Mountain Village: Community Incentives Focused on Environment

07 Aug Mountain Village: Community Incentives Focused on Environment

The Town of Mountain Village is investing more than $170,000 in community incentive programs focused on the environment. For more information about each program please visit townofmountainvillage.com/incentives.

The initiatives Mountain Village is offering are designed to educate and reward residents and businesses for taking a range of environmentally friendly actions. The reason for doing so is simple and twofold: Mountain Village wants to give its community members the power to make a difference, and it is much easier to make a more significant impact together than alone.

“We prefer to reward community members for doing the right thing rather than regulating them into compliance,” said Communication & Business Development Director Bill Kight. “Our incentive programs are a thoughtful way to educate the community about our environment, and then engage them with meaningful actions to protect our outdoors and conserve our natural resources.”

All told, nine resident and business programs exist and are part of the town’s larger vision of protecting the environment outside of its 3.27 square mile radius.

“We live in a rural and beautiful landscape. Supporting energy-efficient and or conservation measures with new development and redevelopment is part of our community ethos,” said Director of Planning and Development Services Michelle Haynes.

The Mountain Village incentive programs focus on smart building, deed-restricted housing, wildfire mitigation, roofing, solar energy, energy efficiency, water conservation and forest health, and food-based incentives for business and residents alike. All programs are open until funds are exhausted.

CEDAR SHAKE FIRE MITIGATION | $50,000 (with support from TMVOA)

The Town of Mountain Village, in collaboration with the Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association as a funding partner, is committed to incentivizing property owners for preventive measures in wildfire hazard mitigation. Through the implementation of a Cedar Shake Incentive Fire Mitigation Program, a rebate is provided toward building permit fees when property owners re-roof their home or building from cedar shake shingles to town-approved fire-rated roofing material. Applicants are eligible for waiving 100 percent of their building permit fee.

WILDFIRE MITIGATION DEFENSIBLE SPACE |$50,000 (with support from TMVOA)

Mountain Village wants to help its residents create defensible space around homes and buildings on their property to lower their wildfire risk. So, the town, in partnership with the Telluride Fire Protection District, created the Wildfire Mitigation Incentive Program with Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association and the West Region Wildfire Council as funding partners. Through this program, every homeowner received a postcard and a unique personalized website that informed them of their property’s wildfire risk rating using a variety of site data. The Town rebates 50% of the cost up to $5,000 for creating defensible space.

SMART BUILDING INCENTIVE | BUILDING FEE WAIVER – NO FEE WAIVER CAP

In an effort to reduce energy and greenhouse gas emissions, the Town of Mountain Village offers property owners up to 100 percent off building permit fees with its Smart Building Incentive Program. The Smart Building Incentive Program offers three owner incentives which can be used for individual building permit fee discounts, or collectively for a full fee waiver. This could save home-owners upwards of tens of thousands of dollars depending on project size.

DEED-RESTRICTED HOUSING INCENTIVE | FEE WAIVER – NO FEE WAIVER CAP

To encourage growth and additional deed-restricted housing construction in Mountain Village. The town is waiving all planning, development and building permit fees for deed-restricted housing units. By waiving town fees, the town seeks to encourage owners of deed-restricted units to maintain existing units and offer greater financial incentive to construct deed-restricted units on remaining deed-restricted properties.

COMPOST INCENTIVE | $25,000

In support of TMV’s zero waste goal, this program incentivizes homeowner’s associations, hotels, and multi-unit facilities to install compost unit(s) and help reduce landfill waste. A rebate for 100 percent of the compost unit purchase is available up to a $5,000 maximum spend. A portion of these funds may be used for composting equipment, infrastructure, advertising & marketing, and consulting experts.

FARM TO COMMUNITY FOOD SHARE INCENTIVE | $30,000

Up to 60 Mountain Village residents that meet the annual household income qualifications can apply to receive a food share box of locally farmed produce for 14-weeks at a nominal cost. The program also aims to help reduce resident carbon footprint by reducing the need for participants to commute further for specific home food provisions. Additionally, it allows qualifying households to receive fresh locally sourced food items at a minimal cost.

HEAT TRACE INCENTIVE PROGRAM | $5,000

Mountain Village wants its residents to take control of their roof and gutter heat trace system. So the town is funding this incentive program aimed at improving the safety and efficiency of heat trace systems commonly applied on roofs and gutters by offering a free system controller valued at $380. To take advantage of this free offering, Mountain Village residents will need to follow a few steps, which are worth it: using an estimated 25 amps and 230 volts supplying a heat trace system on a home without controls from November to March may cost a resident approximately $2,277 per zone. With the use of controls and a properly installed system, a resident may save 30- to 50-percent of their electricity costs per winter.

SOLAR ENERGY REBATE | $5,000

The Solar Energy Incentive Program is another creative way that Mountain Village encourages the responsible use of natural resources throughout the community. With that, the town is offering significant savings to those who install solar on their home or business. First launched in 2014, the Solar Energy Incentive Program provided a rebate of $0.40 per watt of installed power generated by the sun. In addition to San Miguel Power Association’s current rebate of $0.75 per watt and the current federal tax credit of 30 percent.

SMART IRRIGATION CONTROLS INCENTIVE | $5,000

This innovative program intends to educate the community about ways to prevent water loss, both inside and outside the home, and will encourage property owners to install devices on their water systems to eliminate water waste and conserve. The Smart Water Controls Incentive Program will reimburse the homeowner’s full cost of an Environmental Protection Agency-approved WaterSense irrigation controller installed on lawn irrigation systems. These smart controllers use real-time local weather data, including humidity, wind speed, solar radiation and rainfall, to calculate evapotranspiration rates and automatically adjust irrigation watering accordingly. All residential properties in Mountain Village, West Meadows and Ski Ranches are eligible for this program, and the town will reimburse the homeowner for all controllers needed to serve the entire property.

ABOUT MOUNTAIN VILLAGE

Situated at 9,545 in the heart of the breathtaking San Juan Mountains, Mountain Village was incorporated in 1995 as a home rule municipality and is comparably a world apart from other towns: it is innately spectacular, beautifully orchestrated and planned and overflowing with style, charm, and sophistication. A state-of-the-art gondola transportation system connects the Town of Mountain Village with the Town of Telluride. For more information, please visit us online at townofmountainvillage.com.