HomeMy WebLinkAboutInformation Only 041326AGENDA
INFORMATION UPDATE
April 13, 2026
4:00 PM,
I.Information Update
I.A Ped-Bikeway Traffic Delineation, Info Only Memo
I.B Compliance with House Bill 23-1039 Electric Resource Adequacy
I.C March 2026 ACRA Destination Marketing Report
2026.04.13_Info Only Memo_Pedestrian Bikeway Traffic Delineation.docx
Info Memo - House Bill 23-1039 Compliance.docx
Attachment A. Colorado Resource Adequacy Letter and Report Signed.pdf
March2026_DMReport.pdf
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INFORMATION ONLY REPORT
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Simeon Britting, Project Manager
Jack Danneberg, P.E., Senior Project Manager
Tricia Aragon, P.E., City Engineer
Brian Long, Trails Manager
THROUGH: Tyler Christof, P.E., Deputy City Manager
MEETING DATE: April 13th, 2026
SUBJECT: Pedestrian Bikeway Traffic Delineation
INTENDED OUTCOME & SUMMARY: This memorandum is to inform City Council of
staff’s plan to install two seasonal traffic control measures along W Hopkins Ave’s ped-
bikeway and another three along W Hallam Ave’s ped-bikeway. Staff intends on installing
signage and speed humps to force motorized vehicles to turn right off the ped -bikeway.
To allow for a longer period of interaction, staff recommends an April through October
temporary installation. There is no action requested of council at this time to follow through
with the installation of five traffic delineators along the ped-bikeways.
DISCUSSION: The City has received consistent complaints about the traffic volume,
speed, and duration of motorized vehicles traveling along ped-bikeways through town.
The Pedestrian and Bike Safety Team (PABST) has made it a goal to reduce the number
of motorized vehicles traveling along the ped-bikeways ensuring safety for non-motorized
modes of transportation.
Completed Installation (2025)
In June of 2025, seasonal traffic delineators were installed along the W Hopkins Ave ped-
bikeway at the 1st St and 3rd St intersections as pictured below in Figure 1. The project
had a goal to test both the effectiveness of deterring traffic from traveling multiple blocks
and overall public acceptance. After installation, City staff discovered a 14% reduction in
motorized traffic volumes and positive feedback when speaking to residents living along
W Hopkins Ave throughout the summer, proving effective traffic calming and public
support for future delineator installations.
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Figure 1: W Hopkins Ave Traffic Delineator from June 2025
Proposed Installation (2026)
The W Hallam Ave ped-bikeway is the intended route for bikers entering and leaving town
from the Highway 82 bridge over Castle Creek and navigating through the West End
neighborhood for access to downtown amenities and a safe morning commute. Similarly,
the W Hopkins Ave ped bikeway is a main route for bikers entering and exiting the
connection of the Marolt Bike Path and Aspen downtown core. Being the largest
East/West arteries in the West End neighborhood for bikers and pedestrians, it is crucial
for safety that motorized vehicles are limited to one block of travel.
Staff plans on installing five traffic delineators in a similar configuration to what was
installed last year. To ensure that no vehicles pass between the speed humps, green
boxes overlapped with a white bicycle symbol will be painted and centered in the area
intended for bikers as well. Emergency vehicles will still be able to drive between the
signage through the intersection traveling East and West.
City staff plans on targeting three intersections along the W Hallam Ave ped-bikeway at
1st St, 3rd St, and 5th St and two intersections along the W Hopkins Ave ped-bikeway at
1st St and 3rd St, as shown below in Figure 2. The traffic delineators are expected to be
installed during the week of April 20th and removed towards the end of October, 2026.
