Blumenthal: Congratulations are in order - Aspen Daily News

At the outset I’d like to congratulate the well-organized, well-funded Aspen for Arts organization and others on the successful campaign in support of ballot issue 2A.

The outcome was not one that I favored at this point in time due to the lack of any specificity in the ballot language as to the amount of Wheeler real estate transfer tax funds that would be retained for the support and maintenance of the Wheeler or any mechanism to determine how and how much of the WRETT funds would be fairly and equitably distributed among all the community’s valued arts and cultural organizations. I hope the city’s elected representatives will soon come to agreement concerning these critical issues.

One side benefit resulting from the passage of 2A is that WRETT funds can now be used to support the Red Brick Center for the Arts, freeing up a huge chunk of cash in the city’s general fund to pay off its remaining $2.1 million indebtedness on the Isis Theatre.

When the city purchased the Isis Theatre in 2007, the community and its taxpayers were promised that tax dollars would never be used to cover the costs of purchasing or maintaining the Isis. However, Aspen Film and its sub-tenant theater operator’s defaults on their obligations to the city have necessitated taking swift remedial action to protect the city’s municipal credit rating.

The motion picture theater business is undergoing significant structural changes that do not bode well for the future of that business in general and the Isis in particular. Although the city says it’s still holding Aspen Film on the hook to make good on its past and future defaults under its lease agreement with the city, there’s no evidence or assurance that Aspen Film will be able to do so unless the city grants them significant lease concessions and financial relief.

Based on history and the ongoing structural changes in the motion picture business, I don’t see Aspen Film ever being in a favorable economic position to repay the city’s $2.1 million investment in the Isis, let alone pay off their past defaults which are currently in excess of $300,000 and growing each month.

Unless the city can find someone with deep pockets to take over ownership of the Isis, the city and its taxpayers are doomed to remain financially responsible for the theater complex and its ongoing maintenance costs.

Also, congratulations are due to Snowmass Village’s town manager and several of his key lieutenants.

It’s budget season in Snowmass and the bureaucrats as usual have worked diligently to convince a majority of the town council to continue spending big planning, design and engineering bucks next year on several major capital improvement projects that still haven’t been proven necessary or economically feasible — and, dare I say, not in the best interests of the community or the maintenance of its long-cherished small-town character.

The biggest project on the drawing board is the massive new Mall Transit Center. Bigger and grander than Rubey Park or any other transit center in the valley, this project has been on the drawing board for many years. Aside from the town manager and transportation director’s eagerness to proceed, there’s been little community support for this massive and intrusive construction project, which is now estimated to cost more than $26 million: more than double the original estimate, and, according to the experts, unlikely to do anything but go higher.

Other less intrusive and less expensive alternatives have been suggested to improve village transit but none have found favor with town staff, who appear opposed to anything short of the new edifice they’ve been working on for years.

As an aside, it’s my observation that with respect to these big, costly projects, the town manager usually attempts to convince the decision-makers into periodically agreeing to spend incremental planning dollars, which when added up are so significant that the town council finds it difficult if not impossible to not give their final approval, lest they face community criticism or backlash for wasting taxpayer dollars.

The town also wants to spend an additional $500,000 on top of more than $220,000 already spent on the design and engineering of a new roundabout at the Brush Creek-Owl Creek intersection, currently likely to cost in the neighborhood of $10 million but quite likely to go a lot higher if council ever gives the go-ahead.

Again, there are several less expensive and less intrusive alternatives to manage traffic flow at this intersection but none so far that have caught town staff’s attention as much as another huge roundabout.

These are the two biggest, most costly and character-changing capital improvement projects on the agenda next year but not the only ones competing for a piece of the town pie. The cost of the major entryway redo will soon be on the town’s spending agenda along with an assortment of other somewhat less costly and less intrusive capital projects.

Your thoughts on these items are welcome at melpaul1@earthlink.net or letters@aspendailynews.com.

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Blumenthal: Congratulations are in order - Aspen Daily News
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