After election, Avon council looks to future

AVON, Colorado — Buz Reynolds will be the newest member of the town council in Avon, Colorado — but also its most experienced one.

Final counts show the former mayor, who served on the council between 1996 and 2004, received the most votes in the town council election Tuesday, followed by incumbents Kristi Ferraro and Amy Phillips, who were reelected to the council for their second four-year terms.

Reynolds, a building contractor, has lived in Eagle County for more than 30 years and says his long-term friendships in the community will be an asset to the town.

“I think I can help the council be better neighbors,” Reynolds said. “It’s a small area, and we all work together to get things done. A lot of these people are friends of mine, and it’s easy for me to talk with them on a personal basis.”

Reynolds said his top priority will be ensuring the council can afford whatever work it’s planning to do. He’s not necessarily looking forward to long meetings — but is looking forward to serving his community on the council again.

“It’s an honor to me — hopefully I can do as good and better than last time,” Reynolds said.

‘Steady and methodical’

Ferraro, a business and real estate lawyer, said she’s happy to keep serving on the council, especially now that she’s over the big learning curve she and other new councilors went through four years ago.

“It feels a little less daunting now — you get a better sense of what your priorities are, so you’re not quite as starry eyed,” Ferraro said.

Ferraro said the town’s biggest task is getting Main Street built, while keeping in mind the difficulties presented by the financial crisis.

“The first order of business is figuring out when the financial markets are going to settle down and what our sales tax revenues are going to do,” Ferraro said.

Ferraro is also looking forward to upgrading Nottingham Park, improving bike paths and sealing the deal on the big open space exchange planned with the county, U.S. Forest Service and the Eagle Valley Land Trust.

Phillips, an advertising representative for Vail-Beaver Creek Magazine, says the council has done a lot in the past four years, and that they can accomplish even more in the next four years.

As with the other candidates, the economy is on her mind.

“I hope the whole community does well with business this winter — if we’re smart, we’ll come out of it fine,” Phillips said. “The biggest priority is making sure we make fiscally sound decisions as we continue to move forward with the plans that we've already put together.”

Phillips said while a totally new voice might have been good for the council, Reynolds, even though he’s served before, hasn’t been involved in the town’s recent Main Street planning and should offer some valuable perspective.

“Even though Buz is in many ways an incumbent — he’s also a newbie,” Phillips said. “I think he represents a group of voters that do have concerns and want to make sure we’re going in a steady and methodical manner.”

‘A lot of effort’

Shari Peach, an anesthesiologist at Vail Valley Medical Center, said she was pleased with how clean and positive the race was and that Avon is in good hands. She might run again someday, but isn’t sure. For now, she’ll focus on her leadership positions at the hospital.

“I think the voters had a lot of good choices, and they chose experience, which is great,” Peach said.

This was Karri Willemssen’s second time running for town council, and will more than likely be her last time, she said. It was fun waving signs with her parents by the town hall on election day, but was still a little disappointing when the results came out.

“It’s a lot of work, a lot of effort, and I knocked on so many doors. Somehow, I’ll get back involved,” Willemssen said.

Willemssen, who’s the director of sales and marketing for Western Seasons, said she might someday want to join the Avon Historical Preservation committee or maybe the planning and zoning commission.



Staff Writer Matt Terrell can be reached at 970-748-2955 or mterrell@vaildaily.com.