(:05) This is KVNF’s Regional Newscast for Thursday, April 7th. I’m Gavin Dahl.
(:25) Delta County Commissioners on Tuesday approved a concrete batch plant close to the site of the proposed DMEA solar farm they recently denied. According to the nonprofit Delta County Citizen Report, a neighbor informed commissioners he was told CDOT had not reviewed a traffic study, as required. The all-Republican board of commissioners approved putting more than 50 heavy trucks on 1900 Road anyway.
(:50) The Montrose Uncompahgre Trails chapter of the Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Trail Association received a grant from Colorado Parks and Wildlife to help finish the Electric Hills trail system. Montrose Press reports $242,000 thousand dollars will go a long way toward completing the first professionally built network of mountain biking trails near Montrose. The trail also received other financial support from Montrose County and the Montrose Recreation District. Since the mountain biking group began building the trail back in 2015, 80 people from Montrose have volunteered over 1,000 hours on the new trail system, at the edge of the Uncompahgre Plateau eight miles from the city. It complements some of the existing beginner trails in the Buzzard Gulch with more difficult terrain. The trail system is slated to be completed by the fall of 2023.
(:50) Basalt Vista, a 27-unit affordable housing community in the Roaring Fork Valley is Colorado’s first affordable housing project in a mountain town built to produce more energy than it consumes in a year, known as “net-zero.” Solar panels on roofs, efficient appliances, tight building envelopes and insulation, a heat pump air source and a heat pump water heater all contribute to Basalt Vista’s model. Colorado Sun reports even though the project was 15 percent more expensive to build, the investment in renewable energy will save homeowners money in the long run. The homes are deed restricted, priced from $270,000 to $370,000 dollars, compared with the median Pitkin County home price of $1.3 million. Telluride and Breckenridge are also constructing net zero affordable homes this summer, and Eagle and Avon have projects in the works as well.
(:10) As the snow melts, big game comes near roadways for food. Kate Redmond reports on tips from Colorado Parks and Wildlife for avoiding deer and elk collisions.
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(:20) Four Corners K-9 Search and Rescue is helping Native families find missing loved ones. They operate mostly in the Navajo Nation where resources for rescue are spare. Justin Higginbottom from our Rocky Mountain Community Radio partner KZMU spoke with the founder of the group about what she and her two dogs find in the deserts there.
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(:05) That does it for Thursday’s KVNF Regional Newscast. I’m Gavin Dahl.
