Town of Avon makes big plans for 2024

Every year, Avon town staff receives direction from Town Council on a set of department goals, which shape the staff’s workload for the year. During its Feb. 27 meeting, the council reviewed Avon’s goals for 2024. There are 63 listed goals, several of which are already in progress. 

“I could talk to you for the next six to eight hours about the goals,” said Eric Heil, Avon town manager. Heil and town staff managed to keep the presentation brief, with the bulk of the information contained in the meeting packet.

The 2024 goals, Heil said, are “ambitious, but very strategic.”

Among the 63 goals, some stand out as particularly public-facing, and several will have immediate impacts within the next year.

Implementation phase

Avon will be conducting two separate public surveys this year, taking place in different seasons and for different purposes. The Eagle County Regional Housing Action Plan survey will go out within the next month to those who live in Eagle County, seeking to evaluate pressing housing needs and conditions.

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During the summer, Avon will undertake the town’s 2024 community survey, which will go out to residents and property and business owners in Avon, asking for input on town services and future policy questions.

Two large format murals will come to town over the next two years. One will be located on the Avon Elementary School exterior wall facing the playground and the other on the Seasons building facing the Avon Library. The first mural is scheduled to be painted in summer 2024.

Among several projects, the information technology department will be implementing public Wi-Fi in Nottingham Park. The project will proceed in stages, beginning with the field space in front of the Avon Pavilion.

The Avon Recreation Department is developing a scholarship program in 2024 to make membership at the Avon Recreation Center even more accessible.

The Avon Police Department will be completing Ethical Decision Making Under Stress training, a nationally embraced de-escalation program supported by the Colorado Peace Officers Standards Training Board. The police department will also be monitoring the implementation of Avon’s new managed parking system, which went into full effect at the start of 2024.

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Evening bus service in the town core will increase, with red and blue line buses expanding service to cover delays and full buses, and operating hours and frequency remaining the same as a baseline.

The irrigation system for Nottingham Park will also be redesigned in 2024, after an audit in 2022 recommended replacing the entire aged system, and the town received a $60,000 grant from the Colorado Water Conservation Board to undertake the project.

Housing and community development

Avon’s 2024 community development goals were discussed at-length during the Jan. 23 council meeting.

Housing goals include preparing to construct the Avondale Apartments, a community housing complex; preparing and beginning construction on an early childhood center and accompanying housing units; updating outdated deed restrictions; and annexing the State Land Board property to build community housing.

One goal was added to the community development list after a suggestion from Avon mayor Amy Phillips: updating the town’s Mi Casa program and Real Estate Transfer Tax fee waivers, which are now out of date after not being updated since the program began in 2020.

“That’s the low-hanging fruit that right now is slipping away because our numbers are too low,” Phillips said. “We’ve had approximately a 30% increase in cost, and to not have our deed restriction fee waivers, and our cap, and our limit take into account that 30% increase, I think we’re doing a disservice to the people that might be interested in using those programs,” she said.

“That’s a very important program to the town that can’t go stale. It needs active implementation and updates all the time to keep it valid and relevant,” said Tamra Underwood, Avon mayor pro tem.

Putting the project onto the 2024 list of department goals likely requires moving another goal to a future year, a decision that will be made by town staff.

Research phase

Some of the town’s goals are still in the research phase, but may have big impacts if implemented as planned.

Town staff will research webcams to put up around town, with the idea of replicating the town of Vail’s casual cameras showing activity, such as on Bridge Street. Webcams may be located in Wildridge, and in Nottingham Park, but the project is still in the very early stages, with implementation not coming before 2025.

“It’s the technology we’re really sorting out, and once we have that, then we can get a lot deeper in the details with locations,” said Ineke de Jong, Avon’s chief administrative officer. 

The Avon sustainability department will be conducting research into a potential composting program for Avon residents, which would contribute to the town’s Climate Action Plan and go into effect in 2025.

For future art around town, large hearts for visitors to take selfies with, and wintertime ice sculptures that would go in the Main Street Mall are both scheduled to be researched and planned in 2024, with installation in 2025.

Avon’s approximately 63 goals for 2024 continue plans that town staff and council have supported over the last couple of years, allowing for consistency into the future.

“We didn’t really have a whole lot of new going into 2024, I think we just had the evolution of planning, strategy, visioning for the last two, three years,” Heil said.

Rather than new ideas, Heil asked Council to allow staff the time in 2024 to implement the existing ideas, with updates to come every quarter.