SNOWMASS VILLAGE — Claiming it needs more time to weigh its options, Snowmass Village Town Council on Monday decided to delay a decision on whether to join a local energy mitigation program.
The town of Snowmass Village is a member of the nonprofit Community Office for Resource Efficiency (CORE), which administers the energy program and doles out environmentally oriented grants. Unlike Aspen and Pitkin County, however, it has not joined the Renewable Energy Mitigation Program (REMP), essentially CORE’s funding mechanism, which charges a fee to large homes and/or those who use fossil fuel-burning energy for amenities such as swimming pools or heated driveways.
CORE’s Gary Goodson has been working with town staff for several months to hammer out the details of how Snowmass would join REMP, and at a February meeting the council indicated it wanted to be part of the program.
Goodson expressed his dismay that the council could not make a commitment on Monday, but stated that he would help the town with whatever decision officials think is best.
“I’m not as excited about this as everybody else is,” said Councilman Reed Lewis, setting the tone for the remainder of the discussion. Alluding to what he called another “dysfunctional” regional organization, the Elected Officials Transportation Committee, Lewis added, “I’m not going to support this. We’d have to rely on other jurisdictions to support what we want, and I’m not comfortable with that. I think it’s a great concept, but why would we rely on other people to get done what we want done here?”
Lewis was also concerned that Snowmass would have to “compromise” its already strict energy-friendly building standards to join REMP.
Council members in general said they want to make sure Snowmass taxpayers and property owners get the most out of whichever program is approved. Snowmass Village receives CORE grants.
Elected officials asked town staff to come back with more information about how the REMP program works, and the potential costs, financial benefits, and logistics involved if Snowmass decides to implement its own REMP-style program.
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