced. We’ve worked hard. If it’s all taken away, what are we going to do?”

Numbers show the $4.5-million indoor arena is underused, and the Western Eagle County rec district, an independent agency, could use it for winter sports, such as indoor soccer.

Other uses could help the county pay for the facility, which is currently costly to maintain, power and heat, County Commissioner Sara Fisher said, though the county has not made a final decision.