Mark your calendars for the Town of Vail’s annual Celebrating Community neighborhood picnic series Tuesday, July 23 at Bighorn Park in East Vail and Tuesday, Aug. 13 at Donovan Pavilion in West Vail. Each picnic will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. with free food and drink provided by the town on a first-come, first-served basis. The picnics provide community members with an opportunity to offer comments and suggestions about various topics and to meet members of the Vail Town Council and town staff.

Vail has initiated its national search for a new town manager with applications due July 23. Outreach to potential candidates has already begun and formal advertisements for the position are being placed this week.

Join riders across Colorado in celebrating June as “Bike Month” by trading your keys for a helmet and biking to work on Wednesday, June 26. The Climate Action Collaborative, Sole Power, Colorado Department of Transportation, Beaver Creek, ECO Trails and the towns of Vail, Avon, Minturn, Eagle and Gypsum, plus local bike shops and other businesses are supporting this statewide event by rewarding residents who choose to bike or walk to their workplace.

Building on the strong momentum of the Eagle River Valley’s multiple efforts across private and public sectors to create a healthy community by delivering incremental housing projects, the YIMBY Jamboree will take place Thursday, Jan. 17 at Donovan Pavilion.

Partnerships and collaboration in the areas of housing, environmental sustainability, parking, economy and public safety were key contributors in helping to elevate the town’s priority initiatives during 2018. For example, in partnership with the Vail Local Housing Authority, the town continued to make an impact on its housing goals with the acquisition of 106 new deed restrictions totaling $6.5 million of public and private investments through the Vail InDEED program. This included the purchase of 23 deed-restrictions at the newly-constructed 6 West Apartments in Edwards, which represents the town’s first of its kind regional housing collaboration. Also noteworthy during the year was announcement of Vail’s official certification as the first sustainable mountain resort destination in the U.S. and the first community certified in the world under the Mountain Ideal Standard. The certifications are the result of a multi-year partnership between the Town of Vail, Walking Mountains Science Center, Sustainable Travel International, Vail Resorts, U.S. Forest Service and others, while marking the culmination of 56 years of leadership by the Vail community in progressive environmental conservation policies and programs. To address the need for additional public parking, a three-way partnership between the town, Eagle County Schools and Vail Resorts contributed to the opening of a new, four-level parking structure at Red Sandstone Elementary School in which the spaces will be utilized for both school and public use. A first-ever retreat between the Vail Town Council and executives from Vail Resorts identified areas where the two entities will be working together to enhance the guest experience and elevate Vail’s competitiveness. Events such as the Burton U.S. Snowboarding Championships, Colorado Classic, Bravo! Vail Music Festival as well as a Global Friendship exchange trip to Japan, served to showcase Vail to international audiences. Also of note was the involvement of Vail Fire in facilitating creation of the Mountain Area Mutual Aid Plan which assisted in the coordination of wildfire suppression efforts during the Lake Christine, Bocco, Buffalo, Two Elk and Golf Course fires throughout the region, and will serve to provide critical resources in the event of a wildfire in or near Vail. Other milestones included completion of the update to the Open Lands Plan, ongoing improvement in Gore Creek’s water quality, sponsorship of a wildlife forum which brought renewed focus on the health of the area’s wildlife, plus a kickoff to the Civic Area planning process that will help identify a future plan for the town’s public facilities in the heart of Vail.

Public comment opportunities will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 4 as the Vail Town Council prepares to adopt the 2019 municipal budget. The $73.3 million expenditure plan is available on the town’s website at www.vailgov.com. Second reading of Ordinance No. 21 is listed as item 8.3 on Tuesday’s meeting agenda which begins at 6 p.m. in the Vail Town Council Chambers. 

Town of Vail municipal offices, with the exception of the police front counter, will be closed Thursday, Nov. 22 in observance of Thanksgiving. This holiday closure includes the parking pass sales office. The police front counter will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving. Regular hours for all other offices will resume Friday, Nov. 23. The Vail Public Library will be closed beginning at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 21 and will remain closed all day Thursday. Transit services will operate uninterrupted. Call 911 for police, fire or medical emergencies. 

Patty McKenny, Vail’s town clerk since 2014, has been promoted to serve as assistant town manager effective immediately. The selection was announced by town manager Greg Clifton following a screening of more than 100 applicants, including six finalists.

Most Town of Vail Municipal offices will be closed on Monday, Sept. 3 in observance of Labor Day. The Vail Public Library also will be closed. Regular office hours will resume on Tuesday, Sept. 4. Transit services will operate uninterrupted during the holiday. Also, the police front counter in the Municipal Building will remain open on Monday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Call 911 for police, fire or medical emergencies.

The Town of Vail will host its remaining neighborhood picnic of the summer on Tuesday, Aug. 7 at Donovan Pavilion. The picnic will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. with free food and drink provided by the town as well as a children’s activity area sponsored by the Vail Recreation District.

Vail Town Manager Greg Clifton has announced the hiring of Matt Gennett as Community Development director. His first day on the job will be Aug. 29. Gennett has 19 years of municipal planning and management experience within the region. He has been the planning manager for the Town of Silverthorne since 2013 and has worked in a variety of other local planning roles, including previous employment with the Town of Vail from 2002 to 2006, where he was promoted to senior planner. His experience also includes owning a land use consulting business and serving in various planning positions with the Town of Avon and Eagle County Government.

The Vail Police Department is accepting applications for a Police Academy sponsorship. The program includes tuition-free enrollment at the Colorado Law Enforcement Training Academy at Colorado Mountain College in Glenwood Springs and an hourly wage of $27.36 while attending the academy. The training includes 612 hours of course work. Upon successful completion of the academy, followed by certification, the sponsorship provides for an employment offer with Vail Police once an opening for a police officer becomes available.

The Town of Vail has announced the promotion of Jeff Darnall to assume the position of fleet manager in the Public Works and Transportation Department following an extensive interview and selection process. Darnall has been employed by the town since 2002 and has most recently served as fleet supervisor. He replaces Todd Scholl who recently retired from the town after 37 years.

The Town of Vail has initiated a national search to hire a Community Development Director. Online applications are available at vailgov.com/jobs with the first round of candidate screenings to occur in mid-June. The position was vacated in March when former director George Ruther, who had held the position since 2007, transitioned to the newly-created position of Housing Director for the town.

George Ruther, currently the town’s community development director, has been selected to serve as director of Vail’s newly-created housing department. Ruther was selected from among six semi-finalists and will begin his new role immediately.