Gardner Main Street Board steering commitee met twice monthly begining in December 2021 and worked with County Commissioner Gallusha and Huerfano County Administrator Carl Young and Skye Tallman, Huerfano County Land Use Director to develop a plan and direct the planning process for the 29 acre parcel adjacent to the Ray Aquirre Community Center, as well as requirements set by the DOLA grant funding and county resolution that created the committee. The board took comments from community members present regarding what initial needs they see in the community, including employment, housing, services, ambulance services, and a community clean-up. The board also heard concerns over the impact of growth, including noise and light pollution, water scarcity, and the potential overwhelming state of the existing infrastructure.                                                         

The Gardner Main Street Board was comprised of local residents who first determined the community needs including housing, infrastructure, recreation opportunities and economic development.  The board clarified these needs, Including long term community investment housing, attainable/ affordable housing, housing for elderly, housing for service providers including teachers, nurses, firefighters and county and sheriff employee.  The second need that was established was economic deveopment including a community cooperative that provided services including fuel, convience store, propane, mail services, and other possibilities for local economic development outlined furtuer in this document.  The need to upgrade infrastructure and to add connections to recreation were also outlined.

In June 2022- The board held a community outreach meeting where over 100 residents came out to voice opinions and guide the ideas for the development.  The list of needs and desires is outlined in this document- the primary needs were housing for teachers, broadband, economic development, slowing traffic on highway 69, health services for rural residents, updating existing homes for residents, as well as availability of local foods, protecting water and being generally prepared for the future. Another primary issue that arose was the need for a parent organization to go after funding because Gardner is unincorporated and must rely on the county to do it’s bidding and to help with funding, as a result it has lagged behind the rest of the County with opportunities.