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■ It seems to me to be a reasonable step. We certainly ought to consider other financing options as well. And if in the end posting additional security seems a favorable option, it need not necessarily be from reserves. Other types of financial instruments can be used.

U.S. Bank’s action was ill considered. The council’s reaction was uncertain at first but has shown improvement. The public’s responses have run the entire range from unperturbed to hysterical.

We do live in a time of economic troubles that have everyone on edge. Our actions have generally been to hope for the best while we prepare for the worst, very sound, really. Let’s continue to keep the belt tight on routine spending but not stop the capital investment that will enable our future prosperity.

To draw an analogy to my personal situation, we now eat more chicken and soup instead of steak and asparagus, but we still come up with the money to keep our business moving ahead.

— JohnFielding

■ “... Just because the main economic driver for the valley has been the ski mountain in the past ...”

Don’t hold your breath for an “alternative” economic driver ... there is none, and it would be an enormous stretch to assume that we could “create” such a situation. The cost of living up here in Routt County is prohibitively high, and this will not change.

The ski area and related tourism is what we have. Without skiing, we could not exist. Let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that there could be some “alternative” path we could pursue ...

— blue_spruce

■ Yes, making capital investments is a good idea. However, the kind of capital investments really should be considered. Those at the base area may not yield the results that we are looking for. Just because the main economic driver for the valley has been the ski mountain in the past, does that mean making this investment is going to yield the results desired in the future?

Will property values in the URA and sales tax (should increase year over year but that is not saying much as many shops closed last year) stay above the baseline in the long term? …

Yes, John, we try to find the capital in my business to make capital improvements which are income producing. I question whether this will actually cause any new money coming into the valley or if it will simply cause a financial drain on the coffers of the city.

— ybul

■ I am for the daylighting of the creek and the fancy sidewalk. I don’t think it’s wise to pull money out of our city reserves to fund it, but we need to show some effort of improvement at the base. ... I really can’t believe a performance bond or better plan was not in place, before all of Ski Time Square was torn down. Tourism is our industry. We have a lot of appeal other than just skiing, and we need to continue to promote them. We need to not turn people off by having a dumpy base area. If Atira can follow through with its stuff in Ski Time Square, the creek is opened, we have a nice walkway, and Ski Corp. builds some sweet bike features at the base, a year from now it will be much more desirable place.

— insbsdeep