my-BV's Community Project Page
This whole website is meant to be yours - your place to learn, engage, provide direction, ask questions, and more. This 'project' here - the Gathering Place - is a general conversation place where you can engage with each other, pass on kindness to Town Staff or Trustees or advisory boards, offer up ideas for future project pages, ask general questions, and so much more!
Scroll down to contribute to a discussion, submit a project idea, ask a question, or more!!
Background
Launched in November 2021, my-BV.com is the result of the desire to match the Town's community engagement efforts with the wide array of tools that the 21st century has made available to us. We know most of our outreach efforts in the past have relied heavily on printed notices or press releases that offer up an in-person meeting as the primary way of learning more or providing input on Town projects, topics, and issues. Now, however, my-BV.com will be another tool in our toolbox that will allow you to keep abreast of what is going on, provide thoughts and ideas, ask questions, and participate in your local government from anywhere!
FAQs
Check out the right-hand side of this page for frequently asked questions and their answers! Have a question that you don't see answered here or anywhere else on this site? Click the "Ask us a Question!" tab below to submit your question now.
Register Now
While you can peruse all the project pages and this site without registering for an account, we do ask that you create an account (takes 30 seconds!) in order to participate on the site through the many engagement tools we're using.
We want my-BV.com to be a safe and productive place for your to learn about what's going on around Town, and also to provide your ideas, concerns, questions, and feedback. Social media is great for blasting a message out there, but not great for empowering productive conversations on specific issues or projects.
By asking you to register we not only encourage accountability and a safe place in the forums and engagement tools, we're also better able to capture your feedback in a way that the Trustees and Staff can use to make decisions and then communicate back to you.
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Improvements to Whipple Trail
Share Improvements to Whipple Trail on Facebook Share Improvements to Whipple Trail on Twitter Share Improvements to Whipple Trail on Linkedin Email Improvements to Whipple Trail linkWhipple Trail corridor to be upgraded to manage growth in popularity
The Town of Buena Vista will begin a trail project later this fall to address erosion, safety concerns, congestion, and additional issues on the popular Whipple Trail, which begins on the east side of the town bridge
over the Arkansas River.More than 140,000 trail users crossed the bridge in 2021, according to Bureau of Land Management trail counter data tallied by the Buena Vista Singletrack Coalition (BVSC).
The Whipple Bridge and Trail are the gateways from the Buena Vista River Park to a large system of non-motorized, multi-use trails in the Midland area of the Fourmile Travel Management Area. The trail connects municipal lands to public lands and is one of the busiest in Colorado. Use of the bridge and trail continues to grow. An average of 600 people per day were counted in July — a 20% increase over the prior year.
The trail is in dire need of repair and upgrades to protect its users and the natural environment, said Earl Richmond, recreation special projects manager for the town. The trail parallels the east side of the river about 50 feet above the water, with no official access to the river. “As a result, numerous user-created social trails loosen soil and cause erosion and sediment deposition into the water,” Richmond said. The social trails also direct stormwater runoff toward the river, taking trail tread, trash, and dog feces along for the ride. The trail in many places is too narrow for pedestrians to safely pass.
Improvements on the first 1,500 feet will widen the trail to industry standards and enhance the tread sustainability as problem areas will be rerouted. Three official paths to the river and two viewpoint overlooks will be established over the third-mile section to replace unsustainable user-created routes. Restoration efforts and signage will prevent future resource damage and sediment issues. The town was awarded a $44,700 Chaffee Common Ground grant for the project. BVSC has donated $10,000, and the Town of Buena Vista has budgeted $15,500..
“The trail upgrades will improve access to our beautiful river for a wider range of users and make it safer because there will be enough room to pass each other,” said BVSC Board Chair Kelly Collins, who also chairs the town’s Trails Advisory Board. Both entities are contributing in-kind services.
A Southwest Conservation Corps crew completed preliminary project work this spring, trimming branches and building retaining walls to support the wider trail, open up viewpoints and improve the sloping path to the BV Whitewater Park Staircase Wave. The trail will be closed periodically throughout the eight-week project, which is slated to begin in early October. Completion is expected by the end of November. For trail access updates, go to https://www.facebook.com/BVParksandRec.
Whipple Trail restoration is one of the top projects in the Chaffee County Outdoor Recreation Management Plan. It prioritizes critical infrastructure needs to address growing outdoor recreation use and its impacts. The project is located in one of the plan’s Community Concentration Zones, designated to focus development and improvements around the county’s populated centers to support continued quality outdoor experiences while protecting the natural environment.
For additional information, please contact erichmond@buenavistaco.gov
Thank you for your support.
Buena Vista Recreation
Stay Happy. Stay Healthy
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Re-Signing County Roads 319 & 320
Share Re-Signing County Roads 319 & 320 on Facebook Share Re-Signing County Roads 319 & 320 on Twitter Share Re-Signing County Roads 319 & 320 on Linkedin Email Re-Signing County Roads 319 & 320 linkIn order to better promote and call attention to our incredible airport, the Town is considering changing the signage for County Roads 319 and 320. The Airport Advisory Board has considered and recommended this change for approval to the Board of Trustees, and staff has submitted a renaming application to the County.
This change would be in signage only - it would not affect the addresses of folks who live or have buildings on these roads - they will remain legally CR 319 and CR 320.
As shown in the above image, the proposal is to rename CR 319 to Aviation Road, CR 320 to Airpark Way, and the cul-de-sac with the Town-owned hangar on it to Airpark Circle. The next step is for this to be presented to and considered by the Board of Trustees. Please feel free to leave comment on this post!
