briefs mt. crested butte

December sales tax takes a dive
In a February 17 written report to the Mt. Crested Butte Town Council, town manager Joe Fitzpatrick said December 2008 sales tax revenues were 19.5 percent down from 2007, with approximately $256,000 coming in. All categories of sales tax, from lodging to restaurants, were down. However, Fitzpatrick said, it was important to remember that December 2008 was still a strong month, and sales tax collections for the month are the second highest on record since 2004. Sales tax collections for the entire year ended with a 3.3 percent increase from 2007, a difference of $53,641.

Mt. Crested Butte home condemned
A home in Mt. Crested Butte at 28 Anthracite Drive was condemned this month. Mt. Crested Butte Community Development director Bill Racek says the building is the second home in the town to be condemned. In a February 12 report to the Town Council he wrote, “The abandoned structure has fallen into disrepair, resulting in; a lack of safety features, sanitary features, heating facilities, and a partial collapse of the exterior deck.”
Racek says the home went into foreclosure several years ago, and the original owner ended up taking the building’s only wood stove. Racek says it appears the wood stove was the only source of heat for the three-story structure, which he estimates between 20 and 30 years old.
The home is currently owned by Aurora Loan Services, which, Racek says, has been sent a notice and orders of condemnation. Once the business receives the notice and orders, Racek says Aurora Loan Services will have six months to obtain the building permits necessary to repair the structure, and one year to complete the repairs. He says if the repairs are not completed by the owner, the town could potentially have the repairs done and bill the owner.

BOLT adjustment approved
The Town Council approved at first reading on February 17an ordinance to reduce the town’s business and occupational licensing tax (BOLT) to $100. The town has historically charged only $100 based on an ordinance passed in 2003. But that ordinance was supposed to be only temporary, and when the error was discovered last fall the BOLT was set to increase to the original charge, a sliding scale between $100 and $1,500, based on the number of employees in a business.
The council decided to lower the BOLT once again after hearing concerns from business owners. Ordinance No. 3, 2009 eliminates references to a temporary reduction, so the BOLT will remain at $100 per business until further notice from the council. Businesses that paid the higher amount for 2009 are entitled to refunds, and Fitzpatrick says he has a whole list of checks to send out. But those checks won’t get mailed until the ordinance is officially enacted at a second council reading scheduled for March 3.
Town planners may review CBCS addition
The town of Mt. Crested Butte has filed an application to the Colorado Division of Oil and Public Safety (OPS) to provide code enforcement services for the Crested Butte Community School addition, scheduled to begin this spring. Racek says school districts are not part of local jurisdictions when it comes to building permits and inspection, but a local jurisdiction can become involved with code enforcement by forming a memorandum of understating with the OPS. In a February 12 report to the Town Council Racek said, “The town would enter into an agreement with OPS to conduct plan reviews, issue building permits, conduct inspections and issue certificates of occupancy for the 56,302 sq. ft. addition to the school.”
Racek says the town of Crested Butte was not interested in providing the code enforcement services for the new addition, leaving the window open for Mt. Crested Butte to step in. He says it’s a good opportunity for the town’s building department to earn some revenue while other construction projects have slowed down. Racek says the town is still waiting to hear back from OPS.

Limited elk tags
Gunnison County Stockgrowers Association board member Doug Washburn came before the council on Tuesday night to request a letter of support for a proposal to limit the number of elk hunting licenses distributed in Gunnison County over the next five years. According to Washburn, the association hopes that if they limit the number of tags, wildlife will not be disturbed as much and hunters will have a higher success rate. A higher harvest should cut down on the size of the local elk herd, which the association feels is too large and is negatively affecting grazing pastures for cattle.
The proposal would affect game management units 54, 55 and 551, the three primary units north of U.S. Highway 50. At most, Washburn said, 1,000 fewer tags might be distributed.
The council seemed to support the cause, but members weren’t ready to send a letter of support. Councilmember Bill Babbitt asked Washburn if there would be any effect on tourism.
“In the short term you might see fewer hunters,” Washburn said. “But what you’re going to see is a happy hunter who bagged a buck and is going home with an animal. Right now we have very dissatisfied hunters. The hunter success rate [in those units] is about 10 to 12 percent.” Washburn argued that a successful hunter would be more likely to spend money in the area and return for a future hunt.
Council member Mike Kube agreed with Washburn’s argument, but said he would still like to hear from businesses and other groups reliant on tourism before approving the letter. Babbitt agreed. Mayor William Buck said the town would investigate the matter further and contact Washburn again by March 3.
Backfill road ordinance
The council approved Ordinance No. 2 at first reading on February 17. The ordinance amends the town code and requires a new type of fill material to be used for future road cuts. “As you drive around town you may have seen or experienced road cuts that are less than smooth,” Fitzpatrick told the council on Tuesday night.
In a subsequent report he wrote, “Over the past few years our community has experienced substantial and sustained growth which has called for the cutting and excavation of multiple town roads to connect utilities. Some of these road cuts have settled and have had to be repaired. After local experimentation and observation throughout the county we have come to the conclusion that backfilling road cuts with flowable fill backfill material has greatly reduced and nearly eliminated the settling of road cuts.”
Town attorney Rod Landwehr noted that flowable fill material was more expensive than standard road base. Councilmember Dave Clayton argued that by using flowable fill material in road cuts there would be less chance of a road compaction issue that a developer would have to come back and repair. The ordinance was unanimously approved.

Street lights back on
Over the past few months a number of street lights in Mt. Crested Butte have been dark. Gunnison County Electric Association handles the job of changing the light bulbs for the town of Mt. Crested Butte, but when it came time to replace the bulbs for the winter the bulbs were seriously backordered. But the bulbs finally came in, and earlier this month GCEA was able to replace the bulbs in all the lights that were out.

Where are the e-mails?
As the town of Mt. Crested Butte grows, so do the communication needs of town hall. In a report to the Town Council Fitzpatrick said it was necessary to change Internet providers to cope with the increased communication needs. Although the town chose Qwest as the new provider, Fitzpatrick said the process of switching Internet servers was complicated, and, “During the transition our e-mail communication was interrupted and we may have lost some incoming emails.” Fitzpatrick says people who sent an email to the town of Mt. Crested Butte and have had no response should re-send the message or call town hall at 349-6632.

New plow truck down and out
The town’s newest snow plow truck is down at a dealership in Grand Junction. Fitzpatrick reported that the truck was having coolant leaks, and despite multiple attempts, the problem could not be found. He says the dealer has not given a return date for the vehicle. However, Fitzpatrick says, the town has been able to keep up on snowplowing with the rest of the town’s equipment.

Old power lines may finally come down
During the last council meeting Fitzpatrick was asked to find out the status of the ongoing project to bury the power lines between Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte. The installation of a new buried power line was completed last year, but the old standing lines were never taken down. According to an e-mail sent by Gunnison County attorney’s office paralegal Rachel Magruder, the old power poles will be taken down this spring, which is still within the original project deadline. The poles would have been taken down earlier, but there was some damage to a cable line installed by Time Warner parallel to the new power lines that needed to be fixed first.