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Figure 2: Traffic Delineator Locations for April 2026
By adding additional evenly spaced traffic delineators to the scope of work and targeting
both ped-bikeways, staff ensures an increased traffic calming impact benefiting all bike
and pedestrian roadway users throughout the West End neighborhood. Drivers
attempting to enter the residential area of W Hopkins Ave from 4th St to 7th St will be forced
towards Main Street and leaving that area will be redirected South towards Hyman Ave
before approaching the downtown core. Drivers traveling along W Hallam St will be
redirected to the South towards Main St and North towards W Smuggler St likely leaving
town, allowing less vehicular traffic able to travel multiple blocks along the both major
ped-bikeways.
Financial Impacts: To practice cost savings, staff will utilize materials from previous
projects for this year’s traffic delineator installation. Additional materials and shipping
costs for the bollard uprights, reflective signage, and speed humps required for assembly
at all five locations, total to $8,297. Funds will be provided by both the Parks and
Engineering Departments for materials and shipping, and City staff from both
Departments will be responsible for the safe installation of materials.
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Public Outreach: A Variable Message Sign (VMS) board will be utilized in addition to
postcards, radio ads, and a press release to inform the impacted community of the
infrastructure solution, time frames, and extents of temporary installations.
After installation, PABST will conduct public engagement to receive feedback from
cyclists, drivers, and neighbors. Positive public feedback would result in future
installations with a similar scope of work targeting these key intersections.
NEXT STEPS: No action is requested of Council if the plan for installing temporary
traffic delineators is acceptable. If Council has policy concerns or direction regarding the
configuration or duration of the seasonal delineators, staff will return with options for
discussion.
Based on public feedback from this seasonal installation, there is an opportunity to
reinstall similar delineators at the same key intersections in future years.
CITY MANAGER NOTES:
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INFORMATION ONLY REPORT
TO: Aspen City Council
FROM: Andy Rossello, Senior Project Manager
THROUGH: Erin Loughlin Molliconi, Utilities Director
Tyler Christoff, Deputy City Manager
MEETING DATE: April 13, 2026
SUBJECT: Compliance with House Bill 23-1039 Electric Resource Adequacy
INTENDED OUTCOME & SUMMARY:
This memorandum is for informational purposes only. No action is requested of Council. This
memo is to inform Council of the City of Aspen Electric Utility compliance with House Bill
2023-1039 regarding electric resource adequacy.
DISCUSSION:
In 2023, Colorado House Bill 23-1039 was passed that requires electric load-serving
providers to submit a resource adequacy report to the Colorado Energy Office (CEO)
beginning in April 2024. The CEO will later publish a statewide resource adequacy report
annually. As part of this process, an electric load-serving provider must also notify its
regulatory oversight entity of this report, which is the City Council for Aspen Electric Utility.
Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN), the City’s wholesale power provider,
provided all applicable information for Aspen to the CEO. The report MEAN provided for its
Colorado members is available on their website under the reports section
(https://www.nmppenergy.org/about-mean/power-supply-resources). As the state of
Colorado and the country increase loads through electrification and as carbon-based
generation sources are retired, understanding load and resource adequacy on the electric
grid its paramount.
NEXT STEPS:
No action from Council is required. This house bill does not change Aspen Electric Utility’s
commitment to utilizing 100% renewable energy since 2015. Aspen’s current portfolio is a
mix of local hydroelectric facilities at Ruedi and Maroon Creek, regional hydroelectric facilities
at Ridgway and Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), and participation in MEAN’s
Green Energy program (wind, solar, hydroelectric, and landfill gas). MEAN also ensures
Aspen is meeting its real-time load requirements.
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ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A - Colorado Resource Adequacy Letter and Report Signed
CITY MANAGER NOTES:
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wNMPP
ENERGY
‘NMPP ‘MERN ‘NPGR ‘RACE
April 2, 2026
VIA CERTIFIED MAIL
Colorado Energy Office
1600 Broadway, Suite 1960
Denver, CO 80202
Subject: Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska Resource Adequacy Annual Report
Please find enclosed the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN) 2026 Resource Adequacy Annual
Report intended to comply with the provisions of C.R.S. § 40-43-104. This report was approved by the
MEAN Board of Directors on January 22, 2026. MEAN is a joint action agency and political subdivision of
the State of Nebraska, serving wholesale electricity to more than 60 municipalities in the states of
Nebraska, Colorado, lowa and Wyoming. The Board of Directors of MEAN serves as the Regulatory
Oversight Entity for MEAN for purposes of C.R.S. § 40-43-104.
