Serving you, homeowners in the Telluride Valley, with insights highlighting the abundant happenings and hidden surprises of this wonderfully remote mountain community which we call our year-round home
WARNING: SKI PASS SALE ENDS OCTOBER 31ST! Save BIG bucks.
The Farmer’s Almanac suggests that this winter‘s mid-season temperatures will be unseasonably cold with average precipitation. The winter temperatures range is from 19 degrees (BRRRR!) to 28 degrees throughout the four-and-a-half month long ski season with January and February being the coldest. Kastle Keepers LLC has already begun to gear up for the winter.
In fact our daily routines vary with the seasonal changes. We automatically take care of all the details in preparing your house for winter. Over two decades we have got it down to a science. We are presently having the boiler systems checked and overhauled when needed. After October the aspen leaves will have dropped and we can move forward with having the gutters cleaned out so that they won’t clog up with ice attached to a bunch of dead bulky leaves. Item by item various chores are knocked off the lists so when you are in residence there are no hassles to trap you inside while you could be out skiing and enjoying your family and friends.
You will receive several emails from us about Christmas and post holiday special requests you may be considering. We are keen on planning out the details of your stay ahead of time. Also in the late fall we send out house status reports to keep you current on how your house is faring while you are out-of-town.For your convenience, you can download these forms:
HOLIDAYS AND CHRISTMAS 2008/ 2009 requests
CLEANING REQUESTS-HOLIDAYS, CHRISTMAS, NEW Years 2008/2009
Each week one of two guys does a thorough walk-thru of your home. Rusty and Keith are proactively looking for problems before they happen. These two guys are in constant contact via high tech computer software, emails and cell phones exchanging notes and concerns about the homes. This team approach has exceptional advantages to having a “friend” watch over your multi-million dollar investment property. You’re covered.
NEWS:
The worst part of Telluride is that it is hard to get to …
The best part of Telluride is it is hard to get to as well
Once again Telluride Ski Resort was recently ranked as one of the best resorts in North America by both the Skiing and Ski Magazine reader polls. While Skiing Magazine ranks the TSR as fourth overall, SKI lists the resort as tenth. Visitors rank the après ski scene as top notch, they love the steeps, the new terrain and of course the weather. Markedly Telluride moved ahead of Aspen in the readers’ poll. *Access to Telluride ranked as 60th which severely lowered the overall score. Does this mean that if we were just 20 minutes from a major airport would that make us #1? Other glitter subject matter gleamed from the poll: Our dining ranked 8th, our scenery 4th (must have been foggy that day!). Telluride received accolades for having the Best $40 steak; New Sheridan Chop House and service at the resort was given a 10th ranking. **The New Sheridan Chop House will have a grand re-opening for the Christmas season.
The winter schedule for Telluride’s theatre for the performing arts, The Michael Palm Theatre has been released. Enjoy the African Children’s Choir, a Christmas Carol, and the Golden Dragon Acrobats for Chine, Shakespeare’s King Henry and Ballet Folkorico this winter season. Visit the site at www.telluridepalm.com. Other entertainment venues for the holiday week are the Sheridan Opera House, www.sheridanoperahouse.com.Another chunk of local open space has been preserved- this time within the town limits. An exchange of sorts was arranged to acquire a thin slice of property called the Kentucky Placer. This 114-acre parcel begins close to the base of the Bear Creek trail, includes the popular beaver ponds and then jogs north and east under a steep mountainside. In September it was purchased by the Telluride Open Space Fund from the Trust for Public Land. The Open Space fund, State grants and County funds were thrown in to make the deal materialize. A 1.74-acre portion of this property was granted back to the TPL as part of the compensation package. TPL has the right to develop this parcel and sell this as three single-family lots. Ice climbers will be once again allowed access to the famed Bridal Veil Falls, apparently a coveted national treasure in that respect.
The distinctive aroma of steaming’ hot dogs in warm sesame seed buns smothered in sauerkraut will be just steps away from the fire pit area in the Mountain Village this winter. Diggity Dog’s Dogg Cookhouse has moved closer into the village core. A bonus! This Dogg House will be inside!NEWS: Lift 7 Area
As you ride up in the shadow of the ski mountain on Chair lift #7, a 12-minute ride, you will undoubtedly get a sense of the ski resort’s 1970’s beginnings. Old is mixed with quasi-old and then there are splashes of new structures and improvements here and there. Well that is on the edge of change. There are large sections of open space mixed into this parcel. Recently the landowners of this Tract Y have gotten out the sketch pads and pencils. To many parties of the community the Lift 7 area represents the town’s last opportunity for major redevelopment.
In the Coonskin Chair lift #7 corner of town, the Telluride Ski and Golf Co. owns a 10 acre triangle of open space for which plans for mixed commercial uses were presented last year. Questions regarding the land are zoning status, the legality of any development of the land and whether or not the town has any jurisdiction at this edge of town quickly arose. The town owns two nearby parcels, Shandoka and the Carhenge parking lots, both adjacent to Chair 7 area. In the town-owned area a parking garage, affordable housing and condo-hotels have been mentioned as possible development opportunities. The Telski open space could support many other projects including a hotel and housing. Opponents argue that the space should be left undeveloped because of wetlands running through the property.
The legal status of Tract Y is under renewed scrutiny. In a legal analysis by Town Attorney Kevin Geiger, the parcel of open space has been determined to be subject to covenants governing the Backman Village subdivision of which it is a part. Further examination of the covenants prevents development of the parcel for any purpose other than employee housing. These covenants, however, can be changed with the approval of the Town of Telluride, Backman Village homeowners, Telluride Ski and Golf Co. and the amendment of The Lift agreement and rezoning of Tract Y from an Open Space District. Following this analysis from the Town Attorney, Mayor Stu Fraser and Telski CEO Dave Riley resigned from the Lift 7 Steering Committee. Recently the Planning and Zoning Commission and the remaining members of the steering committee decided to “step back, reorganize and start over from the ashes”.
