The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Hayden School District was given the top priority for an energy impact grant Tuesday.

A county panel ranked the needs of four groups seeking money from the state program run through the Department of Local Affairs. The county will send the recommendations to the department, which will review the applications and award grants this fall.

The panel included county commissioners, representatives from each municipality and a representative from Peabody Energy. It also reviewed requests from Routt County, the North Routt Community Charter School and Steamboat Springs.

The Hayden district sought a grant for safety-related upgrades, Hayden High School Principal Troy Zabel told the panel.

The district wants to flip the locations of the high school library and main office, which would put the office nearer to the school entrance. The district also would add a service window for visitors. At the middle school, the district plans to add a service window to the district office at the entrance and another window at the middle school office.

The proposal also includes improving radio communications with Hayden police and adding surveillance cameras.

“School projects usually do pretty well with DOLA,” Zabel said after the rankings.

The district proposed to match 25 percent of the funds, which Routt County Commissioner Nancy Stahoviak said was the minimum. Increasing the local match would increase Hayden schools’ chances of getting money, she told Zabel.

If the state gives Hayden the funds, the project will begin next spring, Zabel said.

Three other groups are asking for energy impact funds.

Routt County and Routt County Search and Rescue seek $150,000 for a communications and command vehicle. Search and Rescue operates out of a school bus from 1973, volunteer Dave Hill said.

“This is a vehicle we would be able to use for any incident” in the county, Hill said.

The panel ranked the item second.

For the first time, projects were separated this year into Tier I and Tier II levels. Projects seeking funding up to $200,000 are in the first tier, and those seeking $200,000 to $2 million are in the second tier. The panel ranked both tiers together. All but the communications vehicle were in Tier II.

Ranking third was the charter school in Clark, which seeks funds for a new building.

The school population is outgrowing its campus, representatives said. The school wants to build a 12,000-square-foot structure that would include additional classrooms and a community center.

The fourth request on the rankings was land for a public safety building for western Steamboat Springs. The city wants to move the police station to a lot near the Routt County Jail and Sheriff’s Office.

Calls for police service have increased 30 percent in the past five years, Deputy City Manager Wendy DuBord told the panel. The department needs more space and will need up to 12 more police officers in the next 10 years, she said.

Also, the city is expanding to the west, so the area is a logical spot for police, DuBord said. Steamboat Springs Fire Rescue would remain downtown.

“There are a lot of ways this site could create some efficiencies,” DuBord said.