Granby’s Assistant Town Manager Nicole Schafer gave a presentation on a proposed microtransit system at a Granby Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday, Dec. 10.

The transportation model works similarly to a ride-share service like Uber or Lyft, where people can request on-demand transportation directly from their phones within Granby. Schafer explained that riders would download an app to use as a booking tool and that the driver would receive a notification of a pick-up or drop-off request.

Within the 2022 Town of Granby Comprehensive Master Plan, an entire chapter is dedicated to multimodal transportation, and town staff have been working to investigate transportation solutions for residents, visitors and employees. The plan includes goals such as exploring ideas to implement local shuttle services.

Schafer explained that the town has an opportunity to spearhead a trial for the next three to five months, since the Granby Recreation Department will not be using its 14-passenger vans during that time. She explained that it would take about two to four weeks to set up the system and that it could begin service as soon as January.

“My goal is to try and get this off the ground as quickly as possible — get some real, tangible, quantitative learning,” Schafer said.

While The Lift, a Winter Park-based bus service, does include Granby, the route does not allow for easy travel around town.

“I don’t want to discount the value that Lift provides, but if you live in Granby Ranch, it’s really difficult to take advantage of that,” Schafer said. “If you live in River Run, you can’t get to a Lift station. So I feel like there’s an opportunity for us to just do more and to serve more people.”

Some of the areas town staff aims to connect in Granby include Sun Communities and Granby Ranch, along with other local neighborhoods, to places like Middle Park Medical Center, downtown Granby, the train station, Granby Airport and Grand Elk, which connects riders to City Market and the Lift commuter line.

“Getting an additional transportation system that connects (these) communities of Granby is something that we’ve agreed in our master plan is a key component,” Schafer said.

Staff at Destination Granby shared that visitors will ask about transportation options once they arrive in Granby, something that is limited in that area of Grand County.

The board found the idea agreeable and directed staff to keep working on the project.

Elected officials sworn in, new clerk named

Tuesday, Dec. 10, was the first Granby Board of Trustees meeting since election results were certified. Elected trustees took their oaths of office and were sworn in by the town clerk in Granby Town Hall.

Incumbents Joshua Hardy, Rebecca Quesada and Chris Michalowski were reelected to four-year terms, while newly elected trustee Seth Stern will serve his first four-year term. Deborah Shaw was selected by the board to serve as mayor pro-tem. After the members were sworn in, outgoing trustee Devon Jarrell was thanked for her service and received a round of applause.

Cody Mullinex was also appointed as the town’s new clerk during the meeting. Mullinex will be taking the place of Deborah Hess, who has served as Granby town clerk for over 21 years. Hess will be retiring at the beginning of 2025.

“It has been a pleasure serving the citizens of Granby,” she said at the meeting.