RIDGWAY – Members of the Ridgway Town Council have approved a $3,000 grant for the construction of a new climbing wall at the new gymnasium currently being built at the Ridgway Secondary School.
Specifically, funds will be used to create a professional climbing wall surface. The request for the money was made by Ridgway-Ouray Rock Climbing Team Coach Matt Hepp, also representing Voyager Youth Program’s Climbing Wall Committee, at the Jan. 13 meeting of the Ridgway Town Council. Hepp originally asked council for a $5,000 donation but members of council said the budget was too tight for that amount.
“First of all, it is totally awesome you are pursuing this,” said Mayor Pat Willits. “I am supportive of this concept, but this is a tough budget year.”
“I don’t think we have it,” Mayor Pro Tem John Clark said.
About five years ago, before the current downfall of the economy, the town had verbally committed $20,000 to support the climbing wall, but was sidelined at the time because the gymnasium portion of the high school design was eliminated due to under funding. Since then, according to Hepp, Voyager’s Climbing Wall Committee designed and built a small 12-foot climbing wall at the Ridgway Elementary School, which has become a great training tool that allows student athletes to climb locally.
This year, with the help of a Gates Foundation grant, the out-of-pocket expenses to build a new climbing wall have been met, with the exception of the money needed to hire a professional finisher. This step is necessary, says Hepp, because it “will improve the appearance of the wall as a central element of the high school gym annex.”
Councilmembers agreed to provide $3,000 for that portion of the project, adding that they would reevaluate the budget later in the year to see if additional funding could be provided.
Hepp said construction on the new climbing wall should start in April and they hope to have it finished by next winter.
A Step Closer to Prescriptive Green Building Codes
The Town of Ridgway is getting closer to adopting prescriptive energy codes and green building standards for both residential and commercial construction.
After a lengthy presentation of the prescriptive energy code by the town’s building inspector, Bill Behan, it was decided that the green building code committee will meet one more time to hash out the few remaining issues. The code recommendations will then be submitted to the town attorney for drafting.
“This is a very important step for Ridgway to take,” Behan told the Ridgway Town Council at its Jan. 13 meeting. Behan listed five goals of the energy code, which include: facilitating construction of efficient, healthy new structures without substantial increases in investment costs, and considering future savings; encouraging sustainability solutions that reduce consumption of non-renewable fuels; being proactive with state and federal mandates requiring energy code adoptions in 2008; providing educational material and resources for energy efficiency and green building objectives that may become more affordable down the line; and offering resources and incentives for energy conservation and green building opportunities for existing and new structures.
In 2008 the town was mandated by the state to adopt the 2006 version of the International Energy Conservation Code, according to Behan. The new prescriptive energy code being presented “shadows” it closely, he said.
“We have a pretty good start on this already,” Behan said. As for any new codes, Behan said the committee was very sensitive to mandating anything that is going to significantly raise the cost of building. “What we did try to mandate, we tried to make sure the payback periods were five years or less.”
An important segment of the new prescriptive energy codes, according to Town Planner Jen Coates, is the educational aspect of having good information and resources available to builders in the area. “The idea is to create a one-stop-shop for green building information,” she said.
“I like the approach here,” Councilmember Paul Hebert said. “It has a strong educational approach.”
With a few concerns addressed by Councilmember Ellen Hunter, the council agreed the committee should meet once again before sending code recommendations to the town’s attorney for drafting. It is unclear when that draft will go before council for formal adoption.
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