What was the Fraser Town Council focus of discussion at the March 16 meeting? Human digested food and how to keep it moving away from people, with updated infrastructure.. That’s right. Council members discussed Resolution 2022-03-03, The Sanitary Sewer Line Replacement Design, led by Water and Wastewater Superintendent Adam Cwiklin.

Cwiklin discussed plans to excavate and replace clay pipes to keep up with, “rehabbing the downtown Fraser areas that are getting ready for redevelopment.”

Construction will begin at the Fraser River distillery and travel across the tracks, after design plans are approved by the town of Fraser’s City Council.

According to Cwiklin, the current lines are, “well overcapacity for when you should (begin to) design replacements.”

The town of Fraser additionally plans to take this project on as an opportunity to survey the surrounding area.

“There aren’t easements underneath the railroads… (there is) a lot of utility. If we’re doing a survey for this area, we set ourselves up for success for the surrounding area,” Cwiklin said.

Fraser Town Council Trustee Andy Miller inquired about the possibility of including “clay dams” in the trenches next to the Holiday Inn, as part of the development plan. Miller said while observing the sewer trenches next to the Holiday Inn, there is pretty heavy algae growth. Installing occasional clay dams into the trenches could prevent groundwater from transmitting through this trench.

As the town continued discussing improvements to prepare for future development and growth, council members also focused on the need for preservation of the Fraser River.

“While this new pipe will lead into the Fraser River, the town is doing its due diligence to prevent groundwater from being transmitted into it,” Miller said. “This line will run straight down towards the Fraser River. This may be a good time for the town to exercise some more detail (into the final project designs).”

In other Business:

Fraser’s Mayor, Philip Vandernail, conducted a followup discussion concerning the development of County Road 522. This agenda item was covered at length at the March 2 Fraser Town Council Meeting. Vandernail spoke about a recent discussion he had with Grand County District I Commissioner, Richard Cimino about the design and developments of the new road. “From the county’s perspective, they don’t want to call the road Fraser Valley Parkway,” Vandernail said. “County Road 522 will be the proposed route from Winter Park to Tabernash.”

Cimino asked the mayor if the town of Fraser would want a connector road to CR 522. Fraser Town Council Trustee Katie Soles agreed that the access should be added into the roads design plans, “in order to improve pedestrian safety,” Soles said. “We need to plan for the future (and) for the pedestrian element on Norgren Road and Eisenhower Drive because both of those streets are going to see a lot more vehicular traffic (in the future). That is where pedestrians will be walking to the school, libraries…around town.”

The council then discussed if the housing authority should be placed on the ballots for the upcoming election season. Fraser Town Council Trustee Parnell Quinn said yes,, adding that the town needs more locals’ input this voting season. “We’re going to have to get the younger people to come and vote,” Quinn said. “All of the people that are renting right now and all the people that are living in town that are allowed to vote need to get out and register.”

As the recurring topic of growth continued throughout the meeting, Chief of Police Glen Trainor talked about the increase in police calls from the town of Fraser. “The biggest change is that when we started the Police Department, and for the first probably 16 years, Fraser ran about 30% of the calls. In 2021, Fraser was up to 45 percent of the calls compared to the historical averages. I don’t know if it’s a trend or an anomaly, we’ll have to watch it,” he said. Trainor credits the Town of Fraser for recent developments that have brought in more visitors and increased housing. The crime rates are something that will have to be monitored as the town continues to expand and draw more out-of-town guests.