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Andrea Wilhelm: Another perspective

Dear editor,

As the human resources director at Casey’s Pond Senior Living, I felt it was important to communicate a perspective on how the city’s recent decision about parking on Owl Hoot Trail will affect our employees, residents, guests and daily operations.

Since we opened almost a year ago, Casey’s Pond has provided a supportive home to over 200 residents and employed more than 250 individuals in Steamboat. We are the first and only continuing care retirement community in all of rural Colorado, and I would assume the city, its council members, managers and residents surely recognize the value of what Casey’s Pond adds to this town in terms of housing, health care services, jobs, tax revenues and more.



As a member of this community, what I do not understand is why employee parking located off the side of Owl Hoot Trail has become such an important concern for the city. I am unaware of any safety issues/incidents, parking is a much larger problem in downtown Steamboat and the nearby sports complex and we have yet to see any formal complaints from other local residents. 

After nearly a year of trying to negotiate and explore alternatives with the city, the only solution they have given us is to spend upward of probably $50,000 in (nonprofit) operating funds to pave the gravel shoulder, just so we can continue parking in almost the exact same location. Casey’s Pond has agreed to do this, yet with winter approaching, the city will not even allow us a six-month parking extension.



Instead, we need to hire a full-time driver to shuttle our employees from the Walton Creek lot across U.S. Highway 40, and the city will spend additional time and money plowing that lot. Not only is this an unnecessary waste of resources for both parties (and a safety concern for those who choose to walk), it creates a significant inconvenience and additional time requirement for our dedicated caregivers who often commute from Hayden, Craig and Clark.

Tyler Gibbs’ explanation was that “over time, we’re not going to be able to sustain parking on the soft gravel shoulders,” but Casey’s Pond paid for the gravel and road completion in the first place, employees parked there all of last winter and it’s going to be replaced in six months regardless.

Considering all the significant issues our city managers could focus on, and the fact that they approved the initial parking study in the first place, why can’t they just compromise and give us six more months to alleviate the operational burden this will place on our staff?

The mission statement of the Steamboat Springs City Council is: “to serve its citizens through the development of plans and partnerships that provide quality facilities, services, and programs for a diverse, vibrant, and healthy community.” Despite the quality facilities and services we provide to seniors each day, this does not feel like a partnership – it feels like the city is creating an unnecessary obstacle that impedes those services.

As the HR director, I can tell you that our 200 employees are upset about this decision, and I think it will affect retention, which in turn affects the residents we care for and their families. Our employees already have written letters to the City Council members begging for reconsideration, and we think this is what prompted the Sept. 25 article in the newspaper reflecting only one side of the story.

As a resident of Steamboat and employee of Casey’s Pond, I would ask the City Council to question whether this is truly necessary when the long-term negative effects on our business will far outweigh the temporary impact on our gravel.

Andrea Wilhelm

Steamboat Springs


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