MEAN is filing the enclosed report on behalf of the following Colorado municipal utilities served by MEAN
which have formally designated MEAN as an authorized agent to provide the reports on their behalf:
Aspen, Center, and Glenwood Springs.
The enclosed 2026 report is available on MEAN’s website at the following URL:
https://www.nmppenergy.org/sites/default/files/documents/MEAN%20documents/Colorado%20Resou
rce%20Adequacy%20Annual%20Report_PSCO_2026-01-16.pdf
As you may be aware, in prior years MEAN filed a Resource Adequacy Annual Report on behalf of the
following 11 additional Colorado municipal utilities served by MEAN that had formally designated MEAN
as an authorized agent to provide the reports on their behalf: Delta, Fleming, Fort Morgan, Gunnison,
Haxtun, Holyoke, Julesburg, Lyons, Oak Creek, Wray, and Yuma. Effective April 1, 2026, MEAN began
participating in an organized wholesale market on behalf of these 11 municipal utilities. Accordingly, these
11 municipal utilities are excluded from MEAN’s report this year because they now qualify for the
exemption pursuant to C.R.S. § 40-43-104(4).
If you have any questions, please contact me at (402) 473-8234.
Sincerely,
Michelle Lepin \woba
General Counsel - Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska
Enclosure
8377 Glynoaks Drive + Lincoln, NE68516 + Phone: (402) 474-4759 + Fax: (402) 474-0473 - NMPPEnergy.org 8
Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska Resource Adequacy Annual Report
Submitted pursuant to Colorado HB 23-1039 (Article 40-43-104)
Reporting Year: 2026
This Resource Adequacy Annual Report is submitted to the Colorado Energy Office in accordance
with HB 23-1039 (Article 40-43-104) and provides MEAN’s load forecast, accredited capacity
resources, planning reserve margins, and resource needs for the 2027-2031 planning period.
Background on the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN)
The Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN) was created on June 22, 1981, as a body
corporate and politic under the Nebraska Municipal Cooperative Financing Act (Sections 18-2401
through 18-2485, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska). MEAN was established to plan, acquire,
finance, and operate electric generation and transmission facilities on behalf of its 61 participating
municipal utilities. MEAN’s power supply system consists of both ownership interests and
contractual entitlements in a diverse portfolio of generation and transmission resources (the
“MEAN Power Supply System”). More information about MEAN is available at
nmppenergy.org/mean.
Resource Adequacy Narrative
As shown in Table 1 and Table 2, MEAN’s resource assessment for the upcoming planning period
indicates a short term capacity deficiency resulting from ordinary portfolio transitions and the
timing of contract expirations relative to future resource additions. This deficiency is not indicative
of a long term structural shortfall. MEAN plans to address the near term gap through the
procurement of short term bilateral capacity agreements and supplemental market purchases, as
needed, to ensure reliability and maintain compliance. MEAN will continue to refine and adjust its
resource portfolio to minimize future reliance on short term procurement.
