HOW MONEY IS SPENT

Public Safety: $5.62M

Community Services: $3.09M

 General Government: $2.11M

Governmental Support: $1.59M

Community Development: $1.50M 

Facilities & Engineering: $1.47M

Streets: $1.26M

Outside Entity Funding: $1.15M

Parks: $1.08M

Parking & Transit: $520K

OUR STAFF VOLUNTEERING IN THE COMMUNITY

• 268.5 hours volunteered by staff

• 42 staff participants

• $8,700 in salary donations given back to the community by staff at local nonprofits

ORGANIZATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

• Activated incident command for the pandemic and wildfires; reassigned staff to support current community needs.   

• Established the Estes Valley Resiliency Collaborative to work on economic resiliency and overall community health in response to COVID-19.

• Developed policies to facilitate future investments in workforce housing and childcare. 

• Facilitated the distribution of approximately $750,000 in direct business and community relief and assistance. 

• Launched a new, user-friendly website.

• The Executive Leadership Team participated in its first Equity, Inclusion and Diversity workshop.

• Facilitated COVID-19 testing and vaccination events.     

BUSINESS & LIQUOR LICENSES

On January 12, 2021, the Town Board approved an ordinance to temporarily extend the deadline for business license renewals to June 30, 2021. Liquor license renewal fees are waived through December 8, 2021 (with some exceptions).

THE CLERK’S OFFICE

• Looking for public records? Visit our online record portal.

• If the public record is not available on the records portal, complete the online open records request form.

• Submit public comments to the Town Board online.

2020 MUSEUM HIGHLIGHTS

• 718 gallery attendance*

• 394 in-person program attendance (before closure)

• 318 YouTube program views (after closure)

• 1,430 total attendance (gallery and programs)

• 18 volunteers

• 527 volunteer hours

• 985 Facebook followers

• 4.5 out of 5 stars on TripAdvisor

• 4,016 artifacts rehoused with updated records

• 22 accepted donations

*The Museum closed to the public on March 15 due to COVID-19 and remained closed for the rest of the year.

1A TAX Funds are continuing to SUPPORT payments for emergency handheld radio equipment.

AUXILIARY

Despite COVID-19 challenges, Blue Santa still served nearly 100 people in need with non-perishable foods, gifts and hygiene products.

POWER & COMMUNICATIONS

• 2.98 miles of overhead line installed

• 6.27 miles of underground line installed

• 103 poles replaced

• 87 transformers replaced

• 500 completed work orders

• 11,487 customer accounts

• 2,125 electric meters upgraded*

• 357 water meters upgraded*

*Meter upgrades improve system reliability and efficiency

TRAILBLAZER BROADBAND

768 happy customers

14 areas

86.9 miles of fiber installed

DURING THE WILDFIRES

• Power and Communications staff were stationed throughout the valley to turn power off and keep our firefighters safe from falling power lines.

• The Water Division staffed hydrants across the Estes Valley. When the East Troublesome Fire caused the shutdown of the active water treatment plant, staff worked quickly to bring another plant online.

• The Trailblazer team coordinated with government agencies to establish a fiber connection through the Adams Tunnel, as both fiber connections to the valley were threatened by the Cameron Peak Fire.

I.T. Manager Announced: Nathan Schlictemier joined the Town’s dedicated I.T. team as its manager in January 2021.

The Town honors its friend and colleague, Alan Fraundorf, who passed away in May of 2020. He served as I.T. Manager from 2012 to 2020.

I.T. closed 1,681 service tickets in 2020

PARKING & TRANSIT

Awarded the 2020 Transit Project of the Year Award by the Colorado Association of Transit Agencies

The Town’s first electric trolley began service July 1, with a second expected in late 2021. The two are expected to save 3,456 gallons of fuel per season and reduce 16 different pollutants.

2020 PARKING BY THE NUMBERS

• 555,000 unique parking data collected over 126 days

• 21,028 Estes Parking app downloads

• 146 permits sold (27% increase over 2019)

• 1,045 parking citations written (19% decrease from 2019)

FALL RIVER TRAIL

Construction of another phase of the Fall River Trail was completed in 2020. This project was supported by two Colorado Parks and Wildlife grants as well as partner funding from the Estes Valley Recreation and Park District. This project constructed one mile of concrete trail pavement and included two pedestrian bridges, a concrete box culvert, and various drainage improvements.

PARKS

12 trees planted

1,544 annuals planted in 70 pots

20,055 annuals planted in downtown flower beds

18 flower baskets hung at Town facilities

Awarded Big Thompson Recreation Area improvement grant

Launched development of a management plan for the Thumb Open Space

STREET IMPROVEMENT HIGHLIGHTS

23 roadway locations were patched

8.5 centerline miles of roadway were crack sealed

3.1 centerline miles of roadway were chip sealed

1.1 centerline miles of roadway overlaid or reconstructed

1 centerline mile of concrete trail pavement was constructed

2020 HIGHLIGHTS

The Town-County Joint Planning Agreement expired in April. Town and County staff worked together to achieve a smooth transition to separate Codes, Planning Commissions, and Administration.

A new Town Planning Commission was appointed by the Town Board in March.

The Building Division issued 500+ permits which are tracked in Community Core, the Town’s new permit management database provided by SAFEbuilt.

A NEW COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

In 2020, Estes Park was awarded a $150,000 State grant to fund a future vision plan for Estes Park. This new Comprehensive Plan and Development Code will replace our outdated 1990s-era version.

GET INVOLVED!

Watch for Openings online.

• Estes Park Planning Commission: Reviews development and subdivision proposals, engages in long-range planning.

• Estes Park Board of Adjustment: Reviews and makes final decisions on variance requests based on the Development Code.

• Estes Park Board of Appeals: Made up of design professionals and contractors, the Board hears and decides appeals of decisions made by the Chief Building Official.

DID YOU KNOW?

Use our Larimer County Assessor page to find out what zoning district you are in! After looking up your address, note that taxing districts starting with a 33 are inside Estes Park town limits. Districts starting with 30, are outside town limits. Property zones are listed on our website under Zoning Map.

NEED TO CONTACT US?

Reach our staff at planning@estes.org. For questions regarding issues outside of Town limits, please contact the Larimer County Planning Department at poc@co.larimer.co.us, or call 970-498-7679.

STAFF STAYED INFORMED ON

• Current COVID-19 regulations

• Local fire closures and updates

• Ever-changing visitor information

• RMNP reservation system and closures due to fires

In a challenging year, the Visitor Center kept the call center open daily and answered questions about Estes Park’s status during rapidly evolving situations.

2020 EVENTS

While some events were canceled for the safety of attendees, the Events Division was able to successfully modify others to be safe and enjoyable, including:

• Colorado Hunter Jumper Association Shows

• Ranch Horse Competition

• Estes Valley Farmers Market

• Drive-Through Catch the Glow Festival of Lights

UPCOMING EVENTS