Breck balks at land swap

SUMMIT COUNTY - Breckenridge Town Council members slowed the Snake River land exchange train last week, voicing concerns about some of the parcels involved in the deal.

The two key pieces in the Snake River land swap are the privately owned 48-acre Chihuahua parcel in the Peru Creek drainage, and a 21-acre national forest parcel near the River Run Gondola at Keystone. Smaller pieces have been added in hopes of creating a level trade.

In a work session, several council members said the town should delay its approval until one of the smaller pieces - the Wedge parcel - is included in the deal and written so it doesn't fall into private ownership, said council member Dave Rossi.

The Wedge is seen as crucial to ensuring the biological integrity of the prized Cucumber Gulch wetlands.

"We've been trying to get that for so long," Rossi said.

At issue is the value of the Wedge parcel.

"We don't know what the Wedge parcel will be appraised for," said Gary Miller, who owns the Chihuahua land with several partners. "They (Breckenridge) don't know if they can pay for it."

Miller said he's not interested in acquiring the Wedge parcel, but acknowledged that the way the agreement is written, the property could go to him if it doesn't go to the town as part of the trade.



Even trade?

According to preliminary assessments, the private Chihuahua land is worth more than the River Run parcel. Two pieces of national forest land in Breckenridge would balance the scale: the Wedge parcel and the Claimjumper parcel, located along Airport Road.

Since Breckenridge is interested in acquiring both, the town has been included in the deal as the third leg of a tripod intended to even out the value of the federal and private parcels in the deal. Additionally, the town is willing to ante up some cash in order to acquire the Wedge and the Claimjumper land.

The Claimjumper land is slated for affordable housing development. The town wants the Wedge parcel to make sure it remains undeveloped.

According to Rossi, several council members felt the town shouldn't participate in the trade unless there is more assurance that the Wedge remains part of the deal.

"Some of us thing it's not worth it, that if we couldn't get the Wedge, we didn't want Claimjumper. We've got plenty of land for affordable housing," Rossi said.



Bad blood?

Rossi said the council's land trade discussions also stirred up bad memories from last year, when the Forest Service and Environmental Protection Agency announced a mine-waste cleanup of the Claimjumper land.

Although a Forest Service land specialist acknowledged early on that the Claimjumper parcel could be included in a trade, former district Ranger Rick Newton later said the cleanup was unrelated to the exchange, and that the federal government was doing the cleanup simply because it was "the right thing to do."

Town manager Tim Gagen said town staff would work on revising the agreement and bring it back to council in two weeks.

The pieces of a land trade puzzle can change up until the final stages of a deal, based on the latest appraisals of the parcels. The Claimjumper parcel, for example, was slated for inclusion in a previous trade, but was withdrawn late in the process due to environmental concerns.



Bob Berwyn can be reached at 970) 331-5996, or at bberwyn@summitdaily.com.