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MUNICIPAL ENERGY AGENCY OF NEBRASKA Table 1. Resource Adequacy Requirements Summary Colorado Resource Adequacy Annual Report HB 23-1039 Article 40- 43-104 Requirements Summary (Units - %, MW) 2027 3a Native Load Forecast 44.21 3b Nameplate Capacity and Accredited Capacity by Individual Resource (See Table 2) 3c Resources - Distributed Generation - Accredited 0) 0 3d Demand Response 0.0 0.0 3e Target Planning Reserve Margin 2.21% 3.11% 3f Forecasted Planning Reserve Margin -2.6% -7.8% 3g Resources - Total Accredited Capacity (including Distributed Generation)* 43.065 43.065 3h Excess Capacity 0) 0 Deficient Capacity 2.123 4.524 4.714 4.904 5.094 *Wind accredited capacity was derived using Southwest Power Pool's Accreditation Calculator, which uses a methodology yielding more conservative results than the Effective Load Carrying Capability (ELCC) methodology. Solar accreditation uses Southwest Power Pool's ELCC study results for solar farms. 10
Table 2. Resource Descriptions and Accredited Capacity Colorado Resource Adequacy Annual Report HB 23-1039 Nameplate Article 40- Fuel Type of (Contracted 43-104 Resources Descriptions Resource Tier*** Capacity) Accredited Capacity 3b 2027 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 Ruedi/Maroon Creek Hydro Tier 1 4.00 4.00 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 4.00 WAPA LAP Allocations Hydro Based Tier 1 0.259 0.259 | 0.259 | 0.259 | 0.259 | 0.259 WAPA SLCA Allocations Hydro Based Tier 1 4.806 4.806 | 4.806 | 4.806 | 4.806 | 4.806 WAPA Displacement Hydro Based Tier 1 34 34 34 34 34 34 ***Definition of Tier. Tier 1 is a resource owned or contracted by MEAN that reached commercial operations by the January 2026 report date. Tier 2 is a planned resource owned or contracted by MEAN or anticipated to be owned or contracted by MEAN with a scheduled commercial operation date after the January 2026 report date. Tier 3 is a studied resource anticipated to be owned or contracted by MEAN with no scheduled commercial operations date. 11
March 2026 Des-na-on Marke-ng Report for Council
Destination Marketing: Karina Keller attended the One West MarTech Conference at the beginning of
the month in Oceanside, CA. Wheel the World was in town mapping 25 sites throughout Aspen &
Snowmass during the first two weeks of March as part of our Accessible Travel Grant thru the Colorado
Tourism Office. Eliza Voss presented on the Colorado Tourism Office Destination Stewardship in Action
Webinar, featuring public-private partnerships and the success of the Maroon Bells program. We will be
implementing a new cookie policy on the updated website with 3rd party vendor Termly. Our summer
visitation campaign is live & in market! The Marketing Advisory Committee met on March 25th. Please
click to view the February Public Relations report. The Month at a Glance Data report is available here.
The sales team is working with iDSS and DIGIDECK to facilitate a seamless integration between the two
platforms. Once this is complete, we will be able to pull iDSS lead responses automatically into a new
DIGIDECK proposal for our clients. An April 2027 client was hosted by ACRA for a site visit for their
potential group of 150 attendees. The Q1 Group enewsletter had an open rate of 33% and the
wedding enews saw a 57% open rate. ACRA co-hosted a travel advisor fam with Aspen Meadows for
Coastline Travel.
Special Events: FOOD & WINE seminar schedule is now available online – check out the new web design
and track your favorite chefs more easily! Volunteer registration will open to the public April 2 at
10am. Once positions are full there will be a waitlist that will hold approximately 100+ spots for last
minute needs and changes. Any lodging properties interested in donating rooms for FOOD & WINE
should reach out to tsmith@aspenchamber.org - thanks to those who have already donated! The F&W
NY team will be here April 13-17 for planning meetings. The events team is also planning for the July
4th drone show with Sky Elements which will take place on Saturday, July 4.
Airport Guest Services: Flight activity throughout March has fluctuated between 37 and 42 daily
operations, with higher passenger volumes during the daytime hours and a noticeable taper in the
evenings. Activity expected to remain elevated during the spring break period. ACRA staff continue
to perform at a high level amid operational challenges, particularly periods of high winds that have
resulted in flight cancellations and diversions. These disruptions can create additional strain on ground
transportation, with higher costs for shuttle services to Denver, GJ and Eagle. TSA personnel continue
to maintain operations effectively despite the federal shutdown, and no staffing shortages have been
reported at this time. Additionally, ACRA staff recently met with the communications manager to align
on messaging related to the 2027 closure and as details continue to evolve, the public will be directed
to www.aspenairport.com/modernization for the most current information.
