Winter Park committed to electrifying its Lift bus fleet by 2035, moving forward the goal of making the town more sustainable.

On Tuesday, the Winter Park Town Council approved a resolution stating the town’s intent to electrify all of the Lift buses in the next 15 years. Currently, the Lift fleet is made up of around 20-25 buses, including alternates.

Winter Park town staff is in the process of applying for a grant for electric buses and support from the council will help strengthen the applications, according to staff. 

The grant, from the Colorado Department of Transportation’s 2021 Consolidated Call for Capital Projects, would help the town purchase an electric bus and install charging infrastructure.

Winter Park’s former transit manager, Michael Koch, had previously also discussed including charging infrastructure in the new transit maintenance facility the town is building on County Road 5. 

In other business:

• The council approved a contract with Golden Eagle Snow Removal to remove snow at Hideaway Place and its parking garage.

• A wheel loader costing around $233,000 was approved for snow removal operations.

• An amendment to the town’s agreement with the Winter Park Recreation Association for use of the gondola lot for snow storage was approved by council. The amendment clarifies the town’s responsibilities for preparing the lot for the summer and winter seasons.

• Council extended a town ordinance relaxing some business regulations to allow businesses to be more flexible under the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions until Oct. 31, 2021. Loosened regulations allowed businesses to expand outdoor seating, required less parking and suspended the disposable bag fee. The ordinance also added language to allow curbside pick-up/drop-off locations to be established on Main Street and for the use of tents or other structures for outdoor seating.