Briefs Crested Butte

Welcome to the Snodgrass prebuttal

The Friends of Snodgrass Mountain gave the Crested Butte Town Council a printed “prebuttal” of the Crested Butte Mountain Resort Master Development Plan presentation. That presentation addresses the resort’s plans for lift-served skiing on Snodgrass Mountain.

The presentation was scheduled for Wednesday evening (see next week’s paper for details) at a joint council meeting between Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte. The Friends of Snodgrass looked at the presentation on CBMR’s website and did a slide-by-slide analysis. “We hope you will have this with you and you will read it while they make the slide presentation,” said Vicki Shaw of Friends of Snodgrass Mountain. “We obviously take issue with some of the things they will be presenting Wednesday.”
A copy of the Friends of Snodgrass Mountain comments can be seen here .
Ice will remain a hot topic in town
Crested Butte parks and recreation director Jake Jones told the council that the master plan for the department is progressing. One of the things involved in that plan will be the potential for an ice rink. “The staff is taking a fresh look at where an ice rink should be,” he said. “We are looking at the [Crested Butte ] ice reports from 1997. It contains a lot of information. As a council, be prepared for an ice rink discussion. It isn’t going away.”
Mayor Alan Bernholtz said to bring it on. “This council has always been supportive of a rink expansion in some form,” he said. “We know it is a great program.”
“It takes a lot of money and effort to keep the Big Mine Ice Rink open all winter,” Jones reminded the council.
Council to look at elk license letter again
Last month the council agreed to a Gunnison County Stockgrowers Association request to send a letter to the Colorado Wildlife Commisson asking the agency to limit the number of elk hunting licenses distributed in Gunnison County over the next five years. The council will reconsider that request. Since the decision, the town heard from a few people against the limited elk license proposal. The primary concern was the potential economic hit fall tourism could take during hunting seasons. The council will hear from advocates of both sides of the issue at the next council meeting on March 16.
Can you afford a house in town?
In a graph prepared by town planner John Hess, the council learned that 2008 was the first year that the median sales price of a single-family home in Crested Butte was more than a million dollars. In 1990 the median price of a Crested Butte home was $104,500. Last year, the median price was $1,024,500. According to Hess, the 880 percent increase is a lot more than the increase in local wages. In fact, according to another graph, the median family income in Gunnison County in 1990 was $31,700. In 2008, the figure grew to $63,813, a 101 percent increase.
Yurts, bonfires and the Land Trust
The council approved a request from the Crested Butte Nordic Council to hold a bonfire dinner at the town ranch on March 21. Food, drinks and alcohol will be available at the fundraiser. In a similar vein, the council was amenable to a request by the Crested Butte Land Trust to allow year-round usage of the Nordic yurt, located on the Lower Loop conservation easement held by the town. The land trust anticipates the possibility of fundraisers at the yurt. And the council held an executive session with the land trust concerning the potential acquisition of property using town open space funds.