Here’s some need-to-know information for the week:
City preparing to open registration for second round of e-bike vouchers on Aug. 30, with adjustments based on first round
The city recently closed the first round of e-bike incentives and offered 200 vouchers to Boulder community members. The first round saw high interest, with 1,207 residents registered. Recipients have 45 days from the time they receive their voucher to purchase an e-bike. As of Aug. 16, 61 vouchers had been redeemed. Staff expect most of the remaining vouchers to be redeemed by early September.
Staff have reviewed results from the first round and are using this data to inform the second voucher release in September. For the first round, vouchers were evenly distributed between standard and income-qualified applicants, with nearly double the registrants for e-bike vouchers than e-cargo vouchers. Since half of the vouchers were distributed to income-qualified recipients, who receive larger discounts, a bigger portion of the budget was allocated to these vouchers.
The registration period for the second round of e-bike vouchers will open on Aug. 30 and close on Sept. 13. Voucher recipients will be randomly selected on Sept. 14. During this round, vouchers will be distributed proportionally based on demand for each voucher type when interested community members register. Staff will continue to devote at least half of the vouchers to income-qualified applicants to ensure incentives go to recipients with the most need. The second round may also be impacted by the State of Colorado's new e-bike rebate program, which opened on Aug. 16. Boulder residents may apply but may not combine the state rebate with city incentives on a single e-bike purchase.
The E-Bike Incentives webpage will be updated to provide more information and includes an email alert sign-up for important, timely information about the application. Staff have also put together a media kit that you are welcome to draw from if you would like to promote the incentive on your personal channels.
Staff will continue to review learnings from the project to better understand the impact of e-bike incentives on the city's climate and transportation goals and will present results to the Environmental and Transportation Advisory Boards in the coming months.
For more information, please contact staff through our dedicated EbikeIncentives2023@bouldercolorado.gov email address, or view the incentives webpage. Staff will continue to update the webpage with new information.
State to begin mitigation work on Lewis Coal Mine fire south of Boulder
I want to make you all aware of a joint Boulder County/Colorado Division of Reclamation (DRMS) press release that was issued earlier this week regarding work the state is planning to conduct south of Boulder.
According to the release, DRMS will soon begin mitigation on the Lewis Coal Mine Fire (Lewis site), located in unincorporated Boulder County on private property, with a goal of completing mitigation work by spring 2024. The county has issued an emergency declaration to assist in enabling the work to be completed this fall and winter. DRMS has been monitoring the site and recently observed increased activity from the underground coal mine fire, which has burned there for more than 50 years.
This work will occur on the Lewis site about one mile south of Boulder, underneath two private properties northeast of the intersection of Marshall Road and Cherryvale Road. The county reports that the property owners are supportive of the state’s mitigation project.
We are also anticipating future mitigation work, in partnership with the state. In our case, the work will be done underground at the former Marshall Coal Mine site. DRMS has been monitoring this site and will continue to do so. This testing shows there is lesser fire activity there than at the Lewis site.
As more details become available about the mitigation work planned for the Marshall site, we will share them with you and with our community.
Regards,
Nuria