Town treasurer Michelle Stoke’s quarterly financial report on Aug. 24 came near the end of a long meeting. “Sales taxes: Doing good; balance sheet balances; the projected fund balances is good. Do you want me to go into more detail?” she asked. Good was something of an understatement.

Chaffee County tax revenues show a marked increase in 2021 as the summer season ends.

One more substantial, residential subdivision development may be taking off in town after all. Property owner Mitch Yellen and Colorado First Land Office broker Julie Kersting said The Homestead, just north of The Farm, will be moving forward soon.

Buena Vista-based development company Fading West is set to purchase 11 acres of the Railyard subdivision for the purpose of building attainable housing in Leadville.

Indicators from town sales tax revenues to the Friends of Fourmile annual Memorial Day survey report confirm the impression one gets cruising around Buena Vista — outdoor recreation tourism is way up. How are roads holding up to the increased use?

Housing construction, described as one of BV’s three pillars of economic growth by town treasurer Michelle Stoke, continues to be a local industry characterized by vigorous activity. But growth alone does not solve an affordable housing crisis.

Chaffee County has been nominated for a 2021 Governor’s Award in the Outstanding Community Tourism Initiative category, which “acknowledges an activity, event or project undertaken by a community or region to promote tourism in Colorado.”

Melanzana is expanding its manufacturing operation on Harrison Avenue after Leadville City Council voted earlier this month to approve a conditional use permit application filed by the retailer.

Chaffee County commissioners approved a resolution for a moratorium of the submission, acceptance, or processing of applications for short term rentals that exceed 6 percent of the housing units available in unincorporated Chaffee County.

Town treasurer Michelle Stoke presented a budget report including April’s town tax numbers at the June 22 Buena Vista trustees meeting.

While the public sector gets busy making sure East Main Street is properly lit, the private sector is even busier making things to look at.

Town of Buena Vista staff have delivered a report to the board of trustees outlining proposed changes to municipal codes to address short term rentals in the community.

Construction continues at Fading West’s factory off Gregg Drive as The Farm enters development phase 2.

“As of today we are about 75% complete,” Fading West CEO Charlie Chupp said July 13.

Colorado business leaders continue to show record optimism about the state economy, according to the latest edition of the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds Business Confidence Index.

Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center recently announced the addition of new providers of gastroenterology services.

HRRMC has partnered with Colorado Springs-based Associates in Gastroenterology (AG) to offer gastroenterology services locally, according to a press release.

Realtors are in agreement: BV’s residential real estate market in 2021 is great for sellers, with unprecedented price increases in the past year. Growth trends in home prices can be traced back as far as 2014. The only difference swinging out of the pandemic is that the steady growth of home and lot prices has gone into a steep climb, with no clear end in sight.

Jim and Daphne Myers, owners of Sasquatch Outpost in Bailey, recently went to extrordinary measures to provide both transportation and housing for a pair of new Bailey residents.

Jim and Daphne Myers, owners of Sasquatch Outpost in Bailey, recently went to extrordinary measures to provide both transportation and housing for a pair of new Bailey residents.

Salidan John McGowan gave a counter presentation to the Nestlé Waters North America economic impact study and Tom Bomer of Unbottle Chaffee County gave comments during the 1041 permit hearing Tuesday.

Commissioners also heard from representatives of Bonfire Entertainment, which is seeking a permit for a 2-day music event to be held Sept. 24-25 at the Meadows in Buena Vista. The company produced Campout for the Cause in prior years.

Sales tax returns for March 2021 were 42.46% higher than in the same month last year, according to town treasurer Michelle Stoke.

The Salida Hospital District Board of Directors heard a presentation May 18 on a new program designed to assist those with lingering effects from COVID-19.

The Post COVID Rehab Clinic is a multidisciplinary program geared to “provide a pathway of relief for community members suffering from lingering COVID symptoms and restore quality of life.”

The Buena Vista Chamber of Commerce staff, membership coordinator Jon Cobb and executive director Melissa Traynham, stand outside their new offices in the Wedge building at East Main Street and Cottonwood Avenue.

Building permit activity continued to rise in the first quarter of 2021 throughout Chaffee County, and Buena Vista is no exception.

A new regional option for mental health care in the rural central mountain region was one step closer to reality as ground was broken Thursday for Solvista Health’s Regional Assessment Center on the Heart of Rockies Regional Medical Center campus.

Has the town of Buena Vista’s 17-month streak of month-to-month sales tax increases come to an end? Depends on how you look at it.

Included in the application for the Meadows’s Outdoor Theater is the result of an economic impact study of the largest event to be held on the property – the Seven Peaks Music Festival.

Chaffee County entered the post-dial phase of its COVID-19 pandemic response April 16, as the county public health department announced a new public health order in response to the statewide devolution of the dial system implemented last fall.

Buena Vista code enforcement officer Grant Bryans submitted a report on short-term rental activity in the first quarter of 2021 to the town board of trustees Tuesday, finding that 118 total licenses for STRs were issued in town.

Here’s what you missed from the April 13 meeting of the Buena Vista board of trustees:

Next month, the Chaffee County Commission will begin review of an application that, if approved, would greatly increase the number of special events that could be held at The Meadows.

The Surface Transportation Board denied the notice of exemption filed by Colorado Midland & Pacific Railway to lease the 163.1 mile Tennessee Pass line between Parkdale and Sage from the Union Pacific March 26.

The line stretches through Fremont, Chaffee, Park and Eagle counties.

The Midland filed the request with an eye toward passenger and freight service.

On April 8, Angel of Shavano Recycling will terminate its contract with Chaffee County and close its Poncha Springs recycling plant, according to a news release Tuesday from County public affairs specialist Beth Helmke.

Buena Vista treasurer Michelle Stoke presented the first sales tax reports of 2021 to the board of trustees this week, and for the 29th month in a row, returns were up in January 2021 compared to the same month last year.

A motion to amend notice of exemption submitted to the Surface Transportation Board by Colorado Midland Pacific Railway Monday would specifically restrict the line from transporting crude oil, coal and hazardous commodities over the Tennessee Pass line.

While the current real estate market makes it a great time to be a seller, before listing your home for sale it is necessary to take time to consider what happens when you as the seller become a buyer.

The deadline for phase 1 applications for the second of two licenses for marijuana sales in the town of Buena Vista closed Monday, March 8, with town having received 21 applications.

Fading West Development laid down the foundations for the Farm in 2017, a 218-unit housing development in Buena Vista that sought to bring attainable housing prices to the Upper Arkansas Valley with manufactured homes.

Buena Vista closed out the year 2020 with a year-to-year increase of 20.7% in sales tax returns in the month of December.