Briefs Crested Butte

Rafters vs. private property…
The Crested Butte Town Council will consider a letter of support for the local rafting industry.
Three Rivers Outfitters owner Mark Schumacher came to the council January 19 and told them of a conflict between commercial rafters and private property owners in the Taylor River canyon. He said Colorado state representative Kathleen Curry had introduced a bill into the Colorado legislature that would protect commercial raft outfits from being sued for civil or criminal trespassing.

“The bill would allow incidental contact with property when commercial rafters went through private property,” Schumacher explained. “It would also allow commercial rafts to portage around obstacles in the river.”
Schumacher said that a new development promoting fishing on the Taylor River called “The Wilder on the Taylor” is trying to prohibit rafters from floating through the development. He said this would cause a severe hardship for rafting companies that have used that stretch of river for many years; he pointed out that rafting is a significant economic driver in the valley during the summer. He asked the council for a letter of support.
Town manager Susan Parker suggested the council hold a work session where both sides of the issue could be represented.
“I’ve heard both sides for years and years,” said Councilperson Jim Schmidt. “I’m glad Kathleen Curry had the guts to move this forward at the state level.”
The council will look at the issue at the February 1 meeting and decide whether or not to write a letter of support.

Sales tax spikes up in November… just kidding
Two years ago in 2007, the town of Crested Butte collected $114,666 in sales taxes in November. In 2008, the collection amounted to $94,189. Last year in 2009, sales tax came in at $88,026 for November. That’s about 6.5 percent down from last year and 24 percent down from 2007. The trend is in keeping with every other month in the past year. For the first 11 months of 2009, the town sales tax is down about 10 percent.

Parks and Rec Master Plan plugging along
A few more public meetings will be held with the consultants preparing the Crested Butte Parks and Recreation Master Plan. The Town Council will get an update from Pros Consulting at their February 1 meeting. The public will have another opportunity to weigh in on the preliminary recommendations at a meeting scheduled for February 10. A focus group that has been debating the possibility of an indoor ice rink will meet February 2.
“The notion of regionalization for recreation seems to be taking hold,” Crested Butte Parks and Recreation Director Jake Jones told the council at their January 19 meeting. “We will be bringing in Mt. Crested Butte, Crested Butte South and other players to flesh out that concept. We are shooting for a joint meeting sometime in mid-February. We will include the Met Rec district as well.”
Jones said the final plan will be coming a bit later than hoped for “but we’ll have a really good plan when we are finished.”