GLENWOOD SPRINGS — Management at the River Meadows mobile home park
met with city and county officials on Thursday to begin working out
plans to protect residents in the event of a flood. The meeting
followed sharp criticism from some residents and Glenwood City Council
members for their cutting down dozens of cottonwood trees along the
banks, apparently unnecessarily, to make way for a concrete berm they
might not be allowed to build.
In response to that criticism, resident manager Karen Price distributed
a terse warning to residents not to stand in the way of flood
mitigation work.
“Any interference, harassment or assaults on Management, Park personnel
and/or Contractors involved in the flood mitigation program … will be
cause for eviction,” Price wrote in a memo to residents last week.
“There will be no second chance. One strike and your (sic) gone. This
is very serious business and not a field trip regarding environmental
concerns.”
Resident Deborah Hord, the most outspoken critic of the park’s plans, called the letter a “threat note.”
“I feel that they’re stepping on our civil rights in a lot of ways,”
Hord said. “I know that threats are a legal issue. This tree issue is
just the icing on the cake, ruining everything.”
Several residents of the mobile home park on the banks of the Roaring
Fork became concerned last month when crews appeared in their backyards
with chain saws and heavy machinery to remove 40-50 cottonwoods and
other trees along the river.
Mayor Bruce Christensen and City Councilman Russ Arensman visited the
property, and after seeing the destruction, asked city staffers to look
into a possible tree protection ordinance that would prevent similar
future incidents.
Price said she and park owner Joe Corda were worried about the threats
to residents from rising flood waters due to the above-average
snowpack. They had planned to put in a concrete berm, she said, until
they found out that city and federal restrictions might not allow that.
“The Owner and Managing Partner, Joe Corda, is being pro-active to
protect your safety and your homes,” Price wrote. She said residents
willing to help with flood mitigation efforts would be compensated with
rent credits “after the flood waters recede.”
She did not return a message seeking comment.
How much flooding comes is a matter of debate, and a matter of time.
Recent predictions call for a peak of about 10,000 cubic feet per
second, said Glenwood Springs Community Development Director Andrew
McGregor, one of the officials who met with park representatives on
Thursday. That’s less than in 1995, when some 12,000 cfs rushed down
the river, but caused only minor flooding in the park.
Such flood waters probably would not require any barriers to be
installed, McGregor said, but according to a 1995 agreement, the park
would have to move out recreational vehicles that are parked in the
flood area if the waters exceed 10,000 cfs.
The flooding could be much higher, though, McGregor said. Recent cool
temperatures have made for a slow, steady runoff so far, but if the
same weather lingers into June, when temperatures often soar, it could
cause lots of snow melting fast and unusually high waters.
“There is the potential for a lot more water than anyone has seen in recent decades,” McGregor said.
A so-called 100-year flood is considered 21,000 cfs in that area, he said.
Park managers met with McGregor and emergency personnel as part of a
series of discussions about how to protect residents in the event of
massive flooding. They plan to finalize their plans before another
meeting in 10 days.
“The owners seem very conscientious, in my mind, trying to protect the
residents,” McGregor said. “They’re just trying to figure out what they
can do sensibly.”
However, the tree cutting didn’t help in terms of flood mitigation because of the bank stabilization that tree roots provide.
“Hopefully, everyone now knows the benefit of having a healthy riparian
corridor,” he said. “It does far more good than it ever does harm. From
that perspective, they’ve neither helped themselves nor anyone
downstream.”
dfrey@aspendailynews.com