Visitor Centers: The staff are welcoming spring break guests and directing them to the many activities
that are happening around town. As well, we are currently updating the restaurant closure list for
April/May when things do begin to slow down. Summer brochure distribution requests being fulfilled
throughout the state.
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Sales Tax Reports: As of the January 2026 Consumption Tax Report, released in March, the 2026 Tourism
Promotion Fund came in 2.58% above projections and 8% below 2025 collections.
Recent Press Coverage
Occupancy statistics and commentary, as well as visitor center counts, website data and air service
information can now be found on the following page in the Defy Ordinary Dashboard. All data points are
sourced from our monthly report with Blue Room Research and can be found in the Data Center on the
website.
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HOTEL
OCCUPANCY
ASE
PASSENGER
DATA
VISITOR
CENTER
COUNTS
KEY
TAKEAWAYS
WEBSITE
STATS
MARCH 2026
•Occupancy decreased by 5.2% YOY to 75.4%
•Average Daily Rate increased by 14.8% YOY to $1,361
•Room Nights Available was essentially flat (-0.4%) YOY
•Room Nights Booked decreased by 5.5% YOY
In February 2026, ASE saw a total of 88,815 passengers, a 0.8% increase from
February 2025.
Aspen/Pitkin County Airport will be closed from April 23, 2026 at 9:00 am to May 21,
2026 at 7:00 pm to complete required airfield pavement maintenance.
Due to global oil supply disruptions, prices have surged. While higher fuel costs are
not fully reflected in ticket prices to date, increases are expected.
Semi-private jet service, Aero, is set to offer expanded nonstop flights between ASE
and NYC this summer and will introduce direct flights between Aspen (ASE) and
Miami/Opa Locka (OPF) this winter.
Aspen website top performing pages and blogs for February 2026
Blogs:
1.Winter for Non-Skiers in Aspen (7,040 views)
2.5 Reasons to Ski Aspen in March (6,940 views)
3.Ask a Local: 10 Favorite Winter Activities (4,071 views)
4.Four Pass Loop: Know Before You Go (1,517 views)
5. This Week in Aspen (681 views)
Pages:
1.Aspen Event Calendar (8,565 views)
2. Winter for Non-Skiers in Aspen (7,041 views)
3. 5 Reasons to Ski Aspen in March (6,939 views)
4. Maroon Bells Reservations (6,534 views)
5.Adventure Dining in Aspen (4,797 views)
o “Occupancy Booking Pace is down -1.9%, the fifth consecutive decline, but it varies between -19% in CO/UT
and +22% everywhere else. February got a small boost, but the big focus now is on booking for summer.”
o “The war in Iran comes as a counterweight to the positive tailwinds that were building earlier this year. As a
result, Oxford Economics revised its forecast for real U.S. GDP growth this year to 2.4% from 2.8%.”
o “By 2026, demand is projected to be +9.5% versus 2019 for upscale/upper-midscale and +5.6% for luxury/
upper-upscale, compared with -7.5% for midscale/economy and -14.9% for independents.”
o “The longer-term concern is competitiveness. The US share of global long-haul travel has fallen from 18.3% in
1995 to 10.3% in 2019 to 8.1% in 2025 and is projected to decline to 7.5% by 2030.”
Sources: DestiMetrics, Blue Room Research Report & Fly Aspen Snowmass
Regional Insights and U.S. Market Review
In February 2026, Aspen's lodging
properties reported the following:
ACRA's 4 Visitor Information Centers experienced a
49.2% increase in traffic in February 2026
compared to February 2025. Staff assisted 16,606
individuals last month.
*Due to a recent change in ACRA's phone system, this number reflects only in-person and trackable
calls.
- DestiMetrics & Tourism Economics, Blue Room Research
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