October 2008 calendar:
Friday, October 10, 2008 - Saturday, October 11, 2008
Walking Words Walking Words begins with a progressive dinner from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday featuring three courses, each at a different restaurant, accompanied by a ready. Saturday is devoted to workshops in fiction, poetry and non fiction at the Ah Haa School. 970.728.3886
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Gondola Closes for Off-Season Midnight starts the closure of the Gondola until November 21.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Joe Jackson in Concert KOTO presents Joe Jackson on stage at the Palm Theatre. 970.728.8100
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Sunday at the Palm Children are encouraged to come dressed in their Halloween costumes to experience a selection of short films based on the works of Dr. Seuss. Tricks and treats, too. Palm Theatre, 4 p.m. 970.708.4009
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Ghost Stories An afternoon of regional ghost stories for kids of all ages, followed by a frightful evening event for adults. Telluride Historical Museum, 3:30 p.m. for kids; 6:30 p.m. for adults.
970.728.3344
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Youth Art Awards Celebration Visit the Ah Haa School for the Arts for the "Seventh Annual Youth Art Awards & Celebration," where the recipients of the 2008 Youth Art will be announced. 5 p.m. 970.728.3886
Friday, October 31, 2008
KOTO Halloween Party Get decked out and check out how Telluride parties. Location TBA. 970.728.8100
#2. Why is cleaning so expensive here? Compared to back home these labor costs give me the sentiment that I am being taken advantage of!
This is an ever so common question in all sectors of property management here. To start with Kastle Keepers, LLC does not employ cleaners directly.
We contract out the cleaning as we do for all the specialty trades; plumbers, electricians, tile setters etc…. The service providers we connect you too set their own hourly rates and prepare their own bids. Keep in mind we do seek out and present only the best quality providers in the area. We can guarantee you that if their fees were anything but competitive with the going market rates we would not recommend them. We do not tolerate price gauging.In this area of the state, labor costs are elevated in all of the trades- as is the case with many resort towns. Drive eighty miles in any direction and labor rates drop considerably- so do house prices.
KEY POINT: Understand that the Telluride area is the economic engine for many of the outlying communities. Service company owners cannot afford to live here- but they also can’t afford not to work here. Given that, there are no other options to turn to and no cheaper alternatives available. We wanted to share the facts with you. Three interlocking factors shape the areas high labor costs: Unique location/housing costs/lack of available workers (boom period; there is more work then workers).
> Unique location: there is a limited supply of land and it is too expensive for the average earner to own even a starter home here.With the average entry level home here costing over $400,000 (including the deed restricted market units), how many workers earning *$16 to $20/hour could afford to own? The answer is none and that creates a work force that is a) transient, b) unstable and fluctuating. (census reports states: * median income is $33,500)
> Housing costs: An average worker here cannot afford to rent or own a home in the immediate area.
If there were affordable rents and/or reasonable entry level starter homes wages could possibly be competitive with surrounding cities (Montrose/Cortez). But there are simply not rooms available at reasonable rent rates and thus Telluride’s “staff workers” come and go seasonally. That creates an unstable work force –thus the lack of available workers. To learn more about this subject the Town of Telluride has hired consulting firms to examine locals wages and housing issues and their findings can be viewed at the towns web address under ‘Town Services’.
>Lack of workers: The Telluride region has been in a positive cycle since the late 1980’s when the TMV incorporated and the airport was developed and so on. This demand for resources has created a vendors market without a doubt. As long as people in the region are willing to pay the higher prices, then the cost to do things will remain elevated. The market in the region sets the prices, we don’t! Fortunately, enterprising individuals from outlying communities create their own work forces, Each of the privately run cleaning companies that we work with, transport their workers from 75 plus miles away daily to take care of the cleaning needs of each one our clients.
OUR PART: Besides handling all the paperwork, billing, collection and disbursement of money between you and the cleaners we also supervise their work. Supervising the house cleaning is the biggest challenge in our business (as is the case for all property managers in Telluride). Between Trevor and Lee, a bridge between you and the services is provided with written, oral and on-site meetings to create the best possible flow of quality work and financial commitment. YOU determine the level and frequency of cleaning.Quality cleaning services are a limited resource in Telluride. We know that our system works very well and it provides a level of work that we are proud of. We have a very low level of cleaning company turn over; have never had a theft situation with any cleaners or a major dispute with regards to cleaning. Kastle Keepers, LLC has built up quality relationships with the homeowners, the cleaners and a myriad of other contractors which allows our work to run smoothly.
With both the Christmas and the New Year holiday approaching we wanted to pass along an insider’s tip. Consider what your needs may be this busy holiday season now. There are services available that can free up your most valuable gift to loved ones; your time. Give us a call ahead of time if you want a Christmas tree to light up the living room or are charmed by the idea of having a crock pot of stew in the kitchen counter after a hard day of skiing. You might want to evaluate if a little cleaning here and there would be pleasant during your week stay.We recommend planning ahead of time for as much of your trip as you are comfortable with. Quite a few visitors bring a swell of congestion to the small restaurants and salons. The restaurants fill up very quickly after the first week of December as do the caterers’ schedule. Choice snowboard and ski rentals get reserved well in advance as well. Give us a call to discuss your ideas and we may be able to steer you onto the path of the least resistance.
Time to hit the desert!The snows are coming!
Lee hitting the slickrock in nearby Moab, Utah
