Briefs Crested Butte

Land Trust asks for meeting with council but…
Board members from the Crested Butte Land Trust came to the Crested Butte Town Council meeting Monday and asked to meet with the council to discuss CBLT finances. Mayor Alan Bernholtz said he appreciated the offer but suggested a more informal meeting first.
Speaking for the Land Trust, treasurer Tim Mueller said the local non-profit was having an audit conducted for the first time in 15 years. “It is taking longer than we thought,” he said. “But we’d like to meet with the council and discuss the audit when it is done. We are trying to allay a lot of people’s fears and trying to clear up some rumors out there on the street.”
Bernholtz said he appreciated the offer. “It’s good of you to come in, and I agree that you should keep touching base with the public,” he said. “But I’m not sure if the time is right for such a meeting. I’d like to talk to the Land Trust more informally than formally at first.”
No specific time was set for a land trust-council meeting.
Lobbying for support
Representatives of various political committees came to the council to ask for their support. Spokespeople for the Local Marketing District ballot issue (5A) and the Energy Efficiency Loan Program issue (1A) each asked the council for a resolution of support for their specific issues.
Local Tourism Association director Jane Chaney gave a second quarter update for the organization and said the TA is following the standard economic trends. She also said airfares were pretty reasonable at the moment.
She asked the council to support a resolution in favor of passing the LMD ballot initiative, ballot issue 5A, this November. The LMD essentially funds the Tourism Association.
“I think the local marketing district has been successful,” said Bernholtz. “For a tourist economy, it’s an important thing to do.”
Speaking on behalf of issue 1A was Phillip Supino and Andris Zobs. 1A will authorize the county to issue loans to property owners to be used for energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades on their property through an Energy Efficiency Loan Program. Zobs and Supino emphasized that if passed, 1A will not raise taxes on residents who do not participate in the program.
Town Manager Susan Parker had several questions relating to loan the program, including how administrative costs are handled, where office space would be needed and if an audit element was involved. Zobs said he would get together with Parker to answer her questions. The council said they liked the general idea of the program. Councilman Reed Betz said he’d like to see incentives that would keep money spent through the program with local businesses. The council will consider formal resolutions of support before the election.
Support for extending trails
Parks and Recreation director Jake Jones asked the council to support the effort to apply for a grant to extend the recreation path from Rainbow Park to the new Tommy V. baseball field through the open space east of the Verzuh subdivision. The 2,400-foot trail easement, 1,300 feet of which is located in the subdivision, was obtained in the Verzuh annexation.
Jones said he would be applying for approximately $200,000 with the State Parks State Trails Program. “It’s a good trail and has a lot of support from various groups,” Jones said. “It is as straight as an arrow and flat as a pancake.”
The town would need to provide a 30 percent in-kind match with the grant. The deadline for applications is November 2.
Councilman Skip Berkshire said he would prefer to see “Mike’s Mile” be a trail priority rather than this proposal. Mike’s Mile would connect the Lower Loop to the Gunsight Bridge area via the abandoned railroad grade. The council, however, gave the go-ahead to Jones to pursue the grant.
Code of conduct approved
The council passed a code of conduct ordinance addressing conflict-of-interest issues. The ordinance has been debated for two months. “This will give clearer direction for council members serving on other boards,” explained Town Attorney John Belkin.
Councilman Betz voted against the measure.
Executive session
The council held two executive sessions Monday night. The public is prohibited from attending such sessions. One dealt with the proposal to purchase the Spann property in the corridor. The other dealt with receiving legal advice for land use issues.
Watershed violation being prepared
The town is preparing a notice of violation for Scarp’s Ridge LLC, which is renovating the old “movie cabin” near Irwin in the Crested Butte watershed. Scarp’s Ridge subsidiary Irwin Backcountry Guides (IBG) wants to use the cabin as a base for a backcountry ski operation this winter. Under the town’s watershed ordinance, any work done in the watershed that could impact Crested Butte’s water quality must get a permit from the town. IBG had installed a “greywater” system without notifying the town. IBG mountain manager and Crested Butte Mayor Alan Bernholtz has said he wasn’t aware of the violations since he wasn’t managing the renovation of the cabin. But he said the group was correcting all of the issues. Gunnison County has already cited the operation for violations.
Crested Butte Department of Public Works director Rodney Due and Town Manager Susan Parker inspected the site last week. They are using a lawyer other than the Town Attorney to help write the notice of violation since Crested Butte Town Attorney John Belkin has been employed by (IBG). An official document should be ready by next week.