Vail Daily letter: Land for workers

Recently on March 1, a group of folks from local and state government, Copper Mountain Resort and the US Forest Service gathered to celebrate the purchase of a 44-plus-acre parcel of land adjacent to Frisco from the Forest Service — to be used for local workforce housing. The significance of this event is three-fold:

• A new way: The outright purchase was done outside of the heretofore three restrictive ways to acquire land — one being complicated and frequently controversial land swaps.

• Price was right: The purchase price was $1.75 million!

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• Local influence: Prime mover and key players in an admittedly complicated transaction included (but not limited to) Summit County commissioner(s), Rep. Jared Polis (D-Boulder) and both Colorado US senators.

Sounds like a little thinking outside of the box was in play? Sounds like something similar could go on in our area now that a precedent is in place, noting the federal-government-approved transaction went through in a gridlock Congress environment? Sounds like we need to hear more about this idea.

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Paul Rondeau

Vail