Briefs Crested Butte

Kochevar open space update
The Crested Butte Town Council ratified an emergency ordinance dedicating a trail easement between Smith Hill Road and the newly purchased Kochevar open space property. The easement will allow access to the prime 106-acre parcel at the head of the Slate River Road. The council took the action in a special 15-minute meeting on Monday, July 12.

Meanwhile, town planner John Hess is beginning work on a new grant request for $1 million from Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) to pay for more open space in the Kochevar deal. The first phase of the agreement closed on 166 acres on June 30 and two more phases are set to close another 147 acres over the next two years. Facilitated through the Trust for Public Lands (TPL), the transaction will eventually give ownership of the entire 313 acres to the town. TPL currently holds title to the remaining land.
For phase one, GOCO contributed $2 million while the town added another $1 million from its open space funds. The second phase will encompass 107 acres in the Slate River Valley, a little bit north of Nicholson Lake running to Meridian Lake. The third phase will encompass the last 40 acres, in the high quality wetlands along Slate River Road.
Hess said TPL project manager Justin Spring would be in town sometime around early August to celebrate the transaction, which is getting wide recognition throughout Colorado.
The new GOCO grant Hess is working on is due by August 2 and the agency would award the money before the end of the year. If all goes well, the grants would facilitate the town taking possession of the 313 acres by February 2011. Speaking of grants, the Gunnison Valley Land Preservation Board has committed $100,000 toward the upcoming second phase of the project.

Parks and Rec popping
Town Parks and Recreation director Jake Jones said his crew is busy with summer fun. “The parks are being utilized to their full potential,” he told the council at the July 6 meeting. “We are hosting a lot of special events and it’s great. Everything is good.”
One thing not so good under the department is the sod on the town’s green strip along the 400 block of Elk Avenue. For an unknown reason, the grass will not live on that stretch, so Jones asked the council for $1,500 to tear up what’s there and replace it with fresh sod. “It’s so bad over there even the dandelions are struggling,” he said. “It’s definitely not up to our standards.”
After 20 minutes of discussion the council rejected the request due to budget constraints.

Economic stimulus projects…
The Eighth Street paving project should be complete by now. While it went on longer than anticipated, the project was slated to be done by Friday, July 9, which will allow another paving project to begin. The town approved a $193,959 bid to Lacy Construction for the Second Street extension project that will bring asphalt to the Big Mine Park parking area. Councilperson Jim Schmidt voted against the paving, since the council had rejected a $1,500 request for grass. “I don’t want to turn down sod and approve paving paradise to put up a parking lot,” he said.
Public Works director Rodney Due also said the $2.8 million clarifier project at the town sewer plant is starting. He said it is a long project. The actual clarifier mechanism isn’t scheduled to be installed until October but prep work is beginning.

Sales tax consistency
The lifeblood of the Crested Butte budget, sales tax, continued its downward trend in May. It was off 7.2 percent for the month. For the year, sales tax is off about 8 percent. The biggest hit was the bar and restaurant category, which was off 18 percent for May.