ASPEN — Aspen may soon incentivize developers to build affordable housing projects by giving them an opportunity to double dip in the market.

The plan would create a credit that could be sold to other developers looking to meet their employee housing mitigation obligations.

Current city policy provides a formula for when and how much affordable housing a developer has to provide when doing a project in the city. There is no incentive currently to simply build affordable housing.

The affordable housing credits, much like “transferable development rights” in the county, would be issued to the developer of the affordable housing based on the number of full time employees his development can house. They could then be sold on the open market.

The incentive in the proposal comes from the fact that affordable housing builder gets to sell or rent the units he or she builds to qualifying locals, and then sell his housing credits to developers of free market projects.

Second reading and a public hearing are set for March 22.

SNOWMASS — Related WestPac President Dwayne Romero is confident that Base Village will move forward in 2010.

The company is in negotiations with its lender to sell Lot 3, which includes two unfinished structures – the Welcoming Center and the Little Nell at Snowmass. Both are partially built, but have been idle and covered with plastic since construction was halted in 2008.

Related Cos., the primary partner in Base Village developer Related WestPac, is planning improvements to the Welcoming Center — regardless of whether Lot 3 is sold — that will make the Base Village area easier for visitors to use. The improvements include transit links, stairs and escalators from the parking garage to the plaza and lockers and bathrooms. The building will remain partially unfinished.

Romero said negotiations with reluctant buyers of Viceroy condominiums have progressed in recent weeks, as well. While the sales of dozens of units are still being challenged in court, some owners have started talking with Romero and his team.

Romero credits Related Cos. for continuing to fund operations at Snowmass Village. The company could have negotiated a takeover by its lenders, Bank of America and Hypo, a German bank, and walked away from the project.

He declined to speculate on what will happen after the unfinished work on Lot 3 is resolved, but did note that the approvals for Base Village are vested through 2024.

BASALT — Developers at the Willits subdivision and Basalt Town Council face a potential showdown over affordable housing.

The developers want to extend approvals for 84 townhome units, but say they cannot afford to comply with new affordable housing requirements that went into effect last year.

Developers Michael Lipkin, Clay Crossland and Paul Adams want to provide open space in lieu of the affordable housing by locating most of the 145 parking spots in underground garages beneath the units. That would create more open space for the community at large.

The city of Aspen is withholding $1 million from a contractor of the Burlingame Ranch affordable housing project.

Shaw Builders won't receive the money until work on landscaping and seeding are resolved to the city’s satisfaction, said Steve Bossart, the city's asset manager who oversees the project. Shaw Executive Vice President Clark Atkinson is confident his company will satisfy its contract.

Shaw has bid on the 167 mutli‐family units at Burlingame that are currently in the planning stage.

A bill under consideration in the state Legislature would uphold local governments' ability to enforce deedrestricted housing agreements.

Ronald Myerstein, who owns 18 deed‐restricted condominiums at the base of Highlands, and Pitkin County are embroiled in two lawsuits over deed restrictions on several employee housing units he owns in Aspen. He is trying to get out from under those requirements even though he bought the units with the restrictions in place.

There will also be new limits on the hours people can have their garbage on the curb; trash haulers will be responsible for monitoring compliance; and construction sites will also have to include bear‐proof containers.

Aspen City Council voiced unanimous support for expanding the Saturday Market onto the 500 block of Hyman Avenue over the objections of three businesses.

Calling Little Annie’s an “important local institution,” Mayor Mick Ireland said the city would not let the affordable eatery get hurt by the growing market. “If this negatively impacts Little Annie’s then we’re just not going to do it anymore,” he said.

Aspen City Council will not allow portable food carts in the downtown core this year, after receiving overwhelmingly negative feedback from the local business community. The Aspen Chamber Resort Association said feedback on the idea was overwhelmingly negative.

Snowmass Village Town Council may create an urban renewal authority to deal with unfinished buildings in Base Village.

Funds for condemnation and renewal projects require an upfront investment from the community, and then are reimbursed through a property and, possibly, sales tax collections.

A majority of council members wanted to learn more about the cost and timeframe.

Some town council members said they were surprised and unhappy to learn that the town’s tourism department made a profit on alcohol sales, breaking a promise made three years ago.

Marketing officials said the profits came in because they found an alcohol sponsor, but the council wants to review operations anyway.

The Aspen Skiing Co. got the green light from Snowmass Village Town Council to launch a new summer operations plan on Snowmass Ski Area.

Forest Service approval is required.

Two county commissioners, Rachel Richards and George Newman, support a proposal to help fund new affordable housing at Burlingame by committing $9 million in county housing funds toward construction.

The city of Aspen, which is developing Burlingame is looking for partners to develop the remaining 167 units.

Richards pointed out that the project is a chance to get housing built quickly.

Other commissioners want the city to provide detailed information about the per unit cost before committing money to the project. Commissioner Michael Owsley noted the project carries negative political baggage.

The code changes attempt to address the visual and noise impacts associated with energy operations, as well as air quality and wildlife impacts. The rules would bolster surface and subsurface water protections and require water monitoring.

They also beef up the financial assurances to cover potential accidents, unforeseen events and potential longterm damage to the health of citizens, the environment, water and wildlife.

The county faces energy development pressure in the northwest corner of the county, around Thompson Creek outside of Carbondale, where some wells and pipelines already exist.

A community task force is being appointed by the Pitkin County Commissioners to hash out conflicts over parking in Lenado.

Snowmobilers and backcountry skiers have been able to park legally along the road since last fall, when the commissioners OK’d a practice that had been in effect for a long time. Two Lenado landowners, Frank Peters and Daniel Delano, have filed a lawsuit over the matter.

The task force is expected to include members of the local neighborhood caucuses and members of the last task force to address the issue.

Aspen Valley Hospital will ask voters in May to reauthorize an existing property tax that helps fund hospital operations. The taxing district that supports the hospital encompasses most of Pitkin County.

The mill levy, first approved in 1995, will be up for its fourth reauthorization. Voters will be asked again to approve a levy of up to 1.5 mills, though it can be adjusted downward from the approved amount.

The recession closed 55 businesses and extinguished 1,804 jobs in Pitkin County in the second half of 2008 and first half of 2009, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

Pay levels declined by about $285 per month for workers in Aspen and Snowmass Village declined from June 2008 though June 2009.

The job losses were felt across nearly all major economic sectors: construction, retail, restaurants and bars, real estate sales and property management and entertainment and recreation.

One exception was the tourist accommodation sector, where employment levels were unchanged.

Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis Braudis, hospitalized earlier this winter with a major upper respiratory infection, will undergo physical therapy to regain strength in his lungs. Afterward, he'll begin cardiovascular rehabilitation to regain his stamina.

Braudis, 65, spent three days in intensive care and several weeks in acute care at St. Joseph's Hospital in Denver. He was in the care of AVH for nearly a week last month, as well. He fell ill while he was vacationing in Europe.