Buena Vista Trustee candidates answer questions from Chaffee County EDC Executive Director Jake Rishavy. From left to right: Jake Rishavy, Thomas Brown, Micha Rosenoer, Andy Matkovich, Maggie Huyck, Devin Rowe, Andrew Rice. Photo by Carly Winchell
This is Part II of Ark Valley Voice‘s coverage of the Economic Development Corporation’s forum for the Buena Vista (BV) Board of Trustee (BoT) candidates. Here we focus on questions asked by EDC Executive Director Jake Rishavy of individual candidates.
For links to more coverage on the BV election and information about the election itself, head to Part I of Ark Valley Voice’s coverage of the EDC forum.
The candidates are Thomas Brown, Micha Rosenoer, Andy Matkovich, Maggie Huyck, Devin Rowe (incumbent), and Andrew Rice (incumbent).
For Rosenoer, who responded in the survey that she found the development review process “prohibitively slow and therefore discourages development,” Rishavy asked, “Could you expand on this response and then share perhaps one strategy you would advocate for as a trustee to change that dynamic?”
Rosenoer immediately clarified that she was referring to the county’s prohibitively slow policies, though she acknowledged that the government can be slow in general. As a potential solution, she advocated for streamlining permit processes and clarifying code to ensure development is done responsibly without copious meetings.
“I do land use planning as a professional. I also have been on the other side of officials trying to make those decisions. I think looking at our permitting processes and where there is the most backlog and thinking about why are there so many questions in the process is a really good way to think of ways to update our code to make it more clear and clear out some of those permitting processes so it’s easier for everybody.”
BV Trustee candidate Micha Rosenoer at the Chaffee County EDC Candidate Forum. Photo by Carly Winchell
For Brown, who indicated that he strongly agreed housing policy is a local government responsibility but somewhat disagreed that affordable workforce housing requires subsidies, Rishavy asked, “Could you share a bit more on your thinking about how housing becomes affordable to the workforce without subsidy?”
Brown cited his experience as an “urban and terrain analyst,” and explained that planning and smart government growth is a key component. “It takes time and it’s not a simple process, but that’s an important process because we have to work through those so we can do smart growth planning. As Andrew [Rice] said, ‘you can either plan smartly or fail to plan’ and that ends up with problems for urban areas as well as the rural areas.”
Brown called subsidies a “reverse tax” that creates government costs and causes problems for buyers and sellers. He admitted there were ways for subsidies to be applied but it would need to be calculated and carefully planned. Brown continued to say there was a need come up with ways that open up the budget without taxes or ‘reverse taxes’ but if a tax was approved “then great.” A key part of Brown’s platform has been focused on increasing Short Term Rental (STR) fees and charging a “nominal per night” fee to generate “hundreds of thousands of dollars annually” to apply to housing issues.
For Huyck, who said she somewhat disagreed density is tied to affordability, Rishavy asked, “Could you share a little bit more about why you do or don’t see a connection between density and affordability?
Huyck replied that she perhaps should have chosen the “other” response in the survey, and explained that she does see the connection; however, she asserted that “density for density’s sake” is not the answer. She said density should be planned with thoughtful intention that plans for seven generations into the future to increase people’s ability to actively live in the community.
For Rice, who said he somewhat agreed that Buena Vista has enough water, Rishavy referenced Rice’s background in water and asked, “Why are you optimistic about the water supply?
Rice clarified that his background is in water treatment and microbiology, how to make water safe to drink, not water rights.
BV Trustee candidate incumbent Andrew Rice at the Chaffee County EDC Candidate Forum. Photo by Carly Winchell
“I have had the privilege over the course of my career to work with some really smart people who are involved in water resources, water rights, you know, water rights engineers, water attorneys,” said Rice. “And when you’re around those people you realize, they’re pretty smart and I’m not.” He stated he would share his opinions but that this wasn’t an area of expertise.
Rice mentioned that he served on the Water Advisory Board since its inception, which has been proactive at reviewing water needs and opportunities for portfolio expansion. Citing the recent deal to bring 50 more acre-feet (AF) of water to town from the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District, Rice also mentioned that there are a “number of moves afoot” some of which were known and some are not.
“Provided we grow at a manageable pace, I don’t have much concern at all about our water resources for the next decade or so. Beyond that Buena Vista is going to be in the same boat as the entire western part of our country.” Rice emphasized that water is finite and eventually, it will be about how to efficiently and intelligently use available water.
For Rowe, Rishavy asked about the Water Allocation Policy (WAP). In the survey, Rowe stated the policy should be more heavily leveraged to encourage affordable housing. Rishavy said water availability wouldn’t necessarily persuade developers to build affordable housing and wondered if Rowe would support other incentives from the local government, such as subsidies, to encourage such development. “Would you marry a carrot with the stick approach of limiting water for non-affordable development?”
Rowe replied that he felt there had been a carrot for a long time, citing the sheer amount of development the town has seen. “Unregulated housing isn’t really helping our situation here. Building million-dollar houses isn’t helping the citizens here. The responsibility of a trustee is to really support the citizens who are trying to live here.”
Rowe expressed a need for caution to “outright waive things” like water fees because those funds help support the water portfolio, such as revamping the water treatment facility and the purchase of 50AF from the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District (UAWCD).
With a distaste for the carrot and stick metaphor, Rowe explained that trustees must manage growth responsibly.
“I think there’s been a mentality that, with the Water Allocation Policy, we’re closing for business. I think that’s actually opposite because we’re doing a lot right now,” concluded Rowe.
Sticking with housing, Rishavy turned to Matkovich who stated in the survey that capital must be invested in incentive programs targeting landowners, businesses, and builders to encourage multi-unit housing. Rishavy asked, “Why are incentives the right approach on housing?”
Matkovich agreed that incentives aren’t problem-free, but said it was preferable to more regulation.
“I believe most regulation is well-intended, but rarely accomplishes what it’s originally set out to do,” said Matkovich. He claimed it results in unintended consequences, mitigates one problem only to cause another, and “almost always” increases the cost of building.
Matkovich said that, rather than regulating capital markets, an attempt should be made to outsmart them.
Rishavy then turned the discussion to education with Rosenoer. In the survey, Rosenoer stated work needs to be done to ensure students have a variety of options post-graduation, including higher education and vocational training in the community. “What would that look like in BV?” asked Rishavy.
Rosenoer explained that rising costs can make education unattainable for some. She acknowledged that college isn’t always the best option for everyone, but Buena Vista shouldn’t lose their smartest kids to the Front Range because there are not enough options locally.
Rosenoer mentioned the two Colorado Mountain College (CMC) campuses that are nearby as great resources but said she would like to work with union or vocational training programs on the Front Range to have offices here for on-the-job learning for those who want to be an electrician, for example.
“I love the work the EDC is doing to expand, essentially brain trusts and growth opportunities for small business, but expanding that to blue collar work, I think would be great. I would love to see the the school board, the EDC, the trustees work together on more opportunities for students to co-enroll in college programs, vocational trainings and just build out the workforce options, so students that want to stay here can stay here.”
Huyck emphasized in her survey response that it is important to continue searching for permanent water for developments while leveraging temporary solutions in the meantime. “How would you leverage your position as town trustee to secure more water for future development?” asked Rishavy.
Huyck praised the current board for doing a great job and working hard on this issue, and said she was excited to get in on the work Town is already doing. She acknowledged she isn’t an expert on the topic and would first want to talk with subject matter experts to explore what is available.
If there isn’t anything more available, then she would consult with them to find more creative solutions, such as lobbying the state to update the rainwater collection policy.
“Really working with the experts and being curious on other potential ways that we could reduce our water usage.” She cited getting town lands down to minimal irrigation levels, and no longer adding facilities that require outside watering.
For Rice, Rishavy said that market-rate housing development was the “third-biggest employment sector” in Chaffee after government and tourism. He asked Rice to expand on his survey response that stated water should be used for things that benefit the community rather than market-rate development.
Rice cited the Water Allocation Policy, which was created before his time on the Board. He explained how it works with different buckets of water dedicated to the development that town needs.
“As we go forward and over the years, development will at some point use up all the water in the western United States,” asserted Rice. “So Buena Vista is kind of at the forefront of this, setting policy on how we will use that limited resources to guide development to serve the entire community,” said Rice. Rice clarified that his survey response wasn’t about market-rate development, but rather about how the market trends.
“It may be great time to build a roller coaster but we don’t have a bucket for roller coasters.” Rice added the town would need to remain firm about using the Water Allocation Policy to build a community that serves everyone.
BV Trustee candidate Thomas Brown at the Chaffee County EDC Candidate Forum. Photo by Carly Winchell
Brown wrote in his response that he would seek to preserve the small town vitality of BV, but also noted that development approval times are slow but necessarily so. “How are those statements compatible with support for local job growth, which is currently limited by the availability of workforce housing?” asked Rishavy.
Brown cited his experience as part of the Planning and Zoning Commission and explained that “planning is intricate and unfortunately it does take time” but that the “alternative is rapid, focused, reactionary planning” that isn’t effective.
Brown mentioned a desire to see the Economic Development Advisory Board recreated with representatives from the EDC, Chamber, Airport, and other business leaders, which would then advise the trustees. He expressed a hope that this would speed up the process and things would move through more effectively.
“We have to do this right and we have to take the time as necessary,” said Brown.
Of Rowe, Rishavy asked, “If Town is successful in securing more water, do you believe that makes the Water Allocation Policy unnecessary?”
“The short answer is no,” replied Rowe, who praised the policy as an amazing way to move forward.
“I don’t think we’re going to hit the gold mine and have a water park and as much water as we need here,” jested Rowe.
He explained that the policy itself isn’t set in stone and that, as more water is acquired, it will divvied up among different buckets as defined by the town’s needs.
“As we accrue, or if we accrue more, we’re going to continue to look at the Water Allocation Policy and see where we want the water to go. . . It’s a living, moving document that we can look at every year and every time our water changes,” concluded Rowe.
Matkovich stated in his response an urgent need to pursue more water rights. “Please share with us how you think of the competing priorities of managing the water that’s available today versus securing more water,” asked Rishavy.
“I believe that we have to secure as much water as we can in any method that we can, whatever avenues are available,” replied Matkovich. He claimed doing otherwise would create a “self-inflicted bottleneck” for economic prosperity and the town’s future. “Water always comes first